West Yellowstone Restaurants

I try to stay at places that give you some kind of free breakfast as part of the deal because breakfast is ridiculously expensive.

Favorite Dish: There were hot breakfast biscuits, cold cereal, and various pastries and beverages.

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Our plane was to board at 11:10 and get to SLC after 1300, and they would not give us anything except peanuts, so I thought maybe we should get lunch. There was a little place there called the Smoke Jumpers Cafe

Favorite Dish: The man there said he was still doing breakfast, but he could do mozzarella sticks or hamburger. So I had a hamburger. We just barely finished when they started boarding the flight.

When we came out of the park after two days without computer access, we dumped our stuff in our room. I wanted to get something for lunch where I didn't have to get out of the car. So we went through the KFC drive-through and got some mac and cheese (comfort food).

Favorite Dish: I considered other fast food possibilities which are

Arby's, 138 Firehole Ave, West Yellowstone (406) 646-7101‎
Dairy Queen, 40 N Canyon St, West Yellowstone (406) 646-4132‎
Subway, 136 Canyon St, West Yellowstone (406) 646-4106‎
Mc Donald's, 100 South Canyon Street, West Yellowstone, MT‎ - (406) 646-4592‎

But none of them seemed to have an accessible drive through.

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We were really involved editing our photos, but finally about 7:30 I decided that we should go to dinner. I drove around the restaurant area and finally said - the next parking place I see, we will eat near there. And I found a parking place in front of the playhouse and the Old Town Cafe was across the street. This was the only place not on the map the motel gave us and not mentioned in the AAA book.

Favorite Dish: In spite of the lack of recommendations, the food was good. I had the soup and salad bar and huckleberry ice cream. He also had the salad bar and a giant chicken fried steak. I ate some of his green beans which he didn't have room for.

I found that my credit card dropped out of my pocket when I left, and they locked it in the safe and kept it for me. I retrieved it on Sunday morning (they were open).

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This is the fun part of the Holiday Inn. The Oregon Short Line Railroad brought guests to West Yellowstone on as direct a route possible from Oregon to Wyoming, therefore the "Short Line" name. The restaurant used the name due to the fact that right outside of the restaurants windows sits a 1903 rail car from the Oregon Short Line.

The ambiance is western themed with the rail car as the focal point. This warm atmosphere makes ordering a nice bottle of wine a pleasure. The food is nothing out of the ordinary, unless you find buffalo meat one of the rare pleasures of the palate. American food is the main dishes offered.

Favorite Dish: I mentioned buffalo as one of the meats offered and so I ordered a Buffalo New York Steak. It was not up to the tender standards I enjoy with other types of meat and do not suggest ordering this offering. The Buffalo Chili was another thing entirely with the succulent meat enriching the flavor of the chili. This is a keeper. I spoke with the chef and he said that buffalo steak is a hit and miss dish with being on the tough side with many of the cuts. He claims that hamburgers, chili, and stews are a better use of the buffalo due to either being ground or pot cooked . Hmmmm.

Stopped in twice for breakfast here and at 7 in the morning it's nice to get a warm welcome. So much in the way of cakes and tarts, with the nice bakery smell wafting up your nose, it's hard to make a choice. The salesperson went out of his way to help my wife make a choice of tea, as there is quite a choice as well.

Favorite Dish: The delicious cinnamon cakes.

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Walking around West Yellowstone can make one hungry. I spotted this quaint diner, and once inside I was met with the relics of yesteryear. Great little memories on the walls, shelves, and scattered around the entire restaurant. I guess you could say it reminded me of a 50's cafe. Real touristy, but that's what most of the patrons seemed to be, and they seemed to be enjoying themselves, as well.

The menu has a little something for everyone and them some things you don't see in that many restaurants. Buffalo burgers and wild huckleberry ice cream sundaes are a couple of the out of the ordinary dishes. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner served here. Pure Americana.

Favorite Dish: Up in Yellowstone country and buffalo comes to mind. The ones that say America. The living, huge, beautiful buffalo. It is also a very much in demand meat. Sorry vegans, but this was the staple of the people of the land long before I tried it. And try it I did.

I found out that the buffalo that roam Yellowstone are not used but the meat comes from culled buffalo ranches. Try a buffalo burger that I found to be very tasty or the buffalo meatloaf at the Outpost Restaurant. Delicious.

An interesting place - a small restaurant tied to an area for take out. You order at the counter and they'll bring you your pizza, but this is not a table service restaurant. There's no liquor served here, but you can go to the bar next door and order a beer and bring it back over to the restaurant. The pizza itself was quite good. Loaded with toppings and comes to your table quickly. It ran me under $10 for the pizza, and I was pretty full when I finished it. A nice meal!

Don't sit near the door in the fall though - you get a nice blast of cold air every time someone comes in!