What does $6.3 million get you? A fancy new restaurant in Kings Canyon park
Leave the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches behind.
Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks have opened a nice new restaurant on par with some of the restaurants in Yosemite.
The Grant Grove Restaurant is actually a massive $6.3 million remodel of the previous restaurant in Grant Grove by concessionaire Delaware North.
Not far from the Highway 180 entrance, the new 8,000-square-foot restaurant seats 225. The old restaurant, which has been closed for a long time, seated 74.
It’s a beautiful building – exposed beams, 12- to 15-foot ceilings, very indicative of what you’d expect to be in a national park lodge.
Dan Cornforth
general manager of Kings CanyonThe new place has a double-sided fireplace in the dining room, high ceilings, exposed beams and big windows. It also features a deck that overlooks Bradley Meadow with seating for 46. Pizza, sandwiches and ice cream are available at a walk-up window with picnic tables in a large courtyard.
“It’s very similar to what you would find in Yosemite. Probably more along the lines of the Mountain Room at Yosemite Lodge – not quite the Ahwahnee,” said Dan Cornforth, general manager of lodging, food and retail in Kings Canyon.
There is no dress code and both hikers and people celebrating special occasions are welcome. Reservations are not being taken for now.
The menu designed by executive chef Brandon Bollenbacher offers soups, salad, sandwiches and main dishes from a $30 rib-eye steak to a $9 vegan wrap with hummus and veggies. The restaurant uses free-range Mary’s Chickens from Sanger, grass-fed beef, organic local fruit and sustainable seafood approved by the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
“When it comes down to it, it’s comfort food but a little bit higher quality, fresh,” Cornforth said.
The restaurant was built to meet LEED Gold standards, a set of environmental standards such as using sustainable materials, for example.
The restaurant is open for breakfast from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and dinner from 4:30 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Details: www.visitsequoia.com or call 559-335-5500.
Bethany Clough: 559-441-6431, @BethanyClough
This story was originally published July 13, 2017 at 3:04 PM with the headline "What does $6.3 million get you? A fancy new restaurant in Kings Canyon park."