Kathy's Kitchen Watson Lake, Yukon; Good food, busy restaurant

Kathy's Kitchen Watson Lake, Yukon hit the spot. It sits on road frontage and is almost directly across the street from the Sign Post Forest. The restaurant is easy to find, the food was good and so was the service.

Don't expect a Lower 48 restaurant?
Kathy's Kitchen in Watson Lake only serves bottled drinks . You can get a glass to pour your beverage into if you ask for it, just don't expect ice. I had to acclimate to this, even though it's common for Canadian restaurants to serve sodas without ice. However, the drinks were well chilled so that helps.


One thing that diners need to know is that most sandwiches didn't come with side items. You have to order those separately and pay accordingly. This helped make the lunch price a pretty good deal, but it will ramp up regular lunch or dinner prices.

Writer at Kathy's Kitchen in Watson Lake

Price
Pricing was about what you would expect to pay at most restaurants in the lower 48. On special for $12.95 (Canadian), the Mushroom and Swiss burger was reasonably priced. It came with your choice of fries, vegetables or a tossed salad. Hubby took the fries and I ordered the veggies. Fries were served crisp and the vegetables were a good crisp tender. Everything was steaming when it hit the table.

Kathy's Kitchen dining tables

Service and food
Kathy's Kitchen was very busy. The place is obviously a hit and that seemed to account for part of the slow service that we received. We visited twice and both times only one server was on duty. This is not the place to eat if you are in a hurry.

My burger was a little above medium well, but I'm didn't make a stink about the situation because the service was slow. What really mattered was the taste of the burger and quality of the food. The meat seemed to be of good quality and the fries were crisp and tasty. All was good in the food department.

Kathy's Kitchen lunch specials

Poutine: National Dish of Canada

If you want sauce on your french fries, the order the Poutine. Not only is it the National Dish of Canada, but it is the answer to the mundane. French fries are covered in gravy and topped with cheese or cheese curds. Hubby really liked the Poutine, but I'll pass in favor of the ketchup.

Casual atmosphere
No white linens and cloth napkins here. As you might imagine, Kathy's Kitchen is a casual restaurant. Enter the front door, have a seat and the server will be with you in a minute. It probably holds 75 people tops. The server handles your order and you pay at the cashier as you leave. Easy peasy.

Burger and Veggies at Kathy's Kitchen

The interior is a comfortable casual. Chairs and tables seemed to have a natural wood finish. The muted tones of the walls and beige floors added to the comfortable casualness found within the restaurant. There are a few tables on the porch for outside dining.

Burger and Fries and Kathy's Kitchen

The atmosphere lent itself well to the simultaneous cross table conversations among the diners. Hubby and I conversed with a family that was relocating from Louisiana to Alaska, a RVing couple from Florida who live in their rig full time and also a local family. The conversations flowed seamlessly from one to another. Try that in a coffee shop or diner in the lower 48 and it may not work out so well.

Price
Our "out the door cost" for lunch was around $40 plus tip. The meal included two sodas, two lunch specials and a single order of poutine. Since we paid with a credit card we had the benefit of the exchange rate. That wouldn't have happened if we had paid in cash. Regular prices were much higher (although I don't remember how much and the menu photo didn't turn out).

Bottom line

I would go back to Kathy's Kitchen if in Watson Lake, Yukon. The proximity to the famous Sign Post Forest and friendly people make the restaurant worth consideration. So, what were we doing at Watson Lake, Yukon? Adding our old license plate to the Sign Post Forest. Check out this video.