Fernwood Tavern

This place is a little gem, complementing the motel and campsite. It’s perfect right after a long day of hiking and it’s sure to fill you up.
They smoke their own meats, so be sure to try the try too. However, the pulled pork is pretty basic.
Therefore the Island Style pizza with pulled pork was not desirable, unless eaten with ranch. If you have to put ranch on something, it’s probably best not to order.
The wings are awesome! They come with an extra spicy sauce just in case you’re a fan.
The burger is good, especially with their fresh guac!
My husband really enjoyed the chicken sandwich on ciabatta while I found it average.
The tater tots are deep fried and delicious.
Their nachos are pretty darn good, but order them without the sauce. Maybe it was a mole sauce?
Happy eating!

BBQ pulled pork was to die for. If you’re passing through or even camping in this area make sure to stop here and try their food. Well worth the price.

Beware of the angry, miserable «bartender» who’s afraid of dogs. Get over it, chump. You acted like an asshole yesterday stomping around yelling at that poor girl. Totally ruined my relaxing day. Chill out, pal.

What a shocker! I’ve been coming to Fernwood to camp for decades. We always dreaded going upstairs for sub par food at high prices. This food was noms. BLT, pulled pork sandwich and chicken tenders all great. Fries addicting and waitress very warm to us.

After being stuck in a neverending traffic jam on the 1 and failing to get to Pfeiffer Beach, we were ready for a success of some sort. We drove past Fernwood and caught a whiff of the amazing BBQ, took one look at each other and drove right back to it.
The prices were shockingly high — they are on-​par with Nepenthe (the gorgeous restaurant overlooking Big Sur). My friend wasn’t too hungry, so we decided to just split a dish. We ordered the Smoked Pulled Pork Sandwich with fries, and the waitress was kind enough to split it right down the middle and bring it out on two separate plates. I was blown away. I thought she would hate us for sharing a dish, but she actually went out of her way to make it perfect. Very, very appreciated!
The pulled pork was ok — extremely chewy with about 50% of it being gooey/​fatty bits and not actual meat — but the fries were awesome. Had I ordered this dish for myself at $ 16, I would be disappointed. Having split it, I was less-​so. The fries made up for it, and the way they toasted the bun was awesome, too. It was soft and crispy at the same time. Yum!
Service was fairly slow, and it took us over an hour start-​to-​finish (for two people and one sandwich). Not a place I would stop at if you want a quick meal, but it’s decent otherwise.

Surprisingly food was really good here. Pricey, but that was to be expected– however, their portions are pretty big. We were on the road for a while and we were starving, so I asked the waitress if the burger was bigger than the chicken ciabatta sandwhich? She was honest and said no, the ciabatta sandwhich is bigger and its good. Boy, was she right. The bacon on it was extra special too. Not your average packaged bacon for sure. It was thick and really smoked!
The tavern itself was really admirable and the scenery was beautiful.
So why the ³⁄₅ stars. Service was not great, I mean we sat next to a couple who after 20 minutes were wondering if someone was coming back to take their order. When we first walked into the front, it felt as if we were un-​welcomed outsiders. It was one of those places where the campers who’ve been there for a few days just stared at you. We were wondering if anyone worked there and ended up having to walk around to the back and had to approach someone wearing an apron to know that this person was one of the servers. It just felt odd; almost as if the staff did not want to be there…
But you should stop by anyways there’s a bar and a little mini mart, where I would have gotten some ice cream if I wasn’t so full.

Fernwood Tavern: Big Sur, CA.
Stopped by this place on the historic road trip coast to coast taking the scenic highway 1 from SF to SD first. They have free WiFi, so I learned about the location from the internet because there was no signal.
The atmosphere in this place is fantastic! It’s located deep in the woods once you go to the back porch or patio. Surrounded by tall sequoia-​ish trees that give a fresh smell to the patio air, mixed with the Pacific calm breeze. You can’t see the ocean from here though. There is a ping-​pong table in the back as well. We were very close to trying it waiting for food. But the atmosphere was so nice, enough to relax you and keep you lazy.
Food was alright. I tried Tri-​Tip Sandwich; my friends tried their local beer, macaroni and cheese and something like burger samplers. Those small burgers were awesome. My Tri-​Tip was fine. It was giant.
Service and staff were pleasant and efficient.
Overall, it was a great experience. I give this place 4 stars for their beautiful wood décor, ambience and standard good quality food.
I think Jason Statham would like the Tri-​Tip sandwich here.

My husband and I stopped by this bar for some pizza and beers after we shot our wedding photos along the coast of Big Sur! Can’t say enough good things about this place. Atmosphere was super casual and the customer service was almost perfect! The food was just what we were looking for after a long day. :) Prices are reasonable for the area and the menu was diverse for being tavern/​bar food.

This is a pretty chill little spot, we were camping at Fernwood, so it was awesome to have a restaurant/​bar right there. The portions were large. My husband as I shared the nachos, they were delicious! The chips were freshly made, homemade salsa, BBQ pork cooked to perfection, and cheesy goodness. I highly recommend them! We all got bloody Mary’s, which were pretty good. I think everyone thought they were missing something (lemon or lime juice). The server wasn’t very friendly, so overall I gave them 4 stars.

Great watering hole in Big Sur.
They have a pretty respectful food menu, which ranges from artisan sandwiches, to burgers, wings, pizza to meats & potatoes style dishes. The food isn’t cheap (roughly $ 15 or up per entrée) but what else is, when you are an hour removed from society?
The craft beer selection at the bar dwarfed the domestic brews on draft. Some killer craft beer finds, mostly California brews, were all priced between $ 5 — $ 5.50 a pint! Great prices on the beer, but not so much the food.
My crew took a few hours of our day to soak up some March Madness. A few TV’s are positioned in the dinning portion, not an excessive amount, and there’s plenty of room to sprawl out to get a good view of game. Don’t mistake this to be the coolest sports bar in the middle of nowhere, just a good spot to perch up to watch a game or two if you must.
We noticed that the bar fills up from around 5−6pm on the Friday night we were there. I’m guessing its those cheap craft beer pricing that draws a crowd — definitely not there for the basketball games.
Worth a stop a in for at least a good brew.

There aren’t a ton of places to eat at in Big Sur, let alone if you’re on a budget, but Fernwood Tavern fits the bill pretty well. It is rustic, but the food is good (and vegetarian friendly) and the atmosphere is lively and fun. I was very pleasantly surprised at how much my friends and I enjoyed our meal. Chill out with a beer here and enjoy the scenery.

This place puts the R in rustic. It’s a combination of bar, restaurant, hotel, and campground. We got a nice table outside overlooking a beautiful Forrest.
I had a crispy chicken sandwich whip was very good. It can with fries that were fresh and tasty. My son had the Tri tip sandwich which also was very good. The soup of the day was tomato bisque, not so good.
This is a good spot to stop at for a very casual meal along the PCH. Looked like mostly locals their.
They had ping pong table out back to play while waiting for your food also.
They also had a decent beer selection which seems to be the trend now.
Prices were a bit high, sandwich average was $ 15:00, but you are in Big Sur CA.
One big complaint about eating outside were the abundance of nats, or whatever you call those flying bugs.

A great dive bar in a beautiful location. Ping pong and amazing pizza! It’s the place to go, for stiff drinks and they are open later then anywhere else in the Sur. So expect to see some locals who served you at your restaurant or sold you that art you wanted. They are rad! Except if you were rude on their shift.
Did I mention ping pong? Not beer pong. Sorry, bros. Well, as far I know. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

There are a slew of exceptional eateries sprinkled around Big Sur — but nothing beats some blackened salmon with a side of vegetables at Fernwood.
I literally had this dish four times this past weekend.
Each plate was better than the next and I could taste the freshness of all of the ingredients as well as the genuine care put into each serving of salmon.
I love Fernwood.
You can’t beat the laid back atmosphere here, the stunning wood décor, and the lovely service.
Trust.