We had the worse steaks we've ever had tonight. Had been looking forward to "Prime Rib Night" at The Skillet all week. There was so much gristle on it & was so tough I couldn't eat it. There's no way that was prime rib. The ONLY saving grace was that it was $20 for the meat, potato, roll, green beans & salad. Don't do it. We will never again. They have a buffet that included ribs that would have been much better... hopefully. read more

As a gluten free person I was super impressed by how much they had to offer and how good it was. I had fried catfish and hush puppies which were all gluten free. Wow!! The chef even came out and talked to us when we sat down about how just about everything is or could be made gluten free. I had not had hush puppies in over 11 years that I've been gluten free, so it was special. I also liked the jalapeño ketchup which you can also buy in their store. The veggies and fries were also great. And the pickles. The view is very nice. Squirrels doing acrobatics and lots of birds and trees out the big plate glass windows. read more

The Skillet has great views from the windows; we enjoyed watching a dozen squirrels, one groundhog, and myriad birds busying themselves on the beautiful grounds outside! The staff is also fantastic; easily 5 out of 5 stars on service! (They pulled this review up from 2-stars to 3.) Alas; the food was disappointing. My Skillet Chicken Pot Pie looked great - but had such a rubbery crust that I could barely cut it. Frankly, it was hard to choke down. The small Salad Bar had old items on it, and I struggled to fund edible items. Credit where due; my wife got Fried Chicken Strips w Beans, and they were both fresh & good. Both of our desserts were lacking. My Lemon Tart was tiny & bland, and my wife didn't eat much of her S'Mores - even though dessert is normally her favorite part of any meal. read more

Ozark Folk Center Skillet Restaurant - Do not order the Chicken Pot Pie; it was the worst ever - rubber crust and little flavor. - Southern Near Me - Mountain View, Arkansas

Amazing food! I asked the waitress if the fried catfish was gluten and dairy free, she went and double checked for me and assured me it was gf and df, made with a corn base. It was absolutely delicious and left wanting more! read more

Ozark Folk Center Skillet Restaurant - Gluten free dairy free fried catfish the fries ( hush puppies not gf) - Southern Near Me - Mountain View, Arkansas

The food is awesome if you like home cooked meals, salad bar has a good variety. The service is excellent with very nice people. The inside of restaurant is very nice with plenty of room and cool. read more

The buffet was good, but the food off the regular menu is even better. I've eaten here several times now and I thoroughly enjoy the environment. read more

The service staff are very friendly and attentive. The main dining room has a beautiful cathedral ceiling. Relics from decades past decorate the dining room. The dinner buffet on this particular night included sliced roast beef, hamburger steak, teriyaki chicken with rice, bbq chicken wings, mashed potatoes, fried sweet potatoes, fried potatoes, corn, turnip greens, brown gravy, and baked cabbage wedges. Yeast rolls and cornbread were available as well as a salad bar. This restaurant offers real butter in little sealer cups for customers' use. IMO this puts them a step above many other restaurants that use margarine instead of butter. Desserts included some kind of cobbler and a pudding parfait. Their iced tea is fresh brewed. Although the buffet isn't a large buffet, the selection of meats and vegetables are ample for a pleasant meal reminiscent of grandma's southern home cooking. read more

Ozark Folk Center Skillet Restaurant - Dinner buffet: This is roast beef, fried potatoes, mashed potatoes, corn, turnip greens, yeast roll, a garden crisp salad. and iced tea. - Southern Near Me - Mountain View, Arkansas

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Having a nice restaurant at the Ozark Heritage Park was made it very convenient to be able to enjoy the venues at a leisurely pace and not worry about getting hungry and leaving the area to eat, since there definitely wasn't anything close by. They offered simple but well prepared food at a reasonable price, averaging $9. We ordered the sampler, which was chicken and dumplings, pinto beans, greens, fried okra, a slice of tomato and onion, and a corn muffin. Along with that, grilled chicken breast and bacon on a bun with sweet potato waffle fries. Both were presented nicely and both were prepared well. Nothing to right home about, but solid good meals. The ambience was nice with floor to ceiling windows and a view of a nice fountain and plants. Service was good as well. read more

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This is a special place next to the Ozark Folk Center. We dined in for lunch and I had the wild rice and vegetable plate. It had snap peas, carrots and broccolini. Delicious! My daughter had the ranch chicken sandwich with "sweet" fries. Tasty! A special lemonade with rosemary was unique and a winner. Great staff, great food, prices are very reason read more

Service was ok,breakfast the food was cold none of it was good,wouldn't recommend the breakfast.

Very quiet environment, lots of open space and really enjoyed watching the squirrels play outside on the feeders. Not much to say of the food. Biscuits were hard and we arrived around 9. The gravy was really good and they had chocolate gravy. Coffee was kind of cheap tasting to be honest. Very much cafeteria style breakfast buffet. Bathrooms were clean and tables were distanced enough from your patrons. With tip we paid $30 for two people for breakfast. Kind of steep if you ask me. Especially for the poor quality of the food. More about atmosphere and the animals here than anything. read more

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Great service and lots of delicious selections on the breakfast buffet. Food kept hot and fresh and drinks refilled quickly.

Semantics or lies? Let's begin with the "stir fry." The "stir fry" is described as having "seasonal vegetables," but it was not stirred, nor fried. It was pre-cooked wild rice with a frozen vegetable blend, heated loosely in a skillet. The "seasonal vegetables" were the kind you buy at Wal-Mart with the giant soggy carrot rounds and broccoli and whatnot. "Seasonal" translates to "current" for most folks, so when we were presented with off brand Uncle Bens and Wally's frozen veggies, we felt duped. I guess the vegetables were grown in A season, and then packed, frozen and freezer burnt in A season. But not necessarily THIS season. To add insult, we ordered the "stir fry" sans meat, and it was still $11.00. Totally understand food inflation, but at least pitch us some extra carrot sponges. We appreciated the option to have something that was gluten free and vegan, but lordy, just call it what it is. Like "Wild rice bowl with vegetables." For other orders, the Caesar salad was tiny and the dressing was like a balsamic version of Caesar. Not awful, but not really great either. At least the tiny salmon filet was reported to be good. Somebody else in our party ordered a sandwich. It was okay. Another person ordered the veggie burger, which, interestingly, was probably the best entree at our table and the most reasonably priced. And finally there was an order of fried jalapeños. It was good, priced well, and the only thing served in a skillet at a place called "The Skillet." We'll skip it next time. read more

You have got to stop by when they are serving the Fried Chicken buffet!!! Delicious. My husband is from New York and we have been traveling all over Arkansas looking for some good fried chicken. Who knew that we would find it at a folk center. You have got to check it out!!! I couldn't believe that they also offer a Thanksgiving buffet and were voted by CNN as a top place to go for the holidays. read more

Wait staff is always on top of everything in a good way, polite and food is usually good. We had fried chicken a few weeks ago and were disappointed they served rice instead of mashed potatoes...but we got over it! read more

First visit..very nicely decorated, cute restaurant. Hostess was super friendly and smiling! Ordered the Ozark Sampler w/chicken and dumplings, ham and beans, fried okra, and greens and cornbread and it was YUM! The chicken and dumplings were delish as was the beans! Also had the open faced sandwich with some really good mashed potatoes! There were 2 servers, a black haired girl and a blonde one. We were served by the blonde one, Courtney, AKA CoCo. No hi, hello, how are ya or a smile...just what can I get you to drink? Ordered our drink and asked if the fried green tomatoes were hand breaded in house. She replied uhmm I'm not for sure I'd have to ask. She never asked or let us no, so no fried green tomatoes. She did smile 1 time at the manager(?). She delivered our food, but nothing else until we received our check...before finishing our lunch...no dessert sale of the delicious cobbler I've read about in reviews! The food was delish and yummy. The outside atmosphere was really neat with all the birds, chipmunks, hummingbirds, etc..very cool that that cater to the animals. We will be back! read more

Went for breakfast. My wife had a smaller breakfast, eggs, bacon, etc. and said it was OK. I did the buffet - big mistake. Food was barely lukewarm; scrambled eggs dry, dry, dry; biscuit and gravy OK but cold gravy ruined it; grits OK; coffee OK; bacon warm but greasy; sausage pretty tasteless. On the plus side, we were amazed at the variety of birds and wildlife just outside by our table - cardinals, orioles, woodpeckers, chipmunks ... and squirrels were hilarious. We'd go back - but would order off the menu. read more

Didn't expect much. Was still disappointed. Breakfast usually is pretty safe, didn't expect powdered eggs. Bacon was good. The rest was awful. Service was fine. read more

My favorite restaurant we've visited in this area for the three days we were here. Highly recommend! If I was a local I'd eat here constantly. The food was high quality and delicious. Unlike the other reviews, it didn't taste like it was from a can to me! Real mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, good meat. And I'm very picky. Good portions that we had some leftovers and for a great price. We had two adult entrees, one child entree, three sodas, and two desserts for under $40! The open faced roast beef, the ham and beans, the mashed potatoes with brown gravy, and green beans, also the blackberry cobbler and the chocolate peanut butter pie. All so good! Service was courteous, quick, and accurate. Very clean. Such a relaxing dinner! We went on a Tuesday evening and it was not very busy, we were sat immediately. Beautiful location and view, there was even a ground hog and squirrels outside the window by us. read more

Lovely stop on our road trip. Good food, friendly staff ... and unique entertainment!

When food is this bad, it goes beyond tastebuds and digestion. Looking around us at the senior citizens also trying to choke down this terrible food, I was struck by just how disrespectful - even malicious - it is for a restaurant to serve such a mess to it's own neighbors. These decent, hard-working people - parents, grandparents, veterans - deserve better. I could give details, from the stale, tough, all-beige food bar to the rotten vegetables in the salad bar (yes, rotten!), but the best indicators for any restaurant should be the almost-full plates of food left behind as every customer got up to leave. Wake up, Iron Skillet. We were just passing through. You've lost us. But your community deserves better than this from you. read more

Beautiful setting, captive audience, terrible food. Served all the right things but with no flavor, none. Too bad as I would have eaten every meal there if I could. Conveniently located in the state park, they deserve a chef, and so do those who visit. read more

Words cant describe how great the food is and how friendly the staff is. The food is made fresh and its very well appreciated. It is nice to see a place keeping the true homestyle freshness. . I was a little worried that this place was going to be one of those places that charge a arm and leg for frozen dinners purchased through a food service company. read more

Very disappointed. Have come here for years for breakfast and always satisfied. This time they had one very frazzled overwhelmed waitress. Coffee tasted and smelled like dishwater which made us suspect the dishes were not clean. Bacon was too tough to eat. Will probably not go back any time soon. read more

I would rate it as average. The Sunday buffet consisted of a small but nice salad selection, entrees were 1) fried chicken, 2) some kind of BBQ ribs, and 3) beef stew. The fried chicken was pretty good, the ribs were very dry and overcooked with little flavor, and the beef stew was probably from a can. The standard sides (mashed, green beans, corn on the cob, fried okra) were decent, and there were 3 or 4 kinds of dessert, such a cherry cobbler, brownies, and strawberry shortcake. The prices are reasonable, and the service met my expectations. The place began to get very, very busy around noon after church let out. read more

Terrible! Slow service, rude waitstaff and extremely subpar "prime rib". Will not be back.

Good breakfast items - and you can get gluten-free biscuits with your eggs. Eat while watching the woodchucks eat happily along with the squirrels. (No, they're not running around underfoot - there's big glass windows where you can see them at the feeders just outside.) The walls have a selection of old farming equipment hung on them. The background music is old-time. Desserts are good here too... The place does close early, at seven - so you can go to the music shows right there in the park. read more

This is a nice, rustic restaurant with a beautiful setting looking into the woods behind the Ozark Folk Center. It was recommended to us a by the RV park we were staying in. We found the food VERY reasonably priced and reflective of the area's Southern cooking. I ordered the "Ozark Sampler" so that I would get a good feel for Southern food, which was largely new to me. I enjoyed the meal very much--Chicken & Dumplings, Ham & Beans, mustard & collard greens, deep fried Okra, jalapeno cornbread, and blackberry cobbler. The greens were a little bitter, but the rest of the items were quite tasty. The cobbler and ice cream was very good, though it came with non-dairy whipped cream, which detracted from the flavor for me. (My wife had the Chicken & Dumpling meal and thought there was too much dumpling and not enough chicken.) We had great service and conversation from our very nice, young local woman. read more

Oh dear. My husband summed it up best by saying "What a wasted opportunity for a restaurant!" Everything tasted as if it came from a can. :( I sincerely hope the previous reviewer did not really rely on the Ozark Sampler for a "feel for southern food because NO--we generally season our food. There was no ham in the ham & beans, nor bacon in the green beans with bacon. The white gravy was bland & had the thick consistency of having sat for a while after making. I rated this place a 2-star because we didn't actual find anything inedible, but we'd have been happier & spent less money at the Sonic up the road! read more

Friendly staff, clean, and amazing views! Have only eaten here for breakfast, but keep coming back every time we visit. The buffet is so good, and their jalapeño ketchup is great! Usually they have scrambled eggs (plain and with peppers), bacon, sausage, French toast, biscuits, gravy, fruit, oatmeal with several toppings available. I am sure I am missing something, but it's a good selection. They have feeders out so you can see everything from humming birds to deer to badgers in the spring and summer! Make sure to stop by in the morning... read more

The food use to be great. Now they open cans, try to find the cheapest thing to feed you and keep the prices higher than others. Sorry, but my husband and j are finished with eating here. Service stinks as well. read more

The Ozark Folk Center State Park is a great family get away. The Skillet Restaurant serves yummy food in a fun atmosphere . One can watch wildlife while enjoying a down home meal. I recommend read more

Beautiful restaurant located in the Ozark Folk Center park. Staff was very friendly, and the environment was enjoyable. The food was great; good sized portions and good quality. Definitely recommend stopping in after a day checking out the local crafters. read more

Honestly, I wanted the food to be good. It sounded good on the menu. I ordered the Chicken and Dressing which even mentioned gravy, twice! However, what I got was not what the menu seemed to indicate. I notice now that the menu distinctly says "home-style" instead of "homemade dressing". The "dressing" was most likely a boxed variety, you know, one of those name brands that starts with "S". How convenient. The chicken was dry and considering that gravy was mentioned in the description twice, I think they meant two tablespoons at most. However, the thing that made me the most frustrated was the green beans. The sides list includes "bacon seasoned green beans" however this were pretty obviously dumped straight from a can on to the plate. Honestly State of Arkansas? You think that serving this in your parks is acceptable? Not impressed which will lead me to not ordering food at any other state park restaurant. If I wanted boxed dressing and canned green beans, I could have gone to the store and paid a lot less than $8.99. But really, on top of all this, I'd be giving a 3 star review if our waitress had not blatantly ignored our obviously finished table and instead chatted with her fellow waitress and manager. If you are going to stand around and look bored either cook better food or do it where I don't need to see you not working. read more

We were pleasantly surprised by how good the food was. We ordered a hamburger, chicken strips, a rueben and a catfish po' boy. The food was delivered quickly and piping hot. I am from California & only eat catfish when we visit Arkansas. The catfish was excellent! It was moist, crisp and not greasy. The restaurant has a great view and is very charming. The staff was very friendly and attentive. It's right next to the auditorium making it convenient if you are attending a concert. We would eat here again. read more

They have lots of seating. I ordered the ham burger. It was delicious ! It had a hamburger patty and a thick slice of Ham and BBQ sauce. This was outstanding ! My wife had the Ozark sampler and the okra was wonderful ! read more