We're always looking for somewhere to eat that will be a bit different, and a bit better ,than the usual small town trailhead fare. Yeah, we've found good burgers in a few places, and every town has a pizza place, a Mexican place, and at least one BBQ joint…etc. But our last visit to Bishop gave us another reason to return. Not only was the hiking great, but we found a really nice restaurant there.
While the location isn't ideal (it's in a small local shopping center on the road that leads to the North Lake/Sabrina/South Lake trailhead) Sage Restaurant a step above the usual small town café. The menu is interesting, with enough dishes that we were tempted to eat there two days in a row. The wine list is reasonable, and has some good choices on it. And the whole feel of the place is more sophisticated and food focused than anything we'd expected–at least, anywhere on 395..
True, if it were in Napa, where we live, we probably wouldn't give it a second thought. But it's not in Napa. It's in Bishop. And if you want a culinary experience in Bishop, it may not only be a good choice—it may be your only option. We were delighted with it. Check it out the next time your are in Bishop: 621 W. Line St. #101 Town & Country Plaza.
On the other hand, we also stopped for lunch at the Cardinal Café in Aspendell. The menu had three choices–a hamburger, a hot dog, and a grilled cheese sandwich. We asked if they had a salad, and the very perky and cute waitress suggested that we could order lettuce, tomato and an onion on the cheese sandwich—and that would be kind of like a salad.
Well, not really. Oh dear.
Luckily, the guy running the store in the other half of the building pointed out that he had a green salad in his cold cases…and we bought one of those. It was green, a little faded, and came with a package of dressing in the box. But we won't go out of our way to eat there again…
