The food, service and ambience was all 5 star! Keisha was our waitress and she has a beautiful smile and provides great care and service. Menu is simple, but everything looked great! We shared the Caesar Salad (it was plentiful) and shared a Rib Eye- it was wonderful! read more

12 Gage Restaurant - Ribeye with spinach and potatoes. - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

Wow. Such a disappointment. Here from San Antonio...treating my wife to some glamping in Big Bend for her birthday, but staying at the Gage first. So, of course I wanted to treat her to a nice dinner. Reservation 6:45p. Seated almost immediately. Service fell off a cliff after that. We ordered the filet for two - $128 - 16 oz of filet - you share a Caesar salad - you share mashed potatoes and asparagus. Salad came out relatively quickly, and was huge. It could easily feed four. However, it was 7:40 before the meal arrived. At one point, one of the waitresses asked if she could bring us a dessert menu or our check. That's how long we sat there. We had to tell her we hadn't eaten yet. When the food did finally arrive, the steak was cooked unevenly and served almost cold, as was the portobello mushroom...which was dry and overcooked. Additionally, I'm not sure there were 16oz of meat on that tray. Totally irritating and not worth the money. No where near worth the money. The only reason they get two stars: the salad was actually pretty decent, as was the bread service. read more

Great service, atmosphere and food! Hard to believe you get such a diverse and delicious meal in this tiny town. The bread and dairy butter are delish but don't fill up on this treat! For starters opt for the beet salad, large enough to split! The Caesar salad was just ok with stale croutons and large gulf shrimp which was very salty. We enjoyed awesome quail bites with the perfect breading. Red snapper was also delicious. The Orecchiette pasta dish was very good as well as the Nilgai steak. The ribeye chicken fried steak was tasty but a little heavy in breading and could have used a little more gravy. The créame brûlée was creamy and tasty as was the German chocolate cake. I highly recommend! My rating is 4.5. read more

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12 Gage is a must stop if you are heading west or to Big Bend. The restaurant operated 6-9pm the day we went so we decided to head there are some big bend hikes. Alpine is a quiet town with limited selection but sometimes small things have great impacts and 12 Gage did just that. Immediately you are greeted with an esthetic of classic West Texas meeting modern needs. The menu is concise and drives real flavor focuses. We ordered the quail as a starter and it was crispy with a unique BBQ take. I do think the small veggie salad is not needed. For entrees we had the special of the day red fish with veggies and crab cakes. Both were amazing and our waiter let us know they do get fresh fish in daily. The crab cakes had a lemon purée sauce they sat on with just the right amount of citrus to elevate the crab cakes flavor. The red fish had a crispy skin with a purée to complement the veggies and gosh combination. We would order both if and when we return. Last the star... a bourbon bread pudding. Now bread pudding may not seem to some an elevated dessert but this one was. First it was fresh with a warm steam And a scoop of Hope (Plano ice cream spot) vanilla bean ice cream on top. Below this was a white cream sauce that had just the right spice of bourbon within. Even if you just eat dessert 12 Gage is the spot yo try in west Texas. Everyone was engaging and our water glasses never went empty. I truly felt the true culture of Texas in 12 Gage and can't wait to return. read more

12 Gage Restaurant - Bourbon bread pudding - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

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Our meals and drinks were outstanding, the service from the staff was excellent, and the ambiance was perfect.

While your restaurant choices are limited in Marathon, the 12 Gage Restaurant provides a great option for a nice meal. We chose to sit in their covered outdoor seating area (next to the White Buffalo Bar) since the weather was beautiful out. We started with the Asparagus & Egg starter for something different. The preparation had you wanting to eat all of your veggies. For dinner, my husband went with the New York Strip. It was prepared exactly the way he wanted and the meat had great flavor. I went back to the Baked Eggplant Parmigiana as I didn't want to pass up having the best eggplant Parmesan I've ever had twice (I was introduced to it the night before when we ate at the White Buffalo Bar). The dish lived up to the hype I had given it the day before as it was amazing the second time around! The thinly sliced and layered eggplant is such a game changer to the dish, and the flavor was outstanding. The accompanied greens and grilled focaccia were a great accompaniment to the eggplant. Our server was friendly and did a great job keeping our beverages flowing as we enjoyed our meal. read more

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Cooked my NY strip perfectly. And it was THICK. Potatoes were slightly under done though and it said they were rosemary/parm potatoes.... So I was hoping for a more cheesy goodness and they were pretty plain. I think adding a cheaper cut steak option would go a long way for this place!! Hostess and waitress were great!! Also there's live music on the patio tonight which in this tiny town which is so fun! read more

12 Gage Restaurant - NY strip with fingerling potatoes over spinach and an empty prickly pear margarita. - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

Terrible experience and meal. Showed up early XMAS eve was told I could wait in the bar. Nobody came for us so I reinitiated with the host 15 after our reservation time. Host had to take our order, waitress avoided us as she could read my face I was not happy. They were out of the Nigai, wife and I split an $84 ribeye. Appetizers were good. Ribeye was not, heavily charred on the outside and sinewy throughout. Meat did not qualify as Prime, was Choice at best. Underwhelming service considering the price. So disappointed had the reservations in since late summer. Should have gone to Reata in Alpine. read more

Small town is almost an understatement when describing Marathon Texas. Haven't learned much about the history here yet but I do know there aren't a lot of...ok,make that two dining options. The one I chose was the 12 Gage. Attached to the historic Gage Hotel. Way out here I'm sure complications of skilled and enough help are compounded. Those two things are what seem to have haunted my meal tonight. Just be aware your a little bit of a captive audience here and the prices are higher. All in all the meal was good but I won't be standing in line waiting to return. read more

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Great little steak house in Marathon. Fillet was seasoned and cooked perfectly. Our server was sweet and we never had to ask for anything. read more

12 Gage Restaurant - Fillet - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

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Cute Texan atmosphere with ample seating and great service! Our food was just mediocre though and definitely not worth the price (though portion sizes were good). My boyfriend had the scallops & shrimp which came on a bed of mushroom risotto. The scallops were cooked well, the shrimp was slightly undercooked, and the risotto had quite a few undercooked/crunchy bits throughout. For it being called mushroom risotto, there were four mushrooms in the risotto (and looked/tasted thrown in rather than chopped pieces cooked in). My southwestern Caesar salad with blackened chicken was good, but I've had comparable for a fraction of the price. The Gage Hotel is a cute stop and 12 Gage was the closest restaurant we saw leaving the Big Bend NP that was open, but next time we'll drive further to Alpine to eat. read more

3.5/5 For being the only fine dining restaurant in the area, I was disappointed with the dishes. We ordered the bison burger, the vegetarian pasta (added chicken), and the butterscotch pudding. The Bison burger could have had a better flavor, meat was gamey (which was expected). The pasta had a good portion size, but the pesto sauce they used needed to be more flavorful. The dishes were also expensive and not worth the price. read more

12 Gage Restaurant - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

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This is a must while visiting the area Everything was very good tasting and well prepared Staff are super friendly and professional as well as personable Ambiance is cool old west Texas My only frown face is I should have called and checked the menu While I had a superior steak and an appetizer of quail they no longer offer stuffed quail or antelope steak read more

Great experience having dinner here for the first time. Betsy was our waitress and she was super sweet! Highly recommend stopping in for dinner if you're staying in town or next door. Reservations are recommend as it gets pretty busy in the evening. Even in a Tuesday night the place was hoping. I suggest 7:30pm or later like we did. Most everyone was leaving by then. The ambiance is charming and romantic southwest. I ordered the shrimp Cesar salad for my meal and was delicious! Husband got the chicken equally perfect. They offer a bread basket with jalepeno muffins. They have nice by the glass Argentine Malbec on the menu too if you like wine. 12 Gage did not disappoint! read more

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Not many choices in Marathon. We were spending the evening there while we hiked in Big Bend. This place was a bit fancier than expected but we rolled in anyway with our leggings. Seemed that when you walk in - there are multiple restaurants in one or areas. The menu is pretty limited. Mostly different types of steak. Our server was extremely friendly and polite. I got the country fried steak. You are given the option of white gravy or jalapeño gravy. It was recommended by our server to get the jalapeño due to flavor. He was right!! The food came out quickly. The portion was huge. The country fried steak batter was flavored very well and the fixings were also delicious. vegetables tasted so fresh and the mash potatoes were good. read more

12 Gage Restaurant - Country fried steak - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

Made our reservation months in advance. Came into dining room on time and there were a few empty tables on the inside. Hostess went to seat us in the courtyard/patio area and my husband asked if we could be seated inside. She had us stand to the side, and after 5 minutes motioned to us. As I said, there were empty tables inside. She seated us in a sterile back room which was institutionally lit, at a tiny table right next to the wall. My husband is a big man, clearly not comfortable. I asked that the lights be dimmed and they were, a bit. Never saw the hostess again. The waitress was amenable but not memorable. The salad was good, and we ordered the special, medium rare. It came to the table bloody red. At this point, neither of us wanted to complain. We are the little of it we could (and it was a beautiful piece of meat), and took the rest back to our room for the dog. The back room we were in, all alone till we finished our meal, also has one large table for big groups. A group came in as we were finishing, and immediately asked for the lights to be dimmed. And they were dimmed, appropriately for dining. My take away from this meal that we had looked forward to is that the restaurant could care less. I don't know why. We were guests of the hotel, it was our second visit, and we were dressed up in anticipation of the evening. Except for asking for different seating, we made absolutely no requests. We both felt really sad about our evening. If the hostess had told us the tables were reserved, or even any excuse, we would have taken the patio table. That brightly sterile back room with the tiny table shoved up against the wall was nothing but insulting. Again, I don't know why we were treated this way. The hotel kept suggesting the new pizza place despite the fact that we kept saying we had dinner reservations at the Gage. i guess we should have paid attention. read more

Our recent trip to Big Bend took us for dinner at the Gage Restaurant. The hotel/restaurant is beautiful and screams TEXAS. From the paintings, taxidermy to the Longhorn skulls, you will have a unique experience. For a starter, we had the shrimp Campeche. Served with fresh tortilla chips, it was very tasty. We went with the chicken fried steak which is served with mashed potatoes and vegetables for dinner. The portions are large and I enjoyed every bite! To put a bow on the evening, we had the brownie with vanilla ice cream. Yes, served in a cast iron skillet, it was piping hot and delicious. If you are ever in Marathon, Texas the Gage Restaurant is a MUST! Go get Full read more

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While visiting the Big Bend area, we decided to stay in Marathon and the Gage hotel. This was the obvious place to dine and we were VERY happy that we did. I thought it would be much more crowded than it turned out to be, but this was the start of the "slow season". As a result, we practically had the restaurant to ourselves. It started out with a basket of breads. Cornbread, sourbread, etc. All well made and just the right "taste" size. Since we came early the meal came out wickedly fast. We should have had some drinks or an appetizer to slow things down. Anyway, I went with the meatloaf because I'm a sucker for my mom's meatloaf. This was a kick way up the culinary arts scale from what my mom makes, so I enjoyed the "high falutin" version. It came with some great green beans and my favorite: mashed potatoes. Unfortunately, my dinner date had the rib-eye. Unfortunate because she couldn't eat it all and gave me some. Wow!! I enjoyed the meatloaf until I tried it. Then I just felt like a rube. That steak was powerfully good, well aged, awesomely cooked - it was the best steak I've had in a long time and it suddenly made me regret my dinner choices. If you want a great meal in Marathon, with awesome staff, in a beautiful setting - you gotta try this place out. read more

12 Gage Restaurant - Tasty bacon wrapped meatloaf with awesome sides. Loved that chutney like thing in the dish, too. - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

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I just ate the second finest tenderloin of my life. (The best was at a locally renowned restaurant in Chicago). Naturally, they charged approximately. But this is a fine dining experience in a somewhat remote area in Texas. The oyster nachos are fried and served with cotija cheese and watermelon radish, and the filet was just perfect. I had a sotol margarita and a carajillo night cap. Overall, it was a top shelf evening with plenty of local Texas atmosphere. The Gage Hotel anchors the town, from morning coffee through late night at the bar. Highly recommended. read more

No Bueno. Steak had no sear and no flavor. Sides were nothing special. Definitely not on par with the price. Wait staff was great.

Great service and food very good. Generous helpings. Nice anniversary dinner! Very friendly and welcoming! read more

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This restaurant is located inside the Gage Hotel in Marathon, Tx. - Small little town but worth stopping by if you're in the west Texas area. Beautiful hotel, restaurant, and bar. The night we went it was pretty busy so there was a little bit of a wait. I'd recommend making a reservation if you can. I was not disappointed with the food, it was reasonably priced for a Hotel restaurant and it was worth it. read more

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We dined in tonight and had Sedilla as a waitress. She was amazing. Extremely helpful with recommendations and very friendly. She recommended the chicken fried steak WITH jalapeño gravy. This over-seeded our expectations. Must try. You won't regret it. Sedilla let us know how huge the portion was so we opted to split the dish. So glad we did because the portion was huge. I will say though, they charge $5 fee for splitting. This restaurant is a must stop while in Marathon, TX. The entrance is a little confusing, enter the Buffalo bar and head left to the hostess area. read more

Group of six ate here Tuesday night before Thanksgiving. Had another fabulous meal here with great drinks, great food, terrific service. Everything was spectacular. read more

12 Gage Restaurant - On the wall in the bar. - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

Nice little watering hole in Marathon. They do start serving drinks and some awesome looking loaded nachos at 3 PM, but their full bar menu starts at 6 PM. Lots of seating inside and out, and be sure to check out the back patio (the door to the back patio is at the left side of the bar). They had four beers on tap and I was glad I found one that suited me... read more

Excellent food, spectacular ambience. We were able to dine outside with our dogs. My wife had the Chicken Tortilla Soup which we both agreed was the best (by far) of any we have ever had. There was a wonderful deep chile flavor. I had the salmon which was good. After seeing other entrees delivered to other tables, I think the quail would have been a better choice. If you eat beef (we don't), then that would probably the absolute best choice. read more

I've been coming here for more than 30 years. Until recently, I've always left a satisfied customer. But the restaurant is starting to look like it is cutting corners to make money. Usually, I order the chicken fried steak in the jalapeno gravy. The steak used to sit on a bed of mashed potatoes and was smothered with the gravy and a side order of green beans. Tonight, there was barely a ladle full of gravy on the steak and the mashed potatoes served on the side were colder than an ol' blue norther. There was no hint of jalapeno in the gravy, either, and the green beans were rubbery. Might as well admit the steak wasn't exactly hall of fame either. Seemed tough. I'm done spending money at this place. There is just too damned much presumption by ownership and management that people will come and pay just for the location and ambience. I may saunter in for one of their weak assed drinks now and again, but I'll never eat there again. read more

First time at 12 Gage with friends who are repeat customers. Special ambience. Special event or special treat.

Excellent food and service. Great bar and drinks !!!!! One of the better steaks in West Texas.

Sat at the bar the nachos were great the atmosphere was awesome, the drinks were great and the company was fantastic

Truly the best steak we've had since we've been here. Staying in Marfa, eating at several different good restaurants, it was worth the 55 minute drive from Marfa to the Gage in Marathon. Our server, Taylor, was fun which made our dinner even better. The steaks were DELISH foodies. Slightly crunchy on the outside and cooked to perfection, perfection y'all. Placed upon garlic mashed potatoes with a wilted spinach and kale side that had the most fantastic flavors. Every bite was a delight to my palate. Since we had such a wonderful experience with dinner we ordered a Brownie and some kind of ice cream that, well, my picture tells THAT story! Lol Do go into the White Buffalo Saloon and grab something to drink. Their famous hand squeezed margarita should do the trick and then ... enjoy your dinner! read more

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I greatly enjoyed my evening here at 12 Gauge; the service was stellar and the ambiance was inviting. The steak was cooked to perfection and was very tasty albeit a little too much fat and gristle for my liking. The potatoes that accompanied the dish were phenomenal but the veggies were way overcooked, almost mush. Hence the 4 star rating. I would highly recommend this restaurant going forward and would definitely return if I've the chance to return to the area read more

12 Gage Restaurant - NY strip - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

Chicken fried steak was average. The fried quail appetizer was not edible. It was so tough, it wouldn't come off the bone. The waitress removed the charge from the bill, so I did appreciate that she did that. The steak filet was very good, but my medium well came out medium. I asked them to cook it a bit longer, and they brought it back out and I'm pretty sure they didn't touch it. So if you order the steak, order it more cooked than you usually do. read more

They have the best filet I have had in many years. I did not want to eat it because if I did I would have any left to eat. It is not the cheap but it was outside. Excellent service. If it find myself in Marathon TX again I will be returning. read more

12 Gage Restaurant - Ok - American Near Me - Marathon, Texas

My boyfriend and I had been in Big Bend all day and planned to eat at 12 Gage around 10 pm. We misunderstood the hours the Gage restaurant was open. When we arrived at 10 pm, Andrea explained the restaurant was closed at 9:00 pm. We had nothing to eat in our room except for Power bars and we were hungry after the long hike. Andrea's generosity and empathy was so evident when she offered us her two employee meals of chicken fingers and mashed potatoes. We were so appreciative of her selfless offer and grateful accepted the food. So happy to see that the Gage Hotel and restaurant have thoughtful, empathetic and kind people employed there. Thank you Andrea for your kindness and generosity! The meal was tasty and the next time we are in Marathon we will visit the Gage during serving hours and thank Andrea again face to face. . Thank you Andrea!! read more

Had dinner while staying at the Gage Hotel. We had the filet and strip and both were really great. High quality! Great service!

Well its been 10 years since we have been here, and glad we returned. We started with a few drinks and custom cocktails in the indoor bar area. We relaxed and then enjoyed another drink and some sunlight on the spacious outside patio. Then, when the dining room opened at 6pm, we moved to our table to enjoy a salad and the delicious bread basket. We had the red fish entree, a streak entree and iced tea. We both enjoyed our meals. We completed the dinner with the butterscotch pots de creme. Very nice. We asked the server for multiple baskets of bread because it was the perfect companion to all courses. The dining area we were in seemed like it was a partial courtyard with a tent roof and fireplace complete with Mexican equipale chairs and tables. This beautiful rustic furniture added to the personality of the historic hotel. Service - host, bartender and server were all very nice and knowledgeable of the menu, and the server marked each course at the table with fresh silverware. Very polished environment for such a tiny town! Will we be back? Absolutely. read more

We ate here on 2 separate nights, because we got snowed in and stuck in the city. I am extremely upset by this restaurant and they should be closed down. During our Covid crisis the managers are not requiring their waiters to wear masks. And yes the managers were completely aware of this. I will provide a picture of their waiter who was serving food, chatting with customers for 5 minutes at a time and not required to wear a mask. I am considering contacting the state about this. Don't go here because they have no safety measures enforced. Additionally, their food was ok, but not worth the price. I ordered a medium steak and it arrived rare. I sent it back to the kitchen and had it returned burnt and completely ruined the cut of meat. How disappointed we were! read more

Great atmosphere and awesome service. Felt upscale but not stuffy. The menu offered some great west Texas meals including ribeye, salads, incredible starters and perfectly done cocktails. Save room for dessert, we didn't and we regret it! Looks so so good. read more

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This spot was unique. Had dinner with friends, staff was very friend and helpful. We enjoyed many many drinks from the bar, they were wonderful. Food was good but I can't say it met expectations. Food was a little cold when it came out. Overall I would try it again. read more

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