IDYology

I live close and want this place to make it because the owner really cares and gives it her all. It kills me to only give three stars because she gets so much right and the food quality is high. (love her chocolate cake) Sometimes the food can be really good other times it’s not consistent. Their trailblazer burger is great but last night they made it wrong forgetting a few of its ingredients. It took so long to get it I didn’t bother taking it back to the counter. The Thai wrap was great the first time I had it but last night was drowning in the sweet peanut Sauce. This isn’t a pool hall so having to fill out paper work and go to two different counters for drinks and food is complex, not relaxing and annoying. The bar guys don’t have a clue and drinks take forever. (no Titos or kettle one) Who wants to stand in line at a bar inside a restaurant for 20 minutes? I hope she gets it together because she has a good thing going and I love the room but i’m losing my patience with all the idiosyncrasies. Maybe that should be it’s name instead of ideology.

I want to write a good review for Idyology but I can’t yet. There are some really good things to like about this place. Unfortunately, I believe Café Aroma and Gastronome do it better. I won’t give up on this place though because I like the funky vibe. Here’s what I think are problems: bar tenders and customers ordering their own drinks. Mix up on the orders (burgers). Inconsistent tasting food (Thai wrap). You NEED a good cook. Good for the owner for doing it her way but she needs to listen to her feedback. It’s not too late to turn it around and make this a stellar restaurant.

Great food, the only note is — they don’t have menu anywhere and it shows here as a steakhouse. When I got there, I was too hungry to go to another place as I was walking and it sits up hill, and the place has great burgers… not steaks… disappointing when I walked all the way willing to get a nice ribeye.

Long overdue revue for Idyology! This is a very warm, cozy restaurant with a great ambiance and great food and drink. Don’t go here expecting a fancy meal with great service. Do go hear to experience a wonderful slice of authentic Idyllwild culture! Our favorite cozy casual spot in town! Great bar too :)

Best ambience for drinks and some munchies.
Beautifully decorated, Idyology embraces you with warmth and a wide variety of beers, ciders and cocktails. At times quiet, mostly gathers a good crowd! The music is always on point and they have several games: pool, giant Jenga and board games. It is one of the places that closes later at night, when the dance floor suddenly comes alive.
My favorite joint in town.

The food was good once we figured out how to get it!!!
You’ve heard of the secret menus at certain restaurants? Well this is the secret ordering system!
The table next to us walked out they were so frustrated, so I thought I’d let the manager know that business was walking out the door and asked if we could order. Apparently I was not in the secret club that knew you had to order at a counter AND then go to the bar and order drinks separately. Even though they don’t come to the table the service is SLOW! It took 15 minutes for our beers and they wanted to hold on to our credit card. Which may have been okay except the reason the beers took so long was because they had misplaced someone else’s credit card. Good thing they finally found it in the bartenders pocket!
Hey management! What’s wrong with good old fashioned service? You can keep your secret system.
Idyllwild has so many terrific places to eat. I recommend one of the many others that appreciate customers.

This place is our go-​to in Idyllwild. Check it out, you’ll be glad you did. Great food and drinks and the laid-​back atmosphere is just awesome!
Burgers, chicken, salads, and vegetarian/​vegan options. You order at the counter and pay there, then get a number to take to your table (like many casual dining spots). If you want a drink, wander over to the bar and grab one. Huge patio among the trees with a creek just below. Live music is almost every night with local singers (usually folk/​blues/​country) set up next the fireplace.

My new fave place. Ordering system got a bit confusing as we closed out tab at bar but I’m sure that was just a hiccup. Service was awesome. Liked mac n cheese with pork. Loved atmosphere inside and outside deck.

HIDDEN GEM Alert. Perfect Day-​trip from San Diego…
Apologies in advance. It’s a sin I didn’t take pictures of the world’s best buttermilk fried chicken for you, but since Tractor Room is now gone, I will say that Idyology has the world’s best buttermilk fried chicken. Pretty good pulled pork nachos too. Ok probably the best food on the mountain. The drive to get there is half the joy so don’t rush it. The vibe and décor is El Dorado meets Lumberjack-​Bohemian-​Grove. A place Charlton Heston would relax, face lit by the soft flickering glow of a cozy fire place, regaling you with stories, rifle sleeping on his lap. Most every one who lives here are older lifers, so make some friends.
We anchored down at the bar underneath what looks at first glance to be a bunch of deer antlers on the ceiling, but they are a collection of greyed-​out Manzanita branches with yesterdays dollar bills peppering them like ornaments. Liz was our bartender and she’s awesome. We played card tricks, guzzled gin-​and-​tonics, and shared war stories as Marty Robbins gunfighter ballads filled the den and fireplace with his ghostly old west serenade. We made single-​serving friends with strangers and stragglers from out of town. More drinks. When that was done, ol’ Long-​Haired-​Lenny showed up and sang an open mic, he even let me play a song or two as we left. What a guy. I even left with a signed Kris Kristofferson LP in my hands. Not bad for a day’s drive. See ya next time ol’ friend.
Pro Tip: Don’t get here before 4pm. If u do, head to the Funky Bazaar next door and take the ‘tour’ with Peter the Top-​Hatted Wonder. Ya won’t regret it.

wow was I impressed with this place last year.
I met the owner at a local hardware store in town and took her invitation to come on in. Back then the food was so good I invited my son and large family up for dinner from Orange. I had this stew thing that was an delight with every bite. My daughter in law was impressed with the mac n cheese thingy. My son had the fried chicken as did one of his kids, oh my God! All I need say. The others kids ate small snack stuff, whatever… The first time I had a Laughing Budda beer that I buy for home now.
I have read some of the more current reviews and I guess they have made changes in the counter ordering thing and a pool table??? really? Oh well I play professionally so I’m in. and the food has to be the same they are not new to this. They own other dining establishments in town, like the best pizza house within 50 miles, oh it is 50 miles to the next one.
When in town there is no reason to pass this up.
If your a true FOODIE

Food is supper good. Hubby had bison burger and I had ½ herb chicken was the best moist not dry. friends had fried chicken said was hands down the best n moist.
Very casual n nice environment. Has tons games and pool table in the back which we stayed. n played with friends while there’s a guy playing guitar n singing at the bar which was nice. … totally would come back again great flavor food.

Mountain local. Have eaten here a handful of times Usually has pretty great food, atmosphere and drinks! Great games, live music, pool. great place to spend an evening. Come for a meal than stay a few hours for drinks and games/​music/​pool!
I kinda like the self serve option. but it does kinda suck that if you want another drink while in the middle of your dinner that you now have to get up, walk across the restaurant, and wait (sometimes 5 mins or longer) for a drink while leaving your food to get cold and any company alone…
If they got the wait staff to still fix that problem … like a cocktail waitress maybe. Might eliminate that issue

Once you get into the flow of idyology it is a really great place. I enjoy it more for the social aspect of it all, sometimes the food is really hit or miss. I would suggest trying the fries, they are pretty bomb!

Best give this place a miss. Sat here in the cold, been waiting for nearly an hour for the food (so can’t comment on that yet!) had to queue up to place food order then had to queue up to buy drinks! No waitress service at this place. Just a complete shambles. Now I know why they put playing cards on the table to give you something to do because you have to wait so long. Much better to find another place to eat at. Sorry but this was a terrible experience!
Update — Food was just cooked from frozen. Fish & Chips ⁰⁄₁₀! Salad was ok but the Nacho plate was just cooked nachos with a dollop of guacamole and sour cream on top. ⁰⁄₁₀.
Food Plate, can you believe it, had a butterfly metal nut on it. Wife even put it in her mouth before realizing!
Please, whatever you do, give this place a miss and go somewhere else.

We were up here for the weekend and decided to try IDYology because it was the closest restaurant to where we were parked. We had a canine companion, so a staff member pointed out the patio to us. The restaurant provides blankets so we were happy with the seating situation.
The food was quite good, with the salads being absolute stand-​outs. Both the Southridge and Beet/​Brie salads were very large and the elements were fresh and well put-​together. Their lemon-​pepper vinaigrette did not overpower the greens but instead pulled it all together very nicely. I ordered the fish and chips which were quite nice. The tartar sauce was nice and dilly and garlicky. A handful of us had fries with our dishes and they were quickly devoured. I did not try the fried chicken but was told that it was good, although the mashed potatoes were reportedly a bit bland. One person in the group had the burger and, while it was very large, it was sadly overdone and dry.
The only aspect of the restaurant that I would critique is the way that the way that food ordering and delivery are organized, which seemed to be more trouble than time-​saving. We were not notified that we should order inside. I read up on the Unilocal reviews and then informed my friends. Food can be ordered from two indoor stations, but drinks can only be ordered at the bar. It was recommended to me by one staff member to order everything at the bar, which I did. The technology wasn’t quite quick enough to process various orders, however, which created a bit of a back-​up. Eventually there was a line of hungry people just kind of staring at the one staff member and waiting. It would stress me out.
I was the first to order (which was honestly a bit clumsy, though that may be chalked up to one of the staff members being new) and my food came out in about 10 minutes. The rest of the dishes seemed to saunter out at will, with some people in our group not receiving their orders until the majority of us were finished with our meals. The person who was behind me in line received his food last, which was puzzling as it was just a burger and fries and much less complicated than some of the other orders.
We had no issues with the concept of self-​service. We very happily retrieved our own flatware and water throughout the meal, but I think that the restaurant should perhaps develop a more streamlined system. At the least, the process should be spelled out very clearly from the get-​go, which was really not the case in our experience. The staff was otherwise very kind and friendly and I really liked the feel of the space itself. The salads are seriously a good reason to return. I hope that they sort everything out!

Unilocal was right. The fried chicken was really fine and hit the spot in a fall evening. Sat outside with rugs over laps which was very cozy. My food was great but others had issue with the chicken soup being warm and even after asking was still pretty cool. It was a good soup but the heat let it down. Service was great and could be better. Oh yes the fried chicken is the best.

I adore the atmosphere of Idyology so much that it is the only reason I’ve been returning. The food however, is subpar (Mostly due to poor management, I’ll explain later).
My boyfriend and I have made reservations on a weekend night here three times. There is never a long wait and the hostesses are always kind.
Being a vegetarian, I have had to request to leave off any meat and each time I have had to send my order back. On one occasion I’m certain they just scraped the bacon off the top of the mac n cheese as if I wouldn’t taste it. Boo.
What is lacking is consistency and more importantly, control of the employees. Each time I’ve been to Idyology, the chef and the manager were fighting to the point that the chef eventually would walk out! Thus, leaving the manager to cook. The employees are very outspoken about the drama. The manager is not the chef so obviously the food suffers.
Idyology has the potential of being the perfect cozy, romantic gem tucked in the mountains of Idyllwild IF only the kitchen drama would die down for good.

What an awesome place! A MUST in Idyllwild!
Great atmosphere, spectacular service, and OUTSTANDING food. Some of the BEST fried chicken I have ever had anywhere!!!
Try the Bison burger, it is delightful.
Even if you just go for drinks… They have plenty of «ORGANIC» liqueurs. Our server Tarin hooked me up with a marvelous.
By far the BEST tasting organic/​health conscious food restaurant anywhere!

My best friend and I were driving to Humber Park for a hike early Sunday morning and passed Idyology. We were like «That place looks cute, we should try it after we’re done hiking». So after our hike to Tahquitz Peak, we wandered over to Idyology for a late lunch. You have to drive by the place to get to Humber Park.
The place is super quirky and neat! From driving past it, we saw it had a nice outdoor seating area. Walking into the restaurant they’ve got an eccentric collection of couches, chairs, and chandeliers. I love the look!
We got seated outside. All the tables have lil random quotes on the corners. Our waitress was super nice!
We ordered:
— Pg Mac (cherry coke pulled pork, finger lickin’ good!)
— some kind of chicken cranberry sandwich
— sweet potato fries
— smoked tomato soup
— mint iced tea
Everything was amazing! I loved my sandwich and my favorite thing was my min iced tea served in an overly large mason jar!

So we decided to give this place a try despite what I read on Unilocal!,and it was awesome. The food was tasty (I got the pulled pork), great cradt beer in tap and our waitress was really nice.
They were having a couple bands play at the restaurant, and we didnt buy a ticket but they still let us eat. We weren’t interested in the bands, so it wasn’t an issue.
Next time we are up in Idyllwild, this will be our spot!