Lake Cuyamaca Restaurant & Store

Stopped here for a quick water while out on a motorcycle ride. The place is nice, clean and the food looked really good. While we just got water and a bag of peanuts we wouldn’t mind coming back for lunch or dinner another time.

I go to the lake and the restaurant every year and I can’t remember the food or the service being so poor. It must have changed ownership again. They forgot my wife’s food and never came back to check up on us. We had to chase the waitress down to get a bill so we could get out of there. Then we were overcharged. Don’t waste your time or money, just bring a lunch.

Excellent chicken pot pie. One of the best I’ve ever had. The cherry pie is awesome.

This spot was clean. Friendly service. Priced fair. Had a beautiful view of the lake off the back patio. And the french toast was plenty good. Try it!

This restaurant is my new happy place. We are from Missouri and recently moved to San Diego and decided to go on a spontaneous trip to Cleveland National Forrest and were so happy to find this gem. The owner is literally the sweetest person you will ever meet. She made us feel SO at home, just like how midwesterners are. We had some amazing cider, apple pie and a chocolate peanut butter shake and sat out on the patio to look out over the lake. When we left, we were on a first name basis with Dolores, the owner, and she gave us both a hug and didn’t let us tip her! Seriously, go here. You won’t be disappointed!

Under *New* management; Dolores is in charge. Whatever was good before, is even better. Whatever was so so before, is now improved. Good food selection. Regular ‘daily’ specials *AND* Special Specials (but hurry, they go fast).
Store also has many new items, check it out. Even ice (when the bait shop is closed).

Cute restaurant right next to the lake. A little short staffed, so there’s a little bit of a wait, but the servers are all very sweet. There is also outside seating (overlooking the lake) and parking for customers :)

We visited on a Monday morning for breakfast on our way to Julian. We were greeted warmly and seated quickly. Our server, Delores, was very warm, friendly, and efficient. I had a watermelon mimosa, coffee, and the Breakfast Combo — eggs, applewood bacon, and pancakes. The food was great and the pancakes were huge! We were served melted butter and warmed syrup with our pancakes. The eggs were tasty and the thick bacon was crispy. My husband had the same except he ordered a hot cocoa (super yummy with whipped cream on top). We highly recommend stopping in to Lake Cuyamaca Restaurant… and you MUST try a watermelon mimosa!

Great location. Terrible food and worse service.
My wife got fish and chips. Frozen fish and chips and they were cold.
Waitress sold clam chowder and brought corn chowder.
Maybe good for a drink, but don’t eat

On my way back to the KQ Ranch from a long cold hike I decided to stop in here for dinner instead of taking the extra detour to the popular restaurants I usually go to in Julian proper. I am so happy with that decision.
The staff here is so friendly, I want them to adopt me. It also has a killer view and isn’t crowded, way better than the Julian scene.
As for the food, I loved it! When eating out I often wonder what happened to the love for good veggies. They didn’t serve up bland steamed frozen memories of veggies like most diners. No, my generous portion of meatloaf was accompanied by well seasoned vegetables stir fried to perfectly, cooked but still crunchy. As for the meat and potatoes, they were the best you can find in this part of the world and especially at that price.
I’m glad I discovered the secret spot of these mountains.

Nice little diner and very nice staff. We had the prime rib special and it was pretty good. The fresh berry pie is made fresh locally and this area is famous for its pies. Very out of the way and quiet for a relaxing night out

I only gave it 2 stars because by the time we got our food, it was good. We went in and were seated and given a menu. 20 minutes later a man comes over and asks us if we want something to drink. He brings us drinks but didn’t take our order. I would normally have already left by now but there was a view of the lake and we thought we would hang on and just see where this went. The one waitress was working so hard, I felt bad for her. They were not crowded but for one waitress it was a lot. 2 hours. We had ordered a cup of soup and a burger.
The kicker is that up and down the road they have signs that say «Fresh Apple Pie», «Best Apple Pie». When we asked and also the table behind us asked they didn’t have any. WHAT? Go take your signs down.
The next kicker is when we got halfway home we realized they overcharged us on our bill.
We won’t be going back. There are too many nicer places up the road in Julian.

Worst customer service ever and it was just a phone call. My family and I were planning on visiting the café on a snowy day, days like this are where they get a majority of their business. My husband called to see if chains were required and the woman on the phone was incredibly rude. Nice way to push business away, we won’t be patronizing your business if you can’t take 15 seconds to provide information.

Great place, great food, great atmosphere, great people! I love the Ruben/​Corned Beef, Chicken Fried Steak, chocolate milkshake and Sierra Nevada beer! The music is ok song long as it is classic and ambient. I frequent this place often as I live down the street. They need a do not feed the birds sign on the patio– tourists…

We were staying up the hill from the lake and we weren’t crazy about driving to Julian, especially for dinner after dark. I read on Unilocal that this restaurant was under new ownership and we are so glad that we tried it. Dolores was very welcoming and the food was fantastic. I had the meatloaf-​homemade and full of flavor with fresh grilled vegetables. My wife had the prime rib and trust me, plenty can and has gone wrong with ordering prime rib at a place that you haven’t been to before. Not to worry because it was tender and perfectly cooked. She said the baked potato was the bomb-​biggety too and she knows her potatoes, so you can take that to the bank. They will serve items off of the lunch menu for dinner which made my son very happy. He had the club sandwich and didn’t utter a word until the plate was sanitized-​he said it was delicious. We came back for breakfast the next morning and we were just as stoked about the quality and taste of the omelettes (veggie) and french toast, that we ended up eating all the weekend’s meals here and were also jazzed to be missing (missing?) the crowds in Julian! Plenty of locals were coming in all weekend which was a good sign as well. A great experience! Also, don’t forget to try the pie. It’s made right here and the mountain berry a la mode was delicious.

Well the service was good– our waitress was nice but the food was not good. The bread was stale and the sandwiches were bland. Nice view. We probably won’t go back.

I’m still not totally over the fact that this place does not have schnitzel or Austrian beer on the menu anymore. No more European food, but I’d have to say the burger, fries, and beer were pretty darn great after hiking up Stonewall Peak in the morning. Sculpin on tap was another feather in their cap. Nothing fancy here; just a good place to eat and hang out avoiding the madness that is downtown Julian.

Stopped here for breakfast on the way to Julian on Veteran’s day. Ordered the Steak and Eggs and hubby got the Roast beef omelet. Omelet was proclaimed «O.K.» My eggs were a tad under for medium, and the steak was over, but still tasty. Service was great considering there was only one server, but the kitchen was slow. It took us 20 minutes to get our order with no-​one in front of us. But, judging by previous reviews, that is not a long time to wait here.
I really only have two issues with the place:
1. It was FREEZING. The heat was on, but obviously set very, very low. I’m one of those people who is always hot so for me to have to wear a sweater, it was COLD. Unfortunately, that cools the plates and the food on them that much faster too.
2. The steak in my steak and eggs was tiny. Like, about the size of a chicken ‘tender’ (aka breast scrap). It also had no seasoning whatsoever and we were not offered any steak sauce. Server was also not around while I was eating, so by the time she came by to check on us, I was done with my tiny steak.
I would go back.

The food was good but the service was HORRIBLE. One server took our drink order and another took our food order — both acted like they did not want to be there and were super grumpy. Very unprofessional, too– saw a bunch of different groups of people sit at tables, not get served, so they got up and walked out. Another waitress would yell across the room at people who were standing near the door and would ask if they needed to be seated. Chicken pot pie crust was raw on the inside, but club sandwich and fish & chips were good. Had to wait in line 15 mins to pay for our check at the end of the meal. Restrooms out of soap and paper towels all over the floors. Definitely wouldn’t go back.

After spending the day in the desert, this was a nice sight to see, a restaurant on the lake. When we got there the service was terrible. No one greeted us at the door, we eventually figured out it was self seating. After seating ourselves, we waited 15 minutes and no one even acknowledged us. The table next to us arrived after we did and were served almost immediately. We were never served and ended up just leaving. No one said anything to us on the way out either.

This place deserves more than 5 stars.
We stopped by yesterday for lunch, after we did the lake loop with our dogs, the restaurant is dog friendly, so we were able to sit on the patio with them.
The service was great, our server was supernice and friendly… and patient (my husband took is sweet time to decide what to eat).
I had the veggie burger with fries and my husband had the club sandwich with fries… and let me tell you… the best veggie burger and fries I have had in years (my husband said the same about his food).
When we went to pay, we told Dolores how great the food was and she asked if we’ve tried their pie, we told her we didn’t have time, because we were to go somewhere else, then she said, we couldn’t leave without trying their pie, so she boxed a slice of pie for us to go for FREE!!!
I will recommend this restaurant to everyone I know and I will definitely go back!!!

Under *New* management; Dolores is in charge. Whatever was good before, is still good. Whatever was poor before, is now better. Good food selection. Regular ‘daily’ specials *AND* Special Specials (but hurry, they go fast).
Store has many new items, check it out.

Stopped by Lake Cuyamaca Restaurant & Store this morning for a piece of pie and an ice water.
Six families and myself (not particularly crowded) were seated.
It took 30-​minutes to cut a slice of pie, microwave it for 30 seconds and delivery to my table.
The two waitresses were rude and simply ineffective.
I’ll never stop by again.

The open face meatloaf with mashed potatoes and gravy was amazing. Also devoured before I remembered to take a picture. The chicken pot pie came with a delicious salad! Pie crust is gorgeous and I bet it’s fantastic!

After a Long Ride with around the Cuyamaca Lake it was so nice to find a shady tree to tie our horses up to and go across the street and have lunch. The food and the service at Cuyamcac Lake Restaurant is so YUMMY
And the Apple Pie. WOW so Good.

The food and the Mountain Berry pie is great. Real home cook in. Dolores, the new owner, was so sweet and truly made us feel important.
Our first time there, we left our dogs out in the car… and no, it wasn’t hot and they had food and water… to all you animal advocates. However they barked at every passerby and we thought they were too annoying, so I asked Dolores to pack our food to go, which she did. When she brought it out, she asked if there was anything wrong, and I explained our dog situation. She immediately told us we could bring them in and we could sit out on the patio. She then re-​plated our food and even brought out water to the dogs.
The next night we arrived and had our dogs and told the waitress we would like to sit on the patio. She sneered at us and our babies and said «well we’re all full, then proceeded to take a personal call on her cell phone and just walked away… argh!!! I had watched her with other customers and was always grateful she was not our waitress. She is old, very bitter, and has no people skills whatsoever.
When I told Dolores about it she was so apologetic and said she has talked to her many times, but because I could see Dolores is just so kind and just can’t be strong to the old bitter bully, I told her that she needed to get rid of her. I want to see Dolores succeed, and all of the other wait staff we had, mere so kind and effecient, so please, if you go and you get the «old hag» please just ask for Dolores or any other waitress and I’m sure you will love it as much as we do.
The food is just too good to miss out on, And the view from the patio is beautiful.
Dolores…you are the best and I can see how important your customers are to you, so please, for the sake of your business, get rid of that old hag. You truly deserve to succeed and I hope you will.

Beautiful place and a great place to stop for lunch or dinner we are having the best fish and chips and very inexpensive considering they are the only Restturant close to the lake

OMG, the meatloaf and pie are the BEST!!!
Great service from Barney and even the owner, Delores, and the chef, Bobby, checked oyus!

Don’t tell anybody!
Stop here to eat!!!
Food was unexpectedly good!!!
Like hash house a go go, food is a little pricey but the portions are large
Beats most everything in Julian!
Bobby is the main chef

this is my second time at this restaurant. Both times I noticed this:
first: they take long time to take your order and even longer to bring it to you.
Second: they make a lot of mistakes.
today my friend ordered French Toast, but the waiter brought Pancakes instead and when we asked her that‘s not what we had ordered she said «we run out of French Toasts». She changed the order without even checking with us.
No WiFi, TV, but they have good view on the lake.
prices are okay, but the quality of the food is not so much.