Now that the location of this restaurant has been corrected, hopefully others will not have a problem getting here by GPS. I've been here a few times over the past 30 years, both pre-fire and post-fire. While the "old" character was lost in the fire, the totally rebuilt building still has a rustic-ness that will serve it well for many years to come.
We arrived about 7 pm on a Wednesday night and there wasn't a single parking place left in their private lot. Lucky for us some of the early diners were just leaving and we were able to take one of their spots. Considering all the cars in the lot, the place was only about 2/3 full.
The noise level inside is rather high. There is nothing to absorb the sound of people laughing and enjoying themselves as the sound bounces off all the rough hewn timber. It would seem that in addition to a number of "regulars" who dine here, there were also "former regulars." I say this because as we were greeted by the host (maybe owner) another party of two came in behind us and got big hugs and a loudly exclaimed greeting while were were asked to wait while the host seated this couple. After we were seated at our table, another couple came in and got the same warm greeting as the couple behind us. During the course of our dinner, there were numerous other occasions of customers arriving or leaving and seeing and hugging other customers like it was a high school reunion. These are truly friendly people who congregate here.
Staff also seem warm and friendly. Our server joked with me when I had her confirm that I thought I heard her say one of the choices for dressing was hot-bacon. She commented that she noticed my mouth start to drool when she mentioned it.
We started with a couple pints of beer ($5 ea.) and mushroom caps ($7.25) stuffed with sharp cheddar cheese, savory sausage and vegetable dressing. I believe there were 5 good sized caps and a very tasty filling. My salad was delivered at the same time as the appetizer so I didn't notice right away that the dressing-on-the-side might not have been what I ordered. When I did taste it, I realized that I had been given blue cheese dressing. While I kept an eye out for our waitress to let her know, we had now finished the app and I decided to simply eat the salad as delivered since blue cheese would have otherwise been my choice. By the time our waitress did reappear I had finished the salad and she was now serving a table of 7 not far from ours.
My wife ordered a Coners Fireside Burger ($8.25) with cheese (+$.75) and sauteed mushrooms (+$.75). It was properly cooked to the requested medium rare, came on an artisan roll that tasted like a sweet roll, and also came with lettuce, tomato,coleslaw, a pickle and french fries. My wife decided to eat the 8 oz. Angus beef without the roll. The burger was good enough that I'd return here just for that.
I ordered one of the nightly specials - a stuffed roast pork roulade with prosciutto, some bitter leafy greens and crumbled cheese (maybe goat) ($19.95). It came with sliced vegetables (carrots, zucchini and summer squash) and I chose mashed potatoes instead of rice. While the outer edges of the pork roll were just a bit dry, the inner portion was not over cooked and quite tender. This was a large enough portion that I brought home two slices of the pork roll and some vegetables and potato.
We had just enough room left for coffee ($2 ea.) and dessert. The lemon cream filled cake ($5.95) that we shared was actually worth the drive. The menu is large and diverse enough that there is something for just about everyone. I expect that we'll be returning to explore more of it. read more