Country Bear — Restaurant in Town of Wilmington

I can't say that I have eaten here in a little over 38 years or so. That's when my parents owned and operated this business under a different name. I was reading the reviews and keep seeing negative reviews due to 1. Not being open even when they are supposed to be. A lot of the best Mom and Pop places are actually run by Mom and Dad and kids/teenager's. They CAN'T be open if anyone in their family is sick as they live in the attached house directly behind the dinner. I don't think any customers would want to see or hear the sick person through the kitchen. 2. Paper plates, Plastic utensils and Styrofoam cups. As the teenager that was responsible for bussing and washing all of those plates, utensils and cups; I can say that they are saving time and money. They don't have to pay anyone to do that job and they don't have to wait for those items to be cleaned in order to seat the next guest. Bravo! You found a good way around this financial strain. 3. If you don't live in Wilmington year round, you don't understand the North Country economy. The owners make the majority of their profits during the summer tourist season and some during hunting season. That's about it. The rest of the year is the locals that come in for breakfast or lunch on their way to work. Wilmington is a small town outside and away from all of the large towns in the North Country. During the winter which starts around the end of October and runs until about April; the locals help keep the lights on. So yeah, the owners might seem more friendly to the locals but that's because they are like family (and some may actually be family) when its 10 below Zero and tne owners are doing their best to keep the pipes from freezing or are putting special coverings on the windows so they don't lose heat. It's not that the owners and staff don't appreciate you, because they very truly do. They are just saying hi to the person that pulled their car out of the 1o foot snow drift...

You HAVE to visit the Country Bear when visiting Lake Placid/Wilmington! Be prepared- Cash only!! They make all of their bread so each order of french toast or toast that comes as a side, is freshly homemade and you can totally taste the difference!! Their french toast is made with a custard batter and is to die for!!! Its family owned and run and the wife and daughter are always pleasant and sweet. Ive seen this place get a lot of bad reviews because of the hours or because they advertise as being open but are then closed... please keep in mind that as a family owned and run business, you dont really know whats going on that would have forced them to have to close. I mean that's their income, their livelihood so I doubt they would close if it werent absolutely necessary. I do know the husband does all of the cooking/prep/baking and was very ill for a while. So before you leave a bad review for something like hours, try to think of your own job and how bad ppl might complain and leave you bad reviews for your hours that are beyond your control. Every single visit we make to the area, we make sure to stop here! Not one...

Delicious breakfast spot in Wilmington, NY with daily specials, friendly-service and awesome pancakes! This is actually the only breakfast place/diner we know of in town, and it is a very small place, so there's sometimes a short wait but I've never seen anyone wait more than 15 minutes and we're there pretty regularly in the summer.

One little warning - and it is not exclusive to the Country Bear but to businesses in the Adk region in general - call right before you go to make sure they're actually open! We've had a few times when despite the hours posted online, we arrive at a place to find they're randomly closed. As you can imagine, when you're hangry and restaurants are scarce, it's not a good scene to make the trip out to a place that's supposed to be open to find it dark and empty. We love the Bear, but do yourself a favor and even if Google or the website claims they are open, give them a ring before you...