Lazy H Ranch

Discovered by accident, and have returned 3 times. Broasted chicken is perfectly done. Hubby likes prime rib and specials. Its an early dinner kind of place, which lets us watch the hummingbirds out the bar window. Nice grounds to take a walk around before dinner, newish waterwise landscaping is well done.

The room we stayed in seemed very dated, reminiscent of an elderly lady in the 1980’s. There was a tiny television, small fridge, and loud ac. No wifi signal reached the room the entire stay. The food was okay and the margaritas severely over hyped. Don’t plan on a future stay.

We ordered the BLT and the Ortega Burger both were cooked perfectly. The french fries were crispy but not overly done and the onion rings had a really good beer batter on them or cooked perfectly as well. The portions were great for the price that you pay. The décor matches the vibe but it’s cool. The margaritas were great. 35 bucks for 2 meals, 2 drinks and a tip? All day baby!

We’ve had dinner twice in the last several months, both times a week night. We think it’s a really nostalgic place (think 1960’s) but have mixed feelings after our dinner this week. Both times, there were very few people dining but all are strictly locals conversing across from one table to the other. Great for them but distracting to those not included. The waitress is friendly and service was perfectly fine. The dinner menu seems a little pricey — $ 18-​$ 30. Previously we had the pork chop and thought it was pretty good. This time we tried the rib eye. First we ordered some house wine, very reasonable by the half or full carafe. The burgundy is bordering on being a port. Next the dinner salads came, old style but fine. Dinner included a twice baked potato and asparagus, both nice. The steak was fairly disappointing, being both fatty and rather thin cut. All in all, we’re not sure if we’d return.

Loved our stay at the Lazy H for our anniversary so much that we’re coming back next week for valentines! Stayed in the cute little cottage. Definitely not the most upscale but it is adorable for a couple who wants much needed alone time. You won’t be bothered at all during your stay and the gazing at the stars at midnight is such a treat.

Best margaritas in 5 zip codes fresh lemons from trees on the properties so good!!! Great food to compliment the drinks

FABULOUS PRIME RIB dinner. Stopped by last night for dinner and split the prime rib with a friend and I STILL needed to take home a «doggy bag.» We dined in the bar, service was prompt and friendly, and our meals were fabulous! I would recommend this restaurant to anyone wanting a nice meal in a welcoming, more casual atmosphere.
When we got back to the house we shared our leftovers with my friend’s little shih tzu, Daisy, and she was simply in HEAVEN. The problem is that now that it is the next day she wouldn’t eat her breakfast UNTIL we poured some left over au jus on it. But of course when she got to the dog food she was NOT FOOLED! We will now have to ask the owner, Jack, if he would kindly agree to give my friend some «scraps» on a regular basis. ..

So i called to see if any. rooms for rhe night and the response was…“we are closed for the night” with some serious attitudes. Wow… and this is a hotel in the middle of no where.
I guess they are doing well? ???
Well f&@$# you. !!

Love this place! Friendly staff, nostalgic atmosphere in the restaurant, beautiful grounds outside, love watching the hummingbirds!

Stopped for lunch on the drive to Julian, as it was the only roadside place for miles and miles! Nice, charming service and very basic home picnic-​style foods for Sunday lunch. We just got the American burger with potato salad and fresh lemonade, and it was a refreshing little Americana lunch. Very clean bathrooms.

Finally tried this after driving by it for years. Very cool older property that could use some upgrading. The food however was amazing! Filet Mignon was one of the best I have had and only 30 dollars. Everyone at our table loved what they ordered including the nightly special prime rib. Honestly it was surprisingly good. The place is definitely dated but has a certain charm. If you want high end décor then go someplace else and pay extra for it. If you want a great meal and to be waited on by honestly nice people, then go here.

My family and I had dinner here every thing was delicious, service was awesome and attentive
What more can u ask for? I ll be back sometime in future

Not sure what’s happened but had the first bad meal there. Service was awful we actually got seated, had water and ate all the bread before they even gave us a menu.
My son got the grilled chicken breast and the meat was really rubbery. We were concerned it was not cooked enough so we asked them to check it and they microwaved the entire plate and returned it. It was awful.

We stayed here last night, as it was close by and more affordable than Harrah’s, where we were attending a wedding. We would stay here again, it’s a quaint B&B type place. We were barely there, since most of our trip was revolving around the wedding at Harrah’s. But the time we did spend was nice enough. I took off one star just because it’s somewhat confusing to figure out what is going on when you get there… we pulled in, saw a big «closed» sign in the window of what turned out to be the restaurant, drove around the property a bit, finally I called and she said to go to the door that says «closed» and go in there to check in. Uh, ok.
Our bathroom mirror was hanging off the wall on just one screw when we got back in the room after the wedding, the other screw had fallen out of the wall and was on the floor, so we took the mirror down and left a note so they knew what happened. So, it’s kind of old, but that’s part of the charm, it’s not a snazzy hotel. It’s a homey motel of sorts.
We’d like to go back and spend more time there, and try the restaurant. It’s only just under an hour away for us, for a little stay-​cation. We’d return.

First time at the restaurant… We were with friends who frequent it often…
We had a awesome time… service was superb, the food ever so tasty, the wine delicious and the atmosphere friendly…
Will go back soon…

Back in 1973 a friend and I back packed down into Pauma Creek for a few days. Tired from the steep hike out and hungry we decided to check out the Lazy H. It was Sunday late afternoon and we weren’t exactly in our Sunday best so we eased into the bar where we hoped to get served. We were greeted by a young man named Henry. Turns out Henry was bartender waiter and busboy… Most of all he was welcoming and kind! I ordered a prime rib dinner that night that was memorable to say the least as were the best margaritas I had ever had. Why am I going on about all this… Well, because as much as things have changed — places come and go — the Lazy H has not.
Gone are longtime owners Tony and Micky, who were a kick to say the least always making you feel like family. While living in La Mesa back then friends and I would often stay over a weekend and many times over New Years as well… Great memories!
Recently, on our visit to the back country of Palomar, my wife and I made a point of staying over to check in at the Lazy H… The margaritas were calling. Made from scratch, using on premise grown Meyer Lemons… reason enough to visit.
We were greeted by my long lost friend ‘Henry’ and it was great to see he was still there. After a couple Margaritas I revisited the prime rib and it was as delicious as I remembered. My wife had a shrimp pasta dish that was also very good.
The current owner and long time resident of the area came over to talk to us and it was nice to hear about his passion and desire to keep this Landmark and area treasure going forward. Great guy!
On your next trip to the Palomar area or to the casinos do yourself a favor and check out the «Lazy H» for beautiful and peaceful surroundings, great food and drinks and nice clean and reasonable lodging … You’ll be glad you did!

Pros:
Beautiful grounds
Friendly kitties who greet you and may even hang out with you for a bit
Comfortable beds
Delicious food at the restaurant
Friendly staff
Thick walls between the rooms
Old timey charm
Cons:
Everything needs a little bit of upkeep
Beware of the potential for obnoxious neighbors due to the cheap pricetag
No hairdryer in the bathroom
No phone in the room (not much service after hours)
I have a bit of mixed feelings about this place but, overall, really enjoyed my weekend stay here and will probably be back someday.
The first night of our stay, my boyfriend and I threw our luggage in our room and went to the restaurant. The staff was super friendly and the food was SO good. To be honest, I didn’t expect much after seeing the décor but — hey, never judge a book by its cover, right? I had one of specials that the server suggested — a delicious New York strip steak with peppercorn sauce, twice baked potato, and steamed seasoned veggies. I regret that I wasn’t able to finish the whole thing because it was so good. My boyfriend had the same thing and 2 steak dinners (with soup/​salad starters), plus 4 drinks (we like our whiskey), and a slice of cheesecake to take back to the room was all under $ 90. Not bad at all, especially for the quality of the food.
The mixed feelings come with the general state of the rooms/​grounds — there’s some serious need for upkeep in some areas. I understand that it’s a motel and I understand wanting to keep the place classic and keep the old timey charm, but there are some things that just need fixing and some things that just need cleaning. There was a hole bust through the ceiling of the breezeway, and a big dusty maintenance room full of busted furniture thrown in there. In the restaurant, everything’s a little creaky and a little dingy. But, basically, if you’re not too prissy, it’s not a big deal.
We were the youngest people around on the first night of our stay — which was really cool! I get annoyed by too much of my own generation sometimes, so it was really nice to be in an environment of nice polite older folks who seemed to be regulars. We overheard some conversation from the bar while waiting for a table to be cleared off and it seemed to be a lot of catching up and reminiscing. It was really charming.
Unfortunately the charm wore off our second night there when some folks our age checked in to the room next door and they were the absolute worst. Staggering around with a handle of Captain Morgan, and at some point during the night, they broke a glass pane on their front door. I hope Lazy H charges them for that. Can’t really fault Lazy H for that experience, but I hope it’s not a regular trend since these rooms are cheap and so are scumbags. It’s a shame, but I’m not sure what Lazy H can do about that. Luckily, the walls are thick and we had a peaceful sleep despite having obnoxious neighbors. Next time, we’ll book more in advance to make sure we can stay in one of the newly renovated rooms.

I have stayed at the motel maybe four times and alway found the rooms to be clean and reasonably priced. The grounds are very pretty and the restaurant is very good. The ambiance is like 1950’s Country and a real throwback to the old days. The staff is very friendly and all things considered I would come back anytime!

My review is based on the rooms my friend and I stayed in (the newly remodeled ones). I understand that the old ones are definitely NOT good (my other friend stayed in one, but I did not go and check it out).
The rooms are small, but adorable. Beds are so incredibly comfortable. The grounds are very pretty to look at, and from our rooms, we had very pretty greenery to look out through our large windows. The check in service was a very nice and friendly guy. They have the old style room keys, which was cool.
They have like 10 hummingbird feeders that they refill everyday because they have a huge amount of hummers flying around all the time. THE most friendly cat «Mitchel» that will try and come in your room and hang with you.
We did not try the restaurant, although I wish we did.
Upsides:
1) Our rooms were adorable
2) Beautiful grounds (in some directions, not in others)
3) Very friendly staff
4) Close to Rincon Casino
5) Clean
Down side:
1) In the winter, those rooms are freakin cold. They do have room heaters in each room, but they really should turn them on when they know a guest is coming. ICE cold… as was the water in my room. Took almost 5 full minutes of running it to get it warm enough to wash my hands.
2) The windows are big, and really bright… and although they have curtains, they are not black out curtains; your room is lit up in the morning. No sleeping in.
3) Although the windows look double pained, they do not keep out noise. So at 6:30 am on Sunday morning, when someone decided hang out right outside my window and talk on his cell, I heard him as if he was in my room. Freaked me out.
4) No hairdryer in the bathroom.
5) No full length mirrors. Just one over the sink in the bathroom.
6) They have a quilt on the bed, and a top sheet… no blanket… gross. I do NOT want to use the quilt as a blanket… no idea when the last time it was cleaned (did not appear dirty… but you know nasty stuff has happened on that quilt. I have never been to a hotel/​motel/​inn that did not have a blanket under the quilt.
Bottom line, is that I would definitely go here again, but only stay in the newer rooms ($ 20 more per night, well spent). And next time I will bring some cat snacks (although he didn’t really look like he ever missed a meal…)

This review is for both multiple listings for «Lazy H Steak Ranch» and «Lazy H Ranch» on Unilocal.
First off, disregard the $$$ and $$$$ ratings on Unilocal.You should be able to easily get out of here with entrée, drink, and tip for under $ 25 per person. Which, using Unilocal’s guide, rates a $$.
Second, disregard the, er, casual, look of the place when you first walk in. The food and service are better than the décor and ambiance.
Third, don’t expect too much. You’re in the boonies, not in La Jolla.
Fourth, don’t dress as though you’re dining at a $$$ or $$$$ restaurant. You’re not. And you’ll look ridiculous.
Now that you’re properly prepared … sit back, enjoy the locals who clearly spend lots of time here, watch the massive number of hummingbirds visiting the feeders outside the bar windows, and have some fun. It could be worse.