Snake River Grill — Restaurant in Hagerman

OH NO! WHAT HAPPENED??! I heard Chef Kirt had turned the keys over to new owners but I didn't know he took the kitchen hoods, glassware, fried gator, and bathroom hygene with him as well!

We have been coming here for years and this was the first time since March 2020.

Chef Kirt is an awesome chef and this experience is no reflection of his talent - but it is an affiliation of his legacy.

We just came from 1000 Springs Resort and felt that a good hand washing was in order before eating, so as the mens and ladies rooms are just as you enter the building, my daughter and I entered our respective bathrooms. The picture speaks a 1000 words. If the bathroom looks like this - what does the kitchen look like??! Oh, I almost forgot, the door handle to the inside of the mens room was affixed to the door with a near expert duct tape job - except it was peeling off...

As we walk in to the restaurant, the entire dining room was filled with acrid charbroiler smoke - I mean not a little - but filled with thick, dense, and very visable smoke. It was nauseating after 5 minutes of being there. My smoke alarms at home would have went off with a third of the amount of smoke. Plus it wasn't a nice cool temperature - it was overly warm to boot. Time to throw some dollars at the HVAC.

We were sat at a table and given Dinner menus. First - no deep fried gator anymore. Silly is all I can say. Although they thoughtfully replaced it with $30 appetizers and $50 steaks...holy ambitious!

Secondly, the couple behind us were getting a manager visit. He was cleverly disguised as a janitor - (perhaps that was his pile of filthy stuff under the mens room sink...). They were complaining that their food was burned. Something had to explain the amount of smoke I reckon.

Third - we had glanced quickly at the salad bar on our way to the table. It looked like a hobo yard sale. Everything in mismatched containers...several empty crocks and tongs laying directly in the salad mix. Yum!

The final straw, sorry to be punny, was when the kid asked us what we wanted to drink, we both asked for water. He returned a moment later with two foam to go cups saying - and I quote..."We replaced our missing glassware with high quality Styrofoam this evening!" His cute response to the uncontrollables the restaurant was experiencing was humorous. He then asked us if we wanted straws - as if the drinking experience from the foam cups alone was worth the price of admission - do you really want to tarnish this high-end experience with something as trivial as a plastic straw?!?

There is no way I'm paying well over $100.00 for an experience I could get at Golden Corral... (not that I frequent there but I'm betting the salad bar, air quality and cleanliness of the bathrooms are on point!) ...for a fraction of the cost and double, perhaps even triple the quality.

OMG - Chef Kirt call me -...

Wow. We haven't been here in a bit, and boy has it changed.

I left a horrible review a little over a year ago. We decided to go to Hagerman to do some fishing and stopped in for another go at breakfast. WOW, WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!! Our waitress Kelli was fantastic, and the food was back to normal. I'm not sure if there was an employee or customer revolt, but it worked. We will be back on our weekends because of the cook and the staff. Whew, we thought we lost our Hagerman hot spot.. but I guess it's back. Thank God! 😊

This is NOT a local establishment anymore. The guy who bought it can not be local. The changes are esthetically pleasing, but there are hardly any tables to eat at anymore. But I guess that doesn't matter because, at 9:30 on Saturday morning when it used to be hopping, there were just 4 of us in there having breakfast.

But the Christmas trees in almost February were pretty. The tiny menu with overpriced small plates was underwhelming.

Our wonderful waitress brought our food within an ok time frame. It's not her fault. I would say that's the guy cooking stuff. After all, how long could it take to make 2 pancakes and microwave my old biscuit to the point of rubberized yuck and put it on a plain plate? Yes, one 2" biscuit, split in half in the middle of a 12" oval plate covered with 1/4 of a cup of thin gravy (no sausage to be found) was the totality of my meal. No joke. Microwaved biscuit, a splash of gravy. I should have taken a picture. I usually would have, but I would hope the new owner would prefer it not be put online for everyone to see. I'm gonna chock this up to a slow beginning and growing pains.

But, he's going to have to get off the phone long enough to listen to his patrons. Yes, he was walking around his empty restaurant, talking quite loud on his cell phone, with the speaker on at full blast, making sure his 3 diners could tell he was the owner. He was quite rude being so loud while we were trying to hear our table conversation over him.

Annnnnd, he probably should have come over to our table and chatted with us, and asked what we thought. That would have gone a long way.

We enjoy driving to Hagerman and going to the museum, and the "junk" stores looking for something I can't live without, buying a local pie at the flea market, and starting with a good rib-sticking mealSnake River Grille. Meh. We'll try lunch or dinner in the spring and see if it's any better, but for now, it needs to work out whatever is going on there. If you want to be a coffee shop where people can sit on the sofas and watch TV, or be a KARAOKE BAR?!?! What? It's Hagerman, IDAHO. IDK

I'm betting the locals don't like the new ownership's pretentious style. We didn't appreciate it, and we are from the big city of Twin. LOL

I'm confused by this place that I enjoyed in...

I grew up in Buhl, ID…very near to this restaurant. I remember as a child my grandpa/ma taking me here for breakfast many times (I’m 47 now)….I remember coming here for dinner/breakfast when I was older many times (teens/20s/beyond). Every one of these experiences was golden…food, services, atmosphere.

I brought my wife and I for a wedding anniversary and WOW…this place has sunk!!!!

First, we went for dinner on a Saturday night…asked for alligator appetizer (they were out)…said okay, can we have the crab dip appetizer (said it would take 1 hr to make: obviously, trying to steer us away from it). We ordered dinner, steak and sturgeon….granted the steak was nicely cooked, the sturgeon (keep in mind, this was very $$$ per person) was CRAZY small! My wife asked for grilled, I asked for fried (options on their menu)…both were exactly the same….???? I didn’t complain, as things were not great from the start…my stergeon (again, $$$) dry and brand….bleck!

I don’t blame my server…he was working like a beast…too many tables…gave him 20% tip…but this restaurant is NOT good!!!

Changed hands to new owners, I was told by members of the community….the previous owner was a genius and cared about his restaurant….I believe the new owners care more about profit and taking vacations on the back of their workers…

…with this level of quality, they should be ashamed of themselves!!!!

All of my “stars” would be rated one star higher except for breakfast.

I know, I understand…if dinner was bad why go for breakfast. I wanted to see if perhaps my experience would be different for breakfast…I have been here many, many times for breakfast, granted none for a bit of time. Previously, I’ve experienced (and had friends echo the same sentiment) that breakfast (especially on the weekend) was great. This time…absolutely TERRIBLE!

Biscuits and gravy…compared to Depot Grill, Denny’s, IHOP, Shari’s, Cactus Pete’s, Wendy’s drive-through, is the worst I’ve had, by far. It was supposed to be “Momma’s” biscuits and gravy…seriously?!?! The service, especially compared to the night before was terrible (last night 20% tip, this morning 5% tip.)

Owners…you need to make this treasure of a restaurant a better place…even more so than before, owners, shame...