Restaurant Gastrognome

Great for people-​watching and sunset-​watching.
The peppercorn steak was excellent. It was cooked perfectly. I ordered the scallops and vegetable entrée. It looked bizarre because everything was floating in a tomato soup. However, even though the appearance was unexpected, it tasted great.
We shared a good ol’ carrot cake for dessert.

Good staff and nice outdoor seating, but the food is just average. Tasted like Outback Steakhouse.

We had dinner and then went back for lunch the next day. The food was very good, atmosphere is nice. We really enjoyed the dessert after dinner… All made at the restaurant. The pecan pie is absolutely delicious. Our lunch is the next day was very good. It is a little pricey…

Well… I wasn’t impressed with my calamari appetizer I must say — not crispy at all.
But then… perfect service… as friendly as you can get… nice wine selection… and finally… the very best halibut I ever had in all my life — with coconut and macadamia… an unforgettable experience! Just this meal is worth driving LA to Idyllwild… trust me!

Went there for dinner with husband last Friday. We felt at home from arrival, all staff is super friendly, service is efficient and fast, food is superb and our server Monica was amazing and made the whole experience even better.
Attention to the house cat, yes… cat… Hemingway is the most adorable thing ever and wonders around greeting the customers.
Would definitely go back when in Idyllwild!

This is such a lovely place. The first time I was there, I was taken for my birthday and had the salmon florentine dinner, and a glass of pinot grigio. A dinner I’ll remember forever. The location can’t be beat, in the beautiful mountain town of Idyllwild. I have been back several times and always have a fabulous meal. I love all of their salads. I’ve also had the calamari appetizer, the portabella sandwich, and garlic seafood alfredo. All excellently prepared. Heaven in every bite! And, with excellent service. A very classy place, really impressive. I highly recommend.

Ok… So to start positive I really liked the landscape, barn wood and charming place. !
I ll expect for the range price a much better quality of food — «I can make a better salad by myself I guess …» Just the minimum no dressing… Flat and no tasty. Hey Please do something YOU ARE A RESTAURANT!!! I ll be great maybe to have less choice but hand made meals. ThAnk you — otherwise the service was pleasant !

The T.A.B. (turkey, avocado, bacon) had turkey that was sliced tooooo thick and had several slices of it and only one slice of bacon. Took the turkey completely off and didn’t have much of a sandwich left. I think I just ordered the wrong thing. The atmosphere and service were exceptional. The tea was delicious. I would definitely recommend this but not the T. A. B.
PS…warm, cozy fire and ambience… perfect!

Excellent salmon salad with fresh greens. The squid was fresh and well prepared.
Stayed outside and cool. They offered blankets for those cold in the dinner party.
Don’t miss it.

We’ve been coming to the Gastrognome for several years now. We have always had a positive experience. We even had our wedding dinner here. This last experience was lacking though. The staff seemed ‘off’, ill-​coordinated or something. It appeared that the prices had been raised as well, I believe that my favorite meal, the Beef Thai Noodles, had been raised approximately 30%. In all honesty, it is a decent meal, highly priced for some angel hair pasta and some beef cubes at $ 20, but at $ 27 it better give a back massage too. The meal certainly didn’t taste 30% better.
After all this, we found out from our server that the restaurant has changed ownership in the last few months. Lenny sold the Gastrognome to Edmond. Gotta say, I’m not thrilled with the changes. I hope that the prices come back down. Until then, we’ll be at Ferro or Fratello’s.

Watch out for spoofing of your credit/​debit card… I was just notified today that my card was used fraudulently, and this is the only place I visited that took my card from sight and «ran it» — $ 132 for SHOES… sorry you didn’t get to make your purchase, honey… my bank is smarter than you are. CASH ONLY!!!

We took a group of 10 of us with 3 doggies. This restaurant is a slice of class. Linens, fine dishes, exquisite service. All of this, even on the patio with doggies in tow. No compromises.
The food, from omelets to Ruebens, was beautifully presented and superb.
We have eaten here several times and each time our guests are as impressed as we. Consistent and top of the line. Thank you, Edmond, for accommodating us this weekend.
The Duprey’s

Cute spot with a warm, woodsy atmosphere nestled in the heart of this charming mountain town. Service was warm and friendly and the food was mediocre. I had crab cakes, which appeared freshly made, but very thin and lacking much crab flavor (mostly bread /​filling). The accompanying skewers of unripe melons and soggy grapes I could have done without … not necessary (and don’t bother unless it’s good fruit). I’ll give them credit: those skewers are nostalgic (like the rest of the town) and make you harken back to 1950. Maybe that was the point. Not sure.

We ate here 4 years ago. Couldn’t remember what we ate but we remembered it was so good, we came back the following night. It did not disappoint! I had the macadamia coconut halibut with the pineapple sauce and my hubby had the petite filet mignon with mushrooms, spinach, and red wine reduction sauce. Both were so good! And the flourless chocolate cake was heavenly! This is by far our favorite all time restaurant.

Had dinner on valentine day evening here. We were looking forward to trying this place during our weekend vacation. The host (a tall blond lady) who seated us to the patio was extremely rude. She said «we don’t even want to serve on the patio, it’s cold» I could not believe what I heard.
The food was ok. I ordered rainbow trout with mash potato which tasted like made from instant mix. My friend had rib eye steak which she said tasted like very cheep meat.
Lucky, the girl who served us at the table was very nice. But I could not get over how we were treated by the host lady. not recommended.

Cute place.
Try to get a seat as you enter the door… Look left.
A small nook fits about 20, around the furnace.
Makes you feel like your in The seven dwarf’s home. Food was Italian all the way.
Food: A++
Service :A++
Atmosphere:A++
Great for big groups, great for children.

There meals are top dollar. 40 dollars and up, so i expected an amazing dinner, I ordered the lamb shank the first bite i had i was MILDLY impressed. No where near worth what it was cost but at least it was good as i worked more inward towards the cut it actually got quiet disgusting and had to spit the food out for having an extremly raw fish taste.
I dont know how you make lamb taste like fish but if i wanted fish i would have ordered fish
The customer service ending up being the only good thing about the restraunt and they made the 25 $ tip worth it. Except when they brought the bill and it was over 160 dollars for THREE people to eat i was rather pissed off when they didnt pack the bread to go with our left overs, its not like you can reserve it and we sertainly paid more than enough for it.
There are plenty of family owned restraunts on the mountain that will serve food thats good enough to not spit out and pay ¹⁄₅ the cost
If you decide to eat there what ever you do dont order the avocado cilantro soup, its the worst tasting soup ive ever had and i love both avocados and cilantro

Pretty okay food for a tourist trap, more on the generic/​rustic/​gourmet side.
Nice patio outside, dog friendly, inside is a bit smaller and more… old school comfortable.
My advice? Stick to the sandwiches, the entrees were just okay (cajun catfish was clearly done by someone with a bit too much fusion aspiration, the green beans were mediocre– didn’t even trim the stringy tips off!), and the seafood gumbo wasn’t a gumbo. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t worth ten bucks (!) for a bowl either.

You’re going to really like this place. The food is really good. The servers are friendly and helpful. The ambiance is elegant mountain rustic. It’s a great place to people watch. You can enjoy the outdoors with your dog on the patio. I was going to write gnome jokes in this review, but you may not gknow what I mean gnow.
I had shrimp Louie and a sandwich. Fantastic. The server was Johnny-​on-​the-​Spot with the iced tea too. Although the food took a while to come, it was fine with us because we were enjoying the fresh mountain air.
Bring your well-​behaved doggie with you. Maddy had a nice time hanging out with us. There’s plenty of parking and the whole downtown Idyllwild is within walking distance. We could hear the live bands playing across the street.

This place was yummy!
Le fiancé and I stopped here for lunch when we first got to Idyllwild. Unilocal didn’t let us down.
We were trying to stay hungry for a rehearsal dinner later that night so we split a Cuban sandwich. Great fresh bread and came with some delicious potato wedges. Had a nice selection of local beers as well.
Only downside– was a bit pricey. But if I’m in Idyllwild again and want a meal, this would definitely be my restaurant of choice.