We recently had the chance to eat at Survivors Bar & Grille a few times while visiting the Wilderness and Glacier Canyon Lodge. It’s conveniently located by one of the indoor pools and had a sit-down and carry-out option. The hours were also convenient with lunchtime while playing in the waterparks.
Overall, the restaurant isn’t very large but has plenty of tables for the crowd we ran into. We ate inside the restaurant and had a great view against the windows to keep our toddler entertained, watching the activity in the waterpark as we ate. The bar area has seats at the bar if you’re just stopping in for a drink, and there were plenty of TVs if there are sporting events on.
One additional component that played into this review is convenience. The restaurant is located within the Wilderness resort and does not require walking outside or commuting once you are on the property. For this, it influenced the stars positively.
Service
Each time we visited, the service was excellent. While sitting at the table, we had friendly servers that were timely and on top of all parts of the meal. We have no complaints about the service.
Food
Since we were at the Wilderness for a few days, we could try a few different dishes at the restaurant. Overall, everything we ate was pretty good, besides the $9 kids’ mac and cheese (which was basic Kraft). The mac and cheese took the half-star away from this being a 4-star visit.
The volcano nachos were very good. The chips were very “fluffy” if that’s a thing. They weren’t your standard bagged chips but seemed homemade. There were plenty of toppings to go around, and we did add on the guacamole and ground beef. Both additions were worth the price and completed the whole dish. We split this between the two adults, and it was plenty for us for lunch.
The two burgers we tried were a monthly special of French dip and the Big Monty. The monthly special was good but did not compare to the Monk’s burgers we had a few days prior. It came with plenty of French dip sauce, a good-sized patty, and deep-fried onion strips. The Big Monty had good flavor and was not too spicy. The deep-fried avocado was a good touch; we’ve never had that before. A side of fries came with both and was better than average fries but not anything special.
The quesadilla was the top dish we got. It was fried well, stuffed with plenty of good ingredients, and hit the spot. If you’re looking for something off the beaten path of a sandwich or burger, this is the way to go.
The Yucatan Chicken sandwich also had plenty of good flavors and was large. Our toddler wanted some of the chicken and did not complain. The chicken didn’t have an overly smoky taste, but that wasn’t needed with all the other flavors on the sandwich. I would order this again for a non-deep fried or burger option.
The kid’s chicken tenders were just OK. Your standard chicken tenders, but a better value than the mac and cheese for the same price.
Drinks
We did have a beer while dining in the restaurant. The selection of taps wasn’t anything to return for. There were the basic domestics of Miller Lite and Bud Light. After that, there was one local IPA in Fantasy Factory from Karben4, Blue Moon, and I think one more wasn’t memorable. The prices were as you’d expect in the Wilderness, a little more on the expensive side. Nothing to write home about for the beers.
The bartender was amiable when I ordered some to-go drinks. He made a delicious Mai Tai that did not disappoint in strength as well as their special Wilderness Miami Vice. You can order these at other bars in the Wilderness, but the special drinks have some good flavors.
