Redneck Bistro — Restaurant in Town of North Elba

UPDATE 10/08/24: We spent a recent Saturday in Lake Placid and headed over to Redneck Bistro for an early dinner based on a truly outstanding dinner experience the last time we ate here (previous review below). We arrived around 4 PM and were seated immediately with menus. The restaurant was maybe half-full at that time. Emilee, our server, took our orders of BBQ ribs and mashed potatoes, and grilled chicken with veggies and sweet potato fries ten minutes later, and then we relaxed to wait for our food. Even though the restaurant wasn't full or very busy, it took 25 minutes for our meals to be served. We both noticed that none of our food was what you would call hot. Warm, maybe, but definitely not hot. The grilled chicken dish was just OK. The fries were sent back because they weren't hot, but the replacements were very hot, so I suspect our meals had been sitting for a while before they were served. My BBQ ribs were a bit dry and had very little flavor. The mashed potatoes (that our server told me were "home-made" after she asked the chef) had the taste and consistency of instant mashed potatoes, so definitely not real "home-made" mashed potatoes. I don't know if our server was new to that position, but the service was off a bit during our meal. Our total bill for the two meals and beverages was a bit over $58 plus tax (guest check# 171579) and definitely not worth that based on the overall quality of the food. The entrees that we ordered on this latest visit were the same entrees as what we ordered on our last visit, so a sizeable increase in price for not nearly the same quality of food. There's no shortage of really good restaurants in Lake Placid. Sadly, we made a mistake and expected our latest visit to Redneck Bistro to be similar to our last visit, but it clearly wasn't. We'll eat elsewhere next time. Thanks for reading.

Jan. 2022: We were in Lake Placid recently for a few days of a late Christmas vacation that got delayed due to other commitments during the holidays. When it came time for dinner, we had lots of choices. After some research though, we decided on Redneck Bistro. This isn't a fancy restaurant, and restaurant seating is a bit limited, but it's a comfortable, relaxing environment just the same. The restaurant was maybe 1/4 full when we arrived early on a Wednesday (a little after 4 PM) for dinner and we were seated right away. Our server, Tyler, cheerfully greeted us, gave us menus, chatted with us a bit, and then took our beverage orders. One reason we chose this restaurant was because their menu offers a large selection and variety of meals. Because of that, it took us a while to actually make our selections. Tyler appeared at our table again, took our dinner orders, and off he went to the kitchen. Our orders included a grilled chicken with vegetables, and a half-rack of ribs with sweet potato fries. And we didn't have to wait long for our meals to arrive. Both of our meals were delicious, the servings were generous for the price, and the service we received from Tyler was truly outstanding. And, BTW, they nailed the sweet potato fries PERFECTLY!! Hot, really CRISPY (not limp), and simply delicious. Our two full dinners with beverages totaled just under $49 plus tax. Before selecting this restaurant, I had reviewed the menus for several restaurants in town, and I found the prices here are in-line with others restaurants serving comparable dinner fare. We all know that things can and do happen to give you a bad experience in a restaurant but, honestly, we had two delicious meals with outstanding service here for a fair price. We would definitely dine here again, and highly...

We did not have a good experience here. We got a waitress who it was her first day on the job. She mixed up the most basic stuff, and not a single one of our items was brought as we ordered. But what bothered us was when we simply told her very nicely that this is not what we ordered, and to please change it, she tried to play it off saying that what she brought us is what we ordered. I ordered the brisket, she brought me a platter with pork on it and I don’t even eat pork. She brought my fiancé a plate of grilled chicken and vegetables, which he hates; he ordered the southern fried chicken. We just couldn’t understand how that got mixed up. The manager was not at all apologetic about any of this, but there was one server who was supervising our waitress who was very nice and apologetic. The whole affair took an extra half hour because of the mix ups and they did not give us any kind of compensation in the form of a discount, gift card, or anything; the customer service was overall very disappointing. The food itself was decent, nothing special, but good enough. We had a much better experience at Smoke Signals down the street the night before, both in terms of the food...

We're not generally bistro and grill kind of people, but this place has definitely reminded me never to judge a restaurant by its name. This was an exceptional meal.

I have never had wings quite like this. Unique! And I had a cup of the best homemade chili I've had at a restaurant in years, and was delighted to have a 1/4 pound ALL BEEF (Hebrew National) hot dog (sorry, that's the only kind of hot dog I considered to be the real article) that was grilled to perfection and only needed mustard and some onions! And my husband was impressed by their Reuben panini.

The staff was spot on. Very friendly and personable, excellent service, didn't hover, and didn't ignore. They were just real people.

A bonus was its location, on the first floor of The Pines Inn in Lake Placid. This is a full size hotel, one of the few in the area since no other large ones are permitted to be built anymore. The interior is amazing and the new owners are planning to bring it back to its glory.

All in all, if we were up here more often, this would be on our favorite...