Big Sur River Inn

Thank you for putting potato skins back on the menu. Your new and improved, healthier version is very nicely done.

I got the «premier room» near the river. We had no neighbors the first night, but had neighbors the second night. The walls were paper thin as we could hear normal conversation through the walls the second night. We had a 12 hour car trip the next day and had no sleep as a result of the noise. The seemingly peaceful surroundings in front of our river-​front room was anything but private due to access of the area for the general public. Very loud by any standards. At $ 400.00 per night I expect better than a Motel 6. We approached the manager Rich, I believe his name to be, He said he had spent thousands on noise prevention in the room we occupied, which could not be possible, and he was rude and unsympathetic with our concerns. Do not stay here if you are looking for a peaceful getaway

The food was great, however it’s a shame that the tradition of «warm hospitality and excellent service» that was started by the Pfeiffer haven’t carried forward in the restaurant. I witnessed a couple leave because they couldn’t sit in a section that they wanted because there wasn’t a wait staff assigned to the that section due to understaffing.
I also wanted a half order of sweet potato fries and they said they couldn’t do that. Really? So no side order and an unsatisfied craving.

Beautiful and the staff is super friendly, courteous and helpful. I can’t wait to come back and stay and eat very soon.

Beautiful setting. Cozy updated rooms with barn doors, and a comfy bed. No TV, and internet is practically useless. But sometimes, that’s a good thing!
Restaurant is the only one there, and quite pricey. Same thing goes for the little gas station. $ 4 a gallon.

We stopped at the general store and bought turkey sandwich with multigrain bread and cheddar for 5.50. Chips coffee and some great souvenir stickers of which was left, not given to my sister at register. Sara a professional exceptional employee took our address to mail the sicker!!! Love the creek in the back to chill your toes. The gardens, ferns and trees are so beautiful. Great place. Very happy we stopped here.

Kudos to the Big Sur River Inn for hosting the 2016 Big Sur Fashion show, a community event that used to be held at the Henry Miller Library but outgrew that venue. I try to patronize businesses that support the local community, we had a great evening on their back lawn by the river, enjoying cocktails and the spectacle of the Big Sur Fashion Show! If we are in Big Sur this summer will defintely be back to the Big Sur River Inn.

Don’t even stop here. Service sucks! Food is disgustingly overpriced and small servings. Bbq ribs are overrated and plain. Go up the road. McDonalds have better fries. Jack in the box has better burgers. Only thing nice are the restrooms

Absolutely amazing place to stay! We stayed there for two nights in there family suite by the river! Such a gorgeous view! you can actually sit in the chairs which located in the river to soak your feet after a long day of hiking! Location is amazing too! so close to Andrew Molera state park, which is such a underrated place in big sur!

Lovely weekend in this beautiful setting, close to highway 1 in Big Sur! The motel rooms are ok, though the surrounding river/​relaxing experience is almost one of a kind. Check some of the pics I took to picture what I am referring to.
One thing we did not like is that our room was across the street from the river/​main activities.
We had a chance to try out the River Inn restaurant too: descend food at lunch, and a great and much better experience over dinner!
One thing: do not count much on cell phone reception… And the wifi there… Is like going over a modem!
My recommendation is do not miss to at least stop by this place, experience the river settings, if you are in the area!

Hella dope spot to hit wid a date. steak was on point. Plus who doesnt want to be able to get faded while sitting in the river.

This motel is really no more that 3 stars at best but I bumped up the rating based on two little surprises that enhanced our experience. The first surprise was the deal we got on our room. We got at least a 50 dollar discount for some reason… probably a last minute cancellation .
Any who. We stayed here this past Friday. After a long drive into big sur from LA this was literally the first place that we saw and stopped at. Distraught about lack of cellular reception we figured the restaurant /​inn might have wifi and got lucky in that they had 1 room available .
The room itself was okay. Very vintage. You can tell that the cabins were constructed maybe pre mid century. Staying here is literally like taking a step back in time .
Now for the second surprise… why I really bumped up my review by one star is that the inn actually sits on a river. I know it’s called the river inn but I didn’t think that the river was so close (actually on the property).
The cabin suite we were placed in actually had a deck with wooden chairs that overlooked the river. For about a little over $ 100 I knew we really lucked out.

Came in mid morning to grab some food before heading home. I was really pleased to see all the vegetarian options. I ended up just getting a simple veggie plate and some soup which was really good. The SO got a grilled cheese sandwich that looked seriously amazing. They also had healthy options for children. Grilled chicken instead of breaded, she loved it. Our server was really sweet and extremely quick. Obviously the view was beautiful. I wish we lived closer!

This review is regarding the inn and not the restaurant. I’ve been coming to the restaurant for 25 years and it’s amazing.
However, I recently stayed in the 2 bedroom suite during Valentines week for my boyfriend’s birthday. It was both of our first time staying there. I was so excited to take him there and it ended up being very disappointing.
First, we were told at check in and no time prior that the grass alongside our suite is being fixed and there may be some minor noise in the morning. The entire back grass area was ripped up and full of tractor equipment. We wanted to have a relaxing morning and sit on our patio, drink coffee and listen to the river, but were unable to do so, because there were about 6 guys working on tractors and trimming trees with saws a few feet away. It was the complete opposite of the peaceful weekend we had anticipated.
The river area with the big wooden chairs was closed and that’s something I always look forward to using. I understand construction must occur, but a heads up on the website and/​or a courtesy email would have been nice, especially since I paid over $ 300 for one night.
The bedroom mattress cover also had blood stains on it, which is completely unacceptable and the sheets heavily smelled like mold. Then, the shower barely had hot water and pressure. I understand water conservation, but that was ridiculous…
At check out, I politely informed the front desk gentleman about my concerns. He was very apologetic and told me that the manager was in a meeting. He said he’d let him know ASAP and they would see what they could do to help. He assured me that they would email me in the next day or so.
It’s been over a week and I haven’t heard anything.
I rarely write bad reviews, but this was definitely a one star experience. I might return to the restaurant, but the hotel isn’t worth the $$$.

Ugh, so this place… My husband and I frequent Big Sur to hike, camp, and enjoy everything the beautiful place has to offer. We stopped off at random to this restaurant. We normally Unilocal everything, but as everyone knows, there is next to no service in Big Sur. First off, it took a very long time to get a server to acknowledge us after being seated. The host was great, the servers were very disinterested. We finally got a server. Someone walked up and told us, she was not our server, but she would help us. She seemed very irritated and agitated she had to help us. Mind you, we are pretty chill people. I was a server myself in my younger days, so I get it. My husband asked for a shake. He asked her is she could make it extra thick and she snapped back at him and said, «all of our shakes are already thick.» He replied, «perfect.» I ordered a Bloody Mary, which is the only good thing I think we got. She brought my husband’s shake back and it was thin and watery like milk. He looked at it and picked the straw up, the shake just ran down the straw with no consistency at all, like milk. He asked, if she could make it thicker? Maybe add more ice cream… He offered to pay extra. She was super rude and pretty much said, «that’s how all of our shakes are.» We then ordered food. My husband inquired about garlic bread garlic bread appetizer. He asked the waitress if it was good. She responded with, «it’s garlic bread I don’t know what you want. I mean how do you mess that up…» He said, okay, still trying to be polite and ordered some. He was still trying to be polite, at this point, I was becoming very bothered by her attitude because it was uncalled for. We had been nothing but polite to her, trying to understand that she may have been having a bad day. We received the garlic bread and all of the top was missing off the bread! Like what the hell? She had sarcastically asked, how do you mess up garlic bread and THEY DID. At this point the waitress was so rude we didn’t even bother. I finished my drink and we asked for the check and left. We will never return.
As for the actual food, most of it was low grade bar food, nothing spectacular.

‘Ordered the $ 15 hamburger with shoestring fries. It arrived with steak fries. Waiter explained that they had run out of shoestring fries AND HAMBURGER??? So what WAS the meat patty between the buns!!? Is this why Lassie didn’t come home? Whatever it was it was overcooked and tough. But at least it was mercifully small.
Despite it’s best efforts, this placed doesn’t totally suck as a tourist trap .but it could if it tried just a little harder.

Ugh, so this place… My husband and I frequent Big Sur to hike, camp, and enjoy everything the beautiful place has to offer. We stopped off at random to this restaurant. We normally Unilocal everything, but as everyone knows, there is next to no service in Big Sur.
B First off, it took a very long time to get a server to acknowledge us after being seated. The host was great, the servers were very disinterested. We finally got a server. Someone walked up and told us, she was not our server, but she would help us. She seemed very irritated and agitated she had to help us. Mind you, we are pretty chill people. I was a server myself in my younger days, so I get it.
My husband asked for a shake. He asked her is she could make it extra thick and she snapped back at him and said, «all of our shakes are already thick.» He replied, «perfect.» I ordered a Bloody Mary, which is the only good thing I think we got. She brought my husband’s shake back and it was thin and watery like milk. He looked at it and picked the straw up, the shake just ran down the straw with no consistency at all, like milk. He asked, if she could make it thicker? Maybe add more ice cream… He offered to pay extra. She was super rude and pretty much said, «that’s how all of our shakes are.» She completely wrote it off.
We then ordered food. My husband inquired about garlic bread garlic bread appetizer. He asked the waitress if it was good. She responded with, «it’s garlic bread I don’t know what you want. I mean how do you mess that up…» He said, okay, still trying to be polite and just ordered some. He was still trying to be polite, at this point, I was becoming very bothered by her attitude because it was uncalled for.
We had been nothing but polite to her, trying to understand that she may have been having a bad day. We received the garlic bread and all of the top was missing off the bread! Like what the hell? She had sarcastically asked, how do you mess up garlic bread and THEY DID. At this point the waitress was so rude we didn’t even bother. I finished my drink and we asked for the check and left. We will never return.
As for the actual food, most of it was low grade bar food, nothing spectacular. I do not recommend this place, keep going, find another spot.

I’ll keep this short and sweet. This restaurant has good service, but their food isn’t the best. The interior is very nice with a cabin feel to it. It was so cozy and had a nice fireplace. It’s located right next to a nice river with lots of shade. Unfortunately, their lunch menu was very limited and overpriced for what it was. I may return another time to try out their dinner if I’m in the area.

Very beautiful scenery and good service and consistantly excellent food. Right on hiway 1 local art galleries in same locale.
Big sur river adjoins establishment and outdoor seating.

This review based on the bar and the outside lounge area by the river. This is the spot you wanna bring your friends from out of town. It’s a little bit of Mother Nature without going camping all full gear. You grab a beer and walk down the chairs by the river and relax!
There’s a grassy area where you can eat a small bit and have a drink. I’ve been here to many times and it’s still one of my favorite little spots. Can’t review the restaurant since we usually go down to another place to grab a bite.

Worst service, extremely rude staff and food was terrible. Money was wasted but more importantly my time was wasted. Don’t bother and keep driving. Big Sur has better options.

I’m surprised that you can read this at all, with the availability of Internet signals around here, but here we go…
This part of the California coast is rife with cafes and restaurants offering fussy entrees, obsequious service and over-​priced mediocre food on inconvenient schedules.
In such a sea of flotsam, this place is a gem. The food is as good as anything you could find in San Francisco, the service is efficient and to the point, the coffee is good and the prices are very reasonable. There isn’t a rival to this place within 50 miles in either direction.
The hollandaise on the eggs Benedict was genuine and as good as my own, and even the potatoes were fried to perfection. My friend’s potato hash was also excellent (but beware that there’s no corned beef in it. Just those perfectly fried potatoes with expertly sautéed bell peppers and red onions topped by two properly poached eggs).
They also have a full bar with some beautiful sangrias and infusions.

We ordered a salad and burger. The food was quite good, and well prepared. However our order was taken down incorrectly: we received the full salad instead of side salad, and regular french fries instead of sweet potato fries.
We received decent service from our server, except for the part where we asked for something and then saw the server standing right next to us chatting instead of going to fetch what we asked for. Also, when we informed one of the other staff that we received the incorrect food, instead of helping she said we needed to talk to our server.
However the worst part was regarding some food we had brought with us in the car. The waitress inside politely told us we could not eat that inside, which is fine. But she also told us that we could eat that outside the restaurant. After finishing our meal inside and paying our bill, we went outside to eat the food we had brought. There was a sign on the table saying it was only for customers of the restaurant (which we were) and since the waitress had said it would be OK we thought it would be fine to sit and eat there. However another man later came up to us and started yelling at us about it. He did not listen to us when we said the waitress inside had told us it would be OK.
I completely understand a restaurant not wanting people to bring their own food in to eat instead of ordering from the restaurant menu. However this is also a travel location where people are going to bring their own food and water (while we were there, a group of at least a hundred cyclists were passing through, and the particular menu of this restaurant does not cater to many people’s dietary habits, like non-​Americans and we overheard other customers not finding anything on the menu to their liking) and the conflicting information from the waitress inside with the very rude attitude of the man outside was extremely unpleasant.

Stopped here real quick at the store next to the restaurant where the burrito bar and pizza is. We ordered a pizza and it was delicious. I also left my cell phone on the counter and the sweet guy working there brought it to me. Whew it was a close one. I also found my souvenir spoon here that said Big Sur on it. They had everything from fresh brewed coffee, craft beers, to fresh fruit. We went outside and chilled in the Adirondack chairs in the river while our pizza was cooking and then enjoyed their wifi while we ate. Would come back here in a heart beat.

Found this place while driving through scenic Big Sur. It looked really nice all lit up from the outside. The atmosphere alone was very nice, and the food was above average. I had the pesto pasta with chicken and veggies. The pesto sauce was really excellent, and the pasta was cooked well and veggies were very fresh and tasty. They seem to give good sized portions on all of their dishes, which is a good thing in my book. If I get back here, I’d want to try other dishes to confirm my thinking that everything here is very good.

My Hubby & Self tried the ‘River Inn Restaurant’ 1^st time en route to Big Sur Bixby Bridge. Our experience was Great & Amazing.
Ambience — We were quite impressed by the ambience, with dimly lit lighting arrangement making it to look more cute & romantic, furnished completely with antique wooden furnitures, beautiful bar set up & good old pictures of the restaurant showing how it was established in the early 1930’s. There is a creek running alongside the restaurant, in the middle of the Big Sur forest, where people can opt to eat outside. The restaurant has the option of eating both inside & outside, giving their customers the benefit of enjoying a pleasant & relaxing environment.
Reception — We stopped by the restaurant twice the same day, once in the early evening for a quick cup of Hot Coffee & later on came again for dinner. Both the times, we were well received at the reception, prompt calling for seating despite busy walk — ins by the customers.
Food — We are Vegetarians & so tried their Veg Pastas for the main course with side Onion rings & Ghirardelli Hot Cocoa drink. Our Pasta picks were Castroville pasta (pesto dressing) & Garden Harvest (Veggies & light pesto). Both tasted extremely delicious, fresh & well cooked. Even their Onion rings tasted good, crispy, well fried & came in big sizes (guess we were lucky). And lastly, the drink was decent too.
Service — Our Food was served by ‘Andrew’. He was quick, attentive & helpful. Served all items one by one without any delays. Appreciate his service.
Price & Location — On an average, price per two for a dinner menu will cost you around $ 50 (excluding tips).
Wonderful location, situated in the heart of Big Sur, approximately 25 miles South of Carmel on Highway 1. Trust me, the drive will be very scenic with spectacular Pacific Ocean view.
Overall — We had an Excellent experience & quite Satisfactory too. We usually do quick Unilocal to find about places/​restaurants before visiting any spot but this time we just rushed to Big Sur & explored areas on the way with sheer first look impressions. To our surprise, we thankfully ended up in the right place & had the pleasure of having a perfect evening.
I highly recommend this place. Hope to stop by next time to check their Hotel service as well.

I had really high hopes with this as it was suggested by a friend.
The salad had too much dressing (too much vineghar)
Also the burger is served with fries but for $ 2 we replaced by onion rings.
ONLY FOUR Onion rings were served. Common are you kidding me? First we replaced the existing fries and we paid extra $ 2 and we get just 4 rings.
Also we ordered for Mango Fizz, it was good but they dont refill.
The Veg burger wasnt great and had almost just the patty.
C’mon again for $ 5 dollars you dont refill the fizz when its ¾ ice and fizz and just a few drops of mango syrup.
I liked the ambience and birds chirping but didnt like the food and especially for the amount they are charging us.
There are very less restrooms for such a big lodge and was flooded with people.
There was nobody to serve in the bus kept outside and we wanted to have the ice cream :(

There are a two important factors to consider when reading this review, because everyone’s dining experiences may vary:
1) We were a large group (8).
2) We ate in the «late-​lunch» window (1−2pm), so it was a little busy. (But not crowded)
Now, my group arrived and we ordered a few drinks. The Bloody Mary had incredible flavor. It was great, and very well priced at $ 9. The Sangria was made with a very Dry Red Wine and it ended up making the sangria taste very flat.
We ordered some Jalapeño poppers while waiting for the last 2 in our party to arrive. They were delicious and came out piping hot. They tasted great, but it was only an order of 6 for $ 9. I definitely felt buyers remorse afterwards.
At this point in our dining experience they had refilled my water twice. I was very pleased with their attentiveness because I drink a LOT of water at restaurants, so it’s very important to me that they refill it for me.
When the rest of the party arrived it was about 1:30. We ordered our food.
The food took about 45 minutes to arrive. Approximately half of the table stated their food wasn’t very hot. The other half of the table (my food included) was cold.
Not luke-​warm. It was actually Cold.
I’m not the type of person to complain at restaurants. But my father decided to complain about his meal. They were very nice. Took his burger and fries away and returned with a plate of fries. (Burger would arrive a few minutes later).
Fries were still not hot/​fresh. Just kind of lukewarm.
I just ate my pulled pork sandwich quietly. But I had ordered sweet potato fries with it, which others wanted to try. When they realized my fries were cold, my father complained again. And again, they very politely brought us another plate of sweet potato fries.
Again. Cold.
At this point I decided to simply eat my food and not make a fuss. The pulled pork was tasty, despite the temperature. I left the fries alone. The most disappointing thing was that I did not once have my water refilled from the point of order food to the completion of my meal.
Bear in mind. At the beginning of our meal, where the service was prompt and accommodating, it was not crowded. When all of our issues were occurring, the place was packed.
Ultimately, my 2-​star rating is an amalgamation of the following:
— Pricing was very high for food. (15 – 30 per plate)
— Food QUALITY was par.
— Dining EXPERIENCE was very poor (a la Cold food)
— Service was GOOD when not crowded. And non-​existent when busy.
— Drinks were great and fairly priced.
Ultimately, giving this location a fair shot, it is my assumption that they were simply over crowded and dont have the cooking line staff sufficient to keep up with a high density order load. But that’s not the fault of the customers, that’s a management decision. And their decision resulted in a poor dining experience for my party.
On the bright side, they didn’t auto-​include gratuity for our party of 8. Which is a VERY classy move, given that they probably KNEW they had under performed with us. I tipped an average amount as a result.
They’ll never know that I normally tip far more than that. But that experience does not deserve more than 18%, no matter how much of a goodwill gesture they offer.
Ultimately, it’s one of the few nice restaurants available on the Hwy 1 drive at that point so you don’t have a ton of options. And they DO try, and there’s something to be said about that. But if you aren’t attending when it’s busy you’ll probably have a 3.5 star experience. But ultimately, the pricing is too high for the food quality (temperature aside).

Went up to Big Sur to location scout for a photoshoot, and stopped for breakfast here. A little overpriced for what you get, but what made up for it was the view of the river, and the chairs in it! I ordered an eggs Benedict, but how different can eggs Benedict really be? My friend ordered a hash, which was basically the potatoes that come with every meal with onions and bell peppers. The best thing we ordered was the warm apple cider. Drinking it felt like Christmas in July!

Excellent spicyyyyy Bloody Mary! And the fried chicken here is so crunchy and delicious…

This restaurant is 2.5 hours away from San Francisco and is only available on the scenic route on Pacific Coast Highway or California State Route 1. This restaurant reminds me of a being in a cabin with multiple glass windows. It’s a beautiful place, but there’s no reception at this location. The lighting is dim and seems like a perfect place to relax after a long day with a glass of wine.
Food:
Olive Oil and Vinegar Cruet — This was the first time I had ever seen a vinegar oil cruet. I thought that it was so cute that I got it as a gift for a birthday. I loved the idea of the duo balsamic oil idea.
Shrimp Scampi $ 24.95 — Linguini noodles tossed with shrimp, garlic and sundried tomato.
Overall:
It was dark and raining so I couldn’t sit outside but I heard on a nice day that you can go outside and sit by the river. The food was just okay. It’s definitely a cute place to stop by when you are passing by on your travels.

Haben auf der Terrasse gesessen, super schön gelegen! Tolle Speisekarte, aufmerksames nettes Personal! Essen kam schnell: Knoblauch Baguette, Ceasar Salad mit Shrimps und Fish and Chips
Schmeckte sehr sehr gut!!! Preise sind relativ hoch, aber für die Lage eigentlich kein Wunder…

Flies in the room, and the room smells like sewage.
My family and I just checked into this sty of a motel. My first complaint is that you have to cross a busy two lane highway to get back and fourth to your room. Cars are going very fast and there are bends on both sides so that it’s hard to see cars coming.
Upon walking into our room we were immediately hit with the smell of sewage. I went into the bathroom and the smell was WORSE plus there were flies in the shower. There were also Rollie Pollie bugs crawling on the carpet.
I went immediately to the lobby and spoke with the girl behind the desk who told me it was «part of the experience» and that she would move us to another room.
I took the keys for the other room but upon entry to that room the smell was worse then our original room.
This hotel is expensive and its a total dive. I am all for the «experience» of being in the woods but not with a price tag that this room has and I am not willing to have my family subjected to smelling sewage all afternoon, not to mention the bugs. This place is depressing!

Always a great day trip and afternoon sitting in the inviting creek. Always get you drink in the biodegradable cup and grab an old chair.