Hi-Way House

WAY too expensive a restaurant. Dinner plates are mostly in the $ 25 – 30 range. My salmon pasta dish tasted pretty good, but the texture wasn’t quite right (the fish was too ‘pulverized’). But my grandparents, who loved the Hi-​Way House way back in the 1950s, were especially disappointed by their food. The prime rib was way undercooked, there were no paper napkins, and the to-​go boxes were made of flimsy material that absorbs moisture and grease from the leftover food.
To add insult to injury, the restaurant put out a flashy ad in the local newspaper, advertising «Special Deals for Valentine’s Day»! But nearly $ 30 a plate for food that wasn’t even prepared properly? Sounds like the current ownership is just a bunch of capitalist oinkers trying to live off the restaurant’s historical reputation. But since they have done a lousy job carrying on the tradition, I think we will do the same and move on to better local cuisine.

Food was terrible! Service was good!

A diamond in the rough in The Dalles, the exterior may not convey the swanky panache of the atmosphere within. A diverse and sophisticated menu is sure to please both frugal spenders and those aiming to impress. The staff are pleasantly attentive and thorough in their proceedings and make all patrons feel welcome. The stuffed mushrooms are exquisite paired with the house beer bread, and my salmon as well as my partner’s prime rib were both cooked perfectly. The lemon butter sauce complimented the salmon wonderfully. Much too full for dessert but in previous visits I have not been disappointed. Delicious.

Stacey rocks. I was here once before and she remembered me. Hard to miss an incrediblly cute, single guy… but still, kudos to her. Old-​school steak house. Everything was perfect. I can’t complain at all.

Staff is very friendly and attentive. But the price tag for the quality of meals does not equal. Maybe we just visited on a bad chef day? We probably won’t ever go back. Like I said pretty pricey for the quality. At least on the day we went.
Staff get a 5 out of f5 star. But the food is probably a 2; so I’m given the total place 3.
When this establishment was in Hood River the quality was so superior to how it is now.

Great food! Great service! My husband & I went to the Hiway House on our first date. Forty three years later, the food is as good as I remember. I had the tenderloin with sautéed mushrooms. Nice thick steak and very tender and juicy. Hubby was pleased with his prime rib.
I read some reviews that said from the looks of the outside, they were surprised at how good the food was. I think if the front entry had some curb appeal, it might attract more business, but of course all good restaurants best advertisement is by word of mouth from satisfied customers.

Looking at the outside of the restaurant I would not have gone here if not for the recommendation from the hotel. Inside I was presently surprised. I had the prime rib, it was very good. And the seafood bisque was excellent. My girlfriend had the salmon she liked it also. If in the area I would definitely eat here again.

Doesn’t look like much from the outside, but interior pleasant décor, a family run business. Friendly, excellent variety on menu. Drinks were good, appetizers we had seafood stuffed mushrooms and oyster shooters. Dinner I had salmon and wife had chicken pasta, both excellent. Spit peanut butter pie for desert. Highly recommend this restaurant.

We ate here last night with family for a special occasion. I had never been and based off Unilocal reviews, I was expecting something awful! However, I never experienced anything even slightly awful. The restaurant is very cozy. I’m told they remodeled the décor not long ago? It looked good! The seats were cushioned and big and comfortable. And the food… it was really good! I wasn’t expecting it, but yeah… It happened. I got the Bahama Mama salad and I’ll be honest, it was not worth the price tag. It was nearly $ 20. It was good, but not worth that kind of money. Others got pasta and prime rib. Everyone loved their food! I tasted the prime rib and it was perfect! The service was just okay. My water glass was never refilled and I don’t think anyone at our table was asked if the wanted another drink (we all had cocktails and wine). Luckily, no one did… but I couldn’t help but notice that we weren’t even asked. Also, drink menu? Never saw one. I asked for a glass of wine and was simply asked «Cab, Merlot, Pino…» as if they only carry one label of each wine. It’s a steakhouse, you should have a wine and beer list! I heard from the rest of the table that the LITs were very good (and very strong). The menu, for the most part, is all over priced. The steaks seem reasonable… But the salads and sandwiches and pasta is just too much! Over $ 20 for shrimp Alfredo! Yikes. If it weren’t for the over prices menu and lack of seeing anything resembling a drink menu… This would be a 4 star rating!

Cozy atmosphere, dimly lit, great service, exquisite food. My friend Callie and i shared deep fried pickles to start, they were hot crispy and delicious, we were served a fresh hot dinner roll before the meal, I ordered the salmon and baked potato & asparagus it came with seafood bisque so delicious. Callie was very pleased with her French dip and crispy French fries, it was a huge portion enough to share. We decided we will be back to bring our husband’s for a double date.

If I had to sum up my most recent experience at this restaurant I could do it in a word-​horrible! The Dalles/​Hood River area is seriously lacking good steak restaurants, therefore, I have had to go to the Hi-​Way House for any special occasion with my in laws over the last 10 years. I have been here 7 or 8 times over the years and it’s always been bad. Each time I have to go I think «this time it will be better.» It never is!
I once asked them to butterfly my steak (in hopes that they wouldn’t burn the outside like they normally do to get it to the temperature I like). They didn’t know what that meant. I decided to give up on the steaks there because they couldn’t get that right and went with the Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo and a Caesar Salad this past weekend. The salad did not have the correct dressing on it, I’m still trying to figure out what it was! The croutons were stale. I couldn’t eat it. The fettuccini had raw garlic in it and Parmesan cheese was just sprinkled over the top and wasn’t mixed in with the sauce like it should have been. Unfortunately 2 of us at the table ordered this dish. The other 2 people ordered prime rib, medium rare. It came out rare. The French onion soup was cold and had to be sent back to be heated up.
If there is one good thing that came out of this meal it’s that my in laws finally agree with me that this place is awful, and I never have to go back again.
Terrible dinner for 4– $ 140
Never having to go back again-​priceless

Many years ago we would go to the Hi-​Way House with family. Went there this past August for a birthday dinner and it was an over-​priced flop. My husband’s medium rare prime rib was medium well, the lemon pepper salmon I had was covered in so much pepper and dry, I left over half of it there. The children’s chicken dinner meal was a heaping mound of chicken niblets or just breading, no vegetables or rice or anything. Nearly $ 100 for four meals, that should have been closer to $ 40, in my opinion. Not going back anytime in the foreseeable future.

We came here based on a local recommendation and really wish we had not. It hurts to write a 2 star review of what is, obviously, an established mom-​and-​pop business in a town with very few fine dining options. In its heyday, I am sure it was THE go-​to place. It may still be (?). You can feel old charm when you walk in the door, and it was definitely packed with diners on a Friday evening.
We chose to sit at a small table in the bar as the dining area was pretty full. We ordered a bottle of sparkling wine that we were comfortable with. A man came by and placed two dripping wet flutes on our table and walked away without a word. He then came back with a bottle of asti spumante and presented it to my husband. My husband declined it saying that wasn’t what we had ordered. He then brought another alternate by and then called out yet another alternate to our table from behind the bar, neither of which was what we would have liked. Instead of simply saying they didn’t have what we ordered and verbally offering other choices, he seemed frustrated that we declined the bottles he had searched out (neither of which had even been on the menu). With that opening, he really set the tone for how we felt about the place.
On to the menu, most dinner selections are priced between $ 20 and $ 28. This wouldn’t seem unreasonable if the experience thus far hadn’t given us the jitters. We ordered light. I had the Caesar salad (no meat) for $ 10.50 and my husband had a beef dip for $ 12.95. We also ordered two cocktails from the bar.
The food was decent, nothing special. $ 10.50 for a small salad with lettuce, croutons and some parmesan had better be spectacular. The cocktails, a lemon drop and a Long Island Iced tea, were very good.

Great food 90 percent of the time. But I would recommend skipping over ordering the razor clams since they over cook them.

The food is ok. The place is old, dark, and just not that great. If the prices were lower, then it would be worth your time.

I do not write poor reviews easily but I recommend people to avoid this place. I ate at Hi-​way June 2011 with some my colleagues when were looking for a steakhouse. It has been one of the worst restaurant this past year. The place is uninviting with all stores closed and old furniture. The food was very expensive for what it was. I had a rib eye which had not special to it. I had french fries on the side. The amount of food was very minimal and did not seem very fresh. The waitress did not bring any ketchup, salt and pepper. She forgot the fork and knife of one of my friend. Everything was wrong that night. In one word, avoid that place!

I’m going to base this review on one very important thing about me, I’m an prime rib snob, I love good prime rib and hate prime rib that’s not prepared right or seasoned right, or like 90% of the restaurants that I’ve tried in the gorge, re heated prime rib. So when my wife and I on a whim decided to stop by the hi way house one recent evening, I decided to bravely try their prime, hoping and praying for something I could finally eat in this town. And to my great surprise it was almost perfect, it was cooked properly, seasoned well, came with real au jus, and was tender without a ton of exterior fat. I’ve only had prime rib at one other establishment in Oregon with better prime rib, and the amount of places I’ve tried, that’s a huge compliant. In fact my wife even made a point of telling this to the chef because she knows how hard it is for anyone to please me at a restaurant, because if I’m going to pay someone to cook for me, it better be better than what I can do any night of the week at home, and the chef at hi way house did just that. So thank you hi way house for finally giving this ex portlander a place to eat and be satisfied.

Great atmosphere, good drinks, disappointing steaks.
I’ve only been there once, so it may have just been that particular steak, but for a $ 25 New York steak, I expect juicy and tender, not rubbery and bland. I’m a rare steak kind of man, bleu if I’m at the right restaurant, but the steak I got, well, it would be generous to call it medium-​well.
The steak was brown all the way through and not a drop of blood to stain my steel plate.
Other than that, the place is great. The French onion soup is amazing, the drinks are well mixed and good sized. The wait staff couldn’t have been nicer and I will certainly be visiting again.
I might rethink the steak, but I would love to go back. I went in expecting nothing and found a romantic, pleasant restaurant in The Dalles.
Retool the steaks and it will become a five.

Awesome food (dinner comes with desert!) and stiff drinks. What more could you ask for? A bit pricey, but reasonable.