Go Back  Fodor's Travel Talk Forums > Travel Topics > Road Trips
Reload this Page >

Another California/Utah/Arizona Road Trip Where to EAT

Another California/Utah/Arizona Road Trip Where to EAT

Old Aug 25th, 2014, 08:41 PM
  #1  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 24,530
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Another California/Utah/Arizona Road Trip Where to EAT

Planning a western parks road trip (Yosemite, Death Valley, Zion, Bryce, Grand Canyon North and South Rims, and a sleepover in Angel Canyon (Kanab) . This is coming up in a few weeks. I am covering the cost of the hotels and gas, but Thelma will need to pay for her own meals.

Our overnights are in Camp Curry, Mesquite, Kanab, Hatch, Grand Canyon North Rim Lodge, and Maswik on the South Rim. Timing wise there may be a lunch in Springdale although we won't be doing more than driving Route 9 across the park on the way east.

I am okay with food inside Yosemite as there are some options there and the whole bear thing means we won't be carrying much into the park.

For those who travel the "loop" often or live in the area do you have recommendations for moderately priced, or even cheap, but fairly healthy and even tasty restaurants. Cheap I consider $10 for lunch and under $20 for dinner, excluding tax/tip/beverage.

For Yosemite does anyone think the Ahwanee is worth those prices? I doubt she will want to spring for it unless the food is worthwhile. We can always just walk around and buy a coffee from the bar.

Will stop at Whoa Nellie Del in Lee Vining for a snack on the way out, and have friends in Bishop so dinner is with them.

Which buffet in Mesquite or should we stop in Las Vegas for lunch?

The Hatch restaurants look interesting, any personal recommendations? I am thinking we will bypass Springdale entirely.

Kanab? We will be arriving at Best Friends on Sunday when they don't have their lunch. I Does the town close up early? Most of the hotels seem to expect you to arrive by 8 pm!

Is the food at the North Rim Lodge worth booking dinner or should we just get pizza at the bar?

I am not looking forward to the South Rim food options. I hated the Arizona Room. Is it worth trying to get dinner reservations at El Tovar, or should we go canned tuna and Maswik cafeteria?

Anything worth detouring for on the long drive back to LA, via I-40? What are your favorite stops along the way? Mine is Delgadillo's Sno Cap in Seligman.
mlgb is offline  
Old Aug 25th, 2014, 09:00 PM
  #2  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 1,519
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hatch??? I would take whatever I could get. Springdale has MUCH better food options.

Kanab--absolutely, hands down the best place is the Rocking V. They may not be cheap enough for you, though. Check out their website. They are open till 10, I believe. Yes, most of these towns close up by 9-10 unless you specifically want to go to a bar. (but then you don't want to eat there--IF there is food even available!)

At GC North Rim--I actually like the diner at Jacob's Lake Inn. The food at Marble Canyon Lodge used to be great but then their restaurant burned down!! I ate there this spring and it was ok.

Maswik cafeteria is dismal. I have never eaten at El Tovar. I would either go for the expensive meal or find a way to get a hamburger at a grill and call it good.
StantonHyde is offline  
Old Aug 25th, 2014, 09:36 PM
  #3  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 24,530
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Well we are staying in Hatch on the way out of Bryce so unless there is something between Bryce and Hatch we will be having at least one dinner there.

But I will heed your advice on Springdale for lunch, or wait til we get to Kanab.

Rocking V looks like my kind of place and not out of our league.

Jacob's Lake looks like a good pitstop. I have driven past and never gone inside.

They need to do something about the restaurants on the South Rim. I would hate to pay for El Tovar and have it be more Sysco food like the Arizona Room.
mlgb is offline  
Old Aug 26th, 2014, 02:56 AM
  #4  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 861
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
We had a fantastic meal at the Rocking V in Kanab. In Springdale, we enjoy the sandwiches from Café Soleil - very reasonable and they'll wrap them to go for a picnic later.
sharondi is offline  
Old Aug 26th, 2014, 03:15 AM
  #5  
J62
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
The best lunch in Springdale, hands down, is picnic fixins you pick up along the way, or at the small market by the main entrance.

Then spread yourself out on the lawn by Zion Lodge, under the cottonwoods, and soak in Zion.
J62 is online now  
Old Aug 26th, 2014, 03:20 AM
  #6  
J62
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
At Zion, if all you are doing is driving across the edge of the park on the way east then you are bypassing the most remarkable part of the park, Zion Canyon. At a minimum, take a few hrs to ride the shuttle bus up/down the valley, then stop at the lodge on the way back and picnic there.
J62 is online now  
Old Aug 26th, 2014, 05:12 AM
  #7  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 24,530
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for the recommendation on Cafe Soleil, that looks like a good takeaway stop (and coffee).

We've been to Zion before, so will pass on the shuttle bus.
mlgb is offline  
Old Aug 26th, 2014, 05:51 PM
  #8  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 24,530
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Ha! A Sunset/Sunrise room just popped up at the Bryce Lodge on the night we needed.

I think I will bag the money we would have spent at El Tovar and put it toward the room.

Woohoo.
mlgb is offline  
Old Aug 27th, 2014, 07:04 AM
  #9  
J62
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Posts: 11,921
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Sunset/Sunrise rooms at Bryce are comfortable, utilitarian hotel rooms in various out buildings in the woods, but I love the location. Close walk to the rim and the lodge, you can park right by the rooms.
J62 is online now  
Old Sep 22nd, 2014, 08:22 AM
  #10  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 24,530
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Reporting back, we had one night's dinner from the Camp Curry cafeteria (trout with capers and zucchini medley) that was surprisingly good. I also have to say both the server and our cashier were sweethearts. BTW, it seems adults often order the children's dinners (which seems to consist of one protein and one side).

The buffet breakfast at the Ahwahnee was not well managed, many items were on the steam table for over an hour. Nice fresh strawberries and yogurt, though.

My good camera broke in Yosemite, so there was no point in stopping at Lee Vining or the Tufa area ;( (Bought a cheap replacement in Pahrump, the armpit of Nevada).

In Bishop we went out for dinner at Yamatani http://yamatanibishop.com/
We stocked up at Schat's Bakkery in the morning, with half the town scooping up day-old breads. There is also Farmer's Market on Saturday mornings, and we added some provisions from the adjacent local grocery (Joseph's) and jerky from Mahogany Meats http://www.smokedmeats.com/

We had a late start from Bishop so no stopping in Springdale. Best Friends cottage in Angel Canyon had a mini-kitchen & we enjoyed our deli-sandwich dinner and wine overlooking the horse corrals. The next day we had the $5 Best Friends vegan buffet for lunch.

No meals were purchased at the Bryce Lodge (thankfully).

We hit up Jacob's Lake Inn for cookies (twice!)

Our dinner at the North Rim was horrible. I am sorry we kept the reservation. Lesson: Never order chicken at a restaurant where all the food is cooked before shift and slapped on your plate to push you out in the minimum time possible.

Cliff Dwellers Lodge restaurant was fantastic for both dinner (steak) and breakfast (panko trout/ corned beef hash plus eggs, choice of grits or hash browns). A welcome respite from NPS food service hell. We passed Marble Canyon's restaurant actively under construction.

At Maswik we had two of the last three slices of pizza and a fresh (!) side salad which we zhuzhed up in the room. The next day, fellow birders said their hamburgers were still slightly frozen in the center, so glad we went with pizza. On the final morning, our shuttle bus was rear-ended by a Sysco truck which confirms my suspicions about their supplier.

Stopped for dinner in Barstow on the way home, and the Popeye's chicken was 5-star after that North Rim disaster.
mlgb is offline  
Old Sep 22nd, 2014, 08:55 AM
  #11  
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 5,904
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thanks for coming back and giving the feedback. Too bad about the dining in the parks. We've done ok at the south rim at both el Tovar for a nice meal and at Bright Angle (not Arizona) for casual meal.
emalloy is offline  
Old Sep 27th, 2014, 05:19 AM
  #12  
 
Join Date: Jun 2003
Posts: 861
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
For really good homestyle food (nothing fancy), we love the restaurant at Bryce Canyon Pines along Route 12 just west of the turnoff for Bryce Canyon Nat'l Park. On our recent trip, we ate all of our meals there and all were great. Not much of a beef eater, but they make a mean patty melt!
sharondi is offline  
Old Oct 3rd, 2014, 08:03 AM
  #13  
Original Poster
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 24,530
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Hey sharondi, I'll try to flag that for next time. I forgot to mention that we had dinner at Mason Street Grill inside the Eureka Casino in Mesquite. We felt nostalgic for wonton soup and sweet-sour pork. I know old school Chinese is bland, but the food was extremely so. Probably should have chosen differently. Our server had the biggest smile I've ever seen. People were coming in and asking to be seated in his section. I think his name was Jaime. For breakfast we had a slow start and got two egg McMuffins to go while I gassed up.
mlgb is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Original Poster
Forum
Replies
Last Post
cheers2000
United States
4
May 24th, 2017 08:30 PM
bellhouse
United States
12
Jul 10th, 2011 05:30 PM
KarenInFla
United States
13
Mar 17th, 2008 06:50 PM
JIW
United States
10
May 5th, 2005 12:31 PM
travelgirl12
United States
9
Apr 1st, 2004 05:24 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are On


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Manage Preferences - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information -