Alexander’s Restaurant

Amazing chicken wings!
We also had burgers, super delicious.
The place is very laid back in a beautiful old but very nice and charming building with lots of history.
Great staff, great food and awesome service.
5 stars all the way!

Recently taken over by a new owner, fired chef who now works across the highway at Wildberry’s. Let me start by saying that the service was great, the food, not so much. I ordered a New York strip, medium rare, with a Risotto side. My wife ordered Duck breast with Coleslaw side. We shared a vegetable side. The results:
New York strip: Came medium well with crust that was very tough. Clearly overcooked and not rested.
Risotto: Crunchy rice with mushrooms and cheese. Not a Risotto.
Duck breast: Almost well done, with a skin that needed a steak knife to cut.
Coleslaw: Passable, but overloaded with parsley.
I would recommend avoiding this previously well liked restaurant until they get the cooking figured out. The ingredients were good, the execution was horrible.
The 2 stars is for the service. I have a feeling the wait staff has been apologizing since the previous chef was fired.

We have had 2 dinners and 1 breakfast in this restaurant. Best offerings are baked goods as the warm blackberry pie and freshly baked dinner loaf are great treats. Avoid the dry, tasteless scrambled eggs at breakfast as well as the gamey unseasoned sausage. Standard entrees at dinner are adequate such as the roasted chicken, burger, and Caesar with salmon. Worth noting is that gluten free toast and burger buns are served which delighted my husband.
The kitchen is loud and the service uneven. The best thing is that the restaurant is in the hotel following an arduous hiking day.

Come for the chicken wings and stay for the salmon. The chocolate lahar cake is a must try in the shadow of Mt. Rainier.

Exceeded my expectations. I requested something that was not on the lunch menu. They welcome it. The quality of service and food is awesome. Highly recommend.

Oh. my. goodness. So we had a large group stay at the inn which meant we got to have two breakfasts and one dinner at the restaurant. Wow. For dinner we had prime rib, mashed potatoes and veggies. Huge piece of meat — everything was yummy. Everyone loved the homemade pie, and the chocolate mousse was yummy, too. The cheesecake was ok — it was not a piece of cheesecake, but more like an individual cheesecake tart. I was still full in the morning. :)
For brunch we had the three course breakfast — which was equally fabulous (maybe even better!!). I had the quiche (2x) — homemade and so yummy. The pastries and fruit were awesome and very well presented. The French toast was good, too! It had a little bit of an orange taste which made it more unique.

The dinner had multiple vegetarian options. Wine was really good and my favorite part was the dessert. The chocolate mousse was absolutely marvelous.
Our breakfast also had a bunch of vegetarian options with quick service and timely delivery.
Would definitely come again…

We had dinner and breakfast at this restaurant last week during our stay in lodge. The restaurant is cozy and had a fireplace also. Service is prompt and food was fresh and tasty. We ordered kids pizza, daily soup, and a vegetarian pasta dish (I forgot the name). Portions were huge. They also served a side of seasonal veggies and they were very yummy too.

We were all pleasantly surprised with the meals. Everything we had was amazing. The NY Strip was cooked to perfection and the flavor was superb! Normally not having dessert, but the chocolate caramel mousse was light and a perfect finish to this dining experience.

Date of service: June 20, 2015
Meal: Dinner, dine in
All Ratings out of 10:
Quality of food: 8
Food to Spend Value: 7
Quality of Service: 8
Overall Rating: 8
After hiking all day, a good dinner is always in order. There isn’t a whole lot near the Nisqually entrance of Mt Rainier, but Alexander’s looked cute from the outside and had an intriguing menu, so we decided to go check them out.
We started with the complimentary bread which was very fresh tasting and quite good. A number of things were ordered at the table, but I am going to highlight 3 of the entrees. The Pan Seared Sea Scallops were served on a bed of coconut veggie slaw and accompanied by a spicy mango sauce and basmati rice. The plate was served with 5 very large, plump, juicy scallops that had a fantastic flavor and were the perfect texture. The Swedish Pan Biff was Alexander’s take on Swedish meatballs, except it was served more like a hamburger steak. It came accompanied with a delightful lingon berry cream sauce and pickles, all sitting on top of mashed potatoes and gravy. It was quite delicious.
I personally ordered the Pan Fried Trout. The restaurant evidently has its own pond where it raises trout, and the trout is supplied fresh from the icy waters on a daily basis. The dish came with 2 full trout, and the server fileted them tableside. There is nothing like fresh fish, and this trout was superb. The skin had a nice crisp to it, and the flesh was flaky and absolutely yummy! It came with some veggies on the side, basmati rice, and a great remoulade sauce for the fish. The entire package was great, and I was very happy when I was done!
I mentioned the restaurant looked cute from the outside, and this feeling continued on the inside. The atmosphere was very nice and relaxed and made the restaurant have a bit of a fancy feel without feeling pretentious. Our waitress was fantastic, answering all our questions and providing great service, including the tableside fish fileting. The portions were a good size, and the prices were reasonable. It’s a bit out of the way for regular dining, but anytime I am near the Nisqually entrance of Rainier, it will definitely be on my short list!

Great service! Food is ok. I ordered shrimp artichoke rigatoni. It was good but not great Husband ordered sliders. Thought they were terrific! Great service staff and pricing in wine. All in al a great night out!

Had a wonderful overnight, and Valentine dinner. The décor was pleasant and the food was very good. The wait staff was very friendly too. The lemon shrimp riggatoni was balanced nicely with fresh grated parmesan cheese. My wife really enjoyed the baked chicken, and the accompanying vegetable medley was delicious.

So, hungry. We went for breakfast. The menu is simple, but good enough. Surprised that the normal breakfast of eggs and sausage or bacon and toast was not on the menu. Food took quite a long time to show up. Especially since we both ordered the special and it was not busy.
A cool thing is we were able to order a lunch to go. That is neat.

This is a comfortable place for people who just come down form mount rainier nation park, and it provides very delicious and fresh food. I ate the fresh salmon and my girlfriend ate the grilled half chicken. Both of those are great with reasonable price.

We’ve been coming to Alexander’s for decades. With kids, before kids, on date weekends away from kids. In all cases we’ve been impressed. The rooms are old, but nice (I love the super strong showers).
We always have dinner, but recently they have upped their quality. We had Salmon and Duck and the Pinot Noir the waitress suggested was perfect. The prices are the same as you’d pay in Seattle, but both the Salmon and the Duck were near perfect preparations. My wife asked for the Salmon to be a little more done and they nailed it. (Usually you ask for medium well fish and it comes out dry as a wood plank.)
The dessert is ok, the pies and crisp are what you expect. The chocolate tort was great with dark chocolate and a hint of Mexican spice.
We’ll be back.

The restaurant was overpriced and nothing special. It was convenient as we didn’t know the area and were tired after hiking all day. They out of many of the entrees. We shared a salad and I had the salmon. One irksome thing, they had a Unilocal check in coupon for a complimentary glass of wine, but when we tried to use it, we were told it expired 2 years ago. They really should have just provided the wine since it was complimentary in the upstairs parlor and they hadn’t removed the coupon.

I am very disappointed in this restaurant. I realize there are very few options for restaurants right near Mt. Rainier but after reading reviews on Unilocal I was hoping for at least a DECENT experience. No such luck.
My husband and I packed up our 2 young children, left our cabin and headed to Alexander’s for dinner on Sunday evening around 5pm. The menu sounded promising and I was looking forward to a glass of wine and some good food. We were greeted by a very nice young hostess but seated by a grumpy older woman who appeared to be wearing pajamas. I remembered seeing some gorgeous pictures of their outdoor seating and was looking forward to dining by their lake that evening but was told that «we don’t seat anyone out there because it’s too hot and people complain about the bugs and then want to come inside so we just don’t even bother anymore». Not exactly a great first impression and yes, it’s the summer, it’s going to be hot but shouldn’t the customers get to decide where we want to sit?
So we are seated at a booth inside and welcomed by a very nice server. We look over the menu some more, decide on meals and place our order. I ordered wine and my husband ordered a beer. Both came out warm. Yuck. My 10 month old daughter was snacking on crackers and doing what all babies do… throwing some on the ground. The unfriendly older hostess came by the table, looked at the floor and suggested that parents brought a table cloth to put under the high chair so it can catch all the food that babies drop so the workers don’t have to clean a mess. I was not happy with this suggestion.
My husband ordered a chicken Cesar salad and I ordered tagliatelle with roasted corn and ham. Well, my $ 17 dish of pasta was about as good as a tv dinner. The corn was obviously from a can and I actually had trouble getting bites down because the corn was so gross. All the meals were incredibly overpriced, even for a tourist trap like this place. When we were done, the oh-​so-​unfriendly older woman dropped off our check without saying a word and proceeded to give us the cold shoulder.
One good thing about the visit to Alexander’s was that I got a free glass of wine for checking in on Unilocal.The bad thing about that? It expired 3 years ago. Womp womp. We will never come back here again.

My husband and I split the 16 ounce rib eye, it was excellent and cooked as we requested. The spinach and potato wedges were good too. The restaurant is clean, comfortable and decorated nicely. I also liked the stained glass windows. We thought Ashford was beautiful and not commercialized, loved it.

Eating options in Ashford are limited. You’ve basically got Copper Creek, Wild Berry, and Alexanders. I had avoided Alexander’s after a very unpleasant meal a few years back. I heard that they had a new chef, so decided to give them another chance.
I must say, it was pretty good. The service was very friendly and sincere. I had a very enjoyable meal of dinner salad with gorgonzola dressing, salmon, and potatoes au gratin. It was all very good — no complaints. Price was a bit high for mountain eating, but the quality was probably worth it. Much better than Copper Creek, although I have to say, their blackberry pie doesn’t hold a candle to Copper Creek though.
A petty complaint — the music playing was atrocious, and the plastic flowers decorating the restaurant do not improve the ambiance.

What a find in the middle of the «wilderness» !!!
After a day hike on Mt Rainier, we drove down the mountain and out of the park towards our Olympia home. Both the spousal unit and I were thirsty as hell (the Paradise cafeteria closed early). And hungry too. I saw this hotel/​restaurant on the way up the hill so I thought we’d give it a try.
We were very surprised by the sophistication of the menu and quality of the food. Not because this is «Ashford» but because this restaurant is in a small town that relies heavily on tourism and it is just «out of season». It’s hard to keep good chefs under slow. seasonal business conditions especially in small towns. Alexander’s must be doing something right! (maybe owners cooking?).
Yet the restaurant was about ½ full (even on a Monday with a Seahawks game on). There were a variety of menu items (they had just changed their menu for fall and the menu reflected that. Our appetizers and main courses were piping hot and freshly prepared. It looks like many «from scratch» ingredients were used.
The service was friendly, prompt and not «pushy». Perfect for hungry, tired tourists
Topping off the meal was little blackberry pie made in Alexander’s kitchens. Just the right tart to sweet ratio. And with a cup of French roast coffee, I had re-​energized myself enough to make the trek back to Olympia.
The ambiance was quaint, befitting a 100 year old roadhouse/​inn but modern where it needed to be. The restrooms were clean (always a good sign, in my book).
I am adding this to my «I hate franchises» list.