Carlsbad Caverns Underground Lunch Room — Restaurant in Four Corners States

People complained that there's only sandwiches down there now when there used to be fried food. Look at the blackened charring on the ceiling when you're down there. That's bacterial growth that was feeding on fried food down there. Bacteria that wasn't meant to be in the cave.

Anyway, the lunchroom definitely has a retro 50s / 60s feel to it, like something out of Fallout (the game) or insert staple space age optimism period-piece.

They have a nice little gift shop down there too, it's pretty neat. The draw is the novelty of it - eat lunch 750 feet below ground. It has convenient access via the elevators and is the de-facto starting point for any guided tour of the main cave (you might meet upstairs but you've gotta go down...

Originally built in the 1950's, they used to cook and fry food down here but this began destroying the ecology of the cave. To keep damage to a minimum, food choices now consist of items such as sandwiches, fruit cups, bottled water and items such as breakfast bars and crisp rice treats. There's not too many tables during the lunch hour you'll be waiting to snag a table, eating at one of the benches, or just standing and snacking. The small gift shop offers items such as flashlights, toy helmets, toy lanterns and a variety of shirts. Don't expect too much from this and you'll recognize it for what it is - a cool, unique place to...

2 stars on the inconsideration alone. One thing that you hear about Carlsbad Caverns is that there is a lunchroom at the bottom leading you to believe that you can make the hour and a half trek and get something to eat before spending an hour touring the big room. If you take medicine, have blood sugar issues, or some other reason you can't wait to eat, you better eat before hand. It would be nice if they or the National Parks Service would let you know...