Pine Lodge Steakhouse

McHenry, United States

3.6

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 301-387-6500
Website:
www.pinelodgesteakhouse.com
Address:
1520 Deep Creek Dr, McHenry, MD, 21541
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
No
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Full Bar
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Open now
Local time (McHenry) 4:46 PM Friday, July 18, 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 11:00 pm
Sunday 11:00 am – 10:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Pine Lodge Steakhouse offers freshly prepared food in a casual and relaxed atmosphere. In this majestic rustic log lodge, Chef Chad Fousek and his staff serve only the finest cuts of beef, chicken, cold-​water lobster, and crab cakes. A specialty of the house is their famous Creamy Crab Soup! Local favorites include Pacific Rim Ahi Tuna and Cranberry Apple Salad. Chef Chad creates his lunch & dinner specials daily.

History

Established in 2002.

Pine Lodge Steakhouse is a wonderful example of the log cabin style architecture traditionally used in the Deep Creek Lake area. Local craftsmen completed the impressive structure on May 21, 2002 when it opened to rave reviews as the area’s newest addition to fine dining. While retaining a comfortable flare for the entire family, Pine Lodge Steakhouse provides exceptional food at a fair value, great service and an extraordinary environment.

Meet the Business Owner

Smiley K.

Business Owner

Jonathan «Smiley» Kessler’s realized the need for a restaurant offering fine dining in a warm and casual atmosphere in the Deep Creek Lake area. The Pine Lodge Steakhouse philosophy is that of an independent restaurant as opposed to a franchise restaurant due to the highly seasonal business swings encountered in vacation resorts. PLS embraces the challenge of huge swings in various ways. We start with a more diverse menu than typical for a steakhouse. We have customers that demand a price point option on par with casual franchise restaurants and so we offer entrees below $ 15 that we are very proud of, like Mildred’s chicken, Prime Rib sandwiches, a great burger, terrific Crabby Chicken sandwich and a wide selection of crisp cold salads. We also make everything we serve from scratch. Our prep chef’s start at 5:00 the morning and prepare fresh food for our customers daily at Pine Lodge Steakhouse.

Pine Lodge Steakhouse also recommends

Smileys

25

reviews

Pizzería

,

Parques de atracciones

,

Karts

Smiley K. says,

«Smiley’s is our sister restaurant that specialises in provided great food and excellent fast service. Pizza, burgers, cheese fries, steak & cheese etc»

Deep Creek Sweets

Chocolaterías

Smiley K. says,

«You just have to get some of this great chocolate and don’t miss the dipped chips and fresh fudge!»

The Lodges at Sunset Village

3

reviews

Hoteles

Smiley K. says,

«The new cabin hotel suites are located across the street from PLS and provide excellent accommodations. Free wireless, flat screen TVs hot tubs etc»

Vicinity

Browse nearby places:
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Black Bear Tavern and Restaurant
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Deep Creek Gourmet
97 Fort Dr
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Lake Salon
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Smiley’s Old Time Photo
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Fun Zone Mini Golf-Laser Tag & Go Carts
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Deep Creek Sweets
1550 Deep Creek Drive 39 Fort Dr

20 reviews of Pine Lodge Steakhouse

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Fairfax, VA
First time to Deep Creek, came for dinner and it was a very nice setting! Staff were all super nice and welcoming! I’m sure the steak is great but we opted for seafood for dinner. Delicious! Would recommend for a nice date night in the dining room.
Place rating: 4
Lutherville-Timonium, MD
Went twice last weekend. Once for drinks, and once for dinner. Both were good experiences, and we’ll be back. Convenient location for skiers. Very friendly, efficient staff. Reasonably priced. Bartender recommended the crab soup — it was outstanding — and the NY Strip — outstanding as well. Dined in the casual bar area, busy but not overcrowded on a Saturday night. We’ll be back.
Place rating: 4
McHenry, MD
It’s been about a year since I went to the Pine Lodge as we had a really bad experience in 2015.
However, it is clear that the new GM really turned things around. The food was delicious and as promised per the menu. They combined the sides and bread again that presented value for the food.
The wait staff especially Macalah and the manager, I think her name was Kristen or Kristy were incredible. They were short handed and still able to meet our every need. Katie was also a very friendly and polite face to welcome us as we came in the door.
Overall, this experience turned my option and excited to have one of our favorite places back.
As a side note, we also stopped in for lunch in the bar and it was also a nice surprise.
Great job and we will be back this year.
Place rating: 5
Dallas, TX
This place was amazing. The steak was so juicy and tender. It was melt in your mouth. I tried the oak wood fired steak and filet mignon. They were both delicious. I recommend getting an accompaniment with your steak. The restaurant is also beautiful. I love how the inside is decorated just like a lodge.
Place rating: 5
Lynwood, CA
Great restaurant in Maryland near West Virginia. It has a nice view up on the second floor. My daughter and I had the New York steak strip. The steak was cooked just to order. I ordered a cranberry margarita that was not watered down. It had sugar on the outside of the glass instead of rock salt. I really liked it. Good ice cream we had for desert had a tasted like it was fresh out of the creamery!
Place rating: 5
Clarksburg, WV
I had one of the top filet mignon steaks of my life here! Oh wow! I will definitely return here anytime I want a great steak!
Place rating: 2
McHenry, MD
So inconsistent food is hit or miss. Nice atmosphere except when waitress are taking up all the barstools.
Place rating: 2
Rockville, MD
The service at Pine Lodge was actually just fine. Very friendly and sweet smiles. Our complaint was solely with the food. There was nothing that I would say was cooked well or even interestingly. The ribs were probably the best thing that we got. Fairly tender, but just nothing amazing. From there, the chicken was dry, the potatoes cold, and the shrimp chewy. It was also odd that they were, during dinner service, using a spray bottle to clean the tables. I haven’t seen that done anywhere apart from my local Taco Bell. Hey, I guess at least they were getting clean.
Long story, Pine Lodge was fine, just don’t expect much.
Place rating: 4
Franklin, TN
Really good steakhouse in the area. The food is a little pricey, but everything that I have tried there has been very good. Definitely a special occasion restaurant. The atmosphere and décor is pretty cool too. Great friendly service!
Place rating: 3
Columbia, MD
This place was nice, however, the menu did not specify that the sides were a la carte so we paid 4 $ for onion rings that we took one bite of. As well as a lot more for our dinner than we expected. The crab dip was mediocre at best, considering this restaurant is in MD. The drinks were good but the server could not tell us the difference between adding an «imperial» topping vs an «oscar» topping and used the words «.and stuff.» Very unprofessional. I’ve been looking forward to this place all week during our stay and was disappointed.
Place rating: 4
Mount Washington, Baltimore, MD
Definitely giving them a bit of a pass given the other options in this area. The waitress was slow and inattentive. My pet peeve is when the restaurant generally serves bread and my table somehow doesn’t get it. This happened here. We had to ask for it twice, and when it came out, it tasted homemade and delicious, which indicates to me that it is something they generally offer; I.e. Not something they threw together because I asked for it. When we asked the server for a second loaf, she said that it’s only loaf per table and she’d have to charge us for the second loaf… uh, we were a table of five and we had to ask for the first one! When she delivered the second loaf, the server left the empty plate from the first loaf on the table and placed the large steak knife in front of the three-​year-​old. The manager was very accommodating. He didn’t charge us for the extra loaf and offered us complimentary dessert. The food was pretty good. The tuna and seaweed salad was a big portion and the sauce was good. The tuna was fresh, but it could have used a better sear on the outside, though it was served rare as requested. The crab cakes were fresh tasting, with very little filler. The vegetables were heavily buttered, especially the asparagus, but they were well-​cooked. I didn’t try anyone else’s food, but it all looked appetizing, and everyone seemed happy with it.
Place rating: 4
Washington, DC
We had a fantastic dinner, Curtiss was the best server ever! The kids loved him, he told us about all there was to do and made them feel welcome.
Do NOT miss the Cherry Cobbler, it was the best we have EVER tasted!
Place rating: 2
Boston, MA
Stopped in tonight for dinner after not visiting here for many years and I have to say I was disappointed in general. The food was ok but not great and the place comes across as cheap and nickel/​dimey with their entrée garnish and small side portions. I think it’s ridiculous to pay $ 2-​$ 3 for a side and get a tablespoon of potatoes.. . really? The a la carte menu is annoying. Just raise your prices a little and give two normal portioned sides like most restaurants do. Seems like they’re trying some tourist trap trickery. I highly doubt I’ll be back.
Place rating: 4
Camp Hill, PA
A little pricey but everything was tasty and delicious.
Waitress was very fast and I would say the overall service was great.
Will definitely come again.
Place rating: 3
Lexington Park, MD
Overall, this place was great. The seating was spacious and our server was excellent and made great recommendations. My friends went with the filet and crab cake and thought both were amazing. I went with the Oak Barrel steak (along with another person in my party) and we both didn’t care for it. There was no flavor. Apparently the filet is where it’s at!
Also, order extra sides as the sides that come with your meal are definitely not enough. It’s literally a spoonful.
Definitely order the legendary cream of crab soup. Excellent!
You get 2 loaves of bread with honey butter; however, once those 2 loaves are gone… it’s $ 2 per loaf you ask for after.
Place rating: 2
Mount Airy, MD
The food was not too bad here, but not great either. My biggest issues were that the first two things that I ordered I was told by the waitress that they were out of. Finally on my third selection I found something that they had.
Then, I was a little disappointed to find that one of the things that I had ordered originally, which they didn’t have, was on the bill by accident. The waitress did resolve this without a problem, but was still a little annoying since I had already had the problems with what I ordered.
Place rating: 4
Hanover, MD
I’m not sure why this place doesn’t get more stars… every time I’ve been here it’s been fantastic. Their food is made fresh, the servers are always pleasant, and I always leave feeling full and glad that I ate there. In fact, whenever I’m in town, I make it a point to eat here if I can.
The oak barrel steak is one of the best steaks I have ever had. It’s always tender and juicy, and whatever they marinate it in is just the best combination of stuff to make it tasty but not overpowering. Everything is a la carte, but their sides are priced reasonably and are yummy, too. I ordered asparagus and mashed potatoes on this visit and they were both hot and delicious.
The appetizers are good, too. I’ve tried a few of the special apps over the years, which have been great, but always come back to the crab dip. It’s super good and served with both bread and chips. Pine Lodge has great drinks specials too, and some awesome local brews on draft. See you soon for my next visit, Pine Lodge!
Place rating: 4
Washington, DC
We have been staying at a vacation home at Deep Creek Lake for a week. We’ve been eating at home most of the time. But for our final night, we wanted to go out for a nice dinner. The atmosphere at this place was first rate – logs & rustic setting appropriate to the lake. Our ribeye steak was excellent, & the calamari was good enough. The place is pricey, though.
Place rating: 2
Sterling Heights, MI
This place was recommended to me as somewhere a vegetarian could put together an interesting meal of sides. Well, not so much. The sides did not look like anything special so I opted for the Pasta Alfredo, like the classic version of the dish plus some veggies. It was just OK. My side salad was also very ordinary (could have used a lot more green lettuce). I also tried the asparagus (even though I wasn’t making a meal of the veg sides, I wanted to try one). Again, pretty average.
My wife was very disappointed in her petite Filet Mignon. She ordered it well done and, per her, it was beaten into submission and cooked until it had no moisture in it (dry). When a woman (owner? manager?) came by to see how we were enjoying our dinners, my wife was honest about her disappointment. The woman explained that the menu said that all such well-​done steaks are butterflied, as if that were a reason that it should not be of high quality. The menu (the online version, at least) says «ALL 9 oz MEDIUM WELL AND WELL FILETS WILL BE BUTTERFLIED» in italics. My wife’s filet was a 5 oz. one. The woman gave a sort of apology but it rang hollow to me.
In summary, Pine Lodge was a disappointment for us.
Place rating: 4
Pittsburgh, PA
I was very skeptical about going to this place after reading all the bad reviews but It was the only place in Deep Creek that seemed to be a nice place to eat that wasn’t cheap or a pizza place.
So we made reservations which wasn’t necessary because the place seemed open to any seat we wanted. They had a huge party of guys, I assume a bachelor party along with a family of 9 which we sat right next to. I wondered why the hostess would sit a couple next to too large parties when their were more seats available in a more private area.
Luckily the two parties weren’t too loud. We looked over the menu and waited nearly 15 minutes before the manager came to our table apologizing for the long wait. She offered us two free drinks which turned our night around greatly. We ordered some beers and our waitress exclusively waited on our table. We started with a free appetizer that I received for checking in. After deciding on the calamari it arrived quickly and was fresh and hot. The seafood taste wasn’t as overpowering and chewy as some other places. It came with marinara and soy sauce. I preferred the marinara which was a great compliment.
For our entrees I ordered the Pine lodge salad which is a basic house salad along with the creamy crab soup. The salad was nothing amazing, I chose blue dressing as my topping when I should have received the balsamic. The soup though was amazing with large lumps of crab meat which is exactly what I wanted. The soup was so creamy and tasty. It made my taste buds explode with delight. My hubby ordered the oak barrel steak and it was so perfectly marinated. I’m not much of a red meat eater but I loved the flavor of this steak. We ordered it medium and it was very juicy and tender, all the things a steak should be.
The only down side is that the side dishes are al a carte so you end up paying extra for them. After our main course ended we opted for the dessert. I grabbed the peach cobbler and my hubby opted for the chocolate oreo cake. I don’t like chocolate cake so he had that all to himself but my peach cobbler was absolutely amazing! Perfectly crisp crust, warm soft peaches and an amazing ooey-​gooey texture.
I will definitely be coming back here if we ever return to Deep Creek. Especially for the Steak and Cobbler. MMMH!