You can enjoy the fall colors and eat lunch at the Fall Creek Falls Inn at Fall Creek Falls State Park
photo by Janet Wilson
We decided to take a drive up to Fall Creek Falls to enjoy the fall colors and ate lunch at the Fall Creek Falls Inn. It only takes about an hour to get there and the beautiful scenery is definitely worth the drive. The food wasn’t bad either!
The inn offers a Southern style buffet with the menu changing daily. On Friday nights a seafood buffet is offered – that might be worth another drive.
The Sunday of our visit, in addition to the usual vegetables such as mashed potatoes, green beans, carrots, etc., there was dressing, creamy potato soup, and salads. Meats featured were sliced beef in gravy, fresh farm-raised catfish, and from the carving table, ham and turkey. I noted in the salad area, whole baby beets rather than the usual sliced ones.
It was nice that a large container of fresh tartar sauce was available at the salad bar area rather than those little tear-open packages. However, it would have been more convenient had it been located near or after the catfish because you had to circle back after you found out catfish was being served at the other end of the bar. I enjoyed the potato soup as it was rich, very smooth and creamy. The potato pieces were not overly large and made for a delicious cup of soup to start my meal.
The catfish was delicious. A cornmeal breading fried to a nice crispness with the fish being left moist and flaky on the inside. My favorite “meat” of the day! Several breads are available on the buffet, including hushpuppies.
The turkey was some of the most moist turkey I have ever been served in a restaurant. Seems most places overcook it to the point of dryness. I also noticed the carver had no problem giving customers two pieces. I’ve been to places where they’ll plop this one small piece on your plate then lay the knife down – as if to say “move on”. Here she held the knife and asked “is one enough?” I only took the one, but I noticed others taking two as well as two of the ham, which I did not try. Wayne did say that the ham was fork tender.
The mashed potatoes were rather blah. They really didn’t taste instant, but even adding salt did not add any flavor. Maybe they were made with water rather than milk.
The desserts were not very impressive, except for one. There was a banana pudding with toasted meringue topping, but it was ice cold and tasted instant to me. A few puddings and some fruit made up the rest of the selections, as well as my favorite. It tasted of caramel, so I am guessing it was a caramel cake. It was extremely moist with caramel drizzled over the top and parts of it seemed to have a pudding consistency. I only ate one small square, but I think I could have eaten half the cake!
Our server was one of the friendliest, happy servers we have ever encountered. She did a great job of checking on us, keeping drinks filled, and making everyone smile with her sense of humor.
Hours for the Fall Creek Falls Inn buffet are Breakfast daily from 6:30 a.m. until 10 a.m.; Lunch Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.; Dinner Monday through Thursday, 5 p.m. until 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday dinner, 4:30 p.m. until 9 p.m.; and Sunday, lunch and dinner, 11 a.m. until 9 p.m. Don’t forget, they are in the central time zone!
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