The Gateway Restaurant & Lodge

Wow… what a treat to find such an amazing restaurant just a few miles from Sequoia National Park. This place is a true ‘gem.’ The location: on the river with amazing views & sounds. the service: friendly & efficient. The food: gourmet and worth every penny! The Salmon, the Kobe Beef Burger, the baked Brie, the desserts, the soup or salad, the variety of potatoes… it was all super delicious. And, went back for a breakfast and had amazing pancakes!!! Don’t miss this place wether you are coming or going!

Even though it was 94° out, we sat on the deck over looking the river. Absolutely amazing. They had this huge fan that was also a mister so it wasn’t bad in the heat.
The French onion soup was the best I ever had, I really don’t care for French onion soup but this one was excellent!!!
I had the pork osso buco. I can’t tell you how succulent fall of the bone delicious it was!!! The sauce was excellent! Highly recommend.
My bf had the filet mignon it was also tender and cooked perfectly and was accompanied by a wonderful mushroom sauce. Definitely would cone back here especially for a romantic dining experience.
If there’s a way to separate the restaurant from the lodging on Unilocal,I think that would be helpful. If I had looked on Unilocal before I ate here, we wouldn’t have gone. Luckily you came recommended by the people at river inn.

We stayed in the two bedroom river house for Father’s Day weekend and had a great time! The place was very clean and had everything we needed. The bathroom was well stocked with towels and we never ran out of hot water. Each room and the living room has a wall cooler and they kept the whole place comfortable and cool. The kitchen has a full fridge, stove with oven, toaster, microwave, blender, and k cup machine. Our fav part of the stay was the private patio with grill overlooking the river. We enjoyed sitting out there for our meals (bring some citronella candles and you are set). There were only two small things that could have been better:
— the door leading out to the patio is very hard to open and it does not close all the way
— no oven mitts available. I burnt my thumb trying to get something out of the oven (my fault I guess)
I highly recommend staying at this lodge, we met the owner and he was a very nice and helpful man. Great location and beautiful views.

This is the best place to stop on your way into sequoia national park. There’s breathtaking views from the patio. Perfect place for lunch! Their food is great and everyone there was very friendly, awesome service.

We are here twice on our trip to three rivers. Both times the staff was friendly and super attentive. Best view ever. There was a nice variety of food options and the quality of food was great. Also super friendly to my 3 young boys. Loved it !! We will definitely come back.

Bön repas pour un restaurant américain, un peu cher mais ça les vaut.
10% de réduction parce que nous dormions là bas.

Food had no flavor at all. View of the river was great and I enjoyed it. Service was perfect, but not worth the 77 $ for nasty food. I rather go to Sierra subs and salads.

This is for the restaurant only. Quick service, very nice staff, manager helped us herself. The restaurant is atop the waterfall area, beautiful views and the rumbling sound of the waterfall. we ordered a large pizza a salad and a cheese toast with French fires. Really good quality stuff and fresh, local ingredients, we were shocked.
Thank you! Will be back!

My husband and I had our second date here, and come back for special occasions. The service is top notch, especially if you’re lucky enough to be served by Caitlyn. The food can be hit or miss depending on what you order. The filet mignon is always a safe bet. The ambiance is super romantic, and the bar is well stocked and very clean. It’s always worth a trip for a date night out.

We fell in love with this place when we moved here in 2012 from SoCal. The food is great. The view cliffside of the mighty Kaweah River simply cannot be beat. Many folks do not know that The Gateway is a historic piece of Sequoia and 3R too. They’ve been serving diners and lodgers for more than 60 years. We eat here weekly. My favorites–
Breakfast: Chef Manny’s chicken fried steak is hard to beat. It’s crisp and flavorful and tender inside, melts in your mouth. My hubby loves the Grizzly Bear Omelette– it’s loaded with meats and veggies.
Lunch– all of their burgers are made with angus prime beef, hand pressed patties made to order, they’re flame broiled and the beef is fresh NOT frozen!!! You can’t beat the bacon cheese burger unless you have them add avocado for a few dollars more. Burger nirvana!
Dinner– I am a ribeye/​prime rib lover and they do them both very well. I ask for medium rare and it comes out perfect, every time. Delish! My hubby loves the Bang Bang Shrimp, full rack of baby back ribs, and the New York steak dinner.
Dessert– probably my favorite part of every meal. I am addicted to their new Fried Cheesecake. OMGosh! It’s a little bit of melt in your mouth creamy perfection. My Hubby prefers the Molten Chocolate Lava Cake. It’s fabulous too.
**Tips learned from frequent visits–
Always make dinner reservations during peak season (April-​September). There are so many other loyal customers coming from across the valley that you can wait for a table for a while unless you call ahead and make a reservation.
Sunday Champagne Brunch– it’s just $ 25.95 and includes the entrée of your choice, a bottomless glass of bubbly, baked apples in cream and spice, beignets, lots of fresh fruit and a chocolate waterfall too.
Traffic can be bad because of this beautiful location (¼ mile from Sequoia National Park Entrance Gate) so plan ahead. We try to dine at in between times to minimize the wait– breakfast at 8am, for lunch we dine late at 2pm, and early for dinner at 5 or 6 to avoid the bulk of the park traffic.
Always inquire with your server about the daily lunch or dinner special. They can include great things that are not even on the menu.
The chefs make the soup du jour from scratch. Inquire about them as well. The clam chowder is 5 star in my book.

We ate here twice during our two day trip and we were blown away by how good the food was! Day one was my birthday and I had the salmon with a twice baked potato, salad, and vegetables. Our son had the Bang Bang scallops with the same sides as me and my husband had the seafood crepes with a baked potato, salad, and vegetables. Our dinners were absolutely amazing! As I mentioned, it was my birthday so we splurged and ordered two desserts, the fried cheesecake and the lemon berry cake. Omgoodness! They were so yummy!
The second night we went back because we really enjoyed the food, the staff, and the view. We were not disappointed! My husband and I both had the Kobe burger and our son had the salmon burger. Again it was phenomenal! If we are ever back in the area we will definitely eat here again!

What a gem in the rough this is. If you’re in Three Rivers, chances are you’re going to the Sequoia’s. Stop here and fill up with food before or after — or stay here!
Food: BEST VIEW. EVER. You are literally sitting above roaring creek. Amazing. The food is also great. Full menu with something for everyone; everything is prepared to order and is fresh and delicious taking. Save room for dessert — you’ll regret it if you don’t.
Service: I wish I lived there so I could be friends with everyone there, they are that nice. Emily and Mackenzie helped me and couldn’t be nicer, friendlier, more helpful.
Haven’t stayed there (yet) but they showed me the rooms. Pretty standard for roadside lodge (but did I mention the river which it all sits on top of?) Their rates are way cheaper than in the Sequoia’s. Perfectly clean and comfortable looking, everything you need is there. It’s about an hour from here to the Big Trees area of the Sequoia’s and a beautiful drive, so really well worth staying at.
We got: fish and chips (perfect) — came with fries and cole slaw. Fresh, not greasy tasting.
Tuna melt (perfectly cooked, fresh white tuna). Clam chowder: creamy and with real clams. Home made every day. Vegie pizza made to order with your choice of vegies. Beer, two different fresh brewed ice teas, and dessert: lemon berry cake, served with ice cream and fresh berries. The presentation alone on the dessert was impressive, and we demolished (even though we were stuffed from the meal).
Seriously — go here.

Great location. Beautiful ducks. Friendly staff. Aside from that the lodging was a nightmare. There were dead roaches on the kitchen floor, over 20 large black flies in the bathroom which we killed, and no hot water our first night. It felt like Amityville horror! My daughter burst into tears and was afraid to go to sleep. Apparently there is daily maid service but I can’t figure what they do aside from emptying the garbage cans. There were spider webs caked on the windows which I cleaned off. It was so unbelievable that I actually took pictures. There’s no way this is a 3 star anything.

Had a lovely dinner here after a long day of staging a photoshoot in the sequoias. Its family owned and the manager and staff were wonderful and very friendly! Good food, good beer, and right by the river. Perfect way to end the day!

Had a great breakfast here on a trip to sequoia. The staff was super friendly, and gave us some nice recommendations for rafting. Had a great river view, which my kids enjoyed watching the ducks. Nice stop in, would definitely come back!

I’m actually surprised to see so many good reviews. We paid $ 50 for two spaghetti dinners with sauce from a can and two beverages. That is out of control pricing for a meal that a ten year old can make. And as others have said, it looked like a social club at the bar with what seemed to be the two owners. They passed by us many times and didn’t even look at us, they were busy drinking with their friends. I saw it posted that the owner is the chef? Maybe our food was bad because the chef was drinking instead of cooking.
Then the room! If I could go back in time I never would have booked a room there. It was one of those places that you want to sleep on top of the blankets with your clothes on. First off, there were two differently sized beds in the room, weird but fine. These two different beds had different bedding. Whatever, it looked like nothing had changed since the late 70s early 80s. The electric wall fireplace did not heat the room so they had added a space heater placed on top of the desk and plugged into the bathroom. Can’t close the bathroom door if it has a huge cord in the way! And since space heaters are so safe, they decided they didn’t need to add a fire alarm or smoke detector in the room, in the forest. And the desk was sticky???
Also, I think that was the same shower that was in my grandparents’ basement when I was a kid. It was too scary to go in there when I was five but at least it didn’t have a moldy curtain!
Next time I’m looking to shoot a horror film in a motel in the woods I know where to go!
Seriously, no fire alarm???

This review is only for the Gateway Restaurant:
My husband and I had dinner here during our stay in Three Rivers, CA. The food was delicious and the staff was super nice! They did not charge for water like other people have posted so maybe that’s been changed. Bonus, cute ducks swimming around the back!

The place is wonderful. The owner/​managers are friendly and out-​of-​their-​way helpful. The room, Number 1, was on the road going into the park but road noise was not an issue. The room was comfortable and a very pleasant place to relax after a long hike.
Great bed.
The food is very good. The owner is the chef.
Neither the food nor the room are cheap but they are worth it.

My review has two parts the lodge room and the restaurant.
Part 1– Lodge
We arrived after noon check in was in the restaurant area. We got room #1, we were able to move our things into the room as it was ready for us to take advantage.
We booked the room on
and the price was cheaper compare to the hotels website.
I booked the room with a king bed, no smoking. Room has a TV, mini fridge, microwave, and a coffee machine with coffee. It’s cold here in sequoia and they have an electrical fire place, looks nice but not sure if it’s actually keeping the room warm. Room is stuffy need fresh air to circulate. I requested a no smoking room and I was told that they have a $ 250 violation citation if we smoke. I believe I asked for a no smoking room for a reason, hubby and I do not smoke.
Overall room is decent and we need it to sleep, shower and sleep.
Part 2– Sequoia National Park is super close to the restaurant/​hotel. We came to the restaurant as we needed some food. We were greeted and sat in an indoor table. Our waiter Jordan was very friendly.
We orders a vodka tonic, tequila sunrise. We also ordered as an appetizer the cheese mozzarella, chicken Alfredo, and the getaway cheeseburger with a cheese potato. We also had the clam chowder soup and a salad with blue cheese dressing … Delicious !
We had a late lunch and didn’t enjoy the view from our window but we did walk earlier and it was a relaxing view.
So far it’s been a good experience.

This place was a huge dissapontment for lunch. Walked in and right away the hostess tried very hard to get us to sit indoors and convinced us it was a better option because outdoor was busy.
So we sat indoors and had horrible service.
Only got tended to for our order and for our check.
The food was pretty bad as well. Portobello sandwich was soggy and was so sloppily put together. Salad was soaked in dressing even though we asked for it on the side. We left nearly half the food on the plate.
They charge for water here but didn’t bother to refill it for the entire time we were there.
So if you must come here make sure you get the outdoor seating to make up for the bad service here.

Nice spot that has all the potential to become a restaurant people would love dining at because of location. But, there is no soul here and food was so simple and all wrong. I am sad to say, but hey that is easy to fix! It was also too pricy given the quality of the food.
The bar was interesting– a man, not the bar tender, made drinks to himself and some locals. Weird.
It had some nice beer and whisky but that was about it.
Would be so cool to see this place again as a fine gourmet restaurant with local produce they can brag about. I dare you!

Situé à la rencontre des rivières Kaweah et East Fork, terrasse au bord du torrent, à 15 min de l’entrée principale du parc.
Excellente cuisine, compter 20 $ pour un plat copieux servi avec une soupe, genre clam showder, compter 25 $ pour le vin à déguster dans un cadre très agréable, fait aussi lodge 99 $ en semaine.
Très bien situé dans le cadre d’une expédition pour Sequoia Park.