The Walpack Inn

The atmosphere when you walk in is like you are walking into something from the early 1900s....the bathrooms are adorable. Then if you get the opportunity to sit at a window seat the view is unbeatable. The salad bar was delicious and the food was out of this world. The waitress was great and very attentive. It was our first time here and we loved it.

Cold food sucks. Hardest part of big restaurant is to really elaborate dishes, but temperature control is a basic. I’m in the industry, and I had a great expectation for this restaurant. Reading an article about this restaurant closing, I also wanted to come for a little support. Many times passing by but finally get to visit for the first time with my wife, and we were so excited to be there, however, cold French Onion soup…? Their famous Prime Ribs is slightly warm on cold plate. Must have been amazing if served in right way because everything tasted good. Pasta was not fresh and sauce was cold. Nothing felt like made to order. Only thing came out with right temperature was seafood soup which they keep it in the warmer, I saw the station on the way out. French Onion soup was nothing close to the temperature of seafood soup, but obviously made long ago and it was cold down lower than human temperature, and they don’t mind serving us like that. Besides the food, nothing wrong with the service except that we are seated on a very small table even though many four top tables are open, and every other couple sit on four top table. I almost ask “why” to Britany who seated us but she just casually left us back to her station without words. Ok, I looked around and noticed that we are the only non-white people in the building. Kinda understand why young white lady treated us Asian like that in this place. Nothing unusual to us since we lived in Vermont before. It’s not like she was rude, and our waitress was nice anyway. The restaurant was full at Friday night but food came out very quick. Which made me believe the kitchen works like an event space and stock prepared dishes before order, and they don’t have heat lamps to keep them warm while waiting for order, or they pay no attention to the temperature control at all. It is a big restaurant, but not that big to operate like that. Over all it is an awesome space with good food in the middle of wildlife management area. And if you always eat in NYC, it is pretty reasonable. But worth two hours drive? I think I’m going to give another try when I visit the area for hiking, fishing and hunting next time but not just going there for cold food. I really wanted to like this restaurant. I still do. The experience there made me write a review which I usually don’t. We wanted to order some sandwiches to take home too but after disappointed with the dishes we didn’t. Shame. So disappointed but still tipped more than 20% . No one care to say thank you, good night, or anything to us as we leave. Not happening in my restaurant.

***4 1/2 stars*** Similar to my 300th Yelp review, my 400th was also a banger but thankfully did not include any encounters with bears - and if it had, it likely would have been from afar behind a window. The Walpack Inn has been on my list for ages; it's one of those places that always ends up in an nj.com article like "Top 25 Cozy in the Middle of Nowhere Restaurants," articles I might add that nj.com now has behind a subscriber paywall because the end is nigh for local journalism. Anyway. I came here appropriately with my top-tier chum who also happens to be a lifelong resident of the Kingdom of Sussex, which means she's not only very aware of Walpack's existence but has been here quite a few times over the years. I consider my chum to live pretty much in the middle of nowhere, so it was pretty wild that to get here we STILL had to drive over half an hour. It's actually very close to Buttermilk Falls, one of my favorite hikes in the state that requires driving on an unpaved road for a few miles to get to. So even getting to the entrance of this establishment is an adventure in and of itself. But the adventure doesn't stop at the door. This place is a VIBE. It's gigantic inside, and feels like a ye olde hunting lodge. I was led to believe by my chum that taxidermy was abundant but I didn't see any, unfortunately - maybe it was in another huge room I didn't access? But no matter, my eyes were treated to lots of fun items on the wall, and an alligator bench (picture attached) that I emotionally imprinted on. We were warmly greeted and seated in a room with giant windows that felt a little atrium-ish, where you could easily see wildlife outside if applicable. We weren't seated right next to the windows but were close enough that when a few deer wandered over we did easily see that (and just as an aside, very clear from the excited reactions who was and wasn't from the Kingdom of Sussex.) It seemed very clear to me that animals needed to be consumed on this adventure, so I opted for the short ribs/mashed potatoes special (about $46). Delicious and a huge portion - half of it came home with me despite the fact that I'd been decently hungry upon entry. Very tender and flavorful, and the mashed potatoes were a perfect complement. We also split the goat cheese/cracker app, which was fine but not mind-blowing - we both agreed the crackers went really well with the cheese, but I think from an optics perspective it would have been better with bread. It's tough to justify a $15ish app that features crackers you could easily pick up at the store. Those same crackers also came with my chum's crabcake, so it WAS convenient to grab a few of the leftover ones from that to include with the goat cheese doggie bag, at least. We of course requested a dessert menu and opted for the black raspberry ice cream pie. Black raspberry is one of my favorite ice creams and this was a gigantic portion. I wasn't crazy about the inclusion of chocolate chips in it and we both thought the decision to make this a pie was a little odd, though not a negative per se. The pie crust is incredibly thin, to the point where 90% of your bites aren't going to include it and when it does, it's basically a small flaky layer that doesn't really add anything to it. And as my chum noted, if it's served in a bowl and not a plate, THAT makes it ice cream, not a pie. The service was fantastic. We had a great, salt-of-the-earth waitress who stopped by regularly and had a vibrant personality that truly matched the establishment. She knew the menu well and legitimately added to the experience, which is hard to do when it's not something off-the-charts negative. Walpack got huge points for that in my book. Some of the menu items didn't hit it out of the park, but nothing fell flat and the atmosphere and service made up for a lot. Huge recommend.

I shared a birthday dinner with my husband here. The Walpack doesn't disappoint! Food and service were great. You definitely need a reservation! The only thing I don't care for is how crowded it is and the noise levels.

I came to the Inn mid-November. I had flown in from the West Coast for a meeting in the area, and many of the participants were eating there. I was very delayed and figured I would arrive so late I wouldn't get dinner. Much to my delight the group was just being served their main courses. The very nice server recommended a dish that wouldn't take long to cook, and it came out in time for me to enjoy with the rest of the group. Excellent food, the salad bar was also good and yes, the brown bread is very tasty. Save room for pie. A must. I have read that the Inn is for sale and I hope it is purchased by someone who cares and will keep the staff employed and the great food coming!