Owner Sacrifices Romance for Crying Children
The Nest is a 4 star restaurant nestled in the romantic Saddleback Inn, Lake Arrowhead, CA. After waiting 20 minutes past our scheduled reservation, we were seated at a quiet booth that was available the entire time. Soon a family of 4 with a tired 2 year old crying to go home was seated behind us. After 10 minutes of non-stop crying, we spoke with a waitress about the disturbance caused by the child. The owner refused to speak to the family and we were to be moved to a louder part of the restaurant if we didn’t like the noise. Since the romance for the evening was ruined, we decided to move. I was too upset to accept any compensation, but still shocked that they even charged me a $10 corkage fee on my bottle of wine. The food and service is worthy of 5 stars, but owner is a horrible manager and will sacrifice your romantic evening at the expense of a crying child. BE WARNED!    [04 Jul 2005 23:27:34]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: ALL

     ­Anonymous   

Great food, bad service!!
My husband and I ate dinner at The Nest on a Friday night. Had a wonderful meal. I ordered the Gorgonzola Chicken which was incredible! It was a huge portion with 2 breasts of chicken which was way more than I could eat. No problem with that. Two nights later we went back. We told our server that neither of us was ravenous so we asked her if it was normal to be served 2 breasts as we were thinking of sharing the entree. She said, no, normally it was only one. To make a long story short; she brought our meal and we BOTH had 2 breasts. We let her know that we were unhappy as we were staying at a hotel and couldn't take a "doggy bag" with us. Hate to waste great food!! She returned with the bill and said the manager said there was nothing they could do! HER responsibility should have been to tell the chef!! We have a house in Arrowhead and tell many friends about the places to eat. It's a shame that we will cross this one off our list due to poor service, not food.    [31 Mar 2006 15:12:25]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 

     ­Anonymous   us2bflick at aol dot com

Absolutley Incredible!!!
As we walked into The Nest with our 1 year old, my initial thought was oh, no...we can't eat here with her. The hostess was wonderful and offered us a table in the back where our daughter enjoyed watching the "action" in and out of the kitchen....we had the most incredible meal of our lives!!!! I'd pay $20 for a loaf of their bread! The service was out of this world....Erin is one of a kind. It was the perfect meal...the perfect seat...the perfect service that will make us a regular when we come up from San Clemente!    [12 Aug 2006 01:00:43]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 

     ­name withheld at reviewer's request   

Excellent Meal
Went to the Nest on a Tuesday night, July 3, 2007. If you like old, full-of-character places, this is for you. The restaurant is in a very old building (1919) and is really full of charm and character. The food was excellent. We had the Pork Schnitzel and the Halibut with Shrimp. Both were very well-prepared, full of flavor and well presented. The carrots were excellent and full of flavor, as were the pickled cabbage and garlic mashed potatoes. Service was timely and a delight. The only downside was that, as the building is old, there is no air conditioning. Open windows provided scant air flow. But this did go along with the ambiance! Overall, two thumbs up!    [03 Jul 2007 22:24:09]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Pork Schnitzel

     ­Anonymous   

Lake Arrowhead's Best Food/Service
My wife and I dine here at least weekly and find that the food and service are nothing less than unsurpassable. Come on Wednesday night for the all you can eat sushi -- yep, sushi in Lake Arrowhead. Don't waste your time looking elsewhere -- this is the place to go. Chef Karl is a "real" chef -- not self-proclaimed. This is it!    [05 Jul 2007 19:26:29]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: All is great, especially great prime rib!

     ­Don Ferreira, Arrowhead Mountain Realty   

Pleasantly Surprised!
My wife and I came up to visit my sister and her husband (local residents) on Sunday. On the recommendation of two other local residents, we chose to eat at the Nest. With reservations for the "early diner" at 3 p.m., we expected decent food but limited choices, and wouldn't have been surprised to be treated as "bargain diners" by our server. This wasn't the case at all. The early dinner choices (I believe there were between 9 and 11) covered a good variety of dishes to satisfy most any taste, all at the same very low price. While we were still enjoying well-mixed drinks, served promptly with a smile and warm bread with plenty of butter, the four different meals arrived. We all were amazed at the presentation, the size of the portions and how absolutely great everything tasted. Our server never left us wanting for anything, and certainly didn't treat us with any less respect than if we had dined during regular dinner hours. This was an overall very enjoyable experience that would normally cost about twice as much if one could find its equal.

Note: our party included a former cook/caterer, a former server (now retail manager), a customer service instructor, and a big guy with a hearty appetite. All left very impressed, and all were both filled and thrilled! With all this show of enthusiasm, I feel I must add one thing so that the readers will know this is an honest evaluation: The coffee served with our dessert had a good flavor but was far too weak. Stronger coffee would be my only recommendation. Serve it strong. One can always add water.    [23 Jul 2007 17:15:15]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: The grilled salmon was the juiciest I've ever eaten, with great sauce, and these guys do some magic with their green beans. Also . . . if large quantities of various textures and tastes of chocolate incorporated in a devil's food cake with enough thick, creamy frosting to satisfy even the 'corner piece' cake eater drizzled with rasberry gets your taste buds going, you will have to try the truffle for dessert.

     ­Flatlander