Catskill Mountain Cafe and Market

The place is just a tourist trap. They sell planters, plants, and some fruit & veggies outside that you can get at the local farmers market… much cheaper might I add and by all means supporting your local farmers by buying from them instead. As you head into this Cracker Barrel like establishment… you will get my drift. You have a small and I do me small area for fruits and veggies for sell that look at minimum a week old. Your maple syrup for sale that you can get at any grocery in New York, however here at a mark up… and a bunch of tourist trap nick– naks. Now, onto the service of the place… if your not a local and know the manger by his first name good luck in getting a seat. If your a party of three or less as well… well your SOL! We watched more than three appearances at this dive people being seated after us because we didn’t have per say enough people in our party to get a table. After, enlightening the staff and a twenty minute wait, with tables open I might add… we were finally seated. To be brutally honest… there isn’t much for breakfast in this area. And, of much to rave about as well… most is bleak and flavorless in the breakfast department.

We went up to the Wine and Brew festival at Hunter Mtn. on Sat. 10÷13÷12. We went to this place based on the reviews. We walked in and it was almost empty at 1:30pm and no one was managing the front. We waited for a few minutes and eventually, a guy that looked like the chef came out and let us know that he was working on a large order and that it would be about 20 mins. before we could expect to be waited on. We walked out and had a great burger down the block directly across from the entrance to Hunter Mtn Resort.
If you happen to go up during this festival, you would be better off eating at the festival. The Hunter Mtn. website really didn’t say, but there were plenty of food vendors there, and it looked and smelled terrific. Unfortunately, we had already eaten. The microbrews were awesome there. The wines, not so much

We stumbled upon this place by accident while we were wandering around Hunter killing time before our zipline tour. It was sort of off season while we were in the area, so a lot of things were closed or mostly empty. We decided to grab a quick bite in the café here and it was probably the best omelette I’ve ever had. Seriously. I think the owner is a professional chef. But it’s really cheap. Even though we were the only ones in there, he treated us like his best customers. Someone else ordered a gyro and it was huge. Looked delicious. Great spot. And the bookstore in the same building is great too. Wonderful friendly lady working in there, great books about the region and good gifts. I picked up a few stocking stuffers. I’ll definitely remember this place if I’m back in the area.

There’s a gallery upstairs, which was alright. A bookstore with some comfortable couches in the same room as a more than sufficient café. They had free samples out, all of which were really good. The most important thing is that they have free WiFi and seemingly no problem with people camping out in a corner. Dogs are okay on the porch (which had comfortable seating and electrical outlets) but not inside.

I just spent the weekend with the cast and crew of a show we brought to Hunter from Theater 1010 in NYC. All of our food for the weekend was provided by this place, and I was so thankful and bowled over by their hospitality and the quality of the food. I am the only vegan member of the cast, and the chef went out of his way to make sure that i was fed. Some of the food I got, like the curried tofu, stuffed mushroom and chickpea/​corn salad were also available in the café. But he also made me some great grilled tempeh and rice with vegetables.
Everyone in our huge group was thrilled with the food. I wish this place was closer!

A guy I once dated (briefly) said that, «the only reason to go to Hunter was to get laid.» Perhaps he was in Hunter at a different time, different season, different location… because my recent visit to the Catskill Mountain Foundation (bookstore, café, and art gallery) in Hunter were decidedly bereft of freaky pheromones. However, I did have a very good iced coffee and chocolate chip cookie (really, who needs sex when you have the chocolate and caffeine combo?). The Café also operates as a mini grocery store — so if you’re a veg or looking for healthy options while vacationing in the Catskills, you’ll want to stop in here. The bookstore was also nice — lots of sale items and many best sellers 25% off list price. The gallery had a mix of photography, painting, jewelry and textiles — also at reasonable prices.
So, while I didn’t «get lucky» in Hunter, it was certainly a place worthy of visiting if you’re ever in the area.