We visited from houston and found this restaurant after driving around. I had the crawfish on a Friday and they tasted old and chewy. They lacked any flavor whatsoever and the corn and potatoes came without butter. One of the potatoes was rotten. My husband had the cheeseburger and said it was pretty good. I did note that the fries were good and tasted homemade. The hush puppies were good, albeit a different shape than regular hush puppies. They need to learn how to properly fix crawfish. They did have free ice cream at the door as you left. read more

OMG, the fried catfish was the best I've ever eaten. Great hush puppies, good service and a wonderful view. I'll be going back again (and again), even if it's a 2hr drive. read more

We usually enjoy eating here. The view outside is awesome! But this time the service was slow and they got our order wrong and the restaurant had very few customers. The fish was bland. It's like they forgot the seasoning. When we went to pay our ticket the hostesses were so busy talking about the party of 40 that was coming, they were rude and barely acknowledged our existence. Was not an enjoyable date night! read more

Only option at 4pm (the other restaurant on the River Bend didn't open until 5pm) we were impatient and it was awful! $140 tab and all of our fish was undercooked. The Cole slaw was delicious and the server was ok at best. my take away - no outside music, (it's waterfront y'all) our server said it was because the employees are unable to figure out how to work the TV & surround sound system. We were all alone on the patio so improvised with an iPhone speaker & country music. Once another table was sat we were promptly asked to turn the music down as it was disruptive to other guests. What?! We were on the patio and it was basic country music on an iPhone. Then once our food arrived we were already over it and didn't even want to mention it was undercooked. You would think the server would have noticed that nobody ate. No notice at all. Paid the bill left a tip and will never return. Best advice.... look up other restaurant on the lake (less than 5 min away)& eat there~food is better and they have music! read more

Absolutely delicious!! In town camping at the state park and wanted something to eat besides sandwiches. They serve a buffet which was extremely delicious which is surprising considering it was a buffet! The meatloaf was just perfect. Really impressed with them and hope they continue to do good!! The service was also great, everyone was very friendly!! read more

Big Pines i give you a 3 star because your food was great, Catfish was cooked just like we like it, we will be back, the outside seating was nice with the look out over the water and catching the ole steamboat take off. The only downer we had was the waitress, i asked if they had tequila and she maid some kind of lame joke when "No" would have been fine, And when we were ordering she was in a hurry, even though the restaurant was not busy, and she had a i dont care attitude, after enjoying your good food that we could not finish, we asked for a togo box and i think she had to go to wal-mart to pick it up "LOL" and also you could here the bussers in the background complaining about working and not being able to be on the lake, which im sure they would have time on their days off "????" read more

Food was better at the old Big Pines Lodge. Hushpuppies very greasy and burnt (asked for another, but same), coleslaw watery, shrimp small and tasteless, chicken fried steak/chicken ok, onion rings...not cooked enough (raw like). Decor beautiful and interesting.....but they need a good cook or cooks to carry the place...at this point not going back. very disappointed and we only live down the road..... and in reading other reviews...after thought - no pickles, peppers, pickled tomatos for us....at our table. did not even know on the free ice-cream either. read more

Big Pines Lodge used to be a great place .. After rebuilding (after a fire ) the food wasn't good but during the last few years the quality of the food improved.. I don't know how long the GM/manager has been there .. She is the rudest obnoxious person .. There are many stories going around Uncertain about her.. She has yelled at and been rude to many customers.. We won't go back until she is gone.. River Bend and Shady Glade has our business read more

The service and food are much improved since the reopening in fall 2011. Many people we're disappointed while the new owners were figuring things out, just like us, but we have now eaten there twice in the past month, and both times the whole catfish were excellent, piping hot when delivered to the table, and the slaw and jalapeño hush puppies were good as well. The service was prompt and two waitresses asked us multiple times if we needed anything. Last evening, we enjoyed al fresco dining out on the patio, a nice addition with the new building on a beautiful spring day. We miss being able to get a beer in a mason jar, but the bottled beer went down just fine! read more

Love, love, love! Big Pines is the perfect place for just about any occasion. The atmosphere is great, along with the food! The fried gator is amazing, as well as the hush puppies and fish! Never tried anything I didn't like and they have very friendly service. read more

I must say that this establishment is the most pathetic excuse for a restaurant as I have ever experienced. In my visit , I witnessed no less than 12 parties, ranging from 2 to 10 people, walk back out of the door because they could not be seated. I do not understand why this was as there were multiple tables, empty and cleaned, in plain vow of these frustrated Customers. After a 30 minute wait to be seated and 45 minutes at a table eating cold onion rings and staring at an empty tea glass, we were informed that our Server had failed to turn our order in... This establishment severely lacks proper Management and has absolutely no Customer Service.. Good luck on your visit! read more

I Grew up going to this place. We have been back several times since it was rebuilt and it has been good. Good service and the food was great. Tonight we went for my mom's anniversary and the service was horrible. It took almost 20 minutes just to get drinks and an hour for food. We had one round of hush puppies. The Manager was short handed and yet she did NOTHING to help the staff. She just complained. They were out of salad and other foods and said no substitutions. Really? They made every excuse in the world and even turned people away and closed at 7pm. Food was good which is why they get 1 star. The manager never apologized however the waitress did and I thanked her for that. Unfortunately I may not go back which makes me sad. read more

bid pines lodge burned to the ground on friday june 5th...it us unknown how, or if it will be rebuilt. however, it has been in operation for over 50 years and will b missed! todd m. ;( read more

This place burned to the ground about a year ago. Isn't here anymore. It was a good place but it's gone.

I have eaten at Big Pines for 20 + years.Was very disappointed with the fish.Ordered. whole fish.Not sure if it was legal size.Had 2 fish. Maybe 2 bites of meat.Hush puppies to sweet & slaw watery.We love pickle tomato.Got only 2 small pieces for 2 people.Service was good &restaurant nice.To many. T.V s playing. River Bend food much better.I hate this because. I loved it when George had it. , read more

Me and my family were not very happy with the whole catfish, hushpuppies or the coleslaw. After visiting the original restaurant for several years, decided to visit the newly built restaurant expecting the same quality. The building itself is very nice and clean, the staff are friendly but we still miss the homey feeling the original Big Pines Lodge had. I do not think we will return. read more

The food was low quality at best. The sour cream for my baked potato came in a condement wrapper. I'm not sure what the expectation of the locals who live in this area is but I dont think it's asking too much for fresh sour cream not something in a wrapper. Low class! My Coca-Cola was flat. I asked the waitress if she would give me a bottled coke instead of a fountain cola because it was flat. The waitress told me I would have to pay for a bottled coke out of the cooler upfront at the register AND she still put the flat coke on my bill. Very poor customer service. My husband didn't want rice with his shrimp and they screwed that up. For complementary appetizers you get these day old cinnamon bread sticks . We sat outside and the mosquito and the bugs got really bad. There were several empty tables inside so we asked if we could go sit inside. We explained to the waitress we were getting bit all over by mosquitos so could we go sit inside. She relied "I'll have to ask my manager ". WOW!!! The waitress was not rude but just simply ignorant. The FOOD WAS GROSS AND STAFF WAS CLUELESS. Don't waste your time, money or the drive out to this place. You'd be better of eating at the local a McDonald and you'd probably get better customer service. Very sad. read more

Big Pines Lodge - American Near Me - Karnack, Texas

I was so excited to hear that Big Pines Lodge had reopened as it has always been one of my favorite places to eat. The catfish and hushpuppies can't be beat. Imagine my disappointment when I ate there last Sunday, 9/10/, the fish were in a batter like chicken fried steak and were not done, the potatoe could not even be cut with a knife it was so raw and the hushpuppies were gooey. I asked the waiter if the same cook was still there and he said "supposedly". They need to spend the extra money and get him back. I had to send my food back and am not eager to repeat the experience anytime soon. Please, Please go back to the old recipes. With the new atmosphere and additions, it would be a shame to ruin it with lousy food. read more

My In-laws took me to BPL for my first time since I was in town visiting. We decided to float the lake and pulled up right on the side. I can say that I have never done that before. The restaurant is big and had plenty of seating so it was not too crowded even with many patrons. Our server was enthusiastic, attentive the whole time, Very hospitable and my oldest daughter just loved talking her ear off. We ordered our food and she brought out some Jalapeno hush puppies. These might just be the best hush puppies I have ever had! Our food came out quickly and everything tasted delicious. Ordered the catfish and it was cooked perfectly even the coleslaw was really good. I am pretty picky about coleslaw but everything about it was great. My husband ordered the Gator tail as a starter and he says it was top 3 on his list of Gator tail in the country. (So far). Overall the place, the atmosphere, the service, the food was Excellent! The only minor issue was the restroom. It was clean but there was quite a line when I went in there. I had to wait for 4 other women before me since there was only 2 stalls and I suppose everyone needed to go at the same time. lol. There is even a small ice cream station to grab and go before you leave. My little girls loved that. 5 Stars! read more

I wish it was possible to give them a lower score. We have not been here since for about 4 years because it had gotten so bad since the new owners took over but our children and grandchildren were in from out of town and wanted to see the "new" building and eat again at their favorite catfish restaurant. I didn't think it possible but it was worse than the last time we were here. The hush puppies were close to the same but every batch was cold. The fish was so hard and dry it was it not even edible. $300 later we drove home and ate sandwiches. Do yourself a favor and save your money. read more

Really good chicken tenders, and mushroom swiss burger. Fantastic fries! Get the hush puppies and slaw for your starter. They are free. The view is great and the beer is cold. read more

Wow, where to begin??? Let's start off by saying after working in restaurants for most of life I have never been treated so badly. The waitress had some sort of issue with a cook and told us she "almost threw down" with one of the cooks. We should have left at that point because everything went down hill from there. She never came back to the table after talking our order. We finally had to ask someone, which turned out to the general manager, as we found at the end. Fannially what looked like a cook, young guy dressed in black came and tried to help us and another table. Food was good but again service was horrible. The young seem to care but obviously was not trained to wait tables and my guess is he still had responsibilities in the kitchen. Finally we decided to leave buy again had flag someone down to our bill. As we were paying out we tried to explain the horrible service to person at the register, that after we waited for a couple of minutes while she visited with other employees about 20ft away, this is when found out she was the GM. The woman was so rude and disrespectful in my opinion she should not manage a hot dog stand. I actually had to walk out of the building before I lost my cool. How ever owns this place needs to pay attention more. We will not be back read more

Under newer management, glad for the change. Most things are back to normal. I wish they had their chicken fried steak back! But the fish is wonderful, coleslaw is great. Great view of river, watching boats go by. And a paddleboat! Fun visit. read more

Fantastic! Almost didn't try this place because I saw only got 3.5 stars. But after reading them, I realized they were complaining about the hush puppies. Really!!! I thought they were delicious! Large portions. Friendly service. Don't miss this place! read more

Imagine our excitement knowing that Big Pine Lodge was being rebuilt and couldn't wait for it to re-open. After going there tonight we will not be going back. We waited a hour to be seated and then another 1 to 1-1/2 before we got our food. We should have left but we gave them the benefit since they have only been open a week. Our waitress let us know that the kitchen were having problems with their equipment that a pump didnt work to remove the oil so they had to shut one of the cookers down. Once we got our food the fillets werent hot and not even cooked all the way. The food quality has gone down in size too. The fillets they brought us looked more like bait than our actual dinner. The baked potatoes were about the size of a dinner roll and they werent hot either. After we had enough we got up and left and as you walk out the door we were greeted with the smell of sewage & garbage. Their septic system and trash bins are right outside the front door. The only positive thing is that their hush-puppies and coleslaw are still great but not worth us driving a hour to eat there again. read more

We ate at Big Pines Lodge last night and everything was perfect. Definitely a family friendly place and reasonable prices. We asked about last month's flooding and it seems the water went over the road and at the highest point got up to the steps but that was it. So they are open for business and there was no damage. We all had the 3 piece catfish dinner and the fillets were huge. If you want to go for the all you can eat route, you can try the 5 piece dinner and if you still want more, they'll bump you up to the all you can eat. However with all the sides (hushpuppies, coleslaw, etc.), we had plenty. Free ice cream and a friendly wait staff the wait staff made this an enjoyable time. This was my first time, but will definitely be back. Next time during daylight so we can enjoy the view. read more

Okay enough with the bad reviews! I am a native of this area and I just will not eat catfish from anywhere. I loved BIg PInes in the Older Building as you peeps want to call it., but apparently you did not know that BIg PInes has been remolded several times so which old building? I have fond memories of the last building. It brings Back to mind the orginal owners, the waitress and hostess that were there for years. No I did not know them and I was not a member of the family so I can say this as a customer. Yes sometimes the fish was not as good as the other times and other times "OH MY GOSH KISS THE COOK". The waitress were just like any waitresses in any other restaurant sometimes they were good sometimes not. Now that that is said and done. I would like to share my experience with the new Big Pines. My husband and I have been in and seated and given our hush puppies and coleslaw which are delicious by the way, and have been sitting there and the Manager or Owner I don't know who he is has come by and ask how long have we been sitting and has made sure that we have gotten our food out in a timely manner. He comes by everytime we are in and ask us how our meal was! The waitress is always friendly and we only had one time that we had a small problem...... I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT IF I WANTED FILLETS OR SHRIMP AND FILLETS!!!!!!! Yes the food is great the service is better and you have any problems just let the big man know? read more

Sorry! Family(13) drove 60 miles ,got there around 7:00, waited almost 2hrs,(outside) was really hot, finally was seated then waited almost another hour before being served. Hushpuppies(ha). , fish (no taste) all in all nothing to write home about. Was so loud you could not visit. Service was okay. Really liked it on the water. read more

When I first move to Karnack in the early 70/s. the nig pines . The big pines lodge was there. the first one there. I apply for a job and was put to work right then. Betty Williams was the best boss anyone could have. One night the place was packed and there was a long long line outside waiting for someone to come out and call their name.. Well Betty knew I was going blind and she put me where she and I could work together. she was the greatest. We alwaus joke about how we needed a stop & go sign where the beer and wines was kept. there was no way to see anyone coming when you was coming out. One night we had a big table in four places and for some reason we ended up with them. she got two and I got two. My table had about fiftrrn peoplr and they were tight on the drinking. lolss. well I got there orders and went to get the drink. And here come betty has I was coming out and she was turning to come in. we collied wirh each othere and it went ever where. Good thing George and her live upstairs. we got the table set and went right away to get clean up. When all was said and done Betty & I made a big big tips that night. she went in and told the cook to fix her and I one of the biggest steak they had. It was so big I had to take it home with me she even brought my husband and son a steak too. Lots of good memories. read more

We went out of our way from Marshall on the rcommendation from a local. Great looking place on Big Cypress Bayou fully decorated in the bayou motif. Thats where the good feelings end. We noticed a table full of staff by the kitchen. They were all sitting around talking and laughing. We were served the house hush puppies. They were heavy, dry and had no flavor. And we were served nothing with it...no ketsup, red sauce, tarter..nothing. (uh oh). Then we heard one of the employees yell "I QUIT" and watched him walk out the door why the rest of them gawked. (was that real?) We asked about the "tater skins" and the waitress couldn't tell us what came with 'em. We passed on the tator skins (warning light)and opted for "bacon wrapped shrimp" figuring we'd get some sort of shrimp en brochette right? When it arrived I immediatly got a wiff of raw, somewhat skanky shellfish and there was the evidence. What they served was 5-6 medium deviened shrimp, covered by a cube of cheese, a slice of jalapeno wrapped by pre-cooked bacon that were put under a broiler for no more than 1 minite! The tails and edges of the shrimp were pink but the rest of the shrimp was GREY and COLD! (DANGER WILL ROBINSON!) we left after that. DO NOT BOTHER! read more

We have been there twice since the new one opened. And we went a few times prior to the fire. We really like the food. It is wonderful from the set up (hush puppies to cole slaw) through the meal. We have eaten the fish and the steaks. As all new restaurants, there will be issues they have to overcome and people have to be patient. We waited just as long as others and how you approach it is always up to you. We did not have a problem with the wait because we enjoyed getting away from the rat race, the atmosphere, friends and cutting up with the hostesses and wait staff (they were stressed out enough because of RUDE and UNRULY people). You might say I am some type of critic, but aren't most of us? I have visited both sides of Big Pines..........meaning, as a customer and as a waitress. They do have areas to work on and time will fix that. I have seen major changes just in the first week and they are good changes. This past weekend, we had a fryer go down and it took time to fix it and to catch up with the orders so we had to hold off on seating people. I'd hear snide comments and people taking pictures to put on Facebook.........HOW JUVENILE!! Someone mentioned Riverbend in an early post.............we went there when they first opened and the wait was just as bad and Mother's Day weekend was horrible. And yes, we have every intentions of returning to both places. In closing, those of you who are wanting a quick meal and like to complain............go somewhere else, like Long John Silver's - I bet you can get in and out of there in less than 30 minutes. Big Pines will survive this, it is going to take time. It is an excellent place to eat and bring your family and friends. I am not posting this because I work there (I have a full time daytime job), I believe this. read more

This is good, clean fun restaurant. The Hostess promptly seated us and was gracious and professional. I was seated at an enormous outdoor table and when I commented about the size I was abruptly told this was the "smallest table available" (However I walked past a three seat high top table). They need to work on social etiquette 101 and learn to interact a little better with customers. Our Waitress took our order and she was very tactful and patient. As we waited for our order, a food porter stopped at our table and begin placing food we did not order on our table. He then had to recover the plates and then deliver the order to the correct table. Our order was a tad bit tardy-say 15 minutes but the order was wrong. The food porter then took the order back to the kitchen then returned. At that time the food was luke warm at best. My take away is that these folks need to put forth a little more effort. Then menu needs to be expanded and better coordination between the waiter and the team that deliver's the food. Also, they need to ALL wear uniform clothing. The bus boy had several body piercings and a shirt, hip-hop hair that made me wonder if these folks know how to run a restaurant. As we checked out, a very, very young girl was training on how to work their point of sale system. Her shorts were way to short for her age. I'm as red neck and country as you can get but when your shelling out 30.00-40.00 for a meal these folks need to take this seriously. With that being said, this is a great restaurant, excellent location, clean and well maintained. Excellent decks to look out over the river. The staff was friendly and courteous but need to push themselves a little harder to be truly outstanding. Also, NO cell service if you have T-mobile. I'll be back and will take my family as this is a great place. read more