Update on my pre-season report on Snowshoe's The Junction... They got worse. I figured I'd give them the benefit of the doubt and have breakfast at the Junction. I wasn't even my old cantankerous old self and show up a half hour after their lunch menu was put out... Well, I showed up at 1050, fully 10 minutes before their usual Pretorian end of breakfast and commencement of the lunch menu... Well... I was told they end breakfast service now at 1030... TEN THIRTY IN THE MORNING!!!!!!!!!!!! Who the heck is awake and fully fed on a Sunday at ten thirty??? I was told that if I wanted breakfast after 1030, I needed to drive down the mountain six miles and go to the Golf Course. I made a small scene and left, laughing all the way to my condo. Oy Vay Ishmir...

When a restaurant has so little concern for their customers... well... you know what I'm thinking.

McDonalds stops serving breakfast at 10:30am, why can't The Junction?

Not on Sunday morning...McDonalds sells breakfast until 1100 on weekends.
The Colonel

And besides, I haven't been to a McDonald's since 1973 and wouldn't enter one if you paid me.

If The Junction wants to have McDonald's as their role model, then they should charge the prices that go with that model. I look for quality resort dining and am willing to pay it. Not trying to be pretentious, but I expect service and I also expect the restaurant to make the necessary accomodations to ensure my comfort.

Ibotta - may I suggest you get your butt out of bed earlier. Most restuarants start serving lunch at 11:00 which means they need time to prepare. I'm glad I wasn't your waiter, you sound like a difficult customer.

snowsgums, I disagree with you vehemently. Sadly, your retort exemplifies the ethos of The Junction since its founding. "Take it or leave it"... "If you don't like it, go somewhere else"... Well, it is the restaurant with the worst reputation on the mountain among virtually all home owners there, and in my opinion, about one of the worst eateries I have ever seen in my life.

Yes I am a difficult customer. I expect service and quality, not mediocrity or sloppy service. I want it and am willing to reward it. For what it matters, I have left a 50-100 percent tip on the table too if excellent service and food are provided. And by the way, that's not uncommon. When I go to the mountain, I am not on a budget. I am there to enjoy myself and provide the optimum enjoyment to my friends and family. Costs are secondary.

Besides - What kind of out-of-the-way special effort does it take to plop three eggs in an oiled pan? Not much. A food service provider can have all the excuses in the world, from preparation to organization. Hogwash. If they really cared for the customer, they would go the extra step in ensuring customer satisfaction. Obviously, the extra step is not within their business model and therefore I also choose to go somewhere else.

In every service organization, the provider needs to realize that they exist because of the customer, and not otherwise. Brian, the only successful restauranteur on the mountain, wouldn't put up with the mediocrity of the Junction.

11:00 is about right. Many are 10:30 - on the weekends. I know because I am always just missing breakfast. However, most diner types will serve breakfast all day.

Had quite a few mediocre meals at the FoxFire when Brian was there. The food is signifantly better since he went up the hill and Anne(??) is running things. I have had a streak (5-6) of consecutive good meals there, which is unprecendented on the mountain. Got a steak at Embers that was so tough you could have used it for a catchers mitt. Brian was nice and brought out a complementary desert - that was so frozen you needed an ice pic to eat it. Nice atmosphere, but don't plan to go back.

Personally, I have not had a bad experience at the Junction. Just stick with the basics. They also have the only real happy hour in the village.

You're the customer. I can understand if the restaurant is packed with people and the assembly line restaurant model of the Junction is thrown off... But for goodsake! If you're the only person at the restaurant where no one else goes, what does it matter or how much trouble is there throwing three eggs on a plate? What ever happened to "The Customer Comes First"?

I've met many nice people who work or used to work at the Junction. It isn't the waitstaff, but the callous management that I'm indicting. If they don't care to get my money, I don't care to give it to them.

lbotta, I'm with you. Junction has a nice happy hour, but that's all they offer. I keep my family and friends away from that place. Nice waiters but as you called it some time ago, callous management. I don't feel comfortable there. Ravenswood has a nice breakfast. Nothing beats the old Elihus(?) at 66 and 129. That place rocked for breakfast. Too bad it's history.

Unfortunately the Junction is a corporate restaurant. It would be nice to get more quality independent businesses in the area. You would have more luck getting those late morning eggs.

By corporate resturant you don't mean a chain do you? It's just owned by the resort. Correct?

Intrawest is a great developer but, unfortunately, seem to be incapable of delivering a customer-oriented restaurant. I vigorously stand by my comments.

I had a gaggle of 8 people this past weekend. We went to Foxfire and they were quite full, but outside seating was available under their big tent. In the middle of dinner, it started raining and got quite chilly. The restaurant went out of their way to sit us inside. My kudos to them.

Not a chain, just company (resort) owned.

I noticed something new down at the bottom - post Elihus, post the Diner, post the Pizza joint. Didn't catch what is was, but looked like another eatery of some sort.

Anyone tried the new version of Auntie Pastas at Mountain Lodge? We haven't yet, but loved the old one. I always thought an Italian (or Mexican) restuarant would be the easiest not to screw up.

I'll try the new restaurant this weekend and report on it. It is perfectly located. I can't imagine why the old Elihus didn't make it - perhaps the portions were too large (which they were), because it was always full of people.

As far as Intrawest's ability to screw up Mexican, see post No. 40241. Hoots, Rosas', whatever. They are, however, able to turn chicken tenders into pork rinds, which takes some effort....

Auntie Pasta is a good family place. On 40047, I wrote the following report on Auntie:

"Auntie Pasta: At the Village, but in the lower floor of the Convention Center. Lou's two and a half stars. No reservations. Auntie Pasta used to be Snowshoe's oldest eatery, in the space now occupied by the Seneca Lodge, and the name is dear in the hearts of many old-timers at the 'Shoe. No reservations. Like the menu says, Italian. Go early. But expect generally good, hearty and appetizing food, if sometimes a bit institutional. Friendly service. Excellent views on a late afternoon/early evening."

I do remember when they had the Mexican place for a short time at ML - canned food (which i was willing to accept for the price) but no Margaritas (they had run out of Tequila) - which was not acceptable. Of course they went down shortly thereafter.

Thanks for the update on Auntie Pastas..

Yes, the original Aunti's was great. I heard the one in ML was not too good, but I have never been there my self. The mexican place at TOTW stunk, and I can eat just about anything.

Sooo many people miss that place. Perhaps it is because it had the old aura of Snowshoe as a much smaller place, before its Disneyfication. I'll be the first to say that things are much improved resort wise, but unfortunately the resort has hurt in the quality of the experience.

Back then, if you wanted a real treat, you went to the Red Fox. They used to have Wild Boar medallions and between the Pièce de résistance and dessert, a uniformed waiter brought you finger bowls with rose petals, before you embarked on ice cream made in-house.

The old Auntie Pasta was awesome, you actually saw the cooks make the sauce inside. Not the No. 10 can variety.

Sort of a gygone era, isn't it?

Was at Snowshoe this past weekend. The old Elihus has a new restaurant and I took their menu, only to leave it at the condo. The new restaurant is really not, just an annex to the bar. It serves pizza and hamburgers, and is only open when the bar is open.

Tried the Bistro. They have lost their liquor license "temporarily" according to the Maitre D', and as a result they were only about 20 percent full in one of the busiest summer weekends at Snowshoe, the Chili Cookoff. Because of this, I got awesome service. Their Asian Chicken salad is awesome. I was told that as a result of the change in their chef, that their menu will change totally in August. I will wait for that.

The Foxfire was open and roaring. We were able to be seated early, close to 5:30 PM, and watched the line form. We had a choice of seating, which is particularly non-traditional in the Foxfire. Our waiter was quite adept and courteous - he's the son of the Maitre D', and food came quickly and served hot.

For the Chili cookoff, we tried some of their samples and went down to hike the mountain and up again to the fire tower at the other end of the lake. Their trail at the end of the damn, Bailout, was completely obstructed by a large beaver dam and the subsequently incredible damage to the forest. An area about three acres has been totally denuded by beavers, who have felled trees from saplings to mature, foot-plus diameter trunks. The trail was of course, totally unpassable, so we went up to the other side of the lake near the 6 thousand steps trail and climbed back up to the top to eat some more.