This is a hidden gem! We have a family cabin in Long Barn and in 32 years I've finally gotten to drop by and try it out. The restaurant is very small, which makes total sense why it's so busy come summer time. I recommend coming in the off season for an easier chance getting a table and enjoying the experience. I don't quite count but I would say there were about 8 tables inside for dining. Sam was our server and he was an absolute joy, he has a great personality and was very present in conversation at each table he served. All of us enjoyed our meals, the food is very good and flavorful. I cannot recommend the garlic mashed potatoes enough!!! These were my favorite item I had, and I've been talking about them since my visit! A mashed potato is my least favorite potato dish, and these were stellar. I also had the chicken club sandwich and it was good, came with lots of avocado on it. My husband went gourmet and had the duck dish and he really enjoyed it as well, said it was very tasty. My sister ordered the ravioli, and raved as well. Each of us finished all of our plates clean. We'd like to come in the future for a special date night, so if you're in the mountains and looking for somewhere special to celebrate something check out the Steam Donkey! read more

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Wow. Just plain wow. I got the streak. A huge steak at reasonable price and exceptional service. The rib eye was cook exactly the way I wanted and was flavor packed. Did I mention that the people who work there are amazing! Great food. Beautiful location. read more

I had been in The Steam Donkey once before for drinks at the bar and just assumed it was kind of a dive bar, casual eatery sort of place. What else could they do with their very tiny kitchen and 4 burner stove? We are staying in Cold Springs for nearly a couple of weeks so decided to check out the dinner menu online. Boy, was I surprised to see Rack of Lamb with a Cabernet Reduction, Bone in Pork chop with an Apple Bacon Reduction and a Bone-in 18 oz Ribeye among other offerings including pastas, seafood and sandwiches. We decided to give them a try Sunday evening and just to be on the safe side, I made a reservation for 6:30. The dining room is small and cozy. We were seated at a table by their front window, a bit away from other tables making it much easier for us to chat throughout our meal. Riley, our server, presented us menus and offered drinks. I do love a cocktail before the start of a meal so I ordered a cosmopolitan while my husband stuck with gin and tonic. The cosmopolitan was actually one of the best I have had, not too much cranberry, not too tart or sweet, just perfect! We also perused the wine list as we intended to have wine with our meal. I was actually surprised by the wine list as well - great reasonably priced options both by the glass and by the bottle. We were going to order the Crossbarn Cabernet, but Riley strongly recommended the Stack House which was actually a bit lower priced and I am so glad she did because that wine paired beautifully with both my lamb and my husband's steak. The meals were delicious. I ordered the Rack of Lamb, medium rare, while my husband went with the Teriyaki Sirloin, also medium rare. We both started with a cup of very comforting Broccoli Cheddar soup. Served piping hot, the flavor was perfect and I loved that the chunks of broccoli were not mush, but still had a slight crisp. I had mentioned to Riley that I was really looking forward to the Cabernet reduction so she was kind enough to bring me a bit extra. The lamb was perfectly cooked, tender, flavorful and moist. Absolutely delicious. The garlic mashed potatoes were a great accompaniment. Not too garlicky and more homestyle with small chucks of potato. Also delicious. Even the carrots were great and I am typically not a huge fan. Marty's teriyaki steak was also perfectly cooked. The teriyaki sauce was a bit salty to me, but I am sensitive to salt. He enjoyed his meal. By the time we finished our meals, the place was hopping. Although super busy, Riley managed to provide great, friendly service. Our meal was perfectly paced. We felt quite welcomed by everyone all through our visit. I loved all the local photos/artwork adorning the walls of the dining room. The Steam Donkey is proof positive that you can't judge a restaurant solely based on appearance, location and first impression. This little camp ground spot is putting out some simply wonderful food! I will return when I come back to the area! read more

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We decided to give the Steam Donkey a go after a day on the lake. We had 4 adults and two young kids in our party. We were able to sit outside so the kids had a little more breathing room. They were so accommodating with the kids and had a nice kids menu. We all ordered steaks and they were cooked perfectly. The service was wonderful. We will definitely be back! read more

Who would have guessed? Rack of lamb and duck were delicious. Perfectly prepared. Pretended, briefly, that I Was in France, and the food delivered! What a treat! Thank you! read more

We had the absolute best food, drinks and service at steam donkey celebrating our friends' engagement and birthday. Every steak was cooked to perfection and the salads, broccoli, garlic mashed potatoes and pasta were to die for. The best part of our night was the personal touch our servers provided making our experience unforgettable. We will definitely be back! read more

The Steam Donkey - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

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The food, service and ambiance were all top notch. The entire experience did not disappoint. read more

The Steam Donkey - Bone in ribeye cooked perfectly with garlic mashed potatoes and carrots. - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

Not a good place to go if you not white! My family went here 10/12/25 exactly the time that they open the server she is rude and the old guy pretending not hearing us when we asking. Costumer service is horrible! Theres a lot of restaurants when you drive a little out side camp ground way better. Hope this place close what a loser racist ! The food are also trash btw not fully cook! They rush it coz they prioritize the people that came after us which are locals or White the menu that time are just Burgers salad and soup. So obvious! Next time put a fckn sign that says only for white folks! STUPID! read more

The Steam Donkey - Restaurant in Pinecrest Campgound CA - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

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A varied menu (we dig the chili and their salads are a standout) but with all the staples at reasonable prices. In nice weather they have an outdoor area for seating otherwise it's cozy inside in the colder months. Service can be slow but it's worth the wait. read more

Cozy and Intimate restaurant nestled in the pines. Excellent service and equally delicious food. The house salad (with blue cheese crumbles added) was crisp, fresh and flavorful! The Pork Chop was moist, the mashed potatoes creamy and the fresh vegetables were cooked perfectly. So happy they are once again open 7 days a week. Love this little place at Pinecrest Lake! read more

Wow! We just enjoyed a fabulous dinner at the Steam Donkey. We've been coming to Pinecrest for many years but this was our first visit to this unassuming restaurant. Dinner reservations for a weekend night is a must. And don't bother coming early. The small but mighty staff tightly meters the number of customers at any one time. The ambience is a friendly neighborhood pub but the food is fine dining! We enjoyed the rack of lamb and pork chop. The lamb was prepared perfectly with a red wine reduction that was to die for. The thick bone-in pork chop with bacon and apples was absolutely delicious. Entrees comes with sautéed vegetables and a choice of garlic mashed potatoes or pesto pasta and clam chowder (soup of the day) or dinner salad. Very large portions! The crusty French bread was very fresh and dinner salad very substantial. But what is most remarkable about the restaurant is the Iron Chef who single-handedly prepares all of the dishes in the smallest restaurant kitchen I have ever seen. It is located alongside the bar. It doesn't seem possible for the Iron Chef to prepare a menu ranging from rack of lamb to ribeye steak to salmon to ravioli to burgers simultaneously on a 4-burner stove but I kid you not, he's firing on all cylinders at once! You won't be disappointed by the food. It can be frustrating for unknowing customers to see empty tables amid their hunger but the small staff is actually working very hard to control what otherwise could be a long and unhappy wait for your meal. If you plan to be in the area, call ahead for reservations. Highly recommend! read more

The Steam Donkey - Rack of lamb with pest pasta. Magnifique! - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

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Very expensive and not very tasty. Was way better when Jake was the cook. Not very many add ons no more sauté mushrooms for steak.

Pretty expensive. And the food is just OK. The best part is sitting outside in the back in the summer. The last time I was there we ordered hamburgers. It took an hour for them to come to the table. read more

The hostess was rude upon our arrival. We DID have reservations for 4. The table is impossibly small and not comfortable for 4 people with plates and bread. I got the pork chop and it was cold and had no taste. The waitress was not attentive, so drinks were gone and requests were never answered during the meal. Going to dinner should be a overall pleasant experience, this was not. The overall food and experience was not worth the $250. read more

Excellent steak salad and clam chowder Great ambiance and service was very good. Nice outdoor patio.

I really wanted to like this place. We came here after having a great time in the snow. This place is in a nice little shopping center not too far from the lake. The parking is free and there is plenty. They don't have a kids menu and no high chairs, but you can just order fries if you have a picky eater. We ended up ordering 3 beef burgers and 1 chicken burger with fries. My chicken burger wasn't cooked all the way and my kids didn't want to eat their burgers because they were too pink. The French fries were pretty good and the wine was pretty tasty as well. The waitress was very nice and friendly. I would be willing to give this place another try because I do see some amazing reviews, but maybe next time I'll try their dinner menu instead. read more

The Steam Donkey - The chicken burger with fries - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

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The food was okay lacked flavor the outdoor seating was peaceful being with family a great ambiance of nature all around. The customer service needs to be fixed the people where rude and food took 50 min. to get to the table. Never refilled our drinks. read more

The Steam Donkey - Steak Salad - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

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Bad hours, rude servers, hosts and bartenders. Slow. I waited like 10-15 minutes just for coffee. The place is rustic nice looking inside but obviously they just rely on their proximity to Pinecrest for business which explains their laziness and poor attitude. Resting on the fact that there is not much else to eat in the area. There is another word for donkey which might accurately describe these people. The coffee was ok. read more

Great place in the mountains. Fine dining. Great food. The service is good. The ambiance is lovely and rustic. Bring the SHOT SKI BACK! read more

Had a delicious filet mignon dinner here tonight. Service was excellent and I love the atmosphere inside this place definitely will come back when camping up this way again. Staff was very nice and friendly read more

The Steam Donkey - Inside - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

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Had dinner up here during the 4th of July holiday weekend. Was able to snag a last minute same day reservation at 8pm. Like many places in the area, they were pretty short staffed and only had one person waiting all the tables and it's a small kitchen next to the bar so the queue for food can get pretty long quickly. I had the pork chop entree (photo attached) which was really tasty and good. The only (slight) letdowns were that the bread that came with it was so-so and the dessert (cheesecake) was pre-plated earlier in the day. Again, slight nits, and you have to realize that it's a resort restaurant in the middle of the forest post pandemic. read more

The Steam Donkey - Pork Chop entree with steamed veggies and mashed potatoes. - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

We love the Steam Donkey. Outstanding food and awesome service. The ambiance is old school and we love it! Vegetarian and meat options. Delish asparagus and garlic mashed potatoes. We also love their salads. Usually they are open seven days a week even in the Winter. They do take reservations. Don't miss this great restaurant in Pinecrest! read more

The Steam Donkey - Veggie burger with mashed potatoes and asparagus. - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

The chef absolutely has a palate and tastes his food amazing flavors texture and it comes hot!We had a party of 12 and the service ,food and ambiance was well it exceeded our expectations In the restaraunt bussiness it takes a team to create what the steam donkey has try it you won't be disappointed it is 5 stars in my family's book everything on the menu is amazing along with the welcoming staff aiming to please the customer Don't change a thing your place is amazing! read more

Dont believe the hours on their website or the posting on the front door. We were there today (Tuesday) at lunch time and the doors were locked. Note on the front door said they are open 11-3 for lunch. NOPE. read more

Everything else was closed so we tried it. We were surprised at the excellent quality of the food. The service was great too. So happy we stumbled upon this place! read more

I want to give them more stars, but God they make it hard. We must have tried four times to dine here before succeeding - take my advice and MAKE A RESERVATION for the love of God. I know it's a small restaurant, but rather than scoffing at our ineptitude, something friendly like, "we're a really small restaurant and can only accomodate a few diners per night - reservations are definitely the way to go - I can help you look for availability another night?" would go SO MUCH FURTHER than the "do you have a reservation? no? then we have no room" or my favorite - the stand alone head shake of "no" - no other explanation provided. We finally made it in for the first time during the off season and it was mostly fine (despite frighteningly rare pork). Service was still frigid, and I'd suggest you skip the cocktails and stick to beer & wine, but not terrible. Here we come again in the summer - just to grab a drink and relax while waiting on family to arrive in town. Luckily this does not require a reservation and the back patio is a great spot to relax. We are definitely doing something wrong - we never feel welcome, and our last visit really cemented it. Another quibble - why have guest internet if you're not willing to share the password? We would have loved to hang out longer since it was such a lovely evening, but with no way to contact the rest of our group to let them know where we were, we had to leave. The other patrons we chat to when we're there are always so friendly so I just don't get it. read more

It's amazing what the chef can do in this kitchen that's the size of a postage stamp. We love the steam donkey and look forward to it for every ski trip. Sam the host/drink taker is always upbeat and fun! The food is always hot, fresh and delish. Don't sleep on the soup!! Every soup I've had has been 10/10! read more

We ordered the rib eye steak but got more like a New York. It was ok. $37. Salad came with meal as well as mashed potato and carrots. We ordered mushrooms on side and they were pretty weak. Maybe hamburgers would be better. read more

The place was extremely cosy but the host was a bit rude. he seemed inconvenienced by our presence even though the place was near empty. i ordered a steak medium rare, they brought it to me not only sliced open across the middle but it was well done so they cut it to check the temp but still served it to me over cooked. read more

Every time I traveled to Pinecrest, I stop to here to have a hot chocolate. Is delicious. read more

The Steam Donkey - Hot chocolate - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my dinner but it was so delicious. After years of coming to pinecrest my husband and I finally tried it for the first time. The service is wonderful and everyone was very pleasant. We will definitely be coming back soon. The ambiance was perfect. The food was definitely the star of our night. Thank you read more

We always visit the Steam Donkey when we come up to the snow. We walked in and it was so nice and toasty. We always sit at the bar and Bruce the bartender is great. The stand in cook for the night did a great job on our bacon cheeseburgers. We took them back to our cabin and really enjoyed them. read more

The Steam Donkey - American Near Me - Pinecrest, California

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Meh. I suppose those writing about veggie options here are omnivores. The few tired and uninspired options are typical of the area; not a big surprise. I live here for the mountains not the food ;). If you're veg and want an interesting creative entree in the county you gotta cook it yourself. I do like the patio and cocktails as well as the interior. read more

Service here is a joke, obviously they know nothing about it, steak was good but it took and hour and 20 minutes to get it, I watched it sit on a ledge for 10 minutes getting cold until our server finally got around to stop talking to someone at the bar and bring my plate, never go back here again, I've been going to Pinecrest for 40 years, sucks it's gotten so bad. read more

Get reservations for great lunch or dinner and a fine bar. Great atmosphere! Out back is a nice dining experience.

I have been going to this place for years. It used to be an enjoyable place. The past few times I have been there the service was horrible. Tonight was the last straw. The host was very rude & seemed upset that we had a reservation. Once we were seated the waiter almost instantly asked what we wanted to order & was upset we asked for a few more minutes. 20 minutes later he came back & took our order. It took nearly 20 minutes to get our salad then the main coarse was thrown in front of us before we could put the dressing on our salad. I asked for another drink & he said he'll see what he could do. He never came back to our table for the rest of the night. Very rude staff I'm done with the steam Donkey read more

Great Steaks, Chillie Oma. Cold day, service is awesome, good bar experience. It's a small place but worth the experience.

We called in for reservations for 4(2kids 2adults). The host sat us and Garret came over got our drinks. Was EXTREMELY polite in serving the ladies of the table first. Someone said something to him and he defended his choice and said "It's the proper way to serve a table". Next thing we know we get this other guy Shawn coming to the table. Ordered TWO KIDS sirloins one with pasta one with mash. I ordered the kids spare ribs to which no mention of not doing it (I was not that hungry.) Boyfriend got the Sirloin & Shrimp mash and a salad. A few minutes later Shawn comes back and has us retell him the order. Three kids one adult. "Well we normally don't do that but we will". If it was that big of a problem it should have been addressed the moment I Ordered. He then came out with two salads. I don't do ranch the kids don't eat it. The one salad was correct. He then had us repeat AGAIN the order because he got really screwed up somehow. Plates came out. One kid sirloin with Mash one spare rib with noodles, one adult sirloin with mash ( exchanged my noodles and sons mash around to be correct). Garret came by and got me a refill on my drink. Had to ask the Host to take the salad plate as the table is so small with 4 plates, a bread plate,their center lantern, and salt and pepper shakers. Doesn't help the table we had was maybe 3'x3'. Never got offered dessert. Took forever to get the check. Took the kids outside and still had to wait another 5-10 to have my boyfriend join us to walk back to camp. If you end up with Shawn ask for a different server unless you don't mind potentially getting some random menu item. On the way out I saw Garret and told him I wished he was our server. He said he was sorry and that Shawn's days off are Monday's and Tuesdays. I told him we were leaving Sunday. If we return next year I will remember that among co-workers they berate or talk down about being polite. read more

The most amazing food and service ever! The ribeye, lamb, and pork chops were out of site, along with the soup and salads!

This review is purely based on the service and how rudely my elderly parents and I were treated by Shawn, Johnny, and Lori the manager. To start off, upon walking in at 6:30 on a Thursday night the 28th of June 2018, I came in with my fishing gear, after a long day of being on the lake and not being able to put it in the car at that moment, to check on availability. Immediately the host, Johnny, looked me up and down making me feel unwelcome and uncomfortable for having my gear with me. There was a line - when I finally reached the host, I ask " do you have space for 3, we do not have a reservation" Johnny then looked at his seating chart for the restaurant and quoted me for 7:15. I asked " is that the earliest seating you have? Or maybe we can sit at the bar table and have dinner". To which he snapped back at me and said " No you can't have food there". Genuinely surprised I repeated " Oh, we can't have food at the bar or tables?" To which Johnny replied, very sarcastically and condescendingly, "I'm sorry, am I being opaque with you?". At this point I was genuinely taken aback by how I was being spoken to. I had just been there two days ago with my husband for lunch at the bar, had food and had a great experience with Bruce the bartender. Maybe dinner service is different, fine, you don't have to be so rude about it, just tell me politely. My sister and brother in law were still out on the lake (with the car keys, hence why we had all the gear) and my elderly father needed to eat and obviously we had no means to go anywhere else. Regardless to say it only got worse from this point on, I was so upset by the way we were being treated I went over to Pincrest Lake Resort reservation desk (who is the owner of the Steam Donkey- Lori) to let he know her staff was the rudest bunch of humans I have ever encountered. When complaining about how rudely we were being treated and going back and fourth for a bit she blurted out said that I was drunk. Well, it looks like we found where her wait staff gets there manners! I was so insulted, I had 1 drink from her restaurant while waiting for our table. We continued on for a bit until she finally asked "What do you want me to do about it?" Almost as if I wanted something for free. I told her, "All I wanted to do was walk into your restaurant and have dinner with my parents and be treated like a customer, if you have to ask ME what YOU need to do about it - maybe you should not be in customer service." Once my sister showed up with the car and her husband I told her what was happening, and she approached the host to tell them they where out of place, and of course they were rude to her also. A pregnant women.... YOU could not pay me to eat here ever again. Do yourself a favor and drive to Strawberry and eat the the Strawberry Inn. On a side note, I have been vacationing is Pincrest since 1996 and this restaurant has gone down hill horribly, I will never eat here again. read more