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Whatever the time of year, we are celebrating the seasons at Simon’s at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. We invite you to join us for an elegant, leisurely meal where you can relax in the ambience of by-gone years and delight your palate with culinary creations paired with thoughtful selections from our award-winning wine list.
Start your meal with a stroll through our luscious gardens and revel in a breathtaking view of the Wah-Gwin-Gwin Falls cascading 208’ down to the Columbia River below. Finish your meal with a delectable dessert like the Blackberry Pistachio Bombe. If you‘re looking for something more informal but nonetheless special, enjoy hors d'oeuvres and cocktails or a light meal at our full-service bar.
As often as possible we feature locally grown and organic foods and an array of the best from Pacific Northwest vineyards. And always we cater to your needs, dietary or otherwise, to ensure your experience at Simon’s is delicious, delightful and decadent.
 Who is Simon?
In the early 1900’s timber tycoon Simon Benson, also known as the lumber king, was a millionaire businessman and Oregon’s first promoter of tourism. Gasoline-powered automobiles had just hit the market and Simon believed these four-wheeled roadsters would be driving in a new industry—tourism. He believed in the majesty of the Columbia River Gorge and knew that if he built a highway from Portland inland to the valley, people would travel to experience the beauty. After all, if settlers had come all the way across America to find this land, surely people from Portland or California would do the same. Thus, with Simon’s help, the Columbia Gorge Scenic Highway was completed in 1920. And Simon was sure to be ready for the wave of travelers and tourists coming down the road.
In the summer of 1921, Simon spent over half a million dollars to build the Columbia Gorge Hotel, a world-class resort, the final destination along the route of the Columbia River Highway where travelers could enjoy acres of park-like grounds, a sweeping vista of the River and the finest accommodations and dining in the Northwest. He hired his good friend and world-renowned chef, Henry Thiele, who was then executive chef at Portland’s Benson Hotel, to manage the establishment and reign as executive chef where he applied his culinary genius and artistry in the Hotel’s Dining Room.
The glitter of Hollywood in its heyday and the lingering romance of the wild frontier made the west coast popular with well-to-do easterners and the social and political elite. The Hotel quickly became a favored retreat for movie stars, presidents, and other social and political dignitaries. These were the days of steamers and speakeasies, of Valentino and the Model T. A time when people were dancing the Charleston and listening to jazz at The Cotton Club. The Hotel was the epitome of luxury and success, a tribute to post-war prosperity and the magnificence of the Columbia River Gorge… and it still is today.
Although the décor has been updated over the years since Simon built his dream and Henry presided over the kitchens, the Dining Room retains its unique essence, the walls resonate with the echoes of conversations in by-gone eras, the dishes served still embody the flavors and aromas of the valley, and the view from the windows is ever as beautiful, as breathtaking.
In honor of the Hotel’s creator and first hotelier we have renamed the Dining Room Simon’s at the Columbia Gorge Hotel. We look forward to seeing you here.
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