Will O’the Wisp Resort

This is a review of the restaurant in the Will O’the Wisp Hotel/​Condo called Ace’s Run. It is on the main level and accessed direclty via the front desk. I have not stayed here so have no details on the hotel or condominiums.
First off, you should set your expectations. This is not a fancy restaurant. It is located far from a major city. It does not have a discerning or discriminating clientele.
On the positive side the drinks are good and the view over the lake are breath-​taking.
Our bottle of inexpensive Spanish wine was opened through the foil! It was drinkable but at $ 17 was worth every penny. We ordered a bottle of Pelegreno. It was served room temperature with ice in glasses.
The food is of poor quality. It seems that little food is actually «prepared» in the kitchen. I suspect burgers and steaks are but have no first-​hand experience. Our pork poppers obviously came out of a box and were dumped in the fryer or microwave. They were inedible. The salad was not distinguished. The dressing of vinegar and oil was excellent and the highlight of the meal. Our meatloaf and potatoes were poor. I think the meatloaf came prepared from a factory and was nearly inedible. I found this on Sysco’s web site and I’m pretty sure this was our meathloaf:
The potatoes were far better but both were covered in poor quality commercial gravy. Think airline food at lakeside.
And, the use of 409 cleaner on the table next to us while we were eating was just a special touch.
Total for wine, water, one appetizer, one dinner, and one salad was $ 60 with tip. We won’t be back. The wait staff were very nice and reasonably professional. I cannot fault them for the poor food quality.
Follow up. I received a very nice and apologetic note from the restaurant. They made no excuses for the service lapses but did assert that all their food is made from scratch in the kitchen, I stand by my food descriptions and ratings. If they do make it all from scratch in the kitchen then I would find a new cook. ymmv. Perhaps an October Friday evening is not prime time for this place.

Good food and good service considering the location. The chicken and dumplings was great!

The food and the view were both absolutely incredible! I am eating guten free these days and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many guten free options on the menu. The guten free flourless chocolate cake was to die for!

My parents took our family here when I was a kid. From what I remember, not much has changed. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a bit «dated» — but it works. The building is clean. The units are privately owned, so the décor and quality varies from unit to unit. We had an issue with the loft suite — but the front desk seamlessly moved us to another suite the next day. (That second suite was nicer than the first) Free FAST wireless internet. Great views of the lake. If you just need a «room» and not a kitchen — go for the 7^th floor loft suites. They have a great loft w/​a bed — really nice view to wake up to.

Ask for Kate she is great! Pasta Rama is the bomb!

My husband and I ate here while honeymooning in Deep Creek last week. This was the best restaurant for a nice dinner, the staff was extremely friendly and attentive, and the food was delicious! I strongly recommend the brownie peanut butter ice cream! It’s to die for!

Pastamania is great on Wednesday nights!

We were looking for a reasonably priced room on DCL for a friends wedding and found a great one at the Lake Breez attached to Will o’ the Wisp. The rooms are very simple and clean and right on the lake. The staff is great and super friendly. I definitely recommend this place if your trying to save some money but still have a great experience at a fun place.

I planned my parents 60^th anniversary at this restaurant. I specifically went to the restaurant early so I could check the restaurant out and see if it was appropriate for an important event.
I told the front desk where I made the reservation that we wanted a reservations for 15 people and that it was a special event. They took the reservation wrote down the number of adults and children and that it was a 60^th wedding anniversary. She assured me they would do everything possible and thanked me for thinking of them.
When we arrived at the restaurant they sat us at 2 separate round tables. I as very upset and asked them if they couldn’t put us at the same table. They said ‘no’. They were not understanding. Their attitude ruined a very special evening. We ended up only ordering entrees because of the logistics — they could have made much more money if they had accommodating. When I made the reservation they gave me a menu and I had already planned on the starters.
The food was good. I had sundried tomato and crab soup (more like a crab bisque). It was very tasty. The chef needs work on his knife skills however. The potatoes were cut too large for a bisque — it would have been better without the pototoes. I also had shrimp scampi and the chef neglected to cut the bottom of the onion.
My niece ordered the sesame chicken tender starter as her meal and they were overcooked. My mother ordered the crab imperial. The roumalade sauce was an odd choice — a traditional hollandaise sauce would have been much better.
The atmosphere was very nice and if I hadn’t had such a bad experience and unaccomodating staff I would consider going back but I will not go back to this restaurant when visiting Deep Creek Lake.
On the other hand Pizzeria Uno was very accomodating and did provide a table for 15 a few nights before and lunch when we docked.

I had been waiting to be in DCL on a Wednesday so that I could attend the Will O’the Wisp’s PastaMania night. I can’t speak for the regular menu during the visit, but the PastaMania was fantastic!
For around $ 14 you get bread, a garden salad (Caesar and specialty salad are $ 2-​$ 4 extra), and all you can eat pasta. You go up to a pasta station and they have three chefs working three different stations with tons of different meats, veggies, sauces, and pasta types. The chefs were friendly and open to weird suggestions and the food was delicious. It was probably the best meal I have eaten at DCL, I highly recommend PastaMania (Wednesdays only)!

I was torn between three and four stars here and opted not to punt with a 3.5. I just can’t modify my standards just because I’m not on my home turf. Yes, Washington is full of good restaurants and some may think it unfair to compare a small town resort hotel restaurant to what we have in DC, but the truth is the food here is actually pretty good and I’m not condescendingly going to lower expectations. Plus, I’m sure the view of the lake in the summertime is a major draw for this place.
Often when I’m at a restaurant I haven’t ever tried before, I order one of my two fallbacks: either salmon or a petite fillet of beef because they’re hard to mess up. Will O’the Wisp did a great job with my filet mignon, medium rare just like I wanted. And the baked potato side was surprisingly NOT served wrapped in foil, which steams more than roasts FYI. It was baked in the oven then cut in half on the diagonal and served on its ends. Nice touch. And the side dish of sauteed cabbage and leeks was excellent as was the tomato and crab soup starter.
Our food was pretty good but Will O’the Wisp earned its stars on service. Originally we were seated near a very loud Assembly of God group that had been lingering rather loudly from the late afternoon into the dinner hour. They only started to get the hint to leave when the hostess put up a partition next to our table, but they were still too loud so we asked to change tables. Numerous people working there came over to apologize for the inconvenience, including the manager who offered us free drinks (I was going order a Cab anyway) and dessert. Even though our waiter and the bartender took two tries to figure out that tonic and club soda are actually different beverages, overall we had a very nice dinner and a fun evening at a very low key place where they really tried hard to ensure we would have an enjoyable dinner.