This is my favorite place to eat in the area. I love the idea of family-style meals, and I really love how the menu changes daily, and you get what you get, and if you want more, you can have more, and if you don't want something, you don't have to have it. The service is always good. The food is always delicious. You can always count on having to wait on fried chicken night, which I think is both hilarious and amazing. I've eaten here for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I've never had a bad meal once. I'll definitely continue to bring my out-of-town guests here as one of the Humboldt County highlights. read more

Food and atmosphere is excellent. Staff is great, busy can become overwhelmed when busy. We're lucky to have such a cool, historic, and tasty place! read more

This was just a perfect lunch. Simple menu - baked beans, brisket (some of the best I've ever had) tasty corn and a brownie. Generous portions and a fun historical environment. Friendly staff. read more

Very interesting. It was also fairly busy! We had breakfast. I would like to try a dinner.

The experience of eating in this original cookhouse was something I will always remember. The history is rich with stories. Food was comfort food and for a minute I thought I was at my Grama's table. So sweet and great service. read more

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I had planned to give the place 3 stars (because of the chicken dish I had) butI think if you're in Eureka you should try it. You should try for the historical aspect and experience. There's is the dinner hall that lumberjacks ate at when there was a lumber mill there. You sit at long tables like workers would have and they bring you / your group out salad and bread, then soup, then the entree of the day, and finally desert. It's a set menu though you can choose your salad dressing. It's all you can eat. I heard the pot roast dinner is good. The chicken cachitore not so good. The beef soup was really good. read more

I have been coming here since I was 10 years old. I love the log house feel and family-style dining. The food is always excellent and hot. It's not at all fancy and the price is very reasonable! It's a fun detour from normal restaurant dining. And ask if you could buy a loaf of that bread! It is so good! read more

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What a huge disappointment! We ate here many years ago while visiting the area. We loved it then. The food was so good, WAS. We made a special stop in Eureka this current visit just to eat at Samoa Cookhouse. We came during breakfast. This day it was French toast, eggs, and sausage with a side of biscuits and gravy for an extra fee. It was hands down the worst breakfast I have ever eaten. The scrambled eggs were served in rubbery blocks. The eggs were tough and the only thing that resembled egg was the color. They had no egg flavor, no flavor period. The French toast also had no flavor. The middle was soggy and when you cut into the edges it was just bread. Sausage is hard to screw up, it's already seasoned so that tasted OK. Worst of all we're the biscuits and gravy. The biscuits were so dense and thick. The gravy had no flavor and we had to pay extra for this! All around were full plates of biscuits and gravy that other customers left behind unfinished so we weren't the only ones who didn't think much of them. We ordered a loaf of bread as it was fresh out of the oven. The bread was dense and doughy and tasteless. Not at all what I remembered. It was a VERY expensive breakfast that was barely palatable. I don't know what happened to this place. Maybe Covid has something to do with it and they just can't find a decent cook? Looked like there might be a change in ownership. If that happens I hope the new owner can restore this place to its former glory. Being from Southern Cal I doubt I'll ever eat here again but it would be a shame for the town if Samoa Cookhouse stays as it is now and doesn't reach its full potential read more

This place is pretty interesting! It felt like thanksgiving! It's a traditional style restaurant where everyone passes the food around the table to share. There's not much of a menu. Whatever they're serving that day is what you get along with bread, soup, and salad (we had pork with gravy, chicken Parmesan, green beans, scalloped potatoes, and brownies). I'm giving it only 3 stars because although the food was good, it wasn't anything special. But on the bright side it's all you can eat! read more

Samoa Cookhouse - American Near Me - Samoa, California

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Love Samoa Cookhouse I've been coming here for years All you can eat Homemade Pot Roast Roast Beef Fried pork Chicken n more Soup n The BREAD!!! Rocks!!! Going again tonight Whenever I work in Eureka I'm Samoa bound for dinner!! Proverbs 10:22 read more

This place is a must for anyone interested in American history or logging camp life as it is a living museum in addition to a great family-style restaurant. I've heard a lot of trash talking by folks about some of the food they serve and think it is entirely unfounded. The place is doing what they always have and they do it well. It is a landmark and should not be missed by anyone coming through the area, particularly if you're in a group and have an appetite. Not recommended for light snacking, it's all you can eat of whatever they're serving. Dinners are probably what they're best at, the fried chicken is especially good, and dont forget to check out the logging museum. read more

Nice family style place. Pretend your at a park picnic and that's what you picture. All food comes out to share amongst each other. Ribs were fall off the bone good. Red potatoes were also great. Chairs are not the most comfortable so make your dinner fast. Staff was great and attentive. read more

Samoa Cookhouse - American Near Me - Samoa, California

Go for the rustic building and be sure to look at the pictures on the wall and the displays near the front counter. The staff ranges from friendly like an aunt you don't see very often, to downright surly. Which is honestly in step with what the original servers were probably like. If the food was better, this would be a fun place for families. The food is what an aunt that doesn't see you very often, and doesn't much like your mother, would throw on the table. On Tuesday after work. Geh. read more

Amazing food truly delightful and very tasty! Service was great, very impressed. Fantastic ambiance very cool chunk of history.

There was only a few cars in the parking lot at lunchtime. We, a party of three, walked in saw the sign Soup and Salad asked the hostess-waitress what kind of soup today she answered she didn't know and walked away. Hmmmm we left. It had been years since we had eaten there a few times passing through Eureka. Guess she was having a bad day. read more

They have one menu item each night so check online or Facebook before you go but such great food and a good bargain. $17.95 for dinner and you get soup, salad, fresh amazing bread, your main entree with sides and dessert. A non alcoholic beverage is also included and you can order wine if you want to. So good every time I have been. read more

The food here always exceeds expectations and the staff is fast and provide great service.

If you have never eaten Lumberjack style this is the place to go. If you have a hard time deciding what to order this is the place to go. Staff was very friendly and food was great. Would recommend for couples and families. Definitely go hungry! read more

I think we got fed the leftovers from a banquet refried. The only thing good was the fresh bread and pork soup. if not with family I wouldn't have paid all of the 100$ bill...is that really a hush puppy? read more

If I could do zero stars for this place, I would. It was absolutely horrible. For dinner, you can get the entree of the night with soup, salad, bread, and dessert ($18) or you can just get the soup, salad, bread, and dessert without the entree ($12). They said that they made everything from scratch so we were anticipating some super yummy food. Nope. The soup came first, served family style, which is fun. For homemade soup it tasted amazingly like Campbells vegetable soup. Seriously - just like it. Very disappointing. Then we got our salad. Our server brought one bowl for the four of us and at first we thought it was a salad for just one of us. He said he didn't want to give us too much so he'd bring more if we needed it. It was bagged lettuce. That's it. Lettuce. No tomatoes. Nothing. Well, except croutons. At this point we were not looking forward at all to the remainder of the meal; rice with gravy on it (gross), corn, and pork steak, so we decided to cut our losses and just leave to save $6 each. We had 2 beers and one iced tea at the table. For our Campbells soup, our bag of lettuce, our drinks, and our bread (which was the only thing good at the table) we spent $65.12. To be fair; our server was very nice the whole time and offered to box up desserts to go when we left. We declined and we won't be returning to this restaurant in the future. read more

It's been a little while since I visited Samoa Cookhouse. But I was in the neighborhood recently and decided to pay another visit. The simplicity of the Cookhouse is maybe it's strongest point. It's service is right to the point. It's in a beautiful part of town! If you peep the menu here on yelp, you probably won't be disappointed . read more

The Samoa Cookhouse is part restaurant, part museum. The food is served family style and is all-you-can eat. We had breakfast there, and the French Toast was probably the best I've ever had. The entire restaurant is a museum, and a fascinating one. We were on vacation and pulling a camper, and there was plentiful parking for oversized vehicles. This is an experience worth having while in the Eureka area. read more

This is what I call my "happy place". It feels just like being at home when my mom used to cook dinner and has a very relaxed atmosphere. It is always nice to come home to. Enjoy! read more

It was very strange, Sunday dinner Aug 28. No menu they just make one meal a day. This sunday was Pot roast with mashed potatoes. ALL YOU CAN EAT THEY CLAIM. Well the 4 of us ordered, we got one plate of pot roast (no mash potatoes) with very hard under cooked potato's AND lot of carrots. Mind you 1 plate for 4 people, we of course asked for three more plates got 2 more ,, and the waiter was surprised we wanted more? The gentleman next to us ( one guy) got three full plates one after the other. So that was very strange that 4 people had to share, but he got all he wanted. (must be who you know) We also asked for a plate of meat only, since the plates that were coming to us were mostly carrots and hard potatoes, once we got that meat plate is was also a very tiny portion, and with all that the pot roast was tough. You also get soup (today it was veggie barley (barely warm) and salad, with no toppings at all, just lettuce and really thick dressing. Was hoping for at least an ok experience. Also they say the close at 9pm,, they closed and locked the door at 6pm, turning away willing customers for their mediocre food. Mind you this place is one you have to travel to, it is not in town. We came here last year and were turned away at around 5pm.. wish we would have been turned away again. Save yourself a trip. read more

Great food, great service. Family style serving. When you walk in the menu is there. Simple. You don't like it, walk right back out. We had breakfast. More juice than we could drink! We had biscuits and gravy, French toast, Sausage, and Scrambled Eggs. Neat place with lots of old antiques. A bit loud, but normal if you've got kiddos. We'll be back again! read more

Samoa Cookhouse - Front of Samoa Cookhouse - American Near Me - Samoa, California

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A delicious piece of history. Simple family style food in a room that Thales you back 150 years. The site and building are wonderful and it's well worth a little detour read more

Not the place we all remember and loved. I've been going to the Samoa Cookhouse since I was little. But over the past 5 years or so it has really taken a turn for the worst. We were invited to go out to eat with a family member yesterday so we found ourselves here again. What a disappointment. We sat down at the table and while we were waiting for our drinks we both killed a couple ants each. That's always so shocking to me at a restaurant. I mean...if you can't even deal with the ants...what else are you not dealing with. Secondly, their bread...definitely not fresh. For sure made the day before. There is NOTHING like homemade bread. But one thing about it is that it doesn't last long. The bread used to be my favorite part. To find out they are giving out day old bread was another huge disappointment. Salad was obviously from a lettuce pack...which is perfect fine. But you know how it gets all soggy after being left in your fridge for a week and then you toss it in the garbage? That's how this lettuce was. Except instead of tossing it in the garbage they served it to paying customers. Husband said his chicken was undercooked. I wouldn't know about that because I didn't try it. I know times are tough right now. I really do understand that. But I really wish someone new would take this place on and bring her back to what she used to be. read more

This place was once a 5-Star restaurant, but not so anymore. So overpriced. The building itself is still cool but the food is terrible. The "beef soup" has maybe two pieces of beef. The ribs were awful. The beef was decent. Save yourself a lot of money and go somewhere else!!! read more

Whenever I think of home cooking, I think of Samoa Cookhouse. The decor and staff are amazing. My favorite thing here is their home made bread! You can't get any better bread from anywhere but here! read more

The staff were all great and very friendly, the place was clean, but the food was not good. We had fried chicken which was over-cooked, the rice was very dry, and the peas were hard. Will not go there again. read more

Super impressed! Came to visit Humboldt county from the Bay Area for a celebration of life gathering. We were a party of 50 and were seated in a room where I imagine lumberjacks came to eat after a long day of work. The wait staff were organized and took our orders fairly quickly. What was more impressive how quickly the food came. Biscuits and gravy were amazing, the sausages were delicious (I literally ate 8 of them), scrambled eggs and French toast which were pretty basic. Did I mention how organized and quick the service was? Lastly, take time to walk around because there's a lot of history at this place read more

Wow! Good old fashioned, cooked from scratch, absolutely delicious, reminds you of real home cooking! They even make their own salad dressing! It's all you can eat, but after so many courses placed in front of you, once you get to the ribs you barely have room for the insanely rich brownie at the end! Delightful personal service, and most customers here are regulars. There are meeting rooms bordering the main dining room where local clubs and organizations can eat while they meet. I'm definitely bringing friends here, I'm so glad I explored this little island and found this awesome restaurant! read more

Samoa Cookhouse - American Near Me - Samoa, California

Had a great Sunday Lunch @ Cookhouse where they serve family style all you can eat. Today: roast beef, baked potato, green beans, chicken noodle soup, salad, chocalate pudding w/ homemade bread. Great experience. read more

Samoa Cookhouse - American Near Me - Samoa, California

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I went there recently, for lunch, and was very disappointed. The prices are too high for what you get, even if it's all you can eat. The pot roast was tasteless and dry with no gravy offered, the salad mediocre - all iceberg, the green beans bland, cake dry and on and on. The bread was good but you can't eat enough bread to make it worth it. One of the gals I had lunch with was a vegetarian and they only took a couple of dollars off the price. All she could eat was the salad, green beans and bread. Everything else had meat, of some sort, in it. The service was poor. We had to keep hunting the guy down to get butter, utensils, sugar, refills, etc. Even though it's a tourist attraction, I wouldn't go back, even to entertain guests from out of town. Sorry, but I have to be honest. read more

Always great food and service! The biscuits are tasty, and there's always enough for everyone to fill up!

You haft to go here best food I've ever had and you are paying not just for food but and experience from them just handing you food and the museum the only thing I regret is living so far away. read more

First impression: cool waiting area, the history of this place is amazing. Service: the busser was extremely polite and such a hard worker. As for our server ( older African American lady ) she by far; far from polite. She stopped a person at my table mid sentence and stated how many people wanted this or that(not everyone was at the table). She never explained how it worked. When asking for replenishment of food she didn't seem pleased. She brought 2 sets , so it was awkward for the middle section of our table to get food. This lady also charged us for an extra person on the receipt. When it came time to pay the cashier insisting one person left( when we put our name down , it showed the correct amount of people) the owner had to come out And assure the cashier it's okay. Food: i guess years ago this place was farm to table . As for now, the food was not that great. The biscuits were not fresh , but reheated. They were spongy and some were even hard to the touch/ bite(like when you reheat the pizza in the microwave and the crust is too cooked ) . The eggs were like powdered eggs or something . The French toast was not bad, but she never brought or asked us if we wanted more. We were told orange juice was made fresh , maybe they were out of season. The juice was not great. Would I come back: Maybe to see if lunch is any better and with a different server . read more

Place is BOMB!!!! never have I ever had a 5 course lunch!! Fresh bread, soup, salad, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, and chocolate cake!! My husband had not been here in years and wanted to take me, I loved it. its served family style and you don't need to make any decisions which is great! I tried everything! after we walked around and looked at all the historical stuff. Place is really a gem! read more

I laugh, as I thought I might get a FTR. Uh, NO. There are 63 ahead of you, Ms P (and there I go talking to myself again). But this place was AMAZING. I wasn't really sure what to expect, since we were here during our camping trip. I hadn't researched it, but it was in one of those 101 Things to Do tourist things you pick up at stores or information centers. Basically, the Samoa Cookhouse is the last surviving cookhouse in the West, and serves food lumber camp style (meaning lots of it, family style)! We came for lunch, and we were served fluffy fresh bread, salad, soup, FRIED CHICKEN, calico beans, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, and then dessert. And basically, it's ALL AYCE; you can ask for seconds or thirds of ANY of this hearty great food. And since we'd been hiking and were planning to go hiking the next day, NONE of us were on a diet (actually, I don't think any in that group ever is on a diet). We had extra helpings of the bread, extras on the soup, and extra fried chicken (he even brought us a plate JUST of thighs and drumsticks). Not only does this place serve a hearty meal, there's also a museum and gift shop with relics and photographs from the old logging and Cookhouse days. I was most amused by the photos of the fancy ladies posed in the cut of a tree. So stylish! Apparently, the island this cookhouse is on was bought by a developer who planned to build a carnival area and call it "Samoa Play House" or some variation of that name because, at the time it was named, the tropical islands were all the rage. Although the Play House never came to be, the "Samoa" part of the name stuck. As an aside, the small town nearby is called Manila. What a fun discovery! This is, in large part, why it is fun to travel and explore. read more

So in 2003, we were on a church conference up in Eureka b/c apparently some of my people ["what doya mean 'you people'?"..hahah..Tropic Thunder is ridckerous!] decided to relocate to the great North-North Cali..sup Maualugas!. So before we even left the Bay we MapQuest'd Eureka and found a town called Samoa. Now were went kinda giddy becuz Samoans make up like .02% of the U.S. population? So any trace of my people we pretty much go poke our chests out and feel all patriotic and such (to SAMOA folks). So we HAD to stop by and see whats good in Samoa! On the way up, there were HELLA signs saying to visit the famous Samoa Cookhouse. SAMOA + FOOD = Next Exit please! call me crazy, but I walked into the Samoa Cookhouse expecting to see something...well something...I dunno..SAMOAN? But the most Samoan thing in the joint was..well..me and the fam. Funny thing is, the waitress said the only time she's seen a Samoan was when her husband is watchin Monday Night Football. Yup..felt kinda racist to me. hhahaha..JUST KIDDIN! (sorta). The food? Good if anything. I mean it really is a 'stick to ya ribs' kinda meal, but hey! No complaints from me. At least the meal came in Samoan portions, so it was enough to tie us down until dinner (HAHAH..Ya'll think I'm playing with this Samoan vs. Food thing. It's SERIOUS!) The fried chicken was HITTIN'! Mash was mash, but the gravy did compliment it real nice. I think the side museum though tied it all in though. It was mad interesting and we took plenty of kodaks of the ordeal. Hell we were laughing so much though because of how we really expected Samoans that the hostess thought we were crazy. [shruggz] That's a real Samoan for ya. 4 or the food, but 3 in the end b/c they mislead us. hahaha! read more