Tall Cedars Restaurant in Donegal is one of those old-time bar bars which I’ve drunk in many times but never ate in save for a few late night refueling stops.
In fact, I had never set foot in the dining section of the restaurant until last week. I arrived about 8:30 AM on a Saturday morning to find myself the only patron seated. Usually this is not a good sign. The building is of log construction and the dining room is paneled in wood with a large, genuine stone fireplace dominating one wall. Heavy wooden Captain’s chairs and tables completed the décor which could have been very homey and welcoming if maintained with a bit more care. Perhaps my biggest complaint regarding the atmosphere was the pervasive odor that appeared to emanate from the heating system. Instead of the aroma of food cooking, I was assaulted by the fumes of a poorly vented oil furnace. The menu was presented and it listed only standard breakfast fare with no items of a local nature included. I ordered eggs (over easy), sausage, home fries and toast at $5.95. The food took a bit longer to arrive than I would have expected given I was the restaurant’s only patron, but I’d still call the wait acceptable. 
The sausage was two large patties about the size of a McDonald’s burger, probably close to 2 ounces each. Although clearly a pressed product, it was well browned and remained very juicy. The home fries were made from fresh potatoes with the skin left on and were well cooked if a bit under seasoned. The eggs were the only real problem in that they were cooked medium, well on their way to hard, instead of the over easy as requested. Not a bad breakfast, but it’s hard to recommend a place that can’t cook an egg properly. Later in the day I was still in the area so I dropped by for lunch, this time stopping in the bar. If you’re the type of person who is intimidated by a local crowd who can be a bit rough, I would suggest eating in the dining room. This is the type of bar where they have a stainless steel mirror in the restroom to replace the glass ones that kept getting punched out. The beer selection is mediocre, offering only national domestic brands with a sprinkling of imports. No premium or craft brews are stocked and the draft system has been out of commission on my last few visits. The lunch menu is more extensive than the breakfast menu with a heavy emphasis on Pizzas, Stromboli and Cal zones. Taking this as an indication of what I should order, I settled on a small cheese pizza ($5). It didn’t take long for the four slice pizza to appear and my initial impression was that there would be issues with the crust. It looked dry, under cooked and somewhat pasty looking. My first bite confirmed my initial impression. The crust was bland and somewhat “biscuity” in texture. The dough exhibited some kind of an issue with the yeast that I couldn’t quite pin down. It appeared either the yeast was old and inactive, or the dough had been stored too long after it was made. In addition, I found the sauce overly sweet for my taste, although I recognize many people prefer it prepared in that fashion. The cheese was of an acceptable quality, but was over browned. Simply a substandard pizza in my view. Sometimes I’m frustrated by Urbanspoon’s insistence on giving a restaurant a ”like” or “don’t like”, but at other times being forced to choose neatly sums up the writer’s true opinion. In the case of Tall Cedars, although I have been a patron of theirs for many years, based on my two most recent visits, I’ll have to choose “don’t like”.
