Dining

I’m going to be really honest here on a couple of things:

  • We don’t go out much. There are plenty of places we haven’t tried.

  • We think that quite a bit of food in Bozeman is overpriced and underwhelming.

In light of those things, we’re going to give you a list of restaurants that we personally like, ones that you really shouldn’t waste your time on, and a few notes on some others. We will update this as we try more spots!

If you want to try a restaurant, and it isn’t on this list, that just means that we probably haven’t been there! I’d say go for it!

Let’s get the weird stuff out of the way first:

So you want to go to a brewery/distillery:

All breweries/distilleries, regardless of whether or not they serve food, have “last call” at 8 pm.

The number of drinks you are allowed is also limited. A brewery is only allowed to sell you a total of 48 oz of beer, while distilleries are only allowed to sell you a total of 2 oz of liquor.

This is not the case for normal restaurants or bars with “beer and wine” licenses, or “all beverage” licenses. It is only for those businesses who operate under a “distillers license” or a “brewers license”.

  • Things get weird here with alcohol and restaurants. People joke (“joke”) that the Montana Tavern Association is kind of like the Mafia. They do a lot to make sure that they keep their pockets lined, including making sure that Montana is stuck with some archaic laws established just post-prohibition.

    Without going into too much detail, the gist of it is that cities and counties have a set number of “beer and wine” licenses and “all beverage” licenses available, based on population size. When a new license becomes available, it is offered up via a competitive bidding process. In 2019, an “All Beverage” license in Bozeman sold for $1,100,000.

    It is much cheaper to get a brewers/distillers license! However, you are only allowed to sell the alcohol that you make, you are limited in the total amount you are allowed to sell per person/per day (technically, these are “samples”), and you must quit sales of alcohol by 8pm.

    It’s all very weird, and it makes certain things (like our venue’s beverage policy) tricky.

Coffee

Bozeman is a university town and has quite a number of coffee joints! We’ll recommend a few below. Please do yourself a favor and do not go to City Brew for coffee (pastries are ok!). You’re better off getting coffee at a fast food joint.

Breakfast

    • Storm Castle Cafe (Bozeman - near MSU): This is our favorite breakfast spot (it’s probably good for lunch, too!). The portions are huge, and all of the meat comes from their own farm. Everyone’s friendly, none of the silverware or coffee cups match, and the owners still work there, even after 15 years. If the monte cristo is available, you should probably get it. Typically open Wednesday - Sunday (9am - 2pm). No reservations.

    • Granny’s Gourmet Donuts (Bozeman - near MSU): Granny’s makes one thing, and one thing only: donuts, and they’re the best donuts in town, hands down (Katie’s favorite is the strawberry donut. Oliver’s is the apple fritter!). It also has the added benefit of having an amazing owner. This small donut shop is located on the other side of the building from the Storm Castle Cafe, and is open Fri (7am - 2pm), Sat/Sun (8am - 2pm), and that’s it. CASH ONLY.

    • Feed Cafe (Bozeman): Feed is one of those bougie breakfast places where millennials go to get avocado toast. As they should, because the food at Feed is delicious. The place itself isn’t fancy — you order up front and take a number to your table. They have a small selection of baked goods, and offer various espresso and non-espresso beverages.

    • Vienne (just off of downtown):‍ ‍Vienne is a delight! They have a standard list of French pastries, loaves of fresh bread, and have a few select treats that change from time to time (like bread pudding, or this, or this, or this). They also have a few more substantial breakfast items to offer. Everything they do, they do well. The owner is great. Closed Mondays.

      • Vienne is also a wine and port bar, with some amazing evening food offerings. I have just discovered that their chicken pot pie is no longer just a special, but a regular evening menu item. GET IT.

  • BREAKFAST

    • The Western Cafe (downtown Bozeman): A great spot for a traditional greasy spoon breakfast with an old Montana feel, and reasonable prices. The cafe has been around since at least 1933, and is in one of Bozeman’s oldest buildings. 6am-2pm, 7 days a week. No reservations.

    • The Coffee Pot (Just south of Four Corners): A cute little spot offering coffee, baked goods, and breakfast items, along with their handmade pottery, and some other home goods! Menu | Instagram

    • Main Street Over Easy (downtown Bozeman): Typical diner breakfast food! Mon-Fri: 7am-1pm | Sat- Sun: 7am - 2pm.

    • Cat Eye Cafe (downtown Bozeman): An eclectic restaurant with a cat theme that is very popular. Katie ate there once, and couldn’t mentally get past their “The Way” (list of rules?). She thinks that maybe it’s supposed to be funny, but it just comes off as rude. She doesn’t remember the food. Lyle Lovett really likes it, for whatever that’s worth.

    • Jam! (downtown Bozeman): Jam! isn’t bad. We just think it’s overpriced for what you get. It has a nicer atmosphere than Feed, though.

      PASTRIES

    • Wild Crumb (N. of downtown Bozeman): A VERY popular spot for coffee and pastries, offering a large selection of baked goods.
      If you like your croissants darker on top, go to Wild Crumb; if you like them more golden-brown, go to Vienne.

    • Aurore French Bakery (Four Corners, and downtown Bozeman): They use flour, butter, and coffee imported from France, and sell a selection of imported foodstuffs. They have a bigger selection than Vienne, but we think Vienne does it better.

Lunch

Most places listed under “Breakfast” and “Dinner” overlap with the lunch category. Here are a few options that we view more as lunch spots.

    • Fink’s Delicatessen (N of downtown Bozeman): We don’t really go out for lunch very often, but when we do, we go here. Katie loves the turkey sandwich with extra pickled red onions the best, but they’re all good. Open for dinner.

    • Cafe Zydeco (Bozeman - by the mall): One of… four? cajun restaurants in Montana. Dining in is usually better, flavor-wise, than getting things to-go. Open for breakfast, too, with beignets on the weekends! Closed for dinner (sad). Plenty of seating and easy parking. Katie’s favorites: breakfast wraps, shrimp & grits. Oliver recommends the bread pudding with bourbon sauce.

    • Naked Noodle (downtown Bozeman): A Bozeman staple. A variety of noodle-based dishes and salads. Open for dinner.

    • Five on Black (downtown Bozeman): Brazilian-style build-a-bowl, plus cheese bread! We haven’t been in a while, because that means going downtown, but it was always good in the past! Open for dinner.

    • Maven’s Market (just E. of downtown Bozeman): This is a great place to get things like fancy cheeses and meats for an impressive charcuterie board! They also have breakfast and lunch sandwiches, coffee, and gelato. If you want to spend $12 on a grilled cheese sandwich, I’ve heard it’s amazing.

    • Pickle Barrel (Bozeman @ MSU, downtown Livingston): Bozeman’s OG sandwich shop.

Dinner

Just FYI, even with the fancier restaurants, there really aren’t any expectations as to how you’re dressed. It’s Montana. It’s whatever. If you want to go to a fancy restaurant, and all you have left is a t-shirt, you probably won’t be the only one wearing one. I’d recommend at least wearing shorts with it, though.

*DTB = Down Town Bozeman

  • Note: Listed prices are the general cost of an entrée.

    • Revelry (DTB): New American, consistently tasty, our favorite go-to. Beer & wine. ($20–30)

    • Red Tractor Pizza (W. of DTB): This is fancy pizza. A 16” will run you $40. We think it’s totally worth it. They source things as locally as possible, and can accommodate gluten-free (the crust is pretty good), dairy-free, and vegan. Heck, the first time Oliver had this pizza, he thought it was so good that he asked Katie out afterwards! Beer & wine.

    • Whistle Pig Korean (DTB): The best Korean food we’ve got! Delicious. Beer, wine, sake, soju. Closed Sunday/Monday. Dinner only. ($20–30)

    • Gallatin Riverhouse Grill (Big Sky): Not only is it the best BBQ place we’ve got, it’s also the only one worth anything. I’ll even forgive them for being Texas-style BBQ. Usually busy. Beer, wine, spirits ($20–30)

    • Ousel and Spur (Big Sky): Italian/fancy pizza. Nice atmosphere. Beer, wine, spirits. ($25-40)

    • Pizza Campania (Bozeman - Cannery District): Delicious wood-fired Neapolitan style pizza. Beer & wine. ($20-30)

    • K2 Hideaway Grill (Main & 19th in Bozeman): Pork chop sandwiches!? You bet! And greasy burgers, and etc… Yes, this is located in the liquor store. We most commonly do take-out, but there’s seating in the dive bar hidden behind the restaurant’s kiosk! ($15-20)

    • Mark’s In-and-Out Beefburgers (Livingston): A classic Livingston experience! Take-out only, served out of a cute retro building. Burgers, fries, milkshakes. ($5)

    • Montana Ale Works (DTB): Pub food done well. Consistently good, with plenty of seating! Wine, spirits, and a decent number of beers on tap. ($20–30)

    • Backcountry Burger Bar (DTB): It’s burgers! They usually have a nice variety of beers to choose from. Note that fries do not come with the burgers, and must be ordered separately. Beer & wine. ($10–20)

    • Shan (Bozeman Cannery District): Bozeman has one Chinese restaurant, and it’s not messing around (in a good way). Reservations recommended. 2024 James Beard finalist. ($30-50)

    • Tanglewood (W Bozeman): American Bistro. A little higher-end, but not too fancy. Decent happy hour. Good cocktails. ($25-35)

    • Fielding’s (DTB): Located in the Armory Hotel. This is fancy date night stuff! We’ve been once and it was expensive, but delicious. Beer, wine, spirits. Reservations recommended. ($30-60)

    • Brigade (DTB): Oliver and I sacrificed ourselves to bring you a review. I was forced to eat an amazing bison short rib, and Oliver had a delightful bison-stuffed poblano pepper. Flavors were on point! Beer, wine, spirits. ($30-50)

  • Higher-end Bozeman Restaurants That People Love and We Think are Ok - Reservations Recommended

  • Exactly what it sound like. These restaurants aren’t bad, but also, why bother?

    • City Brew: Please get coffee basically anywhere else.

    • Mackenzie River Pizza: Very forgettable.

    • Pho Sai Gon

    • Sidewinders: Go to Aleworks instead.

    • Roost Fried Chicken

    • Pompey’s Grill (Three Forks): Not bad, but hit-or-miss, which seems not terribly worth it for the price. The Russian honey cake is really good, though.

    • Bitterroot Bistro: Granted, we came here soon after it opened, so take that for what you will, but our experience was middling. The price was NOT middling. Beautiful menu, beautiful food, but a flavortown letdown (I hate that I wrote that, but also, I’m leaving it).

    • Sushi: Do you have good sushi places at home? I’d recommend eating at those.

  • Look, if you Google these places, they’ll be full of hundreds of great reviews. Bozeman is full of a lot of people with a lot of money, and really mediocre taste buds.

    • Burger Bob’s/The Spur/whatever they’re calling it now: I would rather eat at McDonald’s, or our sketchy Burger King.

    • Hokkaido Ramen House

    • Rib and Chop House: If you want to go to a Rib and Chop, go to Livingston. It’ll still be mediocre, but it’ll be better than this.

    • Open Range: This used to be the BEST place for a steak. It isn’t anymore, but the prices are just as high as they were when it was actually worth your time.

    • Merry Piglets: The blandest Tex-Mex ever.

    • Bourbon: Overpriced and underwhelming BBQ.

    • Ted’s Montana Grill: Katie really wants to like this one. She’s been to many of the ranches that the menu items are named after. It just… well, it isn’t bad, but it isn’t really worth your time.

    • Trucko Montes: Used to be Taco Montes, but now maybe it’s a food truck? I’m going to be very honest with you. It’s actually pretty good. But the owner is a super rude, homophobic bigot — I’ve got the screenshots to prove it.

Drinks

  • ***DO NOT GO TO BAR IX - This is a college bar where people get roofied. Also, it smells like butthole and desperation.***

    Montana has a whole website dedicated to finding a happy hour near you: https://mthappyhour.com/

    • Shine Beer Sanctuary (DTB): So many different kinds of beer on tap! Like, really good ones. They also have a store, so you can take beer with you! There aren’t a ton of places to get a really good dark beer, and they have MULTIPLE. Apparently, they have food now, too.

    • Bozeman Taproom Beer + Spirits (DTB): Many beers on tap! They also used to have a great burger, but they cut corners and it changed. We haven’t been in years, so who knows!

    • Ale Works (DTB): Quite a few beers on tap, plus liquor! Also great for dinner.

    • Devil’s Toboggan (Bozeman - Cannery District): A cocktail bar styled like a speakeasy. It’s cozy, and the cocktails are fun! Wine and beer are also available. They serve a selection of appetizers and dessert!

    • Tanglewood (W. Bozeman): Great drinks, great happy hour, great food.

    • Plonk (DTB): Plonk used to be the extra swanky place to get cocktails in Bozeman. They were so expensive! $12? Are you nuts?!
      Well, times have changed, but Plonk’s prices and quality have remained the same! Tasty drinks, in a cozy atmosphere in downtown, at normal Bozeman cocktail prices! Hooray!
      They also serve dinner! We’ve never tried the food, but it looks good.

    • Brigade (DTB): A bit noisy during happy hour, but the prices are great, and so are the drinks!