Great experience dining here. The appetizer (we went with a sampler to try all kinds of meats was amazing. I ordered the Elk Leg and it was cooked to perfection with a plate full of perfectly cooked veggies. My wife ordered a duck pot pie and honestly she did not like the crust...but come on, let's be honest, your gonna order a pot pie at a wild game restaurant? The waiter and bartender were great. Even made some fresh limoncello to end out the meal. We will definitely return!!! read more

The Gamekeeper - My Beautiful wife and private dining bubbles in the background. They look awesome and are heated. - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

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Ambiance is fantastic, service great and food great. Prices are on higher end . Would recommend this place

This highly regarded restaurant disappointed on several levels. First, the food was average, from appetizer to dessert, and most disappointing, when the trout was ordered, we were informed that it was not available because it was saved for a potential "regular" guest. Not that it had been pre-ordered, but that it was being held in case he showed up. Seriously? They had one fish? The service was fine, though nothing special, and when the adjacent table was cleared, they sprayed the smelly cleaning fluid and it misted over to us while we were eating. That doesn't even happen at Waffle House. Finally, the inside ambiance was a problem, as our table had a table on either side that were too close and instead of a romantic dinner for the two of us, we were hearing all about the troubles of the foursome on one side and the eating issues of the teen in the family on the other. At least one of us had a window view over the parking lot. read more

I got the rabbit pot pie and it was delicious. They heavy pour on drinks so that can be a plus if you aren't driving but if you are, good luck. Service was good. Ambiance is a little dark but everything is extremely clean. We've ate here a couple of times and would recommend it to someone as a cool place to eat. read more

The Gamekeeper - Rabbit pot pie - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

Excellent service, incredible menu, and always lovely and intimate setting. I always try to celebrate at least one occasion here every year!

Another memorable meal. Romantic & eclectic atmosphere. The food is always delicious & seasoned to perfection. A must if you are in the High Country of NC. read more

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We have heard amazing reviews on this place and wanted to give it a try during our stay in Boone. I would definitely recommend booking in advance. We were very lucky to snag a reservation after looking several times. The driveway is very tight. We were able to get through in a full sized truck, but it is very tight. They have valet service which was amazing. Very cozy and warm atmosphere inside. Dim lighting with candles on the table and twinkle lights in the ceiling. The view is outstanding. If you can sit outside I highly recommend. Our waiter was very attentive, never once let our glasses get empty. I had a glass of white wine and my boyfriend had whiskey. Wine was delicious. Liquor drinks are very strong he stated. We got the mixed game grill for an appetizer. The main entree was elk leg and bison short-rib. Both were very delicious. We were both highly impressed. Price is expensive but you get what you pay for! We can't wait to come back. read more

The Gamekeeper - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

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After being seated.. took a stroll around this awesome space. Saw Grandfather Mountain through the trees while having a drink on the outside deck. .... Beautiful! Started out with Fried Green Tomatoes.. then Emu & Trout... OMG just delicious! Pause ... the service .....5 out of 5 stars!! Now back to the food experience!! Next up Bread Pudding, which everyone claims is really tasty. WOW! It was! Closed out with coffee and wine! We hated this place! LOL NOT!!! read more

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Food is excellent. For went for our Anniversary, looking forward to an intimate experience and we were sat in a row, 6" apart, 4 lined up. It felt very childess then intimate. read more

This maybe my favorite restaurant ever!! We arrived early and enjoyed their delightful deck while waiting for our table. We started with the mixed grill app, what a nice way to try the different meats!! Delicious. We moved onto the Fried Green tomatoes with a wonderful pesto sauce. For Entrees we enjoyed the Encrusted trout with pimento cheese butter, cukes and fried capers!! The trout came with a delicious garlic mashed, and the most delicious veggies, cauliflower, squash, carrots and kale!! Also at our table we had the Antolope and the beef tenderloin, all plated were cleaned!! For dessert we finished with the blueberry Cobbler, amazing!! Highly recommended!! We have to give a special shout out to the wait staff who were amazingly delightful, Jonathan and Josey plus so many others who we did not get their names!! We will be back! read more

The Gamekeeper - Blueberry cobbler! - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

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Another excellent meal at The Gamekeeper. We literally made a trip around this reservation. It's my husband and I's very favorite restaurant. Started with the sampler. My husband had the picanha and I had the drum. Loved the sauce served with the drum! Meals were excellent as was the service. Thank you for a wonderful bday dinner! read more

This is the most amazing unique restaurant I've ever been to in my life. My goal is to try everything on the menu! Ive tried the emu and elk leg and the meat sampler. Everything is out of this world!!! The restaurant itself is so beautiful and eclecticly decorated. The staff is SO NICE. Everyone helps each other out, they are so accommodating and grateful for their customers. They are very knowledgeable and always have great recommendations, especially with the wine pairings. The meat is always cooked perfectly and is so tender and flavorful. The vegetables are perfectly charred and Smokey. My favorite side is the mushroom risotto. I always say I want to stop and just get some to-go when I drive by. The wine and martinis and cocktails were on point! And the bread pudding with ice cream was out of this world. This restaurant is a go to, must see, new tradition for you the way it is for me! read more

The Gamekeeper - Fleur De L'Âge martini - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

Excellent food and service. We came to celebrate a special occasion and noted on our booking. We arrived to find a "Happy Birthday" sign waiting to surprise us at the table. What nice unexpected touch! Our waitress was extremely knowledgeable about the different dishes and types of meat. She helped guide us through the types of game so we could select what would meet our taste. The wine list was amazing and there were great choices to complement t our food. The Maitre D', Michael, knows his wine! He came by the table to check on dinner and discuss the wine we selected from Uruguay. Amazing experience all around for us these two foodies! read more

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Celebrated our 48th anniversary here. Unique dining experience! Food & service was excellent! Very special meal. Can't wait to go back!

Ambiance. Service variety. Great drinks and dinner for all. Great place for celebrations.

Truly my favorite restaurant in the Boone/Blowing Rock area. Fantastic food with a menu that changes seasonally. I am especially fond of the emu tartare. Truly delicious food, incredible service, great bar menu and the best valet service I have had anywhere! Located in the gorgeous Blue Ridge mountains with incredible views and a lovely atmosphere-don't miss it! read more

My meal (emu tartare, bison short rib) was good, but my companion's was not. The duck salad had almost no duck on it...maybe at most 2 grams of duck in two tiny gray shreds. Really, guys? If you're running out, just say you're out of the dish. And the elk dish was inedible, we chewed and chewed and had to spit it out. The server was under 21 (drinking age) and couldn't address any questions about wine and non-alcoholic beer (they ended up having a good one). This was incredibly disappointing as we'd made a special trip to dine here and it is located in the former home of the owners of my long-ago summer camp. The Kepharts would be appalled at the current use of their house. read more

Great ambience! A daunting drive up the mountain but definitely worth the experience. The restaurant is unique and magical. The food is phenomenal and the staff were welcoming, attentive and professional. read more

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We had the most INCREDIBLE experience at The Game Keeper in Blowing Rock last night. This restaurant is my soul put into a place... before even walking inside I felt like I was home. It was so artsy and funky but in such an elevated way. It was Asheville meets Boone in a homey, rustic, familiar, yet progressive feel. First of all, the food was out of this world. Local, season, organic veggies. All herbs and flowers for garnish grown on premises, and impeccably prepared wild game. Over the course of the night we ate emu filet, wild boar, bison short ribs, antelope, elk, and a few other things. Our server, Harmony, was approachable, familiar, charming, and professional. The moment she introduced herself i felt like I was speaking to a friend. She did a phenomenal job at making us feel welcomed, taken care of, and at home. The outside area was overflowing with charm and had a great view of the sunset over the mountains. The interior was funky and filled with character to say the least. They redid an old cigarette vending machine and filled it with small pieces of art made by local artists and you could purchase a coin from the bartender to use the machine. I would be content spending the rest of my life dining here. read more

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Our experience at The Gamekeeper was wonderful. We were sat at a 2-top in the small bar area which was probably the quietest part of the restaurant (save for the outdoor igloos). We started with two well made craft cocktails to accompany the Trout Belly appetizer. So succulent and well prepared and a beautiful match with the aioli sauce. We then shared the entree of Elk Leg and again, cooked to perfection along with out-of-this-world Bleu Mac-n-Cheese and delicious vegetables. Finally, the Bourbon Bread Pudding topped it all off with finesse. Rebecca is an amazing, friendly, and attentive server. She guided us through the menu options with charm and decanted our personal special bottle of wine prior to the meal. The next time we are in the area, we will definitely return and ask to be in Rebecca's section. read more

We visited last weekend with a group of girls, and what a great experience. Service was over the top awesome, from the valet down to the coffee and desserts. We never wanted for anything the entire night and the wait staff was so knowledgeable! We tried all of each other's dishes and truly everything was marvelous. The elk was a favorite, but the best dish of the night was the osso buco. We also loved the bread pudding, which was so sweet and creamy. This restaurant is a great place. The food is top notch and the views are exceptional. I can't wait to go back! read more

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We made reservations for New Year's Eve dinner four months in advance to be seated in one of the igloos. Called day of to confirm and it was all set. Valet confirmed we were in the igloos upon on arrival. Yet once we made our way to the hostess she stated we were to be seated inside. I explained this must be an error given all the confirmations and trouble I had gone through to be sure we were seated correctly. We had two small children with us that were very excited for this experience. Yet the restaurant made an error and overbooked the igloo. The excuse was something about it being in the notes but not assigned. The hostess with the pink sweater vest had an awful attitude and was like "no, my system says you're inside" with no apology or empathy for our disappointment. She really made a bad situation worse. They then seated us next to the bathroom in the ugliest part of the restaurant with chairs that looked like they belong in a diner. Great view of the toilet every time the door opened. Whoever is in charge of the seating assignments here should find another job. Even though we were very upset throughout our dinner, our waitress was very sweet and nice which is the only reason I didn't give 1 star. Drinks were great. The food was not bad, but not great. Overall, this restaurant didn't handle their mistake properly. The manager was indifferent, there was no meaningful apology or effort to sit us somewhere pretty. The best they did was comp dessert. Like wow, big effort. I do not feel they valued us as customers especially ones that were very excited to visit. To me, it seemed like they knew we were tourists and didn't really care. I would not return. read more

I had an amazing dinner here tonight! I made a reservation for my husbands birthday and we were not disappointed! Our server, Lizzie, was so helpful as we were navigating through the menu. Her recommendations were wonderful and she had such a positive attitude. We started off with a mixed game grill which included a sampler of emu, bison, boar sausage, jerk goat sausage, and fries. Everything was well seasoned and delicious! I ordered bison for dinner and my husband ordered emu. Both were absolutely out of this world. The meat was cooked perfectly and was so tender. The vegetables were also cooked to perfection. We ended the night with a glass of great port (Lizzie's recommendation) and shared the bread pudding. I was worried about getting in to the steep parking lot but they have valet service and the gentlemen working were also really nice. They even remembered our names and got our car once they saw us getting up to leave the restaurant. Highly recommend!! read more

The Gamekeeper - Bison - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

This is a MUST !! I was recommended this place by my cousin who lives in NC and it did not disappoint. The wine we chose was delicious. We had the Elk and Bison Short Rib - both were winners. For dessert - we couldn't pick just one And had both the bread pudding and cobbler. Both were amazing! read more

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We had a fantastic dinner here celebrating our son's 19th birthday. Really want to make sure everyone knows that vegetarians can eat here too! We had one vegetarian in our party and they made her a fantastic Vegetarian sampling board that I would totally order as a starter to a meat heavy meal. It was her main dish and had all kinds of great veggies, mashed potatoes, olives, etc. and it looked fantastic too! Keep in mind, not vegan though. They also have great salads that could be entrees. We enjoyed the Mixed Game Grill and the Charcuterie Board to start. Very much loved the Mixed Game Grill, the meat, sauces and fries were exceptional. The Charcuterie Board was good but probably wouldn't order again. Besides the vegetarian sampler we had the Emu, Elk and Toothfish entrees, all fantastic! The Emu was mine and was especially filling and had to pass to my son to finish. Paired it all with an amazing bottle of Croix red wine that was epic. Finished with a couple of desserts that were were wonderful. Would recommend over some of the other higher priced restaurants in the area. Probably the reason why it books out so far in advance. We booked out a month in advance and they had openings for Friday night but Saturday was already full. Can't wait to go back... read more

The Gamekeeper - Toothfish - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

This was our second visit to Gamekeeper. We had been there in May and decided to try it again since it made such an impression the first time. In May we were able to sit outside on the patio and have the most beautiful view of the mountains and surroundings. It was lovely. This time we were inside and it was cozy & comfortable. Based on other reviews we started with the mixed game grill for an appetizer. WOW! Very nice with an assortment of mixed game, sausage and fries w/ dipping sauces. We ate every bite. Next we split the oyster appetizer w/ capers and key lime dressing. YUMMMM For entrees I had the ELK, the best meat protein I've ever tasted & my Boo had the Tenderloin. We both enjoyed our meals but my Elk was the better, very tender & tasty, not at all Gamey. We both kept asking how do they do that? How do they prepare such tasty meat? For dessert we took a bread pudding to go. I don't recommend that since part of the yumminess is the caramel sauce that goes on top & wasn't the same served on the side. Service was good, food was excellent! We will be back! Highly recommend making reservations ahead, at least a week in advance. Only picture we took was of the after dinner drink menu. All the food was gone before we thought about taking pics. read more

The Gamekeeper - some yummy options for after dinner! - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

Absolutely incredible. The game plate to start is wonderful! Such a great sample & variety of game! The duck is hands down the best on the menu. Delicious & cooked to perfection! Also the blue cheese Mac & cheese is a must try! Great date night spot! Don't skip the bread pudding. Best ever. 10 stars. Will definitely be back! read more

We had the most amazing experience at the Gamekeeper on Thursday for our elopement dinner. Every single person we came across from the valet to our server was kind and welcoming. Upon being seated we were welcomed with two glasses of cava and a congratulations sign. My husband picked this restaurant and I will be honest I was a little nervous about the menu selection as I had never had elk or venison before. However, after a couple of bites I was forever changed. The food was absolutely amazing. The elk - which they recommend served medium rare - was tender and so delicious. The venison osso buco was mouth-watering. The meat falls apart and you can taste the rosemary it was cooked with. We finished off dinner with an amazing creme brulee and espresso martinis and that concluded the best post-nuptial dinner we could have ever asked for. Our server also gave us some suggestions of cool things we can check out while in-town - which was very thoughtful and great! Everything from the service to the food itself was 5 stars - definitely check them out if you are in the area! We will be back for our anniversary next year. read more

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A very diverse menu that is well prepared and served impeccably by Elizabeth who was quite helpful in our decisions. The restaurant is cozy both inside and out.Certainly a must experience for a unique meal in the area. read more

Unpopular opinion here, but I think this restaurant was way overhyped. We actually came here because of the positive Yelp reviews! The appetizer was my favorite part of the meal. My entree (emu) tasted off- I took two bites and gave up. I have had emu before and it did not taste the same- I felt like I was eating perfume or something. My partner ate all of his, however we both left hungry- I would not come back. read more

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Emily was our server and she is so professional and kind. We took our parents who are visiting here after a hike. The vibe and view are wonderful. We loved the beef hanger and emu. Mixed game grill was also delish! Cocktails are great. read more

Long time on my list of places to try and finally made it out with my boyfriend! Lived up to all the expectations. We sat across from a live fire on a bench with cozy pillows. The Quara Malbec was a nice compliment to the whole meal. The bread and oil complimentary was nice but nothing spectacular. However the rest of the food was simply phenomenal from then on. Our waiter Ryan made the evening an experience and his humor and suggestions for the night were perfect! The meat grill sampler for the night included rabbit and boar sausages, and bison and elk filet. The Elk was so dang good I almost changed my dinner order! The rest was also amazing, we didn't even leave a crumb! My boyfriend opted for the Elk leg and was trying to convince our waiter he hated blue cheese so the blue Mac and cheese would need to be substituted. Ryan won the debate with a convincing passion about the food and my boyfriend agreed to try and he was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was! His Elk was cooked perfectly and every detail was paired perfectly with it. I opted for the most raves about dish by our waiter, the Emu. At first bite it had a "new" texture and flavor subtlety that really took in but with its pairings to the risotto and even the sun dried tomato au jus... it was truly a delicious meal. I'd have suffered through seconds just to keep enjoying those flavors!! We were (not so difficultly) talked into trying the bread pudding at the end and it was equally as enjoyable. From the ambiance to the service to the food and wine.... there is literally nothing to disappoint! read more

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We were on our way to Boone from Asheville on our honeymoon and found ourselves famished in the middle of nowhere. My wife grabbed her phone and asked for "great restaurants near me" and The Gamekeeper popped up. It is a wee-bit off the beaten path, but they have handicap access and a great view from their patio. The place was empty when we walked in, and were informed that the restaurant didn't actually open for another hour or so. With heavy hearts and empty stomachs we headed back to the car, then maître d' Chris Varipapa caught up with us and cheerily offered that he could get the kitchen to whip up some pasta and fish, if it was acceptable. They opened up just for us!!... We sat on the patio, they brought white linens and wine. We had an outstanding lunch, with incredible desserts! It was an occasion to remember, and of course we will return! read more

Incredible food and the service was just right. Some regular customers may have favorites, but this was our first time and we sampled and shared. We got the mixed game grill appetizer -- that helps with the process of discovery. The server was patient and knowledgeable in helping us to identify our preferences from the appetizer. We chose bison and antelope for entrees'. Both were great, but the antelope was unexpectedly good. It is at an isolated location and valet parking is essential in the lot, but I learned later that it is within reach of uber. That would have been the way to go. read more

Just had the most amazing meal with my wife and 2 other couples. We ordered the Mixed Game Grill along with the Emu Tartare as appetizers. For dinner we had Cornmeal Crusted Trout, the Elk Denver Leg, Bison Short Ribs and Emu. It was impossible to chose as favorite. They were all delicious. To finish out meal with had the Bread Pudding and Salted Carmel Chocolate Tart. Wow! What a way to finish a meal. Our waitress Maddie was on top of everything. I'd recommend this The GameKeeper to everyone. read more

The Gamekeeper - Elk Denver Leg - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

The mixed meat sampler is great. As well as the Bison steak. Very recommended. Everything was amazing. From the blue Mac and cheese to the Creme brûlée. read more

The Gamekeeper - Elk - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

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The food and service are exceptional. It starts with the valet, then the beautiful ambiance to the outstanding service and amazing food. The antiloaf was delicious and definitely recommended. read more

Food is excellent. Service is great. Location is great then on the pricey side but worth it.

This is probably the best restaurant in the Boone, Blowing Rock area. The service was fantastic and the food was phenomenal! We had the game sampler for an appetizer and the potato soup was the best! Emu for entree was so fresh and tender. Don't forget bread pudding for dessert! Such a great unique spot to eat a wonderful meal. They take covid precautions very seriously as well. read more

The Gamekeeper - Emu - New American Near Me - Boone, North Carolina

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I have never come to this restaurant and had a bad meal. Everything is so good. The atmosphere is so warming and welcoming (but it is a little cold inside, so bring a jacket). It's just the right amount of eclectic. Also, the service is always amazing. I would recommend this place 10/10 times. It's better than any other restaurant around town, in my opinion. read more