Unless you are starving, do not go here. Two of my children and I ordered the coconut shrimp. It was tasteless and there was a very long hair entwined in my shrimp. Other than the unfriendly waitress saying it was gross, there were no apologies. My husband and other child ordered clam chowder and they were not happy with their food either. The food was overpriced and it was a waste of our time, money, and appetite to eat there. read more

We ate here because it was the only place close......by a long shot! The food was just "ok" and it was not overly exciting. Bonus: The inside of the restaurant kept the kids happy as it is uniquely fun to look at read more

Don't waste your time or money here. Upon entering this restaurant to get some lunch today, we were greeted with rudeness and unprofessionalism. Of the four employees that were in the building, nobody said hello or Salas at a table. We stood there awkwardly until I asked if I could just pick a table... Granted we were the only ones in the restaurant. They said sure sit anywhere... We walked over to our table and sat down the waitress walked up didn't say hello just asked us do we know what we want. I said no please bring some water she brought back the water and then didn't return to the table... I got the attention of another staff member and was explaining to them my negative experience and what was happening. The woman explained that she was the owner and she was having computer troubles. I told her computer troubles don't equal shitty staff. After she took her food order and walked away about one minute later the waitress came back and threw the check down on the table. At that point we were so fed up and felt so disrespected we walked out. This restaurant has had a bad attitude for years, the owner can't seem to get it together or be polite or respectful to customers don't waste your money here read more

We ate burgers here and thought they were very good! You could tell they were handmade because they were not one of those uniformly pressed patties you usually get. Great onion rings too! Our server also gave great tips for site seeing too! read more

Fastest dining experience I've ever had, and I don't mean that in a good way. We walked in just before 11am with the intent to eat breakfast here after sitting in traffic from Crescent City, and we were handed breakfast menus. Less than a minute after we sat down (we hadn't even looked at the menus yet, mind you), the host came and snatched the menus off the table, telling us that the other guy had given us the wrong menus. We looked at the menu and were disappointed with pretty much all of the options because we were not in the mood for lunch food. My girlfriend got up and asked if there was any way to still get breakfast since that's what we came for, and the host rudely told her no, and that breakfast was over. The waitress finally came over after several minutes and asked us if we were ready to order. We inquired once more about breakfast, and asked if there was anywhere else where we could still get breakfast, she replied with blatant irritation that we could go to Crescent City, which is where we had just driven in from. After much hesitation, we decided to order a chocolate cake with ice cream, because literally nothing on the lunch menu looked appealing. The cake and tea we ordered were delivered in under a minute by the busser, while other people, who had been seated only minutes before us were still ordering breakfast. The cake was cold and stale, like an old Safeway cake, and the ice cream was plopped on top of the cake and dripping off the plate that was much too small. The waitress never did return to the table after unenthusiastically taking our order. We ate our disappointing cake, and were out of there by 11:15. Needless to say, we will never return. read more

Variety is lacking on the dinner menu. Food tasted decent but kind of pricey for the qualify. Service was poor and slow. Additional costs on bill not explained until we asked. Expected better due to location (across the street from Trees of Mystery). read more

Worst place ever. Hostess dropped the menus on our table and walked away. Never brought our drink order. Ordered a club sandwich that took one hour to be brought out. Wife heard hostess in restroom complaining that her lip stick was messy and she was having to seat all these people. There were only two other tables seated besides ours. read more

Keep on driving in either direction. This is the worst restaurant I have eaten at in a long time. We went to the Trees of Mystery and were very hungry afterwards and walked across the street for a late lunch. Ordered our food from our very unfriendly server and both my husband and I ordered a salad with our meals. We were told to go through the salad bar. I should have checked it first because it was disgusting. Pink old lettuce, the cucumbers were slimmy and the rest looked as if it had been sitting out for at least two days. Both our sandwichs were made wrong - not following the menu descriptions. I sent mine back in which they slapped on the missing bacon and sent it back out looking as pathetic as it had when it arrived. My husband ate his sandwich but said it was awful. My son's fries were soggy and greasy. The worst part was when I drank some of my water down and found stuck food (I assume) on the inside of the glass. I just about lost the little lunch I had eaten. Obviously they simply don't care about customers coming back. They must assume that since most people coming through there are tourists that most won't be coming back again anyway. Really sad because we were in the area for many days and ate at another restaurant twice because it was so good. read more

My Husband and I just completed a 9 day camping trip from Sacramento to Cresent City. So we had eaten at a lot of different places along the way. We were visiting the Trees of Mystery and we ate at the restaurant across the steet. The Forest Cafe. If you like you whole meal swimming in grease this is the place for you. I even made sure that the manager on duty knew I was not pleased and they did nothing about it. If you want a goof breakfast Go 15 miles or so further north to the Fisherman in Cresent City and you will be much happy with your dinning choice. We ate there twice and both times the food was good. read more

We had been at the Trees of Mystery across the street and decided to grab lunch before going on our way. As we went in, we were greeted and seated almost immediately. The hostess gave us menus and got us drinks. Within 5minutes our server came over to take our orders. We assumed that the food would take about 20 minutes to prepare and serve. Bad assumption. After waiting 35 minutes , our server came over and refilled our drinks with the promise that our food would be right out. 20 minutes later, I contemplated getting up and leaving. At that time our food arrived, 50 minutes after ordering. The burger was ok and the fries were lukewarm. To "compensate" for the long wait, we got a free cup of coffee and 10% knocked off the bill. I have it 2 stars be sure of the hostess, who was working her butt off. read more

Horrible place to eat! We were starving after going through the trees of mystery decided the easiest thing to do would be to walk across the street. Big mistake! I ordered the hamburger it was okay my daughters ordered the fish sandwich and a chicken sandwich. The fish sandwich had tons of bones in it as well as being soggy and greasy it fell apart in her hands when she tried to take a bite that's when I saw the bones. My other daughter could not even stomach the chicken sandwich the chicken was watered down and rubberyand she said it tasted horrible. The fries were soggy as well. It only took us a few minutes to be seated but then we didn't see the waitress again for another 20 minutes she took her order and another 20 minutes later our food came it was so disgusting. We again had to wait yet another 20 minutes for Bill to come after the waitress gave it to us she apologized to the table next to us because she'd forgotten about them completely. It cost us $50 for three sandwiches outrageous! I wish I had just waited and gone to McDonald's up the road it would've been a far better meal. You will never catch us at that restaurant again. read more

After having a great time at the Trees of Mystery, my Mom and I took my Niece and Nephew to the Forest Cafe. We asked for a different table and the waitress made this nasty face. We were seated and the kids loved the ducks and lures hanging from the ceiling. After what seemed like forever, we got water and a few moments to look at the menu. We wanted to order chocolate milk for the kids and the waitress was again rude about that (since we didn't order with the meal). When the food came, my Mom's "salad" was more tossed than placed in front of her. When we were finally able to pay and leave, I flagged down the bus boy to tell him that we had such bad service, we'd never come back there. I wanted to tell the nicer waitress this, but she and our waitress were having lunch on the other side of the restaurant. Upon hearing this, my waitress followed me outside to confront me as to what I said to the bus boy; then told me that everything I said was not true. She finally said "Fine, whatever." and left me alone. What was even worse was that my six year old niece said that the mac and cheese she had was not good. When we got to our car, another family stopped us and asked how it was. When we told them, they got back in their car and left. read more

We stopped for a quick bite, and it didn't look so good inside, and the menu was fair, we asked if there was anything further down the road as we were traveling, (they said no, but we later found out there was) and didn't know the area, so we decide to eat there. Well, I would tell you to keep on driving and skip this place. read more

At first we were very quickly seated and drink orders taken, after that everything went downhill. Our waitress had taken our food orders and disappeared, we waited while 5 different tables were sat after us that were served, and departed before our food had arrived. We notified our waitress who said the cooks were "working on it". Ten minutes later our food arrived and to my surprise they forgot my order. We reviewed this place and saw the poor reviews but decided to go out on a limb and try it out. For future reference for anyone else, please avoid this cafe, it has terrible service and at best mediocre food. read more

I don't know why the other reviewers gave anything less than 3 Stars. I would agree the service could be better, but the food was actually pretty good. If you're in the area, you don't have much of a choice to eat anywhere else unless you're willing to drive 30-45 minutes north to Crescent City with more selection . . . and not much better service . . . My family had dinner and breakfast there. The food we selected was good. They have a separate kids menu and different menu's for breakfast and lunch/dinner. For dinner, I would recommend the rib-eye . . . the price is expected considering the location; you're not going to get a better tasting steak for less anywhere else locally. For breakfast, try any of the omelettes and pancakes. All I know is that if I were to pass this way again, I would stop by and DEFINITELY EAT HERE AGAIN . . . read more

This was a pleasant surprise. The service was superb. The food was not fancy but was delicious. We ordered the special fish and chips made of salmon. It was one of the best fish and chips I had. The decoration was unique. Thoroughly enjoyed my experience. read more

Most awful place ever! Waitress was rude and mean. After a 45min wait for a simple chili and Caesar salad w chicken we received cold chili with pre packaged crackers on top! How unsanitary, insulting and disgusting! The ceasar salad had 3 pieces of old chicken. Do not stop here! Keep driving! read more

Service was slow. We had to ask for our drinks after we ate our salad. We ordered the meatloaf and it was rather tasteless and there was no gravy for the mash potatoes. We have 2 more days here. We will not go back. Cell coverage was non existent so I could not review Yelp to help me decide . read more

This place is great! Wonderfully kitschy, very clean and our waitress was extremely friendly. The service was fast and the food was good. My wife and I had a veggie burger and a sampler of fried veggies. If you're traveling through I'd recommend stopping here-especially if you have kids. They'll love it. read more

Absolutely disgusting food. They couldn't even make a simple grilled cheese for my youngest. Don't eat here.

If you're really hungry then eat here. Had a BLT. Pretty hard to mess that up. But then ordered the blackberry cobbler. Ate the ice cream with some blackberry sauce. Avoided the under baked cobbler part. Turned over the purple lump in the sauce and it was completely raw. Did mention it to our server who took it back to the kitchen. They took the cobbler off the bill and just charged me for the ice cream. Really? Decor is ridiculous - May as well have a laugh. read more

Good old American diner with a Forest decor. Service is fast and friendly. Perfect little pit stop off the freeway. The price is right and the food is good. The menu is mostly sandwiches and burgers and desserts. read more

Absolutely disgusting! Very slow and poor service. My burger tasted like grease, despite having blue cheese, avocado, and bacon on it. No flavor at all. I couldn't even finish my burger. Thankfully i didn't because my family got sick after! Ill starve to death before eating here again. read more

Food was OK with the exception of the clam chowder that was phenomenal. The service was slow and unorganized but I would give them another try. read more

Went there today, slow slow slow. The waitress kept stopping at tables telling the sad story of they have no help, instead of actually helping people. We waited 45 minutes for a burger, which was meh. Says they are open till 8 but locked customers out just about 5, seen a hobbled old man turned away after he made the effort to walk there. The food was meh, the wait was horrendous, the server had food stains on her blouse, there was only one cook. I had to ask for my food, ask for a straw, waited and waited. Never again. It was so irritating I about imploded. read more

Ate here today and had the worst and SLOWEST service ever. We arrived at about 1:15 pm. There was no one else in line in front of us and almost a full dining room full of empty tables, but no one came to the front to seat us until 1:30. After we were seated, no one came to take our order until about 1:50. We ordered simple menu items, a BLT and a Turkey Melt sandwich. We sat and waited, waited, and waited more. Finally, our food made it to our table at about 2:30! The food was okay, but in the time it took us to get in, be seated, and get our food, two other families that had come in AFTER us had already gotten their food, eaten, and left. I have absolutely no idea what was going on here or what took so long for food that was definitely nothing special. We ended up being here for an almost two hours when all we meant to do was have a quick lunch before popping across the street to the trees of mystery. read more

This restaurant was a HUGE disappointment. As previous reviewers from years ago have stated(I find that a bit alarming years of horrible service!), the wait staff was very impersonal and I don't know where they all went but they get your order disappear to the back, bring you your food then disappear to the back again then we waited and waited for our check! We actually ate there twice because there really is not much else there both times were equally as bad-so plan ahead so you don't have to stop here! read more

Located on scenic Highway 101, across from the Trees of Mystery, the Forest Cafe looks quite promising from the outside. Once you enter, however, you are greeted by oversized children's toys (a grizzly/teddy bear and bald eagle) and an abundance of tacky decor, including a ceiling lined with plastic leaves and flowers, and an "underwater" section, with duck bottoms affixed to the ceiling. We were seated right next to the only other people in the place, when every table was open. After deciding to ignore the decor, I asked what beers they served, and was surprised when the waitress pulled out a crumpled up beer/wine list from her apron, and handed it to me... still folded up. One of my party inquired about the vodka they stocked, and was immediately told "Oh its just crappy vodka." She ordered a corona, and she doesn't drink beer... After quickly perusing the menu, factoring in our experience thus far, and remembering that there was pizza down the road, we decided to get the check and get out of there. I cant comment on the food, but i would suggest going anywhere else. read more

We ate here for breakfast this morning and were pleasantly surprised. The decor was interesting (yes, we took pictures), the service was prompt and the food was good. I ordered a cheese loaded omelet and there was more cheese than I preferred. My husband had a belgian waffle and felt that the waffle was too spongy and "soaked up the syrup rather than held the syrup". All of those things are personal preference though. By far, the best part of my meal was the shredded zucchini "hash browns". I will be trying to duplicate those in the near future. All things considered, when we travel back to the Trees of Mystery with our children, we will be stopping here. read more

The only "Mystery" about the neighboring Trees of Mystery, is how they can come up with such horrible clam chowder at the Forest Cafe! Our young family had a hoot at the Trees of Mystery, and after spending 3 hours being mystified, we decided to try the cafe across the street since its the only place for miles. I had not read the reviews here on yelp, so came in kinda cold. Decor: As other reviewers have mentioned, its a bit eclectic. 90's decor with casino carpet, a generous amount of burlwood tables scattered sparcely in a rather cavernous space, with a TON of fake flowers glued to the ceiling. Plus plastic duck butts glued to the ceiling in one section that is supposed to look like pond. Very little redwood-themed decor. It seems like a knockoff of the Rainforest Cafe. Food: Standard diner fare. I ordered fish and chips, but they were out of fish, so opted for the chicken breast sandwich. The kids had grilled cheese and mac-n-cheese. My wife had the black-bean burger, that we often get frozen at Costco. The food was all fine, if priced a tad high, for basically reheat/fry Costco frozen items. The french fries were good. The food was tasty enough to keep me from giving this one star. The fly in the ointment, so to speak, was the clam chowder. I am an afficionado of clam chowder but not overly picky since most clam chowders are very similar. The waitress had actually forgotten the chowder, and I had to remind her, which I wish I hadn't. This was the WORST clam chowder I have ever eaten, and I am not being hyperbolic for sake of being funny. Really! ! When it came it was beige with bits of brown things in it. Looked like Campbells cream of mushroom soup, and tasted like OLD cream of mushroom soup. I can eat just about anything, but one spoonful was enough. We had the waitress take it back. I was nice about it, telling her that maybe we had gotten a mushroom soup by mistake, but she assured me in a dissaproving way that it was indeed clam. No response from her like "oh sorry, that's too bad, can I get you something else instead?" Service: We ate lunch at 2pm on a Friday in August, and there were maybe 3 other tables taken in a place that probably had 40 tables. One waitress served us, and she was not rude, but not at all friendly, which was unusually in that area, since ALL of the people we met in eateries or shops were very friendly. It took a while for her to get back to us after giving us menus, but thankfully our food came pretty quickly, since most of it were sandwich items that just needed to be reheated. Not stellar or friendly service and the clam chowder rebuff seemed to make our waitress even more resigned. I would not avoid this place, but it will be a memorable place for its horrible clam chowder and a source of belittlement in our family for years to come. read more

When I'm out looking at tourist attractions, I've learned to lower my expectations when it comes to restaurants. It seems like most of the major tourist places know that they have you over a barrel and that you're just going to buy from them, rather than take all of your sight-seeing time up looking for a decent restaurant. And the food quality suffers because of it. However I was very pleasantly surprised from the moment I walked into this place, across from the Trees of Mystery Sky Trail. When you walk in the door, the atmosphere is refreshing as you notice the decor, including the hundreds upon hundreds of flowers and green foliage that they've covered the ceiling with. And then, when you're seated, you have to laugh as you look up and see little duck legs and bodies poking down through the ceiling as if you have somehow wandered into an underwater world and are looking up into the surface. With the entertaining decorating, you'd think that they'd maybe not work too hard on the food and the service, but NO! I'm very pleased to tell you that they left no stone unturned to try to please their guests, with the witty and pleasant waitresses and the awesome food! I ordered coffee and the deep fried fish and chips. The coffee was very good and hot and my cup didn't get down to hardly less than 1/2 full before it was being re-filled! The fish, (cod) came out hot and perfectly flavored and the chips were French fries mad from real potatoes that tasted wonderful! And the cost wasn't that bad either. Eight of us (6 adults and 2 children) are for around $102. I highly recommend this place!! read more

Considering this restaurant is in the middle of nowhere, the food was average and not that bad. We had the soup of the day which was Taco Soup as well as the Roast Beef sandwich and the Black Bean burger. They could easily have defrosted everything from a package but these things were fresh-ish and showed effort to go a little beyond your average greasy spoon. Nothing gourmet or special but worth a quick bite when visiting Trees of Mystery right across the street. read more

The ketchup for my fries was the only thing that had taste in my meal and the waitress was unfriendly. Sorry if you end up going there.

Since there was no cell service in the area I wasn't able to read the reviews on this cafe before eating there. BIG mistake! I had no idea french fries could hold that much grease. The service was poor, the table and menus were sticky, and the food was terrible. Avoid this cafe! read more

We've been here a couple of times..the last being the morning of August 27, 2012. We stood in the entry way for someone to seat us for about 5 minutes. There were about 2 or 3 patrons sitting at their tables. It was 10 am. A waitress who was just coming in for her shift walked into the restaurant and seated us. We sat at our table for another 5-10 mins, when a tall, sullen looking young waitress asked if we wanted coffee. We ordered our breakfast, but she didn't have the energy to write the order down. I ordered scrambled eggs, I got eggs over easy, runny like snot. Waffle with FRESH blackberries turned out to be a raw undercooked waffle with 12 oz of berry GLOP. Never saw her again for a coffee refill. She never smiled, hated her job. We plopped our money down with a $2 tip (we are usually generous tippers) and walked out...I could see her coming for the money, to make sure we didn't stiff her. Wouldn't suggest this place...bring your own Cheerios and milk and eat in your motel room or rv. read more

My family and I stopped in after visiting the Trees of Mystery. We were seated quickly but it went downhill from there. They took our drink and food orders fairly quickly but rarely came back to refill our waters. Waitress dropped off my husband's salad but did not provide us any silverware. We had to wait a while to catch another waitress to bring us some. We were sitting at a table with clear view of the prep area. I was grossed out to see the wait staff preparing salads with their bare hands. They were touching the lettuce, tomatoes and onions without gloves and without washing their hands. Think of all the dishes they touched. All the billfolds, cash, credit cards, serving trays, and who knows what else. Then they touch your salad without any gloves or at least a hand washing. I watched them do it over and over. Ugh. Wish I had noticed it before my husband ate his salad. Food took a long time to come out and was luke warm. Food was just okay. Hope the kitchen staff has better health safety standards though. Take your family somewhere else please or at least don't order a salad. read more

Where to begin??? My family went there for lunch today and the food was awful! To make matters even worse, it was over $50 for five people. Everything on the menu was around $8.95-$10.95. The "homemade" (or is it powdered?) clam chowder could have easily been upstaged by a can of Campbell's. The salad bar ($8.95 for one trip only) left much to be desired as far as variety. Only iceburg lettuce and about 10 topping choices. Are you kidding me? Needless to say, no one ordered the salad bar. The sandwiches had extremely poor bread and ingredients. Cheese that looked like it was ordered from Chucky Cheese, processed, compressed meats, horrible bread. Everything was extremely flavorless. The service was mediocre, the ambiance was interesting and thoughtful, but definitely does not make up for the food. The only thing that was okay was the chili, but a can of Stagg's would have been better. I believe they advertised that as being homemade as well. Not sure if I would be advertising it if I had made it. Nothing special. Unfortunately, there really aren't any other places that close to Trees of Mystery, so I suppose they feel they have a captive audience and can skimp on quality for the sake of making a few more dollars. Will never go there again! read more

Came here with my mom and three kids while on our epic summer roadtrip;) The roadtrip was awesome but I am sad to say that this place was not. I should have known it was going to be not fun from the moment the waitress grabbed some menus and walked off without a word. She was a good thirty feet away before I realized she wanted me to follow her. From there we dealt with asking multiple times for things like straws, drinks etc...And kid's menus?? My 8 year old had to ask the rude waitress in order to get them. I just assumed they didn't have them when she did not give them to me and my three kids under 8?!?! Oh the service sucked! I even had to flag down the waitress so we could pay. Like seriously? She was sitting with another waitress on the other side of the restaurant. As a side note they allow dogs in this restaurant, be forewarned if you or your children have animals allergies/fears or sanitary issues. The mac and cheese was actually really good but the waitresses...horrible!!!!!! read more

Weird vibe as soon as I walked in. Wouldn't even touch my food when it finally came after 45 min and we only ordered a chicken salad and a burger. The chicken looked like it had been sitting out for days and then had been put in the microwave. Got a salad because I didn't trust the place to begin with and didn't think you could mess up a salad. The only thing that was good about this place was our poor waitress she was nice and kept a positive attitude even though she could probably tell that everyone in the place was annoyed. But absolutely was not her fault she was completely alone and probably deserves to be working at a better place. They were vacuuming the floor while people were eating. No silverware on tables till after food came table didn't even look wiped off. If someone took over who knew what they were doing this place could be gold. It's right across from a pretty popular road side attraction and the only place to eat for a while. But I'd advise stopping and getting a bag of chips from the gas station before going here. read more