Falls Restaurant at Clifty Inn Madison IN We greatly enjoy Ohio and nearby State Parks Resorts, and have been visiting for decades. Clifty Inn near Madison IN has attracted us for decades. Whether staying overnight, or simply visiting the Inn for dining, we highly recommend the Buffet or a meal at the dining room. Not 5 star dining, but comfort food in a rustic setting. We enjoy the ambience of "rustic," and can always admire comfort food. The tariff is appropriate for the fare. read more

Top 3 greatest buffets of all time! Food is amazing, staff friendly, have to pay to get in the summer

Limited selection of entrees. Not vegetarian friendly. Portions were small & majority seemed like commercial or frozen food. Rounded to 3 stars for service, not the food. Food was barely 2 stars. I greatly preferred other restaurants in Madison. Best meal of our trip was Chinese to go, eaten on the patio of this restaurant ( they close early 8PM) read more

Wife and I spent 4 days here. We ate breakfast lunch and dinner and have to tell you their food is very good service is very attentive. Don't waste time driving down town when you have the best restaurant just steps away. read more

Great for the Americana Midwest style of mashed potatoes and gravy. Think grandma's Thanksgiving style of food. They have the many American-Euro salads with Mayo dressings and raisins. The pasta salads with subtle Italian flavorings, the classic fruit salad dessert with pineapples and marshmallows. Iykyk. read more

Went for Thanksgiving dinner. Seating was screwy bc they herd you in like cattle all at once. Food was ehhh. Buffet was half full, and not prepared well. The guy "carving" the ham and roast beef looked like he just got paroled and had personality to match. Will not go back and will not recommend to anyone to go. read more

Husband ordered soup and salad bar and said it was ok . Had a hard time knowing what desserts and such to eat since nothing is marked for those who have to watch certain foods they eat. It was trial and error on trying a little of each. He was done eating by the time I got my food as it was almost 30 minutes for my tenderloin. It was way overcooked and dry. The chips were the best part of meal as they are homemade and good. Waitress was friendly. read more

Falls Restaurant at Clifty Inn - Over cooked tenderloin - American Near Me - Madison, Indiana

I really, really try to find the plus side in all restaurants and I am not a picky eater at all but this was tough to love. Starting with the positives: all the servers were really nice, the sweet tea and fried pickles were bomb, and my son loved the apple cobbler (I thought it was ok). The mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, Salisbury steak, and cole slaw were all fine. The burger bun and rolls were dryyyy and the potato salad was traumatizing. Idk how else to describe it. The texture was so weird, I actually was scared to swallow it bc I wasn't sure if it was edible. It had the bitter taste of a raw potato but the texture was like an overcooked potato and the flavor was just awful. I'm so sorry, I will definitely come back to this place and try again, maybe breakfast will be a better go. The view from the restaurant is gorgeous tho. read more

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We have been coming to Clifty Fall State Park since 1988 and eating at the Inn since it has been in existence. My family and I came this weekend and had dinner in the lodge. The service struggled, but we can understand that and the young severs did the best they could! The food was awful! We came around 640pm, and the Inn serves until 8pm. Four of us ordered from the buffet which was cold and the items that were empty never got refilled which was very disappointing given the price of $22.99 per person. The other food ordered off the menu took 45 minutes and 6/7 meals ordered were kids meals. When the food did come, the grilled cheese wasn't cooked and one order was completely missing the side item. The server was very apologetic but at this time the doors were closing and everyone around us was cleaning things up. We gave the restaurant another shot the next morning where we only offered the option of a buffet. Again, food was cold and the service left a lot to be desired. We opted to get food out for dinner the following evening as opposed to eating food at the restaurant due to the quality during our last 2 dine-ins. When we came to the lobby area by the fire to eat, a man sitting on the couch watching football approached us after about 10 minutes. He then goes on to explain there is no food or drink allowed in that area. We clearly had issues with this as there are no signs posted stating that and we had been at the restaurant the night before where multiple parties from a scrapbooking event had brought various foods to that area and were eating and socializing while enjoying a UK basketball game. As patrons of the Inn we had no issue with this. Nothing was said to them and now we were being told we had to eat in our room. The man who approached us never identified himself until my father asked if he worked here. He had no identification and was just sitting on the couch watching tv. He then identified himself as "the food and beverage director" for the restaurant and said we weren't allowed to eat in this area. It was clear that if we weren't choosing to eat in the restaurant we weren't able to eat where we could be seen. His approach and demeanor was condescending and extremely offensive. Clearly someone who felt his authority was to make sure 6 children and 6 adults would be unable to eat together since they noted to not eat inside his restaurant. When we explained that just the night before it had been occurring, he didn't apologize but went into the restaurant and started berating the young male that worked behind the counter in the restaurant telling him that what they allowed was wrong. We will be e-mailing and calling the general manager on Tuesday to let her know our experiences. I'm holding on to hope that she will take it more seriously than Eric, the food and beverage director did. A group of scrapbooking girls saw us on their way out and told us that they had a similar experience where they were forbidden to bring any snacks to their event and that they were told they had to buy only from the gift shop and the restaurant. It sounds like management at clifty is struggling to find a balance between hospitality and worrying strictly about bringing in money. I can tell you that our family will not be returning until we get an explanation of the decisions Eric made that night nor will we be recommending this park to anyone in the future. Word of mouth is everything and this experience will not be a favorable experience we share with others. On a side note, the ladies at the front desk were very kind and attentive! read more

This is a convenient place to eat while staying at the Inn. They are open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and do a great job practicing social distancing. I would have rated the restaurant higher, but our waitress forgot to give us silverware (are food was delivered to our table and after 5 minutes we had to get up and go ask for it) and messed up are order twice. The waitress was very friendly and accommodating with our family. Overall it was a good experience with a great view of the Ohio river. read more

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Buffet only due to being short staffed, which I'm cool with. Salad bar was decent, but the hot bar was an abomination. Foods were all mixed together. At 7pm you could tell it had all been sitting there for a loooong time. The macaroni and cheese was the same consistency as concrete. I'm still not sure what the beef rectangles actually were. Our server was attentive and very sweet. The dining room was spacious and clean. The Inn itself is beautiful and you can't beat the view. read more

Good and varied selection of food, for all meals. I enjoyed dinner, breakfast, and lunch at my recent stay at the Clifty Inn. The waitstaff was for the most part pleasant, courteous and on the ball. I can't speak to the price, as our meals were rolled in to the price of our stay for the weekend. read more

I got the salad bar, my wife got a burger. Both were good with an attractive clean ding room and a beautiful view of the Ohio River and The city of Madison. Our waiter was also attentive. Negatives, the chili was lukewarm. The straws (this is important) trumpet being compostable and eco friendly. They get tossed in with the rest of the trash. read more

I have been here multiple times, not by choice though. Every year I help out on an event for some 7th and 8th graders and we always have lunch here. Food is not good at all. Hamburgers taste like the frozen hamburgers that you would get in middle school, grilled cheese is not good. The buffet is not good. The chicken is dry and rubbery, mash potatoes are not good, the desserts are all dry and hard. I don't think I have ever found anything in the buffet that I even remotely enjoyed and I have been helping with the event for 5 years. Not worth your time or money read more

Not the best experience. The only option was the buffet. The vegetables were soaked in water, the salmon was dry and the other entrees were not appetizing. The soup and salad bar was $16 a person and it was okay. The place was not packed but the noise level was loud. You should also let customers know there is a $10 fee to get in the park. Overall I would not recommend. read more

Visited here for dinner while staying at the Inn. The menu was available online for viewing. The staff was nice and polite. The restaurant offers carryout. They do not have outdoor seating. However, you can take your carryout and eat outside. I was excited that they had local wines. Our waitress did not remember all the local wines they offered. I got a grilled chicken sandwich and French fries. My husband got the special, which was meatloaf. Overall, the food and experience was okay. read more

Without the view, there would be no reason to eat here. The waitress was sweet, but there were three tables with guests in the whole place, and we were needing drink refills. I had a steak that looked like it had been run over by a truck a few times. It was not a good cut of meat for the price and bland. My wife had the "famous" fried chicken, which was also bland. My so had the catfish, which may have been a chicken patty. It was hard to tell. The only saving grace for the meal was the biscuits with apple butter. Not unique in this area and you only get one. With good restaurants in Madison, they need to up their game. read more

Falls Restaurant at Clifty Inn - American Near Me - Madison, Indiana

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We decided to stop for lunch before spending the afternoon checking out the beautiful scenery in the park. We ordered the fried pickles appetizer. It was so good that from the time it was delivered to our table to me getting my phone out, this is all that was left. Yes, those are pickles, not fries. We had the A-1 burger, tenderloin, and chicken fingers. All of the food was delicious. Our server was timely and had a great sense of humor. Overall, an excellent experience. read more

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Too bad you have to pay park admission to just get to the place , too bad, other than that, it was ok but short staffed, slow service

The only reason they get a three is because of the servers. Mine was excellent. Rather than have the "free" breakfast at my hotel, I chose to go up the hill to the Inn. $22 later (not including tip), I would have had the exact same meal at the hotel. Watery scrambled eggs, mass cooked bacon, cold biscuits, gravy from a bag. It's a Cisco/GFS feast. The only positive would be the potato/onion slices. $22? Coffee was good. Next time I'll just go to Red Coffee, have a great muffin and coffee. read more

We had one of the worst experiences of our lives with the service at the Falls Restaurant at the Clifty Inn. We appeared for breakfast on a Sunday morning after reading the menu we found in our room. I wanted a light breakfast and had hoped to purchase the $3.99 bowl of seasonal fruit that the menu promised. We arrived to find a restaurant that wasn't even half full, yet we had to wait several minutes to be seated, because the only worker who was seating guests was also running the cash register for guests who were leaving. Once seated, we had to wait several minutes for a server to appear. When she finally did, she took our drink orders (a cup of decaffeinated coffee and a glass of milk). The server informed us there would be no ordering from the menu that day, just a $12 buffet. We expressed disappointment but said, "OK" and headed to the buffet. By the time we had both finished our plates from our first trips to the buffet, our drinks had not yet arrived. I got up from my table approached the first server I found and asked to see a manager. This server said she was the manager, so I asked her to see if we could get the drinks we ordered A couple minutes later, our original server arrived with our drinks, including decaf coffee spilled in its saucer, and began arguing with us about the service issue. She treated us more rudely than any server has ever treated us in any restaurant. Even though the manager comp'ed our meals, it is unlikely that we will ever return to this restaurant, even if we visit the Clifty Falls State Park again. read more

I visited this place with a group. Three buffet style meals were rolled into our stay at Clifty Inn. While there were many things on this buffet, I have to say the dinner dessert buffet and the lunch time meat loaf were the best things they had. Everything else was just meh. The staff was attentive. The dining room is large. With the large group we had and the amount of employees that were staffed, they could've cleared the table sooner. As people finished up their plates and made a second trip, things started to get crowded! It's my understanding that this restaurant is open to the public as well(not just the Clifty Inn goers). With that, I wouldn't recommend this place at all. The food isn't necessarily bad. There has to be a better option somewhere close by. They have a salad bar, a meat/fish/pasta variety bar, and the dessert section. If you are coming here on a retreat with a group and want to pay for your meals with your stay... this place takes the hassle out of finding a place to eat every day. read more

I give this one 3.5-4. The food was pretty good. I enjoyed the fried fish, mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and macaroni and cheese. The baked fish had an odd taste to it. Not that it was bad, it was just different. The corn was just plain nasty. I don't know where they get it from, but they seriously need to consider going with a different supplier. There was no juicy sweetness to it at all. The chocolate cake was good. It was as one might expect from buffet cake. Not fabulous but not bad either. The service for our group was outstanding. We were all taken care of by the young servers quite well. I never had to wait long for my drink to be refilled or for my plates to be taken away. read more

Falls Restaurant at Clifty Inn - Buffet plate - American Near Me - Madison, Indiana

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I'm a regular guest at the inn for years and every once in a while I give the restaurant another try but alas the food and service just doesn't improve. The room is very attractive and the river view is spectacular. I wish the food and service matched it. The prices are not cheap either. The Mgmt. doesn't change. I am often surprised that they do a lot of banquet affairs???? in the other rooms read more

It's possible that my positive experience at the Falls Restaurant is a product of the very low expectations I went in with -- multiple people had undersold the restaurant to me just before walking in. But all of us had an excellent experience, so five stars it is. First, the view and decor: this is quintissential log cabin dining, with an excellent vista of the Ohio River and the woodlands surrounding it. If you have to wait for a table, you do so in the lodge filled with puzzles and games and a warm hearth. There were plenty of options on the menu, so we skipped the dinner and salad buffets and went with the script instead. Dinner comes with cinnamon sweet rolls and apple butter that are incredibly dangerous -- limit your intake, because they are so delicious you will definitely spoil your dinner. Our table took in the veggie lasagna, the chicken quesadilla, the BLT, and the fish sandwich. All of the dishes were excellent, with good presentation, and I was especially impressed at the variety of options for a restaurant at an Inn. Lodging food can often be an afterthought, so it was exciting to see that there was clear thought put into the meal. I'd definitely be back again -- if only for the excellent view. read more

Food is poorly made and not worth the priceFried Chicken had been sitting out for a while and was stale. Costs $9 for 3 chicken tenders and a child size handful of fries. Biscuits and gravy with half cooked biscuits. French toast with barely cooked eggs. Etc. etc. read more

Ate dinner there our second night in town. Our server, Adelie was excellent! Answered all our questions, fast service and kept our drinks filled. Brought us their excellent bread pudding from the buffet, as it was not on the menu. Left her a good tip, as she well deserved it. She is an excellent server who clearly loves her job. read more

Falls Restaurant at Clifty Inn - Great views from Clifty Inn! - American Near Me - Madison, Indiana

The two stars rating is only given because of the wonderful view and decor. Our breakfast was very disappointing. The biscuits were so hard you had to chip off one bite at a time. The gravy (used to soften the biscuits a bit) had at least triple the amount of salt needed for proper seasoning. I miss my grandmother ! read more

I think that part of the reason I was so disappointed was that I really, really wanted to like this place. Amazing view, interesting dining room/lobby, etc. And "Home Cooked Food." Well... not so much that last part. You could tell between the instant potatoes and other Sysco truck prep that this was just warmed up, except... Every single item that came out that was supposed to be hot, wasn't. If I hadn't been on trails all day I would have sent it back.... except that would have been an extra 10 minute wait for the server to check back. Good thing I nursed my iced tea. When I mentioned the issue about the cold food to the checkout, the girl at the front said "Yeah, we've had some problems with that" and essentially detailed how the steam tables aren't working right - but aren't being fixed. The pork tenderloin wasn't. The steak and potato soup obviously came from a can. $30 for a dinner for two, for cold school cafeteria food. Do yourself a favor and go somewhere in downtown Madison. We wish we had. read more

Great place. Awesome Sunday buffet. Good people was able to help me find some vegan items. The view is worth going alone. read more

Falls Restaurant at Clifty Inn - the bear - American Near Me - Madison, Indiana

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Went to Sunday lunch with my mom and brother. The $12.95 was a great deal for not only the huge selection, but it was incredibly good. Usually you have to sacrifice quality at a buffet, but the baked fish and prime rib were very tasty. The salad bar had a nice variety, there was a nice selection meat, and diverse assortment of desserts such as pies, cobblers and puddings. No chocolate cake was a disappointment though. A minor complaint would be the $2 for ice tea at a $13 buffet? We sat by the window for an incredible view of the Ohio River Valley and the City of Madison all covered in snow. Clifty Inn, and the state park too, is a beautiful location and well worth a trip as a destination. read more

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Went here for the fathers day lunch buffet. Prime rib was good. Fried chicken Was pretty darned good. Friendly waitstaff. Reasonable prices. Great view of the river and downtown madison. Will come again. read more

Falls Restaurant at Clifty Inn - Hot line - American Near Me - Madison, Indiana

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What a nice surprise... After a nice walk through the park, we figured a restaurant nearby would be better than nothing and we were starved. The truth is the place is great. The food delicious. The staff friendly. The view of Madison and the river is beautiful. Try this place even if you don't want to do the hiking part. read more

More than i would expect for a State Park lunch stop. Great atmosphere and tasty food.

I was excited to get home cooked food and was very disappointed. My chopped steak was a flat, salty, burnt hamburger disguised with bland gravy and mushrooms and onions out of a can. My corn was out of a can with no seasonings or butter. My mashed potatoes were instant and bland. I never complain, as I'm a waitress myself, but I couldn't even muster it down. I was very upset. It seems like they are cutting extreme costs and getting their food from the cheapest vendor and then having a 15 year old kid be the main cook. Stop cutting corners. Keep ur customers. It was one of the nastiest meals I've ever received. Waitress was kind. read more

Good buffet style food. They usually have a couple entree options, multiple desserts, and a good quality salad bar. All of the veggies on the salad bar were fresh. My husband got sick from all of the delicious food he ate! Mostly because he ate seven sweet rolls... I have always been treated very well by the staff. Occasionally there will be one waitress that is not so great, but that isn't the rule. read more

The French toast was cold. The buffet was cold and almost unedible. The waitress was not very nice at all. The only reason it got 1 star is because the hot chocolate was good. read more

Pretty quiet spot. Great pork tenderloin sandwich. Service was great and the taxidermy was... interesting. LOL. We'll be back.

We had a group of 22 and our server had our table and several other tables! And she was extremely attentive, providing splendid service to our table and the others. The food was outstanding. Just a great experience. read more

Other than the view there is nothing positive I can say about our breakfast experience. It cost $7.00 to enter the park just to eat. It was poorly managed, having only one bus person for a very large room, for example, and the waitresses had to walk quite a distance to get coffee, food, everything. Our coffee arrived cold and when we were finally able to find someone to request a refill, it was luke warm at best. It took over 45 minutes to get our food, which was mediocre. I would advise people not to eat here. Period. The management seems to be coasting on its laurels and should feel ashamed for not updating its space and service plan. read more