Gretna Timbers

There are two good reviews at the moment for the Timbers Dinner Theatre, but I wanted to just review the restaurant because it’s the star of the show. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
My wife and I have celebrated our anniversary there twice while dining at the bar, yes, the bar for an anniversary. The food is great and covers many different types of food well… steaks, sea food, lamb, and some down-​home items. We had clams casino and were sad to be finished. I had the NY strip and my wife had the filet. We both enjoyed our steaks but we needed to add seasoning ourselves. When you order most entrees you get a small salad, baked potato, and a vegetable.
I must also giver credit where credit is due… they know how to mix a drink.
Everything about Mt Gretna is special. It has a by-​gone sense about it that is just plain charming and makes you forget about the rest of the world for a while.

Nestled in the trees at the far side of one of Mt. Gretna’s newer neighborhoods across Lake Conewago, Timbers is easy to find. Follow the signs from the Gretna stores in the center of town. The short evening drive includes beautiful sunsets and lawn mowers before you eventually plunge back into the woods to get to the restaurant in a small clearing at the end of the road.
It is safe to say the Timbers is like no other restaurant. The rustic low-​slung brown building blends into the forest, outdoor speakers broadcasting jazz over well-​tended gardens and into the trees, as well as in the dining room. Operated by the same family for almost 50 years it’s a quirky place, but friendly. The youngest two generations include jazz musicians who perform there alone or with friends from time to time, scheduled and unscheduled, downstairs near the bar in winter or onstage in summer in the small outdoor theater in back when they become a dinner theater with young aspiring singers and dancers live musicians (July/​Aug). These reviews are favored by senior citizens in part because they like the all-​you-​can-​eat buffet than includes prime rib and roast turkey. (You can still dine quietly downstairs during the shows.)
Timbers can accommodate anywhere from 2 to 200 patrons in one of several private dining rooms, a large vaulted dining room upstairs or, especially in winter, by the fire in the cozy downstairs bar/​dining room. Depending on the night of the week, you encounter a different cast of characters eating and drinking at the bar. They can give you inside information about the menu (soups are always good), real estate, or Gretna summer theater, lectures, music and art. If you are not feeling sociable you can settle into a quiet corner and admire the objets d’art around the room. Arguments can be resolved by an old Funk and Wagnalls that sits with other references on the bookcase (residuals of past bar quizzes when they were especially helpful for questions related to Proust).
Note: they don’t accept credit cards, but in a cash emergency you can take your bill home and mail a check to Josie. Though locals might use the term ‘fine dining,’ Timbers is also casual and inexpensive (a 3-​course nightly special is $ 17.95). It takes its distinctive character from its patriarch, the late John Briody, a man of many talents including an acute sense of irony. Occasionally tangling with the more conservative and pious denizens of Gretna, John shaped as much as anyone to shape the present small but distinctive community – where it is always safe and fascinating to walk after dinner.