Love the Gem - it's another Bolton Landing favorite. Last time we only came for drinks, so I'm glad that we finally stopped in for a meal. Everything was really good and portions were so big. The nachos were insane. Like, could literally feed five people. If you are ordering these just be aware. They were so so good and came smothered with lots of queso and pulled pork. The wings were also super tasty and they are a variety of dipping sauces. We ordered them plain rubbed and my daughter ended up loving this - perfectly flavorful without too much heat. The outdoor area has a ton of seating and they did such a cute job with the decor. They have a fun list of cocktails, and if you come out back for drink only you can grab one from the adorable airstream. For a great meal in Bolton you can't go wrong. It's a GEM :) read more

See all

We are staying at the Sagamore Resort this week and wanted to check out the local food scene. We stopped in this evening and were very surprised by the quality of food and drink at The Gem. We started out with the Presbyterian and the Home on the Range cocktails. Both were very good. We decided to share several appetizers. We had the pimento cheese and pork rinds, barbecued peel and eat shrimp, and the Little Gen Lettuces. All of them were excellent and plenty of food. Service was excellent. We finished with a couple local beers. read more

See all

The Gem in Bolton's Landing is an adorable bbq and cocktail eatery with a large outdoor dining space and soft serve trailer. We had our first meal of the 4th of July weekend here and it certainly gave backyard bbq vibes. We started off with an order of buffalo and Alabama white sauce wings and nachos piled high with guac, sour cream and fried chicken. The nachos were great and the Alabama white sauce wings were some of the best wings we've had. For mains we had the fried chicken sandwich and meat combo with fried chicken and hot links with sides of potato salad, tater tots, green goddess slaw, and bourbon baked beans. We finished off with a stop for soft serve at the soft serve trailer. We loved this spot for its casual ambiance, great cocktails and delicious eats read more

See all

Back to the Gem! Amazeballz Peel and Eat Shrimp app is still here and still massive. Drinks are still expensive but you are in Bolton Landing and expensive drinks are necessary to make the tourists feel like they are spending for the good life and eating at this joint is certainly the good life. Kayla is the awesome and beautiful barmaid and she the reason we sit at the bar. She took care of us and she'll put a smile on your face. Recommended! read more

See all

Ambiance is amazing and the cocktails are so good!!! The wings are also a must try!! Would highly recommend read more

The Gem - Inside seating! - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

See all

If you love barbecue, this is a five star must stop when visiting Lake George. Less than a five minute walk from the Sagamore is this incredible establishment clearly run with pride. Perfect ribs, perfect chicken wings. Smokey goodness with tender fall off the bone texture. Outrageous drinks and great outdoor seating. Lovely staff (can not remember her name but our waitress either Martha or Marsha was super patient explaining everything up and down the menu to us) Prices were so good, nuts for four people with drinks total bill was $120 and we ate like kings. Highly highly recommend. read more

See all

As someone who's not a big barbecue fan, these ribs were amazing and I wish I lived closer so I could go back! read more

The Gem - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

See all

This review is for The Gem. Superb smoked ribs, and we really enjoyed the vinegar based sauces (there are 5 on each table). Drinks were very good, service was excellent, prices are very good. We highly recommend The Gem !!! read more

It's so hard to find a quality food experience in the Adirondacks! The sophistication and attention to detail are phenomenal. And it leaves all the pretentious options found in some places at the curb. We were so impressed by little things like the friendly staff, cucumber in the water, metal straws, vintage surroundings in small places. Every ingredient was noted and appreciated. Hoping this place sticks around for a long time. We need to raise the bar locally and they certainly do! read more

The Gem - Half rack of ribs, slaw, and potato salad. - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

Service is very good and friendly. Ice cold water with cucumber served immediately At seating is excellent. Smoked wings are very good. All the house made sauces are a great touch and all very good. Tots with pork belly so so. Very little pork belly and tots just frozen from bag. House made fries would be better than the tots. Chicken sandwich not very good. Average at best. Lacking flavor and little chewy. Tastes like frozen chicken. Not fresh chicken. Ribs were amazing ! Coleslaw delicious. Corn excellent. Atmosphere is causal and fun. Pricing mostly fair but some apps are overpriced. Drinks are very good. Locally made sour beer great. Outdoor seats not comfortable. read more

See all

We had a reservation and were seated outside, never asked what we preferred. Hostess not friendly at all. We ended up sitting inside near bar, it was cold out. Went to wash hands, there were no towels at 7pm. I told our waiter and said he would take care of it. We ordered drinks, shrimp appetizer and entrees. The shrimps came to our table 2 minutes after ordering. They were served in a cast iron skillet room temperature! The shrimps were not even cleaned, dorsal tract. (see photo) I complained and they made another. These took 12 minutes and were still not hot or cleaned. We both had the trio meat platters. They were good, a lot of food. Very good sauces also offered. Overall service not great, stick to the meats. Before leaving I had to wash my bbq hands, still no towels. read more

See all

Had a great meal here on Labor Day weekend, made a reservation online which was super easy. We really enjoy the excellent service and cozy ambiance at this spot. We ordered the pimento cheese and pork rinds appetizer- perfect nice and light option to get started. For meals we did the pulled pork nachos (from the appetizer menu) and brisket meal that comes with two sides. Highly recommend trying their cheesy corn it's unique and delicious. And they have an awesome cocktail menu of all different fun options - my husband loves they have manhattans on tap too! read more

See all

This is by far the best place in Bolton landing. Really good food, and a really cool looking restaurant with good music and nice servers.

Ana our waitress suggested the naked wings as an appetizer. They were absolutely delightful! The in house made sauces at the table were sooo good! We shared the brisket and had 2 sides, the yam fries and then we really wanted a salad. Ana said we could do the green goddess lettuce. The green goddess lettuce was so refreshing and fresh!! The yam fries were not great. The brisket was just amazing! We also ordered one of their old fashioned's. It was strong m, but very good. These people know how to make a drink! Even the water is served in cute little metal cups with cucumber slices and nugget ice! The manager came over and asked how everything was. We are always impressed with that. The atmosphere was nice! We went when it wasn't busy on a Sunday night. We can't wait to return and hopefully have either Ana or Marta as our waitress since both were personable and kind! Such wonderful people work here! We wish more restaurants treated people the way The Gem treats you. Keep doing what you're doing!!! read more

Great overall. Food was delicious especially the nachos. Drinks were very nice as well. Service was the quickest I've ever seen. 10 minutes to serve our large group. overall, would recommend read more

Probably the best smoked wings I've ever had, ribs were fantastic, loved all the sauces (the mustard one was probably my favorite and I don't even like mustard), and server was excellent. Beans have bits of meat in them and Cheesy Corn was plentiful. read more

The Gem - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

Awesome mule cocktails with fresh ginger! THE BEST WINGS EVER. I go with naked (wings, not me) then add sauces after. Great service too. Kayla was nice and professional with all when some grown-ass woman had a tantrum over nothing. read more

The Gem - Brown ale, Mamie Taylor Mule - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

10 out of 10. Someone else made the reservations for the group. No expectations going in. Literally the best BBQ I ever had. Brisket, ribs, wings and the white sauce are world class elite. read more

Great atmosphere. Excellent cocktails. It really is a Gem. I would highly recommend. The bar tenders were incredibly friendly. read more

The Gem - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

This could be such a long review, but I'm going to try to stay on point. Great north country/lake atmosphere, very friendly and welcoming staff. It's best if you've got a designated driver so you can try and enjoy the interesting cocktails. My wife had a Don Lockwood ($15) - a mix of bourbon, maple syrup, Islay scotch whisky, and chocolate bitters with a huge twist of orange. With a really nice smokey flavor this may have actually been the highlight of the evening. I had a Common Roots Lager draft ($7) because it was the only draft available of the six listed on the menu. Our server read my mind and opined that they shouldn't put items on the menu if they don't have them available. I don't know why I was not charged the $6 Happy Hour price, unless HH prices are only available at the bar. But that should have been printed on the menu. My wife ordered the Barbequed Peel & Eat Pub Prawns ($22) with "soppin' toast" that was not toasted. The prawns were perfectly cooked (except for one) in a very flavorful broth. The untoasted potato bread was fresh, delicious, and probably much better at soppin' than toast would have been. I ordered the Smokehouse Combination Platter ($32) comprised of sliced Texas brisket, pulled pork, two beer brats, and two sides. For sides I chose coleslaw and BBQ yam steak fries. There was plenty of delicious, black-charred bark on both meats. I kept alternating between the four house-made sauces, each of which our server was able to describe in great detail, trying to find a favorite. A tie between the Georgia Mustard and the slightly spicy BBQ sauce narrowly beat out the Alabama White and the Carolina Copper. Those BBQ yam fries were delicious. My personal preference is for slightly more smokey flavored meat. The brats were good as were my two slices of the potato bread. Definitely worth another visit. read more

See all

This is no dive bar with pint-sized Long Islands. The Gem offers New York City quality cocktails in what seems like a fun, clean, modernized mid-century Adirondack lodge. You never leave the lake aesthetic, but you're definitely transported elsewhere when you take a sip of the magical elixirs they concoct. I was going to write something about venturing beyond an Old Fashioned here, but even that drink is special at The Gem. I very much enjoy their Mai Tai which seems to be their previous-menu-now-secret-menu signature drink. Regardless, do yourself a favor, stay within walking distance, get yourself a sober ride, or come back a few times so you can run their cocktail menu. Every single one is great. The service is quality with each person trying to make your experience a great one. The place can get busy but the staff never lets that get in the way of being attentive to everyone they're serving. If you need something, they're happy to make it happen. There's food too! Other people have covered the food already so I won't bother wasting electrons. I'll add that I'm not usually a fan of chicken wings but the ones The Gem offers are fantastic. Why? I couldn't tell you. Maybe it's the way they smoke them. I don't know. What I do know is that they're meaty and firm but not dry on the inside. They just work for me. Maybe you can try them and let me know what it is about them that's great. read more

The Gem - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

See all

Great find while visiting Bolton. The restaurant was very busy when we arrived around 6:15 on a Wednesday. Service was attentive, responsive, and very friendly! The bar scene was busy and it was quite loud but it fit the vibe of the restaurant - we didn't mind. Everything we had was very good. Started with 6 wings with their sauce almighty. It was a buffalo sauce with a chunky tomato salsa - very unique and very good. Little got the hotdog and tater tots. The hot dog was delicious! We shared brisket and pulled pork platters with the slaw, cheesy corn, potato salad and beans. Sauces were very flavorful and fun to try. The tables constantly flipped while we were there. Husband is a grill/BBQ master and only had wonderful things to say about The Gem. A must visit! read more

Great cocktails! We also had the cowboy caviar. Very yummy. Well do a dinner next time. This pseudo vegetarian will have to chow down some meat! read more

I was really torn between a three and four star rating. I would probably lean towards 3 1/2 stars simply because it was an inconsistent experience. I'm hoping that it's just due to being new and still working out some kinks. First...it's a cool place with a huge bar area and a decent amount of seating inside. Simple yet rustic decor. Service is very friendly albeit a little awkward at times. We decided to share a sampler platter among the four of us so that we could try as many things as possible. Ribs: star of the show. I would go back just for these. Unfortunately, the platter only had enough for one rib each (came with 5 but we took the leftover one home). Really, really good ribs!! Pulled pork: also fabulous-moist and tasty even without one of their homemade sauces. Wings: second star of the show-smoked gigantic wings with a really delicious sauce. Chicken: just ok...nobody really thought it was as good as the other items. Brisket: also just ok-our meat connoisseur would have liked it to be more moist. Cheesy corn: we all agreed that we didn't care for this side dish. Cole slaw: also not a favorite of the table Fried artichokes: tasty and different! Baked beans: also not on anyone's list to get again Salad: actually very tasty, just really difficult to eat as it's whole pieces of romaine and a very nice dressing. Dessert! Upside down apple cake and sticky toffee pudding: winner winner! We demolished those and left nothing to the imagination. Overall, I would definitely give this place a shot again and stick with wings and ribs. There are other sides that we didn't try, but we weren't enamoured with what we ordered. There is an extensive cocktail list that is worth exploring, but my friend that had the "frozé" didn't care for it. If I was not driving, I might have tried one of the many interesting options. read more

The Gem - Frosé - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

The menu might be small but the barbecue is great and the cocktails are world class. And the service is too. We had a great barbecue platter, unique and wonderful baked beans, and some really amazing cocktails. All finished off with a sticky toffee pudding. read more

The Gem - Cocktails - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

The Gem is the type of place you always hope you find when you choose a darling little place with a pertinent name. The interior design is suburb in a vintage 1940's style with every single detail accounted for. The wallpaper in the restroom is a phenomenal grasscloth with vintage water skiers on a lake. Our bartender is one of the best mixologists in the Lake George area and the garnishes and craft ice cubes add magic. It's so nice to truly enjoy the cocktail that you selected in a beautiful space. I cannot speak to the food as I was not hungry when we visited . . . . this is a regrettable choice and one I will not make again. I can't wait to return. read more

Now atmosphere . Great service. Nice portions and fair prices. Good drink menu and fine beer selection. read more

The Gem - Pit beef and Mac and cheese. - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

See all

A foodie's Supra Stop. Designer cocktails, carved ice; serious level smoke house; hip vibe; place for kids to play; good music; accommodating and friendly staff. Bolton may not know what they've got, it's worth going out of your way to this place as you vacation, travel north up 87, or simply need a regular taste of the good life at an earth level price read more

So damn good. The dining room is incredibly comfortable. Like a dining room of friends who have good, not showy taste. The service is thoughtful, caring and respectful. You feel respected but not distanced. So the food. Short menu. Barbecue, Chicken, great. Turkey, great. Pulled pork, great. Really great. Like maybe the best type great. The sides? Almost upstaged the mains, like at every really good thanksgiving. Three types of beans in the barbecue beans. Multiple cheeses in the cheesy corn. Pickled cucumbers and peppers providing tartness as needed. Thank you for such a wonderful meal. read more

Always consistently delicious with amazing cocktails & staff..my most favorite restaurant in Bolton Landing

Awesome little "gem" of a restaurant/bar in the heart of Bolton near Lake George. They import their crystal clear ice from Manhattan and they hand cut each cube on site. Their wings are huge and crispy and they make 4 awesome sauces that are available on each table. We need to come back for dinner! read more

They were able to accommodate our large group. The food was delicious. The decor is cute and the atmosphere is very friendly. The drinks were amazing and we are pretty sure they make their own tonics and sodas. I'm a vegetarian and even I was able to find something to eat. I had the no meat combo where you can choose 3 sides or salads. I chose the cowboy caviar, tater tots, and the little gem lettuces salad. All were very good. One piece of advice, go early because they may run out of some items and you don't want to miss out on the ribs or brisket. read more

The Gem - Cowboy caviar, tater tots, little gem lettuces - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

This review is for their cocktails, dessert and the ambience. The staff was super attentive and the ambience was great. It has a very nice wooden bar that gives an amazing feel. We got the Negroni and the mulled wine both of which were yummy. We also got the toffee pudding with ice cream for dessert. Check this place out if you are in town :) read more

The Gem - two cocktails on a bar counter - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

Came here for dinner one night during our stay in the Lake George region. We were staying just up the hill from here and wanted a quick bite to eat. Small space but very cute - I can imagine how packed it is during the summer but even on a November weekend, it had a small crowd. Given it being the offseason, there was only one server but she was excellent! The menu here is smoked meats! We had the smoked chicken wings with bufalo sauce. Wings were super meaty and smothered in buffalo sauce. Served with celery and thinly sliced radish was a nice touch. We had the pulled pork & brisket sandwiches. Perfectly smoked meat with a variety of sauces that were all delicious (I really didnt have a favorite so just alternated sauce with bites. Pickles had to have been made in house - they were super fresh and so good. The place is really known for its cocktails and had an amazingly stocked bar - we just stuck with the local beer and water - with cucumber slices. Nice touch! read more

We really enjoyed the ribs!! They were tender and had lots of flavor. For someone who has a husband who smokes ribs often we both agreed these were on point. We tried all 4 of the homemade sauces and they were all very different and had tons of flavor. I liked to dip my delicious steak fries in the white sauce. The side of corn and macaroni and cheese were a hit also! I had the Kentucky Maid cocktail and wow!!! I want that recipe! I would definitely recommend this place. read more

The Gem - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

Just passing through town, saw this place with a little bit of outdoor seating. Figured we'd try our luck. It was fantastic. Great cocktails, excellent food, wonderful service, even had a bonding moment with the owner, since he's southern too. Next time we pass through town, we'll come back here. read more

The Gem - Barbecue platter - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

The drinks were amazing, I would stick to them. We've tried the food 3 times, different meals each time, the bbq was just ok. I wanted to love it but I've had much better . It's a great atmosphere, great drinks and sides. Bbq not so much. read more

This is a place where quality shines. The cocktails. The meats. The service. While the dining experience may not be exactly typical- you'll be thankful for it. Everything about this place is conscientious. Everything is well prepared, and yet- they are oh-so casual about it. The servers are knowledgeable, yet very friendly. We brought our toddler here, and it was a fine place to eat, unwind, and drink in some good vibes. This place could define itself as elevated dining, but they're just too down to earth. I hope they remain a staple for years to come. read more

Great mai tai! But service is very slow. Didnt get food, only drinks. They could maybe benefit from an extra set of hands behind the bar. read more

The Gem - American Near Me - Bolton, New York

We went as 2 couples July 4th weekend so I think it was day ~13 for them (give or take), which meant I had middle of the road expectations. We were definitely pleasantly surprised by the experience - the cocktails were delicious and they had a good beer selection for my husband who's not so much a liquor drinker. For food we got the family dinner for the 4 of us so that we could essentially try everything on the menu...everything was really good, it was PLENTY of food, and for $89 to feed 4 people it was great price-wise too. Being a smokehouse, it's casual in both atmosphere and serving style, so keep that in mind - they use the plastic baskets instead of plates which is fine conceptually my only complaint is the paper liners got soggy and ripped as we were cutting our food. Not a huge deal at all, just something that they could potentially look to adjust. Overall a good meal and would definitely recommend! read more