Chef Darrell’s Mountain Diner — Restaurant in Town of Indian Lake

Don't go here. We went on a Thursday at 1:30, and I was hoping that maybe it was just bad timing, but I believe now it was the staff/waitress. We did not get to meet Cheff Darrell like so many others have, but we did see his nice white Corevette in the parking lot. The run down of our visit is as follows... We entered and got ushered to a dirty table. Upon sitting down the waitress sprayed our table, and us with cleaner and wiped it. We looked past it and checked the menu and found what we wanted. When it came time to order things got complicated. Our waitress didn't understand English, or the menu. My boyfriend wanted a special listed on the board at the front door, the Maple Belgian Breakfast Sandwich, and had to say each word 3 times, and the waitress looked at the menu, didn't not see it and shook her head. He told her it was a special written on the board, and had to repeate it another time. I asked for the Veggie Burger and asked what is on it, to which she replied "I don't know. I'm not from here." I asked if there is lettuce, tomatoes, onion, etc. she shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. I asked if I could have the cheese sauce (that is listen on the menu for other items) for my fries. This was the biggest mistake of my day. We discussed this substitution for a full minute as I tried to explain what I meant, and felt I had made myself clear after pointing to the menu and reading the description of what I was looking for, with her looking closely with me. While we waited for our food, we got no coffee refills. Which kinda sucks because it was a very small sad cup of coffee for nearly $3. When the food came, my boyfriend received what he ordered, and that is the only saving grace here. My veggie burger was paired with a tiny slice of tomato and 1 piece of limp, floppy lettuce. I asked for a side of mayo, had to repeate myself and say 'mayonnaise' and gesture the size I was looking for, and still was looked at as if I was an alien. When she returned with the mayo she brought the fries, served in a tiny cast iron skillet and covered in shredded cheese, and also burnt. The fries had been cooked in old oil and left an old fried-fish flavor in my mouth, my boyfriend confirmed this after trying it himself. We were never visited again by this young lady. Instead we ate our food and watched her try to seat patrons at dirty tables still covered in dishes. I also saw her seat a couple at the bar and spray them as they sat, like she did to us. The woman wanted an ice cream sundae, which was unfathomable apparently, and she had to go ask the kitchen if that was ok. She ignored customers trying to pay their bills, and told one lady who wanted to order take out to wait outside, and never went back to her.

Something must have changed recently because the food looked good in reviews, but the reviews themselves have plummeted lately, and I understand why. It was a waste of time and money. The food was not amazing and was overpriced. The shirts he is trying to sell (as if this place is a fan favorite, or worth coming back to) were also extremely overpriced. I wish we left as soon as we got sprayed. Darrylls nice car parked outside was a reminder of why the food was...

We stopped at the diner for lunch after visiting the museum. The spot is a cute, traditional diner with the kind of menu you'd expect from that sort of restaurant. Almost immediately the atmosphere was less than welcoming. We waited a few minutes for the waitress to clear a spot and while we did so the chef called her away to yell at her in the doorway to the kitchen. The place is small, the kitchen is open and every word from the kitchen can be heard in the seating area of the diner. I was surprised at how critical the chef was of the waitress while guests were standing right in front of them. I initially blew it off as it appeared there were only the 2 of them working and it was busy. We were seated and ordered. Our waitress was kind, quick and efficient which was particularly impressive because she was the only one taking care of the front of the house. We ordered a BLT and a Bacon blue burger. When our order made it to the kitchen the chef yelled out to the waitress who was not near the window "HOW DO THEY WANT THE BURGER COOKED"? Since we could hear her and see her, we replied with the choice. The BLT was good, the fries were perfect, but the burger had no bacon and was unseasoned. The food was not bad, but the atmosphere was terrible thanks to the chef barking orders, yelling at the waitress and generally being demeaning, unprofessional and basically awful to the waitress all in plain sight and earshot of the entire restaurant. It was uncomfortable to say the least. At one point the chef told the waitress "stop staring at me and go do your job" after being called back to the kitchen by the chef in the first place. The waitress maintained her smile and gave us quality service in spite of being yelled at repeatedly for the duration of our meal. The entire experience was very off-putting and hard to shake off. I still feel bad for that poor waitress who had to and likely will continue to have to endure working with a cruel person belittling her every chance she gets. If one needs to offer staff criticism or correction, there's a time and place for such things, not to mention a way to do so that encourages staff to strive to be better rather than through condescension and mean spirited...

Despite entering with high expectations fueled by glowing reviews, our party of seven was let down by our experience. Following a long day of hiking, we found ourselves as the only patrons in the restaurant on a quiet Thursday afternoon. The service was swift and welcoming; we were promptly seated, presented with menus, and allowed to bring our dog to the patio, a pleasant surprise.

However, our optimism quickly waned. We were informed multiple times that certain ingredients for our chosen entrees were unavailable, causing one of our party members having to revise his order thrice due to this unanticipated limitation. When our originally planned appetizer of fried mozzarella wedges was also unavailable, we opted for cheese bread, which unfortunately never arrived as the kitchen burnt it, with no spare bread to prepare a replacement.

Once the main courses arrived, they were disappointingly disproportionate, resembling child-sized portions rather than adult servings. Our experience was further marred by the inconsistency in the timing of our meals' arrival. 2 out of 7 entrees were served while the rest of our group waited (4 more came within a couple minutes), fostering a disjointed dining experience. Those who received their meals first found themselves done eating long before the 7th meal finally arrived at our table. This lack of coordination added a layer of frustration to an already disappointing culinary encounter.

The restaurant policy of selling only bottled water and offering no soda refills was a noteworthy inconvenience. Our total bill amounted to approximately $200, a steep price even considering the typical mountain-area markups.

Our server was a standout positive, delivering excellent service despite the kitchen’s shortcomings. We had hoped to meet the chef, inspired by the reviews’ photos, but that opportunity never materialized. While the restaurant was aesthetically pleasing and impeccably clean, the lack of ingredient availability, undersized portions, and steep pricing overshadowed these aspects. Our experience should have been harmonized, but instead, it felt piecemeal and disjointed. Regrettably, we won’t be returning in the future due to our...