Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge is an Oak Creek Canyon resort unlike any other. It was built back in the 1900s during the homesteader days. While it has changed names and been passed on through different families, the traditions and beauty of the original lodge still stand today.
The original log cabin was built in 1908 still stands today and expanded into the kitchen and dining room. When the Todd Family bought the property in 1928 they began to share their family table with guests and established a new tradition. At that time, the families that came to fish Oak Creek would stop at the Todd cabin and would share dinner with the Garland’s family.
The food was delicious and fresh: Fried chicken, apple pie with homegrown fruit, and peaches with cream were often served. After a time, one guest that frequented often, suggested building a cabin for his family. Thus, Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge began with a season lasting from Easter weekend until Thanksgiving.
Today when visitors come to Garland’s they still share the family table with other guests. Dinner is served every evening at 7:00 pm and includes four delicious courses of locally sourced, seasonal fare. Most of the produce comes straight from the organic orchards, gardens and greenhouse. All of the eggs come directly from the chicken coop on the grounds and the cider used in many cocktails (or served straight up) is pressed each fall from the apples they grow. Trout is caught in Oak Creek and turned into amazing dishes like trout with corn fritters for breakfast and trout pâté at tea time.
Guests are served a hearty breakfast each morning, with a changing daily menu. Guests love Georgie’s Homemade Waffles, breakfast enchiladas and omelets with rotating seasonal produce inside. Tea time is served daily at 4:00 pm in the main lodge. Guests sip warm or cold tea and socialize around tables in comfortable chairs. Snacks served up include almond streusel coffeecake, brandied wild mushroom pâté, garlic artichoke spread and to die for banana nut bread.
Dinner is served at 7:00pm. Seating is assigned and guests sit with one another to encourage conversation. Each meal begins with a big bowl of soup. Sometimes the soup is a colorful bowl of vegetable minestrone and other times it is zesty albondigas de pollo in a spicy tomato broth. After soup, comes the salad course with fresh greens and produce from the gardens. The main course varies from roasted pork tenderloin with roasted figs and sweet onions, to roasted duckling with blackberry zinfandel sauce. Desert includes warm chocolate soufflés, light and airy lemon shortcakes with fresh summer fruit or blackberry peach cobbler. Every dish is made with extreme attention to detail and with true care. By the end, you will have to waddle back to your cabin, to laze by the fire, or look up at the stars until you fall into a peaceful slumber.
Eating at Garland’s feels like eating in the home of a loved one or long lost friend. The dining room itself is cozy and intimate while the food is familiar and hearty, yet special and elegant. Often referred to as “rustic elegance,” Garland’s delivers high quality, 5 star level meals with the down home charm of yesteryear.
Dining at Garland’s has received rave reviews from food writers over the years. The Culture Trip covers the best art, food, culture and travel across the globe. Recently, they listed Sedona’s 10 Best Restaurants and Local Eateries and Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge made the list.
“Found amongst the lovely Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge, a sixteen-cabin lodge in the heart of Oak Creek Canyon, the dining service of Garland’s makes an already great location wonderful. A small and select restaurant, they offer a standard breakfast menu, but it is their special dinner service that is worth the visit alone. A new prix fixe set menu is presented every day by their chef Brian Widmer, with an emphasis on sharing tables and making new friends over great food in a casual but elegant setting” –The Culture Trip
Travel+Leisure has named Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge as one of Sedona’s best kept secrets, writing:“What Garland’s has is peace (no televisions, no phones), an idyllic setting in Oak Creek Canyon, and glorious food: reasons enough for the fiercely loyal clientele to rebook their cabins for the same dates year after year after year. It’s certainly easy to understand how missing one of chef Amanda Stine’s dinners could put a damper on the rest of your year. There’s just a single seating each night in the rustic lodge’s dining room, and only one dish for each of the four courses. But with entrées such as roast tenderloin of pork with lobster mushrooms and apple-cabbage compote, Stine proves that she’s a master of vividly flavored New American cuisine. Ingredients often come from the lodge’s own organic orchards and gardens; the cherry tomatoes in my salad were nothing short of a revelation.” –Libby Morse
The Arizona Republic has listed Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge as a favorite Arizona getaway, writing:“Few places join Arizona rustic with Sedona chic like Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge. The inn sits atop gurgling Oak Creek with walls of red rock rising above. A retreat can mean a morning hike and an afternoon massage, or fishing at dawn and yoga after lunch. Stroll the organic apple orchards, and if it’s fall, you can watch the workers making cider. Cabins start at about $235 a night and include full breakfast and four-course dinner. And the food! Longtime chef Amanda Stine has created a mecca for seasonal Arizona flavors. On her menu: Oak Creek trout with corn oysters, tomatillo bisque with lime crema, beef tenderloin with ancho chile cream and bittersweet chocolate souffle. Plan ahead. This lodge books fast and you might be making reservations for next year.” –The Arizona Republic
If those reviews aren’t convincing enough, AZFoodie has also written about her stay at Garland’s, as well as Foodies West, Sunset.com, 10Best.com and Flagstaff Business News.
Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge is treasured by many. The guests that have been coming each season for decades hold Garland’s close to their hearts. The Garland’s experience is truly unique and unlike any other resort or lodge you may find in Sedona. If you are looking to take a Sedona vacation, stop by Garland’s.
All are welcomed with open arms, like old friends returning to say hello. You can check availability, book a stay or learn more at www.garlandslodge.com. You can also like and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for updates. Next time you are looking for a weekend escape, come to Garland’s Oak Creek Lodge for a getaway you will never forget.
