Iron Door

AMAZING food! Okay service. Beautiful view. A MUST see, eat and enjoy.

This is my vote for best meal on Mt. Lemmon. We went for breakfast on a Sunday in December (before there was any snow) I ordered the Green Chili Quiche (but it wasn’t really quiche, it was more of a frittata with no crust.)
YUM AND YUM. it was amazingly scrumptious. It came with fruit (2 kinds of melon and some grapes, yeah sure a few of the grapes were rotten (these place don’t do a whole lotta business so all is forgiven if they «age» their produce a little.)
My man had the cinnamon raisin french toast with bratwurst. Also good, but not as good as mine. My brother and sister-​in –aw had a combo breakfast (eggs, toast, meat, potatoes) — I didn’t get to taste it — but their potatoes looked awesome — nice and crispy/​well done. One of them got a strudel with theirs, it was served after the meal, and we all got a taste. It was a treat!
Really pretty fireplace to sit by if you only have a table for 2.

Nelson is a delight and should be requested as your server whenever possible.
I had chili and a spiced wine, both of which were delicious. We had a great view over the valley through the pines.
Definitely a destination on its own, or a great place to pop in if you’re up in ski valley.

we may have hit it on a bad day based in the reviews we read, but, we can’t be that off. Great location, rustic décor as expected (required) in a mountain top. Server was so overwhelmed and it was not even half full on a Sunday lunch. That is likely why our food was room temperature, the hot food and the cold foods were both warm. The soup was spiced so weird my wife with the forensic palat could figure out what the heck it was. Maybe we should have tried the chili.
The water was great. So there is that.

The chili is famous, according to the menu, but on this sunny Sunday afternoon, the Iron Door was famous for the bees which closed down the back patio. We got a table inside and after a slight delay we were met by the witty older waiter who also doubles as the town water director (supposedly). The mountain water did taste fresh and we were reprimanded in a nice way for asking for lemons. Anyway, the waiter was nice even giving me a free cup of the chili to sample. Personally, I did not care for the namesake dish because it was too spicy and watery and it also lacked meat according to my dining companion. My dish was a basic chicken quesadilla for about 10 bucks, but it had good chunks of white meat and all the dips needed to make it a good main course. The place could use a good dusting and a beekeeper, but it has history, a funny waiter and decent enough food depending on your love of chili to warrant a visit.

Food is good, said they ran out of cornbread, next table over got one. This is our second time here and the servers completely ignore us both times!

I’m not sure how this place has 4 stars, the food was horrible. I had a sandwich similar to a French dip, the bread was stale, the au jus tasted like salt water, and i couldn’t even taste the beef because of the small amount on my sandwich. The coleslaw was decent. I also tried the chili which was spicy but pretty good. The cornbread that came with it was some of the worst I’ve ever had. Jiffy in a box tastes much better. The service was good and the sweet tea was delicious. We were seated by an open window and the breeze felt great! Based on the prices of the food I expected it to be much better.

We went Saturday morning for breakfast. My fiancé, who has a service dog and I were all there. We walked in, and the hostess (semi tall, Caucasian girl with short hair and glasses, in case management is reading) asked us if we wanted to sit outside or inside. We chose outside due to Tucson being 100 degrees and Mt. Lemmon being around 75.
We were told that our service dog (a corgi) might scare some people, so instead of being offered one of the two open tables we were told we had to sit at either the bar or the «lounge area» which was 4 lounge couches and a table in the center. While we were not denied service, we were not treated according to ADA and felt discriminated against.
We choose the bar, which was the wooded deck. No bugs and a view of the humming birds. So that was a plus. Order was taken right away, but 15 minutes later our waitress tells us the pancakes my fiancé ordered, they were out of pancake mix. She had to order French toast. This took an additional 20 minutes before we got food.
We ate, check and our credit card were taken in a good amount of time, but then we waited. And waited… and waited. it took them over 10 minutes to run my credit card, with no apology for the delay.
The waitress who said she would «make it up» to us for not having pancakes, did nothing to make it up for us.

Beer was cold, the Bratwurst was hot, and Barbara, our server was fabulous! What a great end to our drive to Mt Lemmon

Good food… Friendly staff… Would give a 5 but not dog friendly. We camp up here and must eat at a place that allows dogs

oh my gawd i was so hungry after cycling up the mountain. there was tons of people here but still tons of open spaces. there are private little booths, tables, or anywhere on their huge outdoor patio. the chili is the BEST I HAVE EVER HAD. the sandwiches are a close second. and the apple cider was so good i ordered 3 of them. haha. i would actually drive up the mountain for 25 miles just to have lunch here. it was that good!

Wow. Rarely do you have a super unique atmosphere, with fabulous wait staff, and excellent food all at the same time. Iron Door satisfied all three. It is housed at the top of Mt. Lemmon at the ski resort in an old, wooden cabin with a HUGE stone fireplace in the center of the restaurant and sweeping views out of the antique glass windows. There are antiques everywhere, including historic photos and posters in the bathrooms. The food leans towards the German palette but has some of the BEST cornbread I have ever eaten anywhere. The chili is spot on and makes your nose run, just a little bit. :) Oh — and don’t pass up dessert, their Mtn Berry Rhubarb pie was delicious. Of course, we can’t forget to mention our waiter, Nathan (?). He provided compliments, a smile, a joke or two, and some history. I cannot wait to make it up to Iron Door again.

If you’re reading this, you need to come here.
The wait staff was marvelous. Our server was a brilliant and charming man that was as witty as he was hilarious. He frequently stopped by to make sure that everything was to our liking, and even had a chemistry joke or two to crack when he overheard a conversation about university courses!
My family and I enjoyed a combination of the cornbread (sweet and succulent) the chili (the recipe is old for a reason — why change perfection?) and a «the best bratwurst [my girlfriend] has ever had!»
If you have to ask «should we?» to coming here, then the answer should only be «Hell yes.»

Our Mt lemmon stop to re-​energize after a peaceful hike! nothing special but not many options around here
they have a nice patio for outdoor seating but the patio was completed packed when we arrived so we were forced to sit inside where it was unfortunately STUFFY (it’s that summertime heat)
–chili: you add your own cheese and onions to customize. not bad. the chili had a good spiciness & came with cornbread that ended up being overly dry & crumbly
–spinach & artichoke dip: also not bad
NOTE: If you want breakfast get there before 11am!

One of the few eating establishments in the Mt Lemmon area. Ambiance inside the restaurant is comfortable, especially with the seating area arranged in a semi circle around a huge fire place. There is an outdoor deck with great views. Unfortunately, at the time I visited, they had a bee problem that had prevented us from using the patio.
Ordered 2 coffees and the mixed berry crumb pie. The coffee was not good, but the pie was. The price for everything was a little on the steep side with the bill totaling about 16 dollars.
Our server was quirky and unusual. He was entertaining and completely baffling. I was amused, but there were times when the jokes was a little too much, and you just wanted him to hurry up. The pie and coffees came out at a reasonable time, but trying to get our bill was when things moved at a snails pace. With a nearly empty restaurant, we had to hunt our server down to get our bill paid.
It was an OK place to visit once, but I do not think I will be returning.

Well after driving all the way up to Mt Lemmon from town you need to do what? Umm… eat some pie! So we stopped off here and had us some pie! Really any of the pies looked good but we ordered the personal mixed berry crunch. It comes with a side of ice cream. But it better come with that because it’s 7 a pie! But it was good… heck if not great! So I’m glad that the $ 7 was worth it. We also ordered coffee and had a wonderful server that just kept making us laugh. Overall a nice stop on top of Mt Lemmon.

Very nice drive to this location. We were greeted by a friendly but overwhelmed staff. The patio has gorgeous views of the mountains, but nobody was able to sit outside for more than five minutes due to the swarms of bees. The interior was welcoming with a nice fire. The pace of the Restaraunt is slow, and the food was average.
Bottom Line:
If you are looking for a slow paced nice meal eat here.
If you are looking for high quality, or are in a hurry don’t waste your time.
Be warned, beer is $ 6.00 a bottle.

The Iron Door is a unique gift to the Mt Lemmon area. My 13 year old and I decided to head up the mountain on a rare rainy/​cloudy day in September and were greeted with a 57 degree temperature. Iron Door had the fire place cracklin’ and our server, Nelson, was quite humorous and engaging. The décor reflects the German heritage of the restaurant, and they offer a few German beers as well. My son had the sliders with grilled onions and I chose to have one of their specials, a green chile chicken & rice soup. No complaints from either of us, the service was great, the food was great, and the atmosphere was perfect for a rainy day.

This a long overdue review. This is the closest restaurant to the ski lift area — across the street. Since the weather was a fresh of breath air the outside seating was most appropriate. The chili and cornbread was decent. The corn bread was on the dry side. Honey was provided to drizzle over. I was hoping for a moist cornbread and some out of this world chili but I guess it wasn’t happening this time. The Gobbler turkey sandwich with a side of pickle was also a run of the mill type of sandwich. Server was nice. Service was a little behind.
Live local music was nice to listen to while eating and enjoying the beautiful scenery.

Just ate here for the first time! Had the sliders which were quite tasty! Sat outside on the patio, very nice indeed!
Service was quick and efficient! Very friendly and welcoming staff!
My waitress was friendly and quite courteous, and knew the specials as well as the beer list from memory!
Heard the chili is to die for, and it looked good! Corn bread is HUGE!
Definitely worth a stop in when hiking the Mountain!