Food: 30 Days in Yosemite National Park

Background

(Scroll down to see my food reviews!)

While I was staying at the homeless shelter, I got paid out for a lawsuit that I’d won the year before.

One day, I couldn’t afford bread, and the next, I could afford an SUV.

Problem was, after everything I’d been through, I was having trouble thinking straight, and was afraid of making any big decisions.

Plus, I felt guilty thinking about buying things for myself, when I was surrounded by so much suffering.

At the same time, my little sister was also going homeless in Montana.

The only thing I could make up my mind to do was to leave the shelter.

I was lucky enough to find a reservation in Yosemite.

And then another. And then another.

In the month that I was camping there, I applied for dozens of jobs. I got emails from my five top choices, and accepted an offer from my top choice.

So, I’ll be going back to Yosemite soon. Meanwhile, here is my review of every restaurant I’ve tried in Yosemite so far this year, categorized by location.

Getting Around Yosemite

Quick breakdown of Yosemite geography: Yosemite Village is near Yosemite Falls, the Ahwahnee is near the Royal Arches, and Curry Village is between Half Dome and Staircase Falls.

Yosemite Valley Lodge is closest to shuttle stop 7, Degnan’s is stop 4, the Ahwahnee is stop 3, and Curry Village is closest to stops 14 and 19.

Yosemite Village

Needless to say, after a few months of being hungry, I went a little overboard on dining out.

I normally would describe myself as not a Starbucks person, but I went there a few times while I was in Yosemite.

The only Starbucks in Yosemite is located next to the Base Camp Eatery food court at Yosemite Valley Lodge.

By 8am, the line is insane, so, I tried to get there as early as possible. All of my drinks were made perfectly 👌 👍 I think the flat white is my new favorite drink!

The ham and Swiss croissant was sold out most of the time that I was there, so I ended up ordering a tomato mozzarella panini.

I wish they had more options without eggs, but, when you’ve been living off of trail mix and beef jerky, pretty much anything else tastes good.

There are two Peet’s Coffee locations in Yosemite: one in Degnan’s Deli in Yosemite Village, and one in Seven Tents Pavillion in Curry Village.

For whatever reason, the lines in Curry Village were consistently longer. So, I ended up only going to the Peet’s in Yosemite Village.

I love their drinks even more than Starbucks, but they are also a bit more expensive.

I was unpleasantly surprised when I ordered the promotional honey almond latte, and it cost $8. It did taste really good, though.

All three coffee shops (Starbucks and both Peet’s) are located inside of or next to food courts, so it’s easy to pick up breakfast, lunch, or snacks at the same time.

Degnan’s Deli also has my favorite water refill stations in Yosemite. They look like giant kitchen wash sinks, but the water is top tier.

Degnan’s has two public dining rooms, plus an upstairs lounge which is for park employees only.

The employees are pretty cool about letting you sit in there and charge electronics or do work, so, I ended up spending quite a bit of time in there.

Eventually, I had to try one of the sandwiches from their deli.

I ordered a Hiker Hummus sandwich on wheat, with added bacon.

The prices weren’t terrible, but they only had one size, which was small. I definitely could have eaten two of these.

It wasn’t great, but it also wasn’t bad. It was about the same quality as Subway or Togos. The hummus was okay, and the veggies were fresh enough.

Base Camp Eatery, the food court located at Yosemite Valley Lodge, is bigger (and usually busier) than Degnan’s.

They have one huge public dining room, with additional seating outdoors. The higher end Mountain Room Lounge and Bar are located just outside the food court, as is the gift shop.

I haven’t yet eaten at the Mountain Room or Lounge, but will update this review if/when I do.

Fun fact: one of my close friends was a line cook at the Mountain Room for years. So, technically, I’ve eaten their food, but I’ve never dined there 😅

The Base Camp Eatery menu didn’t look incredibly appetizing to me, but I had to try at least one hot breakfast of theirs before I left.

Base Camp is self checkout, meaning that all food orders have to be entered on a self-service kiosk and prepaid.

I was surprised that their POS already had a button for “No eggs, sub extra potatoes.” I would have much rather had fruit, but, whatever.

For $11.99, I got a big plate of country potatoes with two strips of bacon, and the tiniest croissant I’ve ever seen in my life.

I cut the croissant open as best as I could, stuffed it with strawberry jam (from the condiment station), wrapped the bacon around it, and ate it like that.

(Two of those strawberry jams were saved for later.)

The condiment selection in Yosemite is not great. If there is any sauce or seasoning you can’t live without, you should definitely bring it yourself.

The Ahwahnee

The Ahwahnee is located in its own corner of Yosemite Valley, just in front of the Royal Arches. Technically, it’s considered part of Yosemite Village, but it’s almost as close to Curry Village.

Surprisingly, there are no coffee shops at the Ahwahnee.

(If there is complimentary coffee for guests, then it must be well-hidden, because I’ve never seen it.)

Eating at the Ahwahnee Dining Room had been a dream of mine for years. Fortunately, my cousin and I were recently able to pull that off.

Because the Ahwahnee is currently being renovated, the regular breakfast menu has been temporarily replaced by an all you can eat buffet.

Even though it wasn’t busy season yet, it was somewhat difficult to get reservations. By Tuesday morning, they were entirely sold out for dinner that weekend, and only had three slots left for brunch.

I booked a 7am seating for my cousin and myself.

While I did not take any pictures of the buffet itself, it was set up beautifully. Hot dishes were served from pretty copper chafers, while cold items were served on ice.

All of the main breakfast categories had their own little buffet stations: oatmeal, yogurt, bagels, potatoes.

The bacon, sausage, bread, and pastries were in their own line.

As someone who does not eat eggs, I really appreciated the vegan sweet potato scramble. I sincerely wish all breakfast restaurants served something like this.

While I don’t usually eat chorizo, I wanted to at least try the chorizo gravy with petite biscuits. It was phenomenal. The gravy flavor had so much depth to it.

Surprisingly, the bacon and sausage were my least favorite buffet items. But I loved the oatmeal and yogurt bars.

Coffee and juice were included in the buffet price, and we both chose pineapple juice.

I loved the mini Danish, but failed to use any of the mini Bonne Maman jams brought to me.

Not only was our breakfast delicious, but it gave us all of the nutrition we needed to hike to the top of Vernal Fall, which we did right after breakfast.

This was definitely my favorite meal in Yosemite. I’m looking forward to using my employee discount to try the dinner buffet 😋

Curry Village

From best to worst: Pizza Deck, Meadow Grill, Bar 1899.

Well, I’ve been to Pizza Deck many times over the years, so, the first thing I noticed was that their menu had changed.

Some of the pizzas had the same names, yet completely different descriptions.

The first pizza I tried was the Half Dome: marinara, mozzarella, ricotta, pepperoni, salami, chili flakes, basil, chili oil, and honey.

Out of all their pizzas I’ve tried, this was by far the best. Even though the crust was a bit doughy and Americanized, it was still good, and the toppings were legit.

The next pizza I tried was the Firefall: marinara, mozzarella, pepperoni, pickled jalapeños, ranch, and chili oil.

The Firefall was also pretty good, but not as good as the Half Dome.

The last pizza I tried was the Mother Curry: Thai curry sauce, mozzarella, tomato, red onion, mushroom, cilantro, and garlic oil.

This pizza was TERRIBLE. It was the worst curry pizza I’ve ever tried in my life. I do not recommend this pizza.

While I was on my way to the Mountaineering School, I noticed that the Meadow Grill was about to open.

I was excited to have something different, so I stopped by on their first day. I may have been one of their first customers of the season.

I ordered the carne asada burrito, super. It was about the size of a $5 burrito from Taco Bell.

The carne asada was terrible. Really, really bad. I actually had to spit out some gristle.

The cilantro tasted really fresh, but you can’t make up for bad meat.

Maybe it was just a bad day for them, though, because they have stellar reviews on Yelp.

I think I’m going to give them another try.

One of the goals my cousin and I had for her trip was to try at least one of the bars in Yosemite Valley.

We chose Bar 1899 in Curry Village. The drinks were good– the drinks are good everywhere in Yosemite. Alcohol is the one food category that is reasonably priced.

The food, on the other hand, was not so great. We ordered the Sierra Smashburger, which came out looking like a sad, practically plain double cheeseburger.

The fries weren’t great, and there weren’t many of them. Needless to say, we were not impressed.

I will update this review if/ when I try any of the other bars.

Village Stores

Aside from the restaurants, there are also several small stores around the Valley that sell alcohol, food, gifts, and camping supplies.

Most of the food in these stores costs about three times as much as normal, but can still be cheaper than eating out.

Of course, the cheapest option is probably to bring your own food from home, or to stock up in Mariposa.

The biggest store is the Village Store in Yosemite Village, followed by the gift shop in Curry Village, the two gift shops at the Ahwahnee, and the Housekeeping Camp Store.

All of these stores offer very similar products, except for the Ahwahnee, which also carries some higher end souvenirs.

Just Outside Yosemite

The first time I ran out of supplies, I drove all the way to Merced to restock.

Before driving back, I stopped by the food truck Taquizas Gracian, and ordered two tacos durados de papa (mashed potato tacos in a fried shell).

Since they were parked outside a dispensary, I was expecting the food to be amazing, but it was really just okay.

The salsa was fire, but I would definitely not order these tacos again.

Next time I went out for supplies, I just drove out to Mariposa, which isn’t as far from Yosemite as Merced.

Again, I saw a food truck parked downtown during a busy time, and expected great things. Again, I was disappointed.

The carne asada was really on the “ground beef” side of the border between carne asada and ground beef.

There was no salsa in my burrito bowl, even though I asked for salsa. The bowl was so bland that I couldn’t help but think, “This tastes like it was made by a white person.”

It brought to mind a conversation I had long ago with my ex’s father.

I asked, “How come Mexican people always rip white people off on salsa? I never get salsa.”

He replied, “We’re not doing it to be mean. We’re trying to help you. Most white people say they like spicy food, but then cry if you give them spicy food. We’re just trying to give you something you’ll like.”

I LIKE SPICY FOOD, DAMN IT.

If there is great Mexican food in Mariposa or Merced, I haven’t found it yet!

Best for Last

Maybe Ramon’s Taco Truck doesn’t belong in its own section, but it is worthy of its own category.

Ramon’s is located in Planada on the side of Highway 140, about one hour outside of Yosemite Valley.

Ramon’s tacos are the best street tacos I’ve ever found in Northern California. (My favorite tacos of all time are in Santa Barbara.)

The carne asada is mind blowing. All of the other ingredients are flavorful and authentic. Portion sizes are very generous. And the tacos come with avocado!

Last time I was here, I decided to try a burrito, and loved it just as much as the tacos. It was huge!

Finally, my craving for good Mexican food, which went completely unsatisfied in the valley, was quenched.

Whenever I have the opportunity, I always stop by Ramon’s.