Fort Bidwell Hotel

We were staying in the area for several days and had heard about the Fort Bidwell restaurant. The dining room was crowded with locals who all seemed to know each other. For a small rather remote place the menu was very nice. Wine selection is limited to "red or white" box wine. Our dinner salad were fresh and good. My husband ordered chicken fried steak. It was served with a white gravy and mashed potatoes. I had fish and chips. The order had 4 breaded pieces of fish. The fish was moist and the fries were excellent...hand cut and hot. Desert was impressive, locally made peanut butter chocolate pie. We're so glad we came! There is some outdoor seating and take out, too.

Best food around for a hundred miles! Absolutely loved the pancakes and the Mexicali omelet was one of the best omelets I've ever had! Our waitress Paula was wonderful. We will definitely make this our goto stop when visiting!

We've eaten there three times in a year, each time when we've come up from southern Modoc County to stay at Surprise Valley Hot Springs resort. This most recent time I had the killer salmon with killer mashed potatoes, and my wife had the shrimp and French fries. We've never seen dark brown French fries. French fries should always be a golden brown, not chocolate brown. She was afraid to eat them and I certainly would not take a bite. Very weird. Were they cooked in old oil? Were they kept in the air too long before cooking them? The food at the Bidwell hotel has always been excellent, in freshness, preparation, and aesthetic presentation, but those fries were totally unappetizing in appearance.

We ate lunch here. I had pork ribs that were very good. Another had a BBQ platter that she raved about. My girlfriend had the fried chicken..the breast was still a bit raw close to the bone, but the wing was cooked perfectly. She had wished the breading had a bit more seasoning in it. She and I both had mashed potatoes as sides..they are hands down the BEST mashed (smashed) potatoes we had ever had. We're thinking tons of butter and some type of cheese in them?? I also had sauteeed veggies..they were great. Dessert was blueberry cream pie...fresh, whole blueberries..it was great. Despite the undercooked chicken (which they comped)..this was a great lunch. Tons of character in the old hotel.

Last Friday I had the chicken fried steak, was excellent, went back today, ordered the chicken fried steak all gristle, won't be going back to a hit and miss thing and the bigger Waitress is much nicer!