Chelsea E.
Yelp
My boyfriend and I came here for dinner after our big hike (S. Kaibab to Phantom Ranch to Bright Angel) and also for breakfast the next morning. Although the food is not really that great, it's the best option for those staying in Bright Angel Lodge. It's essentially a casual sit down restaurant located right off the lobby.
On Saturday after our hike, there was a little bit of a wait (maybe only 10 mins) and then on Sunday morning, we were seated right away around 8a (this was in November, so not peak season).
What makes me so sad about this place is that the menu has the story of Fred Harvey, who was an entrepreneur who opened up various meal houses along rest stops on the Atchison, Topeka, & Santa Fe line back in the late 1800's. What they specifically called out was that he did this to ensure travelers had fresh GOOD food because all of the other places had stale, rotten food they served. And now in ironies of ironies, a place that bears his name serves extremely subpar food. For instance, the bun on my cheeseburger was a tad hard. (If it were my at home, it would have been one of those buns that I forced myself to eat because I didn't want to waste it, while knowing that it was probably past its expire date.) We also ordered the cookie sundae, which I was super excited about because I love those. I assumed it would come out with a warm delicious cookie and ice cream. Well it was a cookie that obviously come out of the box and was ROCK HARD!! My boyfriend and I were laughing because you couldn't even cut into it with a fork or knife. It was that hard. Ughhh.
Breakfast was definitely a better experience. Although I asked if they could make me scrambled egg whites and I was told no. I then asked for scrambled eggs and they said they could do that (which I figured they could because it was on the menu). I then asked why they couldn't do scrambled egg WHITES but they could do scrambled eggs? And was told "there's just no way for us to ring that up on the cash register." Couldn't they have just talked directly to the cook?? Ugh whatever.
Anyways, come here if you must. I hate to say it, but I may even have to come here if I stay at Bright Angel Lodge in the future as well. Sometimes you're just at the mercy of the most convenient option...