Bennett Spring Dining Lodge

Took forever to take our order. Meal came with salad. Usually comes first. Didn’t come. Meal didn’t actually come either. Told the server we wanted to go after 30 minutes. She wouldn’t let us pay because she needed to get the food taken off the bill, made us wait longer to go talk to her manager. Didn’t make us pay for drinks. So that was nice

First time here! Great food! Our waiter Ben recommend the trout and fried zucchini. We also had the fisherman’s platter. The zucchini is out of this world! Best breading ever! Great service too!! Will be back

Update: Don't Recommend the Roast Beef. I've had it a couple of times and it is old tasting Roast Beef. The Homemade Pies are Not Very good, especially the Chocolate Creme Pie & Coconut Creme Pie. We couldn't even finish eating them. Waitress wasn't there Very Much, either. She was Too Busy eating in the other dining area. Great Atmosphere! Nice, clean restaurant and the man Host, who initially seats you, is very nice and gets you started with drinks and specials. Neat looking restaurant with a lot of character! My husband had the Chicken Sandwich Special which was delicious and I had a Frisco Sandwich which was good, too! Wide variety of delicious food from Lasagna to Trout to Salmon & breakfast, sandwiches and more. Good service, great hours, and decent prices... We will be going back. Definitely Recommend if you are in the area!

Place could have been great. Two huge hearths/fireplaces on each side of the large dining hall. It definitely has the look and feel of a historic river lodge. However it was cold and rainy and neither fireplace was lit. Most people ate wearing their jackets on. Food was mediocre. Dinner Roll was heated in the microwave and had to be peeled from the napkin. Prime rib was blah and the horseradish sauce was sweet and didn’t get ate. Salad was on its way out and the dressing separated and tasted fishy. Coffee was good!

The setting of this place is nice, but the food I ordered was definitely nothing to brag about. I ordered the Roast Beef dinner with green beans and carrots for $17 and change. It was a complete rip off. The sides of green beans and carrots was very small servings, no more than 2oz's a side, they were ok, but not much flavor. The Roast Beef on the other hand was absolutely terrible. It is extremely dry and very tuff and chewy. You have to saw into it with a Steak knife to cut it. It is so dry and very flavorless, they definitely do not know how to cook Roast Beef at all. It is supposed to still be a bit pink in the center and juicy and tender. If it's done correctly, you can easily cut it with your fork. I told the waitress, she got a bit of a attitude and told me they sell a lot of it. She took it and brought me another piece, and it was just as bad, and I did not eat it either. The waitress got a very bad attitude with me, did not even offer to take anything off of my bill, and even charged me extra because I used my American Express. So my bill was a little over $25, for a extremely low quality meal. If you curious, no I definitely did not leave a tip for the waitress, she is very poor in her customer service skills. I work in food service, and she would not have a job with me with her attitude. Be careful what you order here, customers in the parking lot said the cook can only cook a couple of things well. Go on in to Lebanon for good food.

Great Atmosphere, very cozy, service was great. Only complaint was food was overdone. Fries were super crispy and fish was overcooked. Everything else was good.

Amazing food and great atmosphere. Got the trout dinner and turkey club. You definitely get your money worth in the sizes of food they serve.

I thought this was a nice place. Waiter was very kind. Didn’t have to wait long at all. Although there weren’t many people at the restaurant. Food came with salad 🥗and soup🥘, which was a pleasant surprise. I thought it tasted great also! ☺️ I don’t know why there were bad reviews. That’s unfortunate!! Because I had a great experience! It wasn’t the best food I’ve ever had, definitely plain Jane but it satisfied my need!! You can even bring in your own fish you caught and they’ll cook it for you. How neat is that?!

Camping here is GREAT! Dining out, eh... I had fried chicken strips and the breading had hardly ANY flavor. The mac and cheese wasn't anything to write home about. Our server didn't even ask if we were interested in dessert before handing out our checks. Quite underwhelming, but not horrible.

Food was good it seemed home made and very casual place!! Took a while to get our check and part of a meal came out when we were all done eating.

Hadn't been for several years, we were staying in the area, so stopped in for dinner. The soup of the day was vegetable beef. I was served a bowl of lukewarm vegetable soup with no beef. Husband ordered a fish sandwich, which was literally 2 fish sticks on a hamburger bun. The only reason I'm giving 3 stars is because the waiter was very nice and did his best. The quality of the food isn't his responsibility. It's really unfortunate that the restaurant has declined so much. This place used to have fantastic food! Unless you're just starving, you're better off just driving into town for a really good meal

One of our family's all time favorite places to camp, hike and of course fish!! Looking forward to the day when all of the updates are complete!

This restaurant has been serving food for a long time. The restaurant is in the park and convenient. I had breakfast with coffee. It's nice the coffee comes out in a carafe. Plenty is available. The food was served hot and very tasty. The server was pleasant and helpful. The atmosphere is open and homey feeling. All in all. It was a nice experience.

Their food was very good and filling. The service was quick and they were very nice. They were consistently checking in. The fries weren't very salty..kinda bland. When the check came, they gave us a mint and Dum-Dum. They had a lunch special, it was good. (forgot to take pictures Sorry)

When you come to Bennett Springs you have to try their trout! It's delicious which ever way you choose it cooked. I had baked my husband had fried and it was delicious both ways! Our little granddaughter had child's spaghetti which was good but she liked tasting our trout better. My husband ended his meal with chocolate pie, he was not disappointed!

It really hurts that this could be such a nice spot, but it is not. First: incredibly slow service. Only 5 tables were seated (including us), 2 servers and a hostess....over a waitress saying, after we were seated, "They're going to have to wait, I've got a big table." (A table of 6). Second: overpriced for the serving size. We both ordered catfish, one piece, with 2 sides and soup and salad, split a cherry pie with ice cream, 2 drinks = $50+. Third: the flavor was just okay, and not very hot. Fourth: Should kitchen staff be wearing masks? These were not. Fifth: Not very friendly wait staff. Overall this is a beautiful lodge in a beautiful setting; someone needs to manage this restaurant better.

I thought this was a nice place. Waiter was very kind. Didn't have to wait long at all. Although there weren't many people at the restaurant. Food came with salad and soup, which was a pleasant surprise. I thought it tasted great also! I don't know why there were bad reviews. That's unfortunate!! Because I had a great experience! It wasn't the best food I've ever had, definitely plain Jane but it satisfied my need!! You can even bring your own fish you caught and they'll cook it for you. How neat is that?!

Had three meals there. Excellent very prompt service. Breakfast was fast and good except biscuits were like cannon balls. Dinner kinda pricey. Roast beef on toast w mashed potatoes and gravy. Ehhh kinda tasted old or stale. Pretty sure roast beef was more fat than meat.

We stopped in to ask about the hours and check the menu at the dining lodge Upon leaving we noticed a small room with lights on and racks of shirts. We thought that it was the park store. We went inside and was immediately jumped by and old lady who told us it was a meeting and we needed to leave. We had no idea there was a meeting nor did we deserve to be talked to that way. Maybe lock the door next time. Very rude. We didn't even go back for lunch

The interior design of this restaurant is fantastic. It was on point in regards to theme and quite inviting. There was no wait even at dinner time. Food selection was quite broad, I ordered the rainbow trout and my wife had to country fried steak. The steak was better than the trout, both were very large portions. Was not a fan of the macaroni and cheese, but the peach pie for dessert was out of this world. Definitely recommend this place

Beautiful lodge, nice atmosphere, good service. This park is known for their trout hatchery, spring of course, and a beautiful spring-fed river to fly fish trout from and the lodge serves fresh rainbow trout: fried or baked with sliced almonds. Great choices for meals and a big list of delicious-sounding homemade desserts. We're definitely coming back.

Not a good experience. Ordered two of the daily special Which was liver, baked potato, green beans, rolls soup or salad. Waited 40 minutes and no salads or any attention. Finally received deep Fried Burnt livers, mashed potato and no roll or soup or salad. Just a terrible meal and waitress.

I have eaten breakfast 3 times at the Bennett Springs State Park Dining Lodge. Mostly the Country Breakfast number one. If you order sunny side up eggs, be prepared to get super runny eggs. When you order, make sure to order everything you need right away, because as the food is to be rated as C, the service is F-. It is to be recommended to ensure a speedy departure. Sometimes your hostess will disappear for 15 Minutes and when you walk over to the cash register and ask, if you can pay somebody else, you will get a NOOOOO for sure as an answer. Short summary, if you are staying at the Bennett Springs State Park and you are to lazy to cook your own breakfast, it is your only place to go.

Our family had a wonderful time at the restaurant. Staff was friendly. Food was prepared in a reasonable time frame and was delicious. I would definitely recommend the restaurant. The architecture of the building is beautiful and makes for a great old world feel.

Sorry to put this so low, but our service was very slow. Our waiter did not check back on us and we had to ask for drink refills. Worse when the food finally came it was cold, the plate was hot, but the food was cold and very good.

If I could give no stars I would. We were getting our food to go and the waitress we had was terrible. She was rude from the very beginning. If a question was asked she would cut you off and answer very hateful before you even had the whole sentence out of your mouth. She had no time to deal with us. And acted like we were putting her out with our $50 order. As for the food it was also below average. A salad bar that has lettuce, cheese, pasta salad, that's about it. Ended up throwing my whole dinner away. The brisket was beef jerky. Would not recommend. Spend your money somewhere else!

Disappointing to say the least. Walk in at 7 o'clock to a restaurant that closes at 8 with a party of 15, told by 2 different people that they were waiting for another large party to leave to seat us. when they left the set the table for us but then the kitchen refused to serve our party after leaving us sitting in the lobby for 37 minutes all the while other small parties were seated.

While visiting the Lodge, it started to pour down rain. I had to run out to close the windows of the car. I returned soaked to the bone! Ben got me a dry shirt to wear!! Thank you sir. The food was also above my expectations, simple yet good. The salad bar could use more veggies but other than that, I consider this place to be a hit with my family and I.

The food was good and portions were large, but what brought this to 4 stars instead of three was the service. Our waiter (which I am upset that I forget his name- older gentleman, Ron, maybe?) was EXCELLENT! He was prompt on refilling drinks, happy to get anything else we needed, and friendly the entire time. We would definitely return if we're ever back at Bennett Springs. I will say the buffet seemed subpar but that's why we didn't get it... and we were pleased with our meals.

We have breakfast here at the end of every trip. You can't go wrong with the biscuits and gravy or an omelette, my favorite being the Mexican.

It's right on the grounds next to the main store, just past the dam and by the fish hatchery. It's super convenient if you're staying on the grounds. The quality of the food is better than most campground cafeterias, but it's nothing spectacular. That said, it's not badly priced either. I had a philly cheesesteak one night that was pretty bland and mediocre, but the chicken fried steak was reasonably tasty and the gravy was good. The salad bar is meh, as was the soup the day I tried it, but again, I didn't go into this expecting anything particularly stellar. The service is fine, and even on a weekend evening, it's not too crazy busy, usually. We weren't there during peak season, though. Overall, you could do worse. Just don't go expecting fine dining, and you'll probably find something that you'll like.

Thought it would be nice to have breakfast at park rather than go back to Lebanon...big mistake...my son's corned-beef hash was terrible, daughter in-law,s vegetable omelette wasn't any better....I had poached eggs and grits hard to mess that up.....took almost 30 minutes to get our food.......service very slow...

We had dinner last Friday, and breakfast Saturday. Got the buffet for both. The breakfast buffet was great, some of the best biscuits and gravy we've ever had. The dinner buffet was good, we got there towards the end and they were out of some things. The fried clams were great, the first piece of fried fish I had was great, the second piece was fishy. For the price, it's a great deal. We finished with homemade chocolate meringue pie that was worth the trip by itself.

We have tried the restaurant twice in the last two years. The orders were messed up, service poor, and food not too good. Judging from the crowds (none), its reputation has spread. We will make other plans for future trips to the park.

I have great memories of this place while fishing at the park with family and friends over the past 20 years. It used to be inviting to the customer and a place to talk life over a great breakfast. I took my wife and kids who were excited to visit the park for the first time and I was overly ashamed at the service and food. After an hour of waiting for a minimal breakfast, I actually grabbed my keys and told my wife we could just leave a few bucks on the table for the juice and leave. The place was not even crowded but the staff had no idea what was going on. We finally got our food that was disgusting but after waiting over an hour for some pancakes and a plate of eggs, i figured I would try to make the best of the situation. If and a big If I ever go back to relive the times when the servers actually cared about the customer, I will get the buffet and forget about the current wait staff. Very sad current state of affairs with this place nowadays.