Base Camp Eatery

Ate here twice when I visited Yosemite this September and loved this place. There are several types of meals to choose from so it was very convenient after a long hike in the heat. 

The Greek kebab was very-very good. The only negative part was that the chicken parts were way too large, I had to cut them myself.

You may disagree with me, but you gotta' think about where you are and what your choices are and then decide to see the brighter side of things.

Sure, this isn't fine dining. But it is consistent. We ate here for a breakfast, a lunch, and 2 dinners. The menu is not extensive. But the burgers are consistent and get you full. The chicken gyro was good, just needed more tzatziki on the side. The fries were great! The breakfast burrito was pretty good, just add some salsa from the communal area (haven't seen this much sharing since before covid!), the pancakes were actually quite yummy! And the basic breakfast was consistent and tasted exactly as it should! No pics of gyro or butgers - you know what they look like lol. We never waited more than 15 minutes, and this was with the line to the door. I don't know how they kept up with all of the guests, but they did - and the guests for the most part cleared out when they were done eating so that people getting their food would have a place to sit down. (It was too cold and rainy to eat outside.) Yes, basically it is a cafeteria, so you can't expect a Michelin star. But between the consistency, the efficiency, and the humor of some of the employees, a great option when staying at the lodge!

I was there a day after Christmas for lunch. It was a little busy, so I decided to order from the quick menu and avoiding hot foods. I thought it was going to be quick... after seeing the cooks speed up and slow down, I had a bad feeling. Then the workers on the side getting side dishes seem to be complaining more than working. After 35 minutes of waiting I saw manager and asked her how long should it take to order from the quick menu... she went over and asked for my order l, they (complaining employees) and they found my ticket and it took 30 seconds to pull my sandwich from the refrigerator.
Thai tells me a few things. 1. No seething of expectations or anyone to take the lead to prioritize orders. 2. There seems to be an understaffing issue. 3. Managers don't care are they were invisible.

I love coming to Yosemite, but a simple sorry could have some what saved my frustration of string at complaining employees and even more frustrated customers.

Simply STAY AWAY... the service is bad, food is not good either. I had the driest sandwich in my entire life.

Ordered the chicken gyro, chicken tenders, cheese burger, fries. Gyro is delicious and tasty ingredients, my go to next visit. Falafel salad looks amazing. The Mediterranean food is stand out here. The tenders, burger and fries is what you expect from a national park. The service is quick, chef Phillip doing it right, and the dining room is kept clean. Great ambiance, big glass walls overlooking the tree groves.

I can honestly say that there have been some improvements since our last visit in 2020. Unfortunately, these improvements were primarily because of the new ordering system. Several kiosks will take your order in several languages, though we couldn't figure out if we could place one order in two different languages. Our guest from Japan was able to order his own food in Japanese so that took some stress off of us. Once we understood what he wanted, we restarted the order in English and ordered and paid for everything on one check. While I am not a fan of self-checkout and ordering kiosks, I can see how this can make the ordering process less frustrating for non-English speaking guests.

Once we were done with placing our order and had our receipt in hand, a very friendly staff member helped us with our drink cups and pointed out where to dispense our own beverages. My companions went to find a table while I waited for our order number to be called. Because it was relatively early, about 7:30am, the wait was very short, about three minutes.

There are two styles of seating. Regular wood tables with wood chairs or taller wood tables with tall benches. I'm not sure who ordered those tall tables and benches. I would think that both older and younger guests might have a difficult time getting seated and if your feet don't reach the floor, sitting on those hardwood benches would quickly become uncomfortable. Of course, that could have been part of the logic because hikers might eat and then just sit all day if it were too comfortable.

I liked that the Garbage and Compostable containers were clearly labeled. There were also a few baking racks that held some trays that guests were supposed to bus their own plates and utensils to. The racks were also clearly labeled so items could be stacked in a way that made sense and prevent accidents.

And that's where the good ended. The food (yes, that's why we were there) was edible but only for sustenance and not overall enjoyment. The coffee was typical of institutional coffee, what I call "cardboard" coffee because of the sour cardboard aftertaste. Our guests enjoyed his short stack of two plate-sized pancakes. I do give credit that the syrup dispenser dispensed warm syrup. Pats of butter were also available. Two of us ordered the standard "Full Breakfast" without any upgrades. Two Pork Sausage, Scrambled Eggs, (Country?) Potatoes and a small croissant for $11 each. There were options to change potatoes for more eggs; upgraded pastries, etc. The sausages were fine albeit cold; scrambled eggs were created in bulk, unevenly cooked and bland; potatoes cold, dry and really inedible. The tiny croissant was the winner on my plate.

I'm sure that the employees do the best they can with what they have to work with. The non-competitive nature of National Parks Concessions does not create any reason for the vendor to seek real improvements since they have a captive audience in the park's visitors. If this quality of food were to be served outside of a National Park environment, I have no doubt the restaurant would be another casualty of popular opinion.

Not much special about this eatery other than it's located in Yosemite Valley and there isn't many other options. Ordering was easy on the kiosks and our sandwiches were ready quickly. Just average food at average prices. Not the most variety of food, but good enough to satisfy your hunger.

Kiosk ordering with food that's kind of fast food type .
I wouldn't highly recommend this . It's food if you have no choice I guess.
Hubby had the chicken sandwich on a pretzel type bun it was ok
I had fries and they filled me up for lunch .
You have to
Do the order on kiosk

It is hard to imagine how the food and 'service' could be worse here. Starting with the kiosk where you order, everything was poorly done. The items on the screen are not actually what is on order. The choices are very limited, and the food was bad. A simple cheeseburger was so overcooked and dried out, it had to be returned and a new one ordered. The fries went straight into the trash. And we observed others throwing their cold, stale, tasteless fries in also.
My black bean burger was tasty, and the Cole slaw was outstanding, with pieces of kale added in. That was literally the extent of positive feedback we could provide.

For a National Park location, I'd say this venue is great. Try to go outside of primetime ( 4-7pm for dinner).

Prices are reasonable.

Chicken sandwich and fries were good.
Gyro was not.

Can of pinot noir wine was actually pretty good.

One of the better options in Yosemite if you just want to eat and don't want to deal with long lines and massive crowds. It was basically the only eatery where we could find parking at noon on a weekday during off-season. You order on a kiosk and they come out with your food relatively quickly. We got some burgers and sandwiches. The quality of the food is not spectacular, but it's also pretty cheap so I would consider it decent value for Yosemite. They have a nice, clean restroom and you can sit indoors or outdoors.