We'll be visiting the parks soon (staying at the lodges) and hate to be locked into dinner times due to reservations. Are there any other dining options in the area? Not sure how far the neighboring towns are and if there will even be dining places within reasonable driving times. Any suggestions?

Several good options near Zion in Springdale, not as many at Bryce (maybe Ruby's Inn, one or two other restaurants), many near south rim of Grand Canyon at Tusayan, nothing at all close to the north rim of the GC.

Bill

We ate dinner one night at Foster's, on the highway just a couple of miles west of the Bryce Canyon turnoff. It was good and fairly inexpensive - nothing fancy. The other night we at at Ruby's Inn's fast food-type place - again, fairly inexpensive and decent food.

Lee Ann

We stayed at the parks last August and liked the dining options. It seemed like they had a lot of flexibility even in the summer, so you might not be as locked in as you think.

One out-of-park place we really liked was the Bit n' Spur (sounds tacky, but it had terrific food/atmosphere) in Springdale near Zion. I read about it on this forum! Great margaritas and Mexican food. Large portions - depending how hungry you are, you might split.

I agree with Bit n' Spur in Springdale (Zion). Also Oscar's as well as the cafe at the Best Western. For Bryce and GC you are pretty much stuck with the restaurants inside the park.

I must respectfully disagree about the Bit'n Spur reommend. We found it barely o.k. and overprices for what it had to offer.

We very much enjoyed Spotted Dog Cafe in Springdale. Fabulous food, gracious service, romantic setting.

Anna Roz

When staying in a cabin at Zion, we had breakfast at the Zion Lodge. To be eating breakfast, and watching the darkness slowly disappear, was a highlight of the trip.

The sun's rays first hit the tip of the facing canyon wall, then slowly make their way down the face, illuminating both the day and the canyon.... Spectacular!

by the way, the Arizona steakhouse at Bright Angel in the Grand Canyon doesn't take reservations. So you don't have to worry about being pinned down there. Although I thought the food was just okay. and we did have to wait quite a while for a table. (helpful hint though...if you go there, put your name o nthe list, they give you a beeper. The range is good enough that you can have a cocktail in the other bar, not the crowded on in the restaurant, the one that doubles as a coffee shop in the daytime. Its FAR less crowded, at least when we were there)

In Springdale, we enjoyed:
Zion Pizza and Noodles - fun, friendly, loud, casual place with good pizza and pasta.
Sol Foods - right at the main entrance of Zion. Great sandwiches.
Majestic View Steakhouse - Nice room, great views and very good food.

We did not really like Oscar's. This was recommended very highly by several employees at the Desert Pearl, where we were staying. The portions were ridiculously huge and the food mediocre.

Hi Karen,

Springdale, Zion, is the only one that really has options.

I always eat at Zion Pizza & Noodle, consistently great food at decent prices, fun atmosphere.

I had a bad service experience the one time I tried to dine at Spotted Dog. Sat there for 40 minutes and couldn't get my order taken. Walked out.

I also wasn't impressed with Oscar's. Just mediocre.

The restaurant at the Zion Park Inn is surprisingly good.

We enjoyed Zion Pizza and Noodle and Bit & Spur in Springdale. While at the GC we ate at Bright Angel and it was terrible. We are going to try El Tovar on our visit in July. At Bryce we stopped at Ruby's. It was decent and reasonably priced.

Thanks for all the great advice - I've added everything to my planning forlder! I feel better knowing that we can fully enjoy the parks at leisure and not have to worry so much about making it to a dinner reservation. We already planned on having breakfast at the lodges so bookhall's tip about the sunrise sounds wonderful - can't wait! We expect to pick up some munchies and such as we leave Las Vegas so we'll have snacks. I assume we can get some sandwiches or similar and drinks to pack along for hiking trips in or around the parks also. Worst case scenario we'll have granola bars and yoohoo's!

We liked the Spotted Dog at Zion, and the bumbleberry pancakes at the Bumbleberry Inn there were good.

We ate at Ruby's at Bryce and found it good for its being host to a captive audience.

If you want to take a look at the sunrise pix, go to http://community.webshots.com/user/b...host=community