Grouse Nest

This place was a joke. First our server would not let us sit outside, because it was cloudy and might rain. Fine, even though the décor lacks indoors we could put up with it for a good meal.
Our server was awkward and borderline unfriendly. We ordered shrimp cocktail that was so un-​fresh that my husband (a chef) would not even eat it. I was starved after a day of hiking so I ate it and paid for it with a stomachache later.
I ordered the salmon, which they were out of. I reluctantly got the tuna instead, ordered medium rare. It came out medium well. And completely unappetizing. My husband ordered a salad (hold the cheese) and the vegetarian risotto, described as having sun dried tomatoes and thyme. His risotto came out covered in cheese and that was it. She never mentioned cheese even being in it, yet here it was without any hint of tomatoes or herbs and just a load of cheap cheese. So this «side» of risotto was 12 bucks. Crazy.
So it came out to be about 50 bucks before drinks and we had to stop somewhere else before going home since we were still staving.
Bottom line, awful service, food that was seriously lacking. Rather expensive. I truly had to laugh at loud at their advertising of using local, fresh ingredients. No way.
And yes, the hill to get to it is quite the adventure. Luckily we have a truck– I wouldn’t attempt without 4wd.

If you dare to come here, make sure you gas it pretty good so that you make it up the hill. DONT STOP or you’ll get stuck. The food made up for it though. Had the Buffalo chicken sandwich.

We stopped for dinner on our recent weekend get-​a-​way to Hocking Hills. The location is remote but that was part of the adventure! The service was very attentive and the food was great. The red pepper soup was delicious. If the weather had been warmer we would have enjoyed drinks on the patio/​gazebo area that looked very inviting. If you are in the area this is a fun stop.

We ate lunch at the Grouse Nest out of convenience (we were staying at Ash Cave Cabins and the Grouse Nest is on the property) and unwittingly arrived 20 minutes before they closed to reset for dinner. The waiter assured us that it was cool. So we ordered the buffalo chicken sandwich, a cheese burger and an order of onion rings. The meal was fantastic and inexpensive. Both meals came with freshly fried potato chips seasoned lightly with jalapeño which was a nice surprise!
We were so pleased that we returned for dinner. They reset the restaurant with linens and candles for an upscale experience. The menu also changes. We tried the red pepper gouda soup, ahi tuna, fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and chocolate decadence cake. Everything was delicious and the service was fantastic! Dinner is quite a bit more expensive, but well worth it, in our opinion!
We often visit the Hocking Hills area and will now add the Grouse Nest restaurant to our favorite places to enjoy while there!

Attended a wedding in Hocking Hills on ⁹⁄₂₈ and this placed catered. Hands down worst wedding food I have ever experienced. The portions were extremely small, my plate had 7 green beans on it, and the mashed potatoes had and odd color/​texture to it. The first course salad ha about 8 leaves of spinach on it. The desert appeared to be previously frozen brownies with fruit drizzled on it. Wouldn’t recommend at all.

I went here for a wedding & all I can say is meh. I think this is probably a family run operation, which I can’t fault, but the food was just meh. There were weird selections or pairings and I wouldn’t recommend it, in all honesty.
The outdoor patio was beautiful and so were the gardens but you have to drive up this HORRIBLE HILL and if you don’t have a larger car w/​some decent power, you’re never going to make it! The patio experience would have been better if the a/​c wasn’t screaming in a high pitched squeal the whole time too.
The salad was nice and the dinner roll selections were nice too. The vegetable lasagna was pathetic and so was the chicken Alfredo. Dessert options were bizarre. Fresh Ohio peaches (yay) over rainbow sorbet??? YUCK! Who’s idea was that? The other option was a brownie sundae (yay!) but it was not good at all, and I ask the question, how can you possibly screw up a brownie sundae?
For the wedding the dinner rolls were just plain dinner rolls, not the nice ones from the night before. The salad wasn’t as nice either. The veggies were nicely prepared and the chicken wasn’t dry. I can’t speak on the beef, but I hear it was okay too. Typical boring wedding food, but at least for the most part it was prepared well.
The wedding cake. Let’s just say the bride & groom got screwed. The cake was sitting in the sun on a table for at least 2 hours prior to the reception. By the time I saw it, the cake was leaning. I know the bride ordered a three-​tiered cake with different cake for each level and what she got was a disgusting white cake with 1 inch of nasty «frosting». This was not the lovely cake I was told she would be having. I tasted the cake (and I have to say, I’ve only had one wedding cake in my whole life that was actually decent tasting) and this was AWFUL. Just terrible. Absolutely EVERYONE I talked to hated this cake. It was, as my friend put it, a Kroger Cake. And honestly, I think Kroger probably could have made a better cake.
While the people serving us were kind and relatively present, I would not recommend nor go to this location again. Ever. Period.

We used Grouse Nest for our wedding reception in Hocking Hills. My husband handled the catering so I can’t say too much about menu planning other than he was happy. The food tasted wonderful and people still talk about how good the food was. We were very happy and would definitely recommend Grouse Nest catering if you’re throwing a party in the area.

My husband and I have been to Hocking Hills several times. When we went to this place on Valentines Day evening last year it became one of our favorite memories from H. H! Amazing food, great entertainment (a man serenaded us romantic Sinatra songs while we had a 7 course meal!) great service and wine! The chef even accommodated my vegetarian/​pescatarian diet upon request. Highly recommend!

Since you made a trek to Hocking Hills, I think it’s safe to assume you are the adventurous type. So once you get there, how can you top off your bold venture?
Go to Grouse Nest!
A good warm up to Fear Factor, you can try the rabbit/​andouille sausage/​rattlesnake jambalaya. And to mix things up from the run of the mill beef burger, you can tear away into a venison burger. So these dishes were not tastefully amazing, but another thing to cross off my list of exotic foods to try.
I’ll tell you what was amazing though. Bread pudding.

We came here because it was close to her cabin rental. (Casa Del Sol)
What a pleasant surprise!
Once you make it to the top of the long, dangerous, driveway (Again, rent a 4-​wheel drive truck if you dont own one!), you will be ready for a drink. Luckily, they have a bar and a decent wine selection.
The restaurant prides itself on using fresh, local ingredients and you can see their garden if you walk the grounds. The waiter told us the rest of their produce/​etc come from the Athens Farmer’s market.
We started with a cocktail – they need to learn to mix a better drink. (However, our waiter did give us a good wine recommendation.) Then we had salads. All were fresh and delicious. I had the Caesar salad and it was served in a Parmesan cheese cup.
The menu was short, but wow did they have some unusual dishes listed. If you are boring, then stick with a steak, they are great and they make their own steak sauce.
I tried the Venison meatloaf served on a bed of truffled mashed potatoes with green beans. The meatloaf is mixed Ohio Venison and pork and topped with a sweet and spicy sauce. It was outstanding and it melted in your mouth!
So if you are looking for an unusual and different dining experience – I’d say this is the best restaurant around there – and you dont mind the treacherous driveway, then give this place a try.

3.5 stars, really.
* Warning: The driveway is steep and narrow, and the gravel sounds like hell on your car.
* We did call ahead (a couple days) and make a reservation, but there were several available tables when we showed up (on a Fri night in June).
* We were warned ahead of time about a long wait — both by Unilocal review and by the waitress (b/​c there was a banquet in the other section) — so after ordering, we chatted and walked around the gardens for a few min, which were nice. Lots of fresh herbs. It took 1 hr from the time of order to our entrees being served. With the advance notice, this was acceptable to us, but another couple was pretty grumpy about it and complained.
* The roasted red pepper soup is great, and shrimp cocktail was good/​generous.
* My boyfriend enjoyed his NY strip steak, and his fries were surprisingly good. (Like, you’d think they’re just fries, right? But they were REALLY good.)
* My venison meatloaf wasn’t bad. (I would have liked more of the sweet chili sauce, but I didn’t ask so that’s on me.) And I usually don’t even like green beans, but I ate all of them!
* In all, it’s nice to have a fine dining option in the Hocking Hills area, but don’t expect things to be as fast or slick as you’d get in «the big city.» You’re NOT in the big city. That’s the whole point of Hocking Hills.
* Oh, also, we dressed up a bit (me in a dress, him in a button-​down shirt and khakis) while most of the other clientele were more casual. I thought we looked more appropriate to the décor, but the staff certainly didn’t care.

My husband and I visited Hocking Hills over Sweetest Day weekend and we had reservations for the Grouse Nest Restaurant. Our reservations weren’t until after sundown (7:30pm) so it was hard to see the wooded area, but from what we could see it was pretty. We had to wait in a short line to be seated because the waiter, not a hostess, was seating the patrons. As he was seating people, he was telling those without reservations that their wait for their food would probably be around 30 – 45 minutes due to the number of reservations. The entire restaurant is quite small. We were seated fairly quickly, but in the room behind the main dining room. It had a desk, couch, chair, TV, small Christmas tree and 4 dining tables. I assumed from the location and menu prices that we were eating in a nicer-​than-​casual restaurant, so our seating area seemed quite tacky. I would’ve preferred dining in the main dining area. We ordered the shrimp cocktail appetizer and a salad which took longer than normal to come to the table. We would not get the shrimp appetizer again, but the salad was quite good. The bread was quite good as well. Our main entress took a really, really long time… somewhere around an hour after our salad and appetizer arrived. For the main entrees, I had the twin 4oz filets and my husband had the Ahi Tuna. I loved my filet but my husband said that his tuna was «Ok». The waiter was nice and realized that our dinner had been forgotten as he told us that he had to remind the chef. He took care of our drinks and offered us free desserts which was nice. I think the food is a little pricey for what you get, but the food is good. I would’ve given the restaurant 4 stars had we not ended up being in the restaurant for over 2 hours (even with a reservation) and not being seated in the main dining room.
Considering there isn’t much to choose from out there, we would try the restaurant again.

The service was great, our server was very friendly and helpful. They had cheaper wines for those who are frugal (like me!). We paid $ 15 for a bottle of red wine. The grounds are really pretty. There was a wedding going on when we were there. We got the Hocking Hills Jambalaya and split it between 2 people, which was plenty. It was a perfect meal for a cold, rainy day.
There was one negative to this restaurant — we went mainly for the venison chili and they had run out before we got there at 5:30 pm! They had run out of ¾ of their appetizers which we found so disappointing we almost got up and left; however, there was nowhere else to go!

Not exactly what we expected…
My husband and I were looking for a fine dining experience in the Hocking Hills during our weekend near Old Man’s Cave. We considered the Inn at Cedar Falls Restaurant or a Scottish, 7-​course restaurant, but we heard good things about the Grouse Nest. It was a bit closer and sounded like a good fit. The website encouraged reservations on the weekends, so I had the impression that they were a pretty popular spot.
Anticipating a certain ambiance/​dress code, I wore a dress (not too fancy) and my husband wore a nice shirt and khakis. I was surprised when we walked in to find no hostess and most patrons in shorts and other very casual attire. I was also surprised how small the restaurant was (approx. 15 tables) and the «hometown» décor.
The menu is limited, but the selections were nice and the food was good. I highly recommend the mushroom and cheese strudel and the spinach strawberry salad. My husband enjoyed the venison and pasta, and the desserts were also tasty, but not chef-​prepared.
Our server seemed overwhelmed and not very attentive. Our food arrived quickly, but we waited quite a while for refills, desserts and the check. They did seem somewhat understaffed (2 waitresses, no bartender and no host/​hostess.) But, for such a small place, I’m not sure that’s a good excuse.
Overall, I have to say that I have had better dining experiences and I was disappointed in the price we paid for the average atmosphere. When we return to Hocking Hills, we will try something different.
One extra note: If you decide to go and it’s raining or snowing, plan on driving something with 4-​wheel drive. The long driveway is dirt/​gravel and has a VERY steep incline.

The Grouse Nest Restaurant is outstanding. The food was very fresh, and delicious. We had the spinach dip, venison chili, steak and it was fabulous. After the meal the chef came to the table and meet with us about the experience.
My wife and I have only gone one time. I would rate it as one of the best dinners we have had. We will be returning next week and will elaborate how our second trip was.
If you are in the area, this is a must try!