Big Meadows Wayside

Thankfully Wayside exists because it seems to be the only place to get something to eat in the park that tastes good. I have tried the lodge dining room and was served bad food there on two separate trips. Even though Wayside is operated by the same government contractor company, the quality of the cooking is better than at the nearby lodge. I tried their fried chicken two separate times and both times it was very good served with cole slaw and a biscuit. Service was good here too. The atmosphere is very casual like a snack bar and it is adjacent to a store where you can pick up souvenirs and camping essentials. They also stock beer and hard cider at a reasonable price considering you are up in the mountains. I noticed that the beer and hard cider was at a better price than many other bottle drinks they sell! But boy the candy here is way over priced.

We stopped here before hiking Dark Hallow Falls on an incredibly foggy day. We used the restrooms, browsed the gift shop, contemplated the exhibits, and considered trying the educational trail. It’s a great stop for all your needs while enjoying the park.

We have been going to Big Meadows for 30 years and have eaten at the Wayside many times. But if yesterday had been my first visit, I never would have bothered going back.
We arrived around 1 pm and the place was busy, as it should be at lunch time. We seated ourselves at a table that wasn’t particularly clean, and we waited. And waited. After ten minutes we flagged down one of the waitresses (there were four to six women working in the room) and asked for menus. She brought them a bit reluctantly and said «your waitress will be with you.» We waited another five minutes and gave up. Waiting fifteen minutes to even speak to a server means the place is not being managed very well. We went to the carry out window, ordered our sandwiches and ate outside at a picnic bench.
The food at Wayside has always been good– far better than the meals at nearby Big Meadows Lodge. But I am taking away a star because of the very poor service at a Wayside– my friend and I are both former waiters, and we watched the servers as we were waiting.
Not one of the women cracked a smile or made a pleasant comment to any of the diners. All looked like they were dragging their butts around the tables as if serving their tables was a massive inconvenience. I have rarely felt so unwelcome in a restaurant. Since they are heading into their very busy fall season, I hope the manager at the Wayside does a better job organizing and training the wait staff.

Cheap delicious wholesome filling MONSTER breakfasts
the pancakes were huge and fluffy, the eggs were perfect.
While i wont lower the rating for it I was sad there was no option for real maple syrup (luckily i carry my own if needed) but they do provide blackberry syrup ostensibly made from berries grown in the area.
All in all if you are going hiking all day, or just simply need to keep the clan filled up for the long drive home from Shenandoah. Its a great place for an awesome breakfast

Stopped here yesterday while out on our Mother’s Day sojourn in the park. This was our first time here and we stopped to fill our bellies a bit to tide us over til dinner.
Contrary to some of the reviews, this is a nice little spot. It has a bit of a diner feel to it. We had th chili, a cheeseburger and a Caprese salad. In all it was pretty darn good! Now, was it fine dining like you may find in DC or NYC? Of course not, its not meant to be. So reviewed in that context, this is a great little mountainside stop to get some grub, gas and other goodies before heading back out to the overlooks.
Service was just fine. Drinks were filled when needed and meal arrived in short order.
In all, this is not a destination restaurant that one may looking forward to during the workday. This is… well… a wayside restaurant that does its job well and left us perfectly satisfied.

I’m surprised that this place got one and two stars. I’m very sure of my 4 stars, here. I’ll explain why.
We wanted to eat out for dinner and breakfast so we’d have less worry over interaction with bears. Lots of bears in this area and not every campsite has a bear box. We figured, based on the Unilocal reviews I saw ahead of time, that the food would be terrible. So wrong! It was quite good, actually!
I don’t remember everything we ate, but I remember loving many options on the menu (including a portobello mushroom burger), many of which were quite healthy and tasty. Portions were substantial, but not ridiculous. I think that people with dietary restrictions could find plenty of suitable dishes there. I was particularly impressed with the maple-​infused butter given us with breakfast! Yum.
We’ll definitely come back next time we camp at Big Meadows!
Hours of Operation: Also, before our trip I searched for hours and couldn’t find them online. This little restaurant and gift/​camping supply shop is only open 8am until 8pm. Plan accordingly! Also, I’m not sure, but hours might vary seasonally.

A nice little gift shop/​restaurant, particularly helpful if you’re camping at Big Meadows, but don’t feel like cooking all your own meals on the campfire.

Shenandoah National Park is a treasure, so it is especially sad that Aramark, which runs the Big Meadows concession, has allowed it to become a run-​down threadbare dump of a facility. The national park Service deserves better. We ate at the pub/​grill and had nachos, which featured Cheeze Whiz.

Big Meadows Wayside contains a lot of facilities, including the Harry F. Byrd, Sr. Visitor Center, the Gift Shop at Big Meadows/​Camp Store, Big Meadows Lodge, gas, and a small dining room in the Wayside (separate from the dining area at Big Meadows Lodge). Again, as with other park concessions — Aramark operates the Big Meadow Wayside facilities.
I had a late lunch here — even so, there was quite a few people here eating. A sign at the entrance requests for you to seat yourself for waitress service. There is also a food window to order at to get food to go.
I took a seat. While there were about 10 – 12 tables of folks eating, it was not that busy. There were quite a few staff folks dressed in the garb of the Aramark staff — about 8 – 10 — even with all of that bustling about — it was 10 minutes before a waitress came to me with a menu. I ordered a bowl of their «Big Meadows» meat chili and a Blackberry milkshake.
My milkshake came out in about 5 minutes — with no Chili. I assumed it would be forthcoming shortly. It took a total of 15 minutes for my bowl of Chili to arrive. It was not really what I would call Chili. It was more like a bowl of meat and beans with a little bit of sauce around the perimeter — very little in the way of a tomato-​based sauce to bring the whole thing together. And quite frankly — not much flavor (see the attached pix). It had quite a bit of cheese pile on top — this probably improved the overall flavor. I added quite a bit of Frank’s Hot Sauce to the Chili in an attempt to improve it.
The milkshake was not bad — just wished it had been served with the Chili. My server asked if I wanted a beverage to go with the Chili. I audibly sighed and asked for a glass of water.
Food was not that good, service leads a bit to be desired. If I had been rating Big Meadows Wayside on the gift shop/​camp store, and/​or gas facilities — it would most likely have easily earned a higher rating — as I noted the folks working in those areas being proactive with customers.