Not entirely sure how this happened, but somehow we got lost on the way to Kohl's Ranch. Considering Creekside Steakhouse & Tavern turn off is practically across the highway, it's honestly a little impressive that we managed to do that. Fortunately for us, getting lost turned out to be a great decision. The restaurant wasn't very busy when we arrived, so they told us to sit wherever we'd like. The service was fantastic from the moment we walked in, and the food was even better. I ordered the Reuben, one of the boys got a burger and fries, and the other ordered the chicken Alfredo. Now here's where things got interesting. After the first bite of the chicken Alfredo, all loyalty to previously ordered meals disappeared. The burger kid immediately developed a serious case of Order Envy and was ready to abandon ship. I'm pretty sure if negotiations had continued, he would have traded his entire burger basket for that Alfredo without hesitation. If you're a parent, you know exactly what I'm talking about. One kid orders perfectly well. Another kid orders slightly better. Suddenly there's a food custody dispute at the table. Thankfully, there was plenty of food, nobody went hungry, and everyone left happy. Amazing food, amazing service, and a relaxed atmosphere that made us feel right at home. We'll definitely make it a point to get lost and end up here again. Sometimes the best finds aren't planned...they're just the result of taking a wrong turn. read more

I don't make a lot of reviews online, but when I do-- it has great meaning & intention. I've spent a few days here in Payson at the Creekside, to enjoy a cocktail & snack. I hadn't expected this little place to bring me the best cocktail I've drank in my 35 years. I had to speak more with the bartender whom made this incredible Apple-wood Smoked Old Fashioned for me. His name is Marcus & not only is he an excellent bartender, he'l strike up a great conversation! But this guy brought the drink with a portable smoker on the top of the glass, coating the giant ice cube & whisky in the glass, with a thick layer of Applewood smoke. Aside of this awesome bar, excellent quick service, Marcus, Justin the GM & all the rest of the staff here, Creekside Cabins makes you feel right at home & it's an EXCELLENT get-away from the hot valley or beyond to visit, for an experience you'll have in your good memories for a long time. read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

I loved my Cesar salad, nice ribeye steak and the dessert is worth it!!! Wonderful service thanks Frankie:) super kind staff! Tip these people-they work hard. My drink never empty Even the soda was tasty. Ambience I loved The live music Saturday /singer & eating out side and 70° weather is heavenly. read more

See all

What a great place! Great ambiance. Great service! Friendly staff! Great food! Live music! We had the corn beef Ruben and fish and chips, and it was absolutely delicious and very well priced! Definitely recommend! read more

Impressed great service Rib eye steak... while thin tender fresh veggies... liked a lot - friendly bar tender

We stopped by this place while camping nearby. They often have live music outside which makes for a fun night. They have both indoor and outdoor seating and they allow dogs on the patio which is nice for those bringing their dogs with. Service was friendly and let us know when live music would be playing. I ordered the Mexican pizza which was good. They have plenty of beer options too. It was a great place out in the pines! read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

See all

We always stop here when we are camping at Cristopher creek. The food is good and the people here are KIND and very Friendly . Their pizzas are actually really good! We ordered three to go because we were on our way to woods canyon lake. We love creek side steakhouse! read more

There is a lot of different food offered at Creekside and most of it is okay but I always try to make it something special and the chef has always been accommodating. The other day I had them make a blackened chicken alfredo and had them add some slices of jalapeño. I will say that this will be my favorite meal! I know that they have some other awesome food so everyone should try. read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

Drinks were delicious! We ordered the chicken Alfredo and it was very good. Overall great experience!

Great service! Excellent food ! Cute Ambiance! For being in christopher creek this is actually a real gem! The Mexican salsa was amazing and just the right spices used! The Mexican pizza was delicious! Deep friend tortilla for crust... with green chili and beef ! Excellent! The salmon dinner was fabulous. The veggies were great but needed cooked a bit longer. Very sweet and professional staff! Have been here 3 times and will always come back. read more

See all

It was my first time here and I enjoyed it. This tavern has different levels to it and an outside area. They have a great menu and the food was amazing. I liked everything. Also fairly priced. Let's get into this food: Onion rings- 1000/100 crispy with the perfect crunch. Best onion rings in Payson, I love their batter! Nachos- you can add with beef or chicken. They put a great layer of toppings on every chip. Not one chip went without a topping. I got the chili cheese fries and they were a little different but 7/10. The cheese was a little loose and the chili was more of a chili bean stew. Very interesting and with roasted carrots. Definitely different but I enjoyed it. I'm not a big salad person and the salad was very fresh and beautiful presentation. Also the root beer floats are on the menu $7. I was so happy with this. Waitresses are super pleasant. read more

See all

Wow this is the best food in the pines by far. Every dish we have ever gotten is amazing. Servers and staff are super friendly. The orders come out quickly and correct! Fun hangout place you can take the whole family. read more

See all

Great outdoor location with music. I was not hungry so just ordered chili cheese tots. Great dish!

Food choice was nice, salmon was my favorite. The service was excellent and the window seat was cute.

It's 320 I walked up from the cabin I was staying in to make sure they were open as there is no cars in the parking lot. A lady answered the phone and said yes they're open and the dog patio was open as long as the dog is on the leash. we walk and the front door is locked. I saw a side door by the porch, also locked. We stood on the patio gave our dog water. Nobody came out. I called the right number and even verified with the jeep tour jeep that's parked on their property. I don't even know what to think about this place. read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

The service was extremely friendly and helpful. We ran some of our ideas for activities past our server and he sat down with us and provided phenomenal local insight. The food was great and the beers were cold. The dogs loved the fresh water put out by the staff. It was like an oasis in the mountains read more

We were staying at the cabins so the first night we came to get dinner here. It took awhile for the food to come out. There was 12 of us thou. Not sure if it was only one cook back there. I got the filet mignon and I wish I got something else cause it was okay. Not what I excepted. The chicken wings looked good. The ribs were abit tough. The salad was okay. Nothing special about that. The chef did come out to apologize that my filet was taking long so he gave us 5 free desserts which was nice of him. We got 2 velvets, 1 cheesecake, 1 tart, 1 chocolate peanut butter. They were all good. read more

So good! The food is really yummy and the waitstaff is so nice. Would definitely recommend! 10/10 read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Our view from our table - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

My husband and I have been many times and it's usually our go-to when we stay in Christopher Creek. Good food, usually pretty good service except for the occasional mess up. A downside is if there's a get-together across the street, the parking lot of the restaurant fills up with those individuals and doesn't leave much parking for people wanting to eat at the restaurant (saw it ourselves last weekend). read more

Great food, amazing dog friendly patio. Justin and his staff are the best. Cabins available for rent and a beautiful location for a wedding too. read more

I stopped by yesterday morning I had the worst breakfast. Order biscuit and gravy bloody Mary. Bloody Mary wasn't mild like I ordered biscuits for the hardest rocks I had to cut them with a knife felt like stones in my told them nothing bloody Mary was not mild as I ordered. The service from the waitress was good wish I could see the breakfast was to same. Spent $68. For breakfast barely edible read more

Was so happy this was open when we drove through. Got the opportunity to stop and enjoyed it very much. Will definitely be back!

what a wonderful restaurant and tavern great food and cozy atmosphere! friendly staff. They are now open on Mondays!! read more

Stopped in here after a day of exploring up on the rim. We were all pretty hungry and this was the closest place. This place is very laid back and friendly. I ordered the Guadalajara tacos and my wife ordered a cheeseburger. My daughter wanted the French onion soup, but our server came back very apologetically and indicated they were all out. So my daughter said she would take the pepperoni pizza. Wish the server had indicated it was a large pizza, as it was way more than my daughter could eat. So, I had to help her out a little The pizza ended up being the best thing we ordered. The tacos were in short, not very good. My wife said her cheeseburger was pretty good. Did I mention the pizza was really good! read more

See all

3.25 stars My family and I were staying in a Christopher Creek cabin when we visited this restaurant, so naturally, this was the closest restaurant to us at the time. Right as we entered, we were welcomed with an absolutely repulsive smell that lingered throughout the restaurant. We were also welcomed by a waitress, who seated us in the back of the restaurant--the far less "cute" part of the restaurant. The smell had become sickening and nauseating to breathe in, even as we moved away from what we thought was the source of the smell. This had caused us to change our order from 'dine' to 'to go'. We waited for around 20-25 minutes for our order, only to receive food that was clearly from a package and completely overpriced. read more

I had the Tavern Burger with pepper jack cheese with onion rings. Excellent compliments to the chef.

They were understaffed and apologized for it. That wasn't a problem. They didn't have diet soda. Their tacos were underwhelming to say the least. They had absolutely no flavor and the meat tasted like it had been reheated and there was almost no cilantro or onions on them at all. The saving grace was the rice. For being a steakhouse and getting steak tacos I expected more. read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Filet mignon tacos - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

Awesome food and service. We were hiking close to the area and decided to visit the restaurant; it was a great experience. I had the Tavern Burger and my husband the Reuben; both were prepared to order and the flavors were amazing. We heard from the couple sitting near us that the chili was very good. Next time we will try since the portions of our order were bigger than expected. read more

Had a great experience here! Great food and drinks and friendly staff! I had the fish n chips and they were great! My husband has the buffalo chicken burger and he loved it ! read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

See all

We stopped in on a whim on the way to the cabin. It had been a few years since we tried Creekside. We immediately noticed how many good seats with views they have. We opted for the bar and were immediately greeted. The bartender made us two great cocktails with the level of technique you would expect in a swanky Scottsdale bar. Try the Duck and Cover if you like an Old Fashioned. We ordered a ribeye and a rack of ribs for dinner. The steak was cooked properly and had some flavorful Sourhwest beans and rice on the side. The ribs were a miss for us as we found them dry and without BBQ flavor without sauce. Ultimately we enjoyed our visit and will return soon. The service, bartending, and view are tops in our book. read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Everyone loves a "Full Rack" - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

See all

This place could be SO great, but on a Saturday afternoon/ evening the staff are sitting outside drinking with their friends. No one bartending, no one asking if you'd like another drink. They get up from their Coronas every once in awhile. I went inside to get another round and the manager was sitting there drinking a Coors Light. What a missed opportunity. Also there is a smell of sewage that has wafted through at least twice in one hour. read more

Really cool spot, inside and out! Patio is dog friendly and in the midst of tall pines. Food is great. Excellent Bloody Mary! read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Excellent Reuben. Recommend tots over onion rings. - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

Food and service was great! Large delicious portions with excellent drinks. Try the tasty Bloody Mary. read more

We stopped in for a bite of lunch. We ordered the Sampler Platter and a side salad. There was so much goodness, we couldn't eat it all. The wings had a light Buffalo sauce. The onion rings and chicken tenders were fried up perfectly. And the hatch Chile quesadilla had a nice heat to it. We will definitely be back! read more

We are going back today and I can't wait!! What a wonderful location and atmosphere and the best service .. Let's not forget the food very good! Actually, it is wonderful read more

Really good fish and chips and friendly service. Perfect little spot on the way back from hiking around the lake

Enjoy coming back to this place, very welcoming and servers always greeting you with a smile and attend you right away.

Great food, great service and loved that they allow dogs on the patio. Will be back soon. Highly recommend.

It's been a few years since I have been here but I have been coming here since the seventies.. I love their breakfast on the porch...it didn't disappoint other than when the meal was delivered it could have been a tad hotter... I feel sad though that one of the previous owners Olive , has passed away. Can't wait to check out the Cabins in the future. read more

Creekside Steakhouse and Tavern - Steakhouses Near Me - Payson, Arizona

See all

For someone who grew up in Phx and passed through this town since the 70's, a lot has changed. After the new hwy was built, I passed this town many times. This time, the wife and I drove into Christopher Creek looking to find some food and let the dogs stretch their legs. We stopped at the the Creekside for a bite to eat and the patio was dog friendly, so the pups got some fries. The food is great, patio has shade, smell and sound of the pines. This will now be our halfway point between Phx and Pinetop! read more