Historic train turned American restaurant set with bistro tables, a bar car & seasonal beer garden.
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"Cold gross food"
We ordered coffee, hot water and a strawberry lemonade. After waiting 10 minutes for our drinks (keep in mind the restaurant had only two other tables occupied with two people at each of those tables, and we were a group of five) we were ready to order our food but the server was nowhere in sight, so I got up from my seat to find her.
When I walked to the back of the train I found our coffee and hot water sitting on a counter with my mother's strawberry lemonade, which had been sitting long enough for the mix and lemonade to separate. I could see the doorframe to the kitchen but no server, so I knocked on the frame. A different lady came from around the corner and I let her know in a polite way that my family was ready to order. She told me the server will be right out.
Two minutes later the server brought our luke-warm water and coffee with the lemonade that I believe the server had just stirred. The server then asked us if we were in town for visiting Mt. Rainer, we responded "No, just passing through." My dad was going to order a buffalo burger but they were out so he ordered a normal beef cheeseburger. I had the same.
My mother ordered a fish burger with a spring mix salad, my grandma had ordered a fish burger with soup and my wife ordered the elk burger. We waited thirty minutes for our food to show up.
The server went about her business while we started on our meal. First, my mother's spring mix had slimy dark wilted spots, and her fish burger was freezer-burnt. Second, my wife's elk burger was burnt but also cold and tasted like they mixed beef into the patty. Third and fourth, mine and my father's burger were cold but we were so hungry by that time we just ate them while we waited for the kitchen to fix my mom's spring mix problem (which they seemed to take them forever to do). When the server came back finally, after most of our meals been finished, she said to my mom that the spring mix will be out in a couple minutes.
My mom told her that would not be necessary and my dad asked for the bill, which took her ten more minutes to get for us. When she brought the bill she asked us "are you all here to visit Mt. Rainer?" We all responded at the same time "No".
ONE STAR even though I wish I...
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Tl;DR: First time I've gotten food poisoning in years, had me thinking I was legitimately dying.
It is rare that I leave bad reviews at food places - I tend to find joy of some sort even at places that have had questionable service in the past.
This place though? Wow.
Once we made it inside, we briefly checked reviews online because we had caught a weird vibe. Reviews were extremely mixed, but the constant theme was "DO NOT GET FRIED FOOD". We played it safe and ordered "made fresh" pie.
We were tucked away in the back and it was ultra quiet - no music, no background noise, we were the only people there. The only sound when we weren't talking was the security panel beeping when the back door opened, and the sound of a fly batting its head against one of the windows. Me too, little buddy. Me too.
The pie was absolutely not fresh. It was doughy and had the texture of pie that had been microwaved multiple times over. It had the same temperature as microwaved pie, too - blisteringly hot on the outside and cold in the center. I tried to finish it out of courtesy but didn't. My SO ordered an ice cream brownie thing, that was marginally better. She didn't finish it either.
The lady serving us just... disappeared for a long time? We only saw her after sitting for 20 minutes or so, ordered our food, and didn't see her again until she brought our food, another 20 minutes later. I had (thankfully) asked for the receipt when she brought our food so I was able to leave the moment we were done without playing the waiting game again.
On the drive home, I got hit with waves of nausea and hot flashes. I somehow didn't throw up on that long drive. Got my girlfriend back to her place, and went home myself and took a nap to try to wait it off. When I awoke, I was in ROUGH shape. I was violently shaking, I couldn't get warm to save my life (had the heater turned up to max, had every blanket on me, and was trembling cold) and would get hit with convulsing waves of nausea. I had never experienced food poisoning like this before. My body never threw up, but I wish I did so I had felt better.
By afternoon the next day, I felt totally fine.
Don't eat here. I would never wish that illness...
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If you're going to Rainier or in the area, stopping here is a must, it's simply a mandatory part of any itinerary for anyone who visits the area. I'm heading out to Mt.Rainier NP again in a few weeks, I havent been in 3 or 4 years. I was scared to look this place up because I was absolutely terrified about whether or not they managed to survive covid. I'm ecstatic to see that they did. Ever since my first trip to Rainier as a kid in I think '98/'99, whenever I head out to that gorgeous corner of the world, I make a point of stopping here for a meal. I still regularly tell people about the burger I had here in 2016, elk meat ground with bacon fat..quite possibly the best burger I've ever had in my entire life, certainly top 3 without question. I can only speak from my experiences at this place, but from my 8 or 9 visits over 24ish years, everyone I've dealt with have been just great people, the service has always been excellent, and the food is always amazing. I have absolutely nothing negative of any kind to say about anyone or anything that has anything to do with this restaurant. I've got some out of state friends coming to visit who've never been west of the Mississippi, I'm taking them to Rainier for the natural beauty, and I am absolutely going to make sure they do not leave before coming here. This turned out to be longer than I intended, I've been hoping and praying for a while that covid didnt kill this amazing hidden gem of the PNW, and when I saw that it is still alive and well I got very excited..and maybe a bit emotional. Cant say enough good about it, and I cant wait to come back and have a great time with some awesome people enjoying some amazing food in a beautiful place. Anyone who made it this far, I hope you have a good day and I wish you and your family nothing but the best...and you absolutely need to stop here if you're anywhere near Rainier. 10/10 will...
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