Dining in Yosemite National Park
 

Please give me your suggestions about dining at establishments within and in towns within easy driving distance of Yosemite NP. On a previous visit, we enjoyed dinner at Wawona Hotel. Is lunch or dinner prefereable at the Ahwahnee Hotel? Should we try to do both? Is anything at Yosemite Lodge worth trying? Thanks for your responses!

We very much enjoyed Sunday brunch at the Ahwahnee. Don't know about other meals there, but the dining room itself is beautiful. As I recall, Yosemite Lodge had a cafeteria-style place that was ok, and a more formal dining room, which we never tried.

We usually camp out and cook our own meals, but we have eaten in the Lodge caffeteria-style restaurant and it was good.

We had an excellent Easter brunch at the Awahanee and have had very nice dinners at the Wawona in the summer on their outdoor patio.

The Tenaya Lodge also has a nice restaurant and we have had a couple of very nice brunches there, also.

In Bass Lake, Ducey's on the Lake is excellent and if you want to go to Oakhurst, there is The Elderberry House which is a five star restaurant. They now serve meals on weekends in the bistro. www.elderberryhouse.com **8kim***

We were not impressed at all with the food or service at the Ahwahnee Hotel. We we so disappointed that we left mid-meal and had pasta at the cafeteria and that was ok and priced accordingly. The Elderberry House is wonderful. We went there when we were staying at the Tenaya Lodge. It would be a long drive if you are staying in the Valley but it is worth it if you stay on the southern end of the park for one night as we did.

If I were staying in the valley, I can't think of a single restaurant that would be worth the drive in and out. That said, every single thing in the park is over priced. You're a captive audience and they know it.

My personal preferences are for breakfast/brunch at the Ahwahnee. You get to appreciate both the building and the setting (you can't do this at night because of the darkness). This is the one meal where the diference between the value of what you get is closet to the value that you pay.

Everything else is just sort of industrial. The Mountain Room at the lodge is nicer than pizza, but it's still a kind of upscale cafeteria food.

I too find the Ahwahnee overrated. I haven't eaten there since their old chef Doug Anderson left.

We enjoyed the Yosemite Lodge as we asked for a window seat and could see Yosemite Falls as we ate an early dinner. We also had an early dinner at the Ahwahnee and enjoyed the view there before it got dark and enjoyed the piano intertainment after dark.