Grille At Bear Creek — Restaurant in Longswamp Township

I want so badly for you to be good, but you are just awful. What has happened to the food program at Bear Creek? My wife and I love to come to stay in the hotel in the summer. We greatly enjoy sitting by the pool at the trails end, having some cocktails and getting away from life for a day or two. The rooms are nice, it's quiet, relaxing, and there are beautiful views to enjoy. Where your resort falls flat is the food. Every experience we've had there in the last 2 years has been a complete disappointment. I swore I'd never come back after our last meal in the Grille. But then I noticed you have been posting a lot on social media about your new menu changes. I thought "oh. They must have gotten a new chef. Maybe they are turning things around." We decided we would give you one more try. Boy, was that a mistake. The food is worse than ever. Who ever you just hired has absolutely no place running a kitchen. There is no skill or passion in his cooking. Everything we had was poorly prepared, and tasted disgusting with the exception of the deserts which were store bought frozen products. They were at least edible. Your kitchens are beautiful and filled with top of the line equipment. I know this because I worked at bear in the same kitchen for 15 years. When I was there, people cared about the food and were skilled at crafting beautiful dishes. We served fantastic meals to 1000s of people. I don't know where you found the new chef, but guessing by the preparation of the food, I'm going to say a pizza shop. Also whoever was in charge of hiring this guy needs to lose their job. How could you interview this person, taste their food and think , yup this is our new chef.

That all being said, I will continue to spend nights at the hotel, and enjoy the pool and views, but I will be driving to wawa 10 minutes away to get the food we will be eating while we stay. Let that sink in... we would rather eat food from a gas station then eat anything from your resort. You guys could have something really special there, but the food is...

Resorts are not known for good food. The reason is that since guests come from all over, resort restaurants don't need to ensure repeat customers. I am sure the staff and owners of the Grille at Bear Creek would insist on their dedication to quality, but the food is poorly prepared, tasteless, and overpriced.

I ordered a quinoa salad. It arrived with no quinoa whatsoever, just raisins and lettuce. My son ordered a steak on mashed potatoes, and I am reasonably sure the mashed potatoes were instant, so grainy and bland that we had to laugh. We laughed at the food. The steak itself was fine, because there's no one capable of ruining beef who has ever done so before. We also ordered three dips with peta bread. Another failure. The humus came out of a can, but I cannot imagine what can that would have been. Any grocery store now sells fairly good humus, and any of those brands would have seemed authentic compared to the unappetizing, utterly tasteless paste that they plopped on the plate. The other dip, some kind of cheese sauce with bits of artichoke, almost made me gag. The third was an olive tapenade, too salty to eat.

I did not send back the food, and that's my own failure, and I regret my reticence at what was among the worst meals I have had in a year. We were tired from our journey and hungry, so I simply decided not to return for the other two evenings of our stay.

There are a few restaurants in the area that I would recommend. Guests should simply drive thirty minutes to the Mediterranean restaurant or the Italian place, but don't give this overwrought resort anything for their thoughtless hash.

Can this poor establishment improve? They can hire a new head chef with some vision, cook with local produce, and taste the food that they serve, asking if they would...

To begin, the bar was not overly busy. We ordered two "Macungie Mules" for $11/each and two French Dips for $15/each. The drinks were okay, but WAY overpriced, in my opinion. The menus were filthy. I really hate that. Is it too much to ask to just keep the menus clean? Seriously, it's basic decency and professionalism. It isn't rocket science. I'm pretty sure the inside of a well-used Porto-o-Potty is cleaner than the surface of their menus.

The French Dips were literally dripping with grease. The meat was chewy, and just as gross as the menus. The fries were so salty we couldn't even eat them - and I like salt!

Oh yeah... we were never given utensils, so when the meals were served, we had no way of eating them. No napkins, no utensils, nothing. We had to wait for several minutes to even get the bartender's attention while our sandwiches went from lukewarm to cold.

I really wanted a side of mayo for the fries, but the bartender never checked back with us, or asked if everything was okay, if we needed anything, etc., so I never had a chance to ask for it. So, instead of enjoying lunch, I spent most of the time observing how inept the management and staff were with all of the customers.

It was one absurd display of incompetence after another. What a waste of time and money. I sure hope my wife chooses a different place for her birthday lunch next year. What a horribly run restaurant. Shame on you, Bear Creek!

And I still left a 15% tip. I feel...