Gyppo Ale Mill — Restaurant in Fortuna

The beer was great, the food was pub food, but the staff's ability to understand basic restaurant etiquette is sub-par. We ordered 2 appetizers and asked that the wings be served as an entree, both appetizers were served at the same time. While we were still eating our pretzel (single pretzel) and wings, they delivered our pulled pork sandwich. I want to say it was maybe 7 minutes between serving the appetizers and the entree. This was very disappointing, especially since the pulled pork sandwich is something they put together on the fly, they didn't have to pre-cook it. Also, the drumstick wings were a little under-cooked, so they could have slowed things up in the kitchen just a bit. Needless to say because we were seated outside we didn't finish the pretzel (or wings) because we wanted to eat our pulled pork while it was still warm. And the pulled pork sandwich could use some re-thinking, the bun used for the pulled pork is woefully insufficient. Because they put the coleslaw on the bottom, the bun was soggy when it was delivered let alone 2-3 minutes into eating it. Sadly we are here for 2 more days and will have to eat pizza the rest of the time because I just don't want to waste food like that again. we were in and out in 45 minutes and we waited longer for someone to ask if we wanted anything else or the check after our plates were pushed away than we did for the entire meal serving. Very disappointed since this was our first time eating at a restaurant in over a year and it was our anniversary, as I indicated on the OpenTable reservation. And apparently the fast service is only for small tables of non-locals, because a table of locals were seated before us got their appetizers and entrees in a reasonable time span, they were just getting their entrees when we were waiting for our check. I guess if you're a local or a big party they treat you right, but if you're just a couple celebrating, you are rushed out the door. And mind you it wasn't busy and it was a Monday night, there were about 4 open tables outside and only 1 table...

Got off the Lost Coast Trail and, after three days of rehydrated food, we were looking forward to a great meal and cold beer before heading to our campsite in the Humboldt Redwoods. We cleaned up a bit at the trailhead and arrived at 3:05 only to find out they don't serve meals between 3pm and 5pm. The host said they had bar snacks, nuts and popcorn, instead. As we contemplated whether to stay for a beer and easy later, the host told us he was too young to drink so he had no idea whether to recommend the beer. Weird choice for a first impression. We decided to stay anyway since we're big fans of local breweries. We were told we could sit anywhere and chose some great chairs on the deck. It was busy but it looked like everyone was taken care of, except us. After 10 minutes of waiting for service, one of our party went in to look for help. Finding no server she went back to the host stand to place our order. The host took our order and brought us 2 IPAs and a root beer. The beer was decent, but the root beer had a strange aftertaste. We're we're never offered any snacks, though. The restaurant is beautifully decorated and the deck is comfortable. The large fire pit was pouring out a bit too much heat for a nice sunny afternoon, but it's probably wonderful ar evening sets in. They maybe want to be a little more observant when bussing tables because they left a big mess of fries and napkins under one cleared table on the deck for the whole time we were there. I hope this place works out their front of house issues because there aren't a lot of options in Shelter Cove. Although, a restaurant not serving food in the afternoon seems an odd choice in an area that presumably relies a lot on tourism dollars. We don't usually punch time clocks on a backpacking vacation. We ended up enjoying -- unfortunately, hours later -- a wonderful meal at Avenue...

Great ambiance, food was less than anticipated, especially for the price.

Been there twice. First time we seated ourselves (as instructed) and the server came out pretty quickly. The menu is on a QR code, but the internet wouldn't connect with our phones. Fortunately the server saw or knew and brought out hard menus. I got fish and chips (locally caught) for $27. Decent flavor, but the 2 medium pieces of fish weren't worth the price, imo. Hubs got an $19 bacon and blue hamburgers which was much better.

Second visit was less impressive. After seating ourselves I got up and got menus when our phones wouldn't connect with the internet again (it was much busier this evening). It took at least 20 minutes for our server to even come over. While I totally understand being busy as a server (been one myself a few times), the table next to us sat after we got there and had ordered with her and were already finishing their appetizer before she even stopped by to take ours. When our food came out the $10 kid's mac 'n cheese was bland and the lemon rock fish with rice and capers was overpoweringly lemoney and swiming in oil ($26?). The wings were fantastic, the root beer and fries were yummy, and the burgers were good again. Our server, however, only checked on us once, we had to get up and get our own water glasses after asking for water, and after my entire party had left I went up to the counter to pay (because I didn't want to wait any longer) and stood there for 10 minutes with my card in my hand as employees walked right by me. I very nearly walked out on our $150+ tab when someone finally asked if I needed anything. Again, I understand being busy, but this experience was sad.

With these two experiences I'm not terribly excited to dine...