4 Best Restaurants in The Adirondacks and Thousand Islands, New York

This café-bakery has light fare like soups, hot and cold sandwiches, and baked goods. Bag lunches are available, too, for skiers, hikers, or anyone who just likes to brown bag it. Outdoor seating is available.

This lively first-floor restaurant and bar at High Peaks Resort has been a hit with locals and out-of-town visitors ever since it opened in fall 2008. The menu has classics like big hamburgers and homemade pizza as well as steak. It's also great for breakfast.

Nestled inside the Mirror Lake Inn, the View warms you instantly with its mahogany paneling and views of Mirror Lake and the mountains and a seasonal menu that leans contemporary and sounds elegant. For example, you might dine on venison loin encrusted with pepper and coffee and served with foie gras and a black-currant reduction.

The upstairs dining room, called 110 West Main, begins service at 5:30 pm daily; breakfast and lunch are served downstairs; and all three meals are served outside, weather permitting. Salads and sandwiches are popular—try the grilled portobello mushroom sandwich. Alfresco dining is in a New Orleans–style flower garden with wrought-iron gates and a stone archway. Wine tastings are offered on some days of the week.