Ponderosa Restaurant & Brass Rail Lounge

Chicken fried steak and eggs cooked to perfection. The staff friendly and attentive
Oct 27th, 2021

Fun little dive bar
Oct 14th, 2021

Good food good coffee. Good
Oct 4th, 2021

Oct 1st, 2021

In Orofina, Idaho (Population 3,142, Elevation 1,030’) the place to go for breakfast is the Ponderosa. It is on the Lewis and Clark trail, but there is no evidence that they ever ate there. OK, that was a joke. The Ponderosa is old, but not that old. You can park in the lot in the back. The back door opens to a long hallway where you can peek into the well equipped kitchen. There is a sign on the ice machine claiming that the ice is for restaurant use only. No personal use. I racked my brain, but I could not think of a circumstance that would make that sign necessary, but there it was. There is also a sign in the hall saying that failure to follow covid protections makes you guilty of trespassing. Don’t worry though, in practice, they are pretty loose about following the guidelines. That worried me a bit, but the Ponderosa is the only game in town for breakfast. My girlfriend, her granddaughter and I chose a centrally located booth to settle into. Our waitress showed up with coffee and menus. The coffee was just what I needed that morning and the menus had all the things you would expect in a classic American breakfast joint. I like a big breakfast and the chicken fried steak sounded like just the thing. My girlfriend went for two eggs with bacon and the granddaughter had a pancake with sausage. We were talked about our plans for the day when suddenly the food was there. My girlfriend commented on the speed and the waitress explained that Mike, the owner, was in the kitchen and “He likes to get things done.” My girlfriend loved her eggs and bacon. The pancake was huge and perfectly cooked. The chicken fried steak was not all I had hoped for, but it filled me up. I would have liked more pepper in the gravy and a crispier coating. We were in a hurry that morning, so I could not dawdle over my coffee the way I like. Our waitress kept my mug full and I gulped down what I could while we paid the check and dashed out.
Oct 11th, 2021