Road trip to Yellowstone. Any recommendations for restaurants or wine stores to visit along I-90 in Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming or Montana (as far west as Billings)? I’m expecting I’ll be bringing my own but hope to be pleasantly surprised.
That’s what I thought
Boy, I loved that drive when I did it 15 years ago. I’d love to do it again sometime. Unfortunately, wine wasn’t a priority when I went, so I don’t have recommendations for the trip out. Once there, however, there is a nice store with a good selection of upscale wines in Moose, WY called Dornan’s. Here’s a link to their bottle list:
I just drove this stint last August. I really don’t recall seeing much of anything, let alone anything wine related. Keep an eye out in western MT, but don’t hold me to it.
And to get you more jazzed up about the ride, here is a mental picture of western MN thru eastern MT: corn corn corn corn soy corn corn COWS! corn corn soy corn.
(If I may recommend also, having a few solid albums of stand up comedy on the ipod or on cd is a fantastic way to kill a few hours. Depending on your threshold of sensitivity, Patton Oswalt makes my jaws hurt from laughing, as does the great Bill Cosby.)
pretty thin soup. What are your dates?
In SD I highly recommend the Prarie Berry winery. They have made very impressive wines that I have tasted at the Mid American Wine Competition.
Vaguely thinking of driving from Minneapolis to Denver through mt Rushmore at some point in future. Get 2 baseball stadiums off my list. Any luxe places to stay along the way? On quick search a while back it seems casinos are the fanciest places along the way. Right thread to ask this question
I-90 thru mn isn’t the hot bed for wine stores. Fairly agricultural. Might be better to think DDD as some great dives and drive ins, and I mean real drive ins, along the way.
that’s funny!
My folks have lived in Rapid City since 2001, so I’ve spent a good deal of time out there. Sadly, the best restaurant in town just closed…big loss for the community. If you stop in Rapid City, it’s worth checking out Canyon Lake Liquors. It’s by far the best shop in town. Andy has a distinctly modern palate, but his shop has a nice selection of wines that fit anyone’s palate.
Deadwood:
Jake’s Fine Dining - Owned by Kevin Costner, this place likes to bill itself as “South Dakota’s most expensive restaurant”. The food is quite good, and if we’re being honest, it’s not that expensive.
Rapid City:
Dakotah Steakhouse - right off I-90, this is somewhat new to town. they have a tendency to over sauce dishes, but if you stick to big proteins you should be happy.
Delmonico - located in downtown Rapid City, this is now the best restaurant in town. great place for steaks, but i’ve also had some of the best scallops there. they’re flexible with corkage too. i really like this place.
Hill City:
Alpine Inn - this is about 30 minutes from Rapid City up in the Hills, but it’s worth the drive. for lunch, this is one of the most authentic German restaurants I’ve ever visited but it changes at dinner to a steak house…with only two menu choices; “small” & “large”. you get a filet mignon and a wedge salad. food is great, and they have a big German beer list. The town of Hill City is fun to walk around too. The Inn is situated about a 1/4 mile from “downtown” which features a lot of shops.
I don’t know a ton of options in the Spearfish area, but would be happy to talk to my parents about additional options.
Yes, actually quite pumped about the trip. We’ll be driving right by Moose so I’ll be sure to check it out. Thx! Any idea on the prices?
Well, except he won’t be in western MT if Yellowstone is the goal ![[snort.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/b/bdc3944606213c4dca6c1169cf0a166c8bc4f8c9.gif "snort.gif"){kind=small}
I haven’t been back to Billings for a while, but City Vineyard was OK: http://www.cityvineyardwine.com/
The place with a decent selection and good prices was the Osco drug.
I guess I’m not sure where exactly is considered to be ‘western MT’.
I was probably thinking of Bozeman MT. We were only there for a couple days before we dipped down to Yellowstone, but there was a cool wine bar/restaurant there. Plonk might be the name if I remember right. Upscale/trendy type joint as far as small college town Bozeman MT goes. It was nice. (Though this is a moot point if the OP was about wineries)
And just to clarify I was kidding about the ‘corn soy cows’ scenery bit. I did find the drive to be beautiful, and that having been my only driving trip out west it was mind boggling how truly huge this country is. The people were also extremely friendly along the way.
Regarding Yellowstone, if you haven’t been there, make all accommodations as early as you can. We showed up like a couple doofus midwesterners without anything planned. Cabins, backcountry camping passes, and even the good campsites with shower facilities all fill up daily within hours so it will behoove you to get online now if they will let you and make some reservations.
Awesome, Thx! Is there some inside joke about Prarie Berry?
If there is an inside joke, I don’t know it.
I just have never thought of it as any good.
Their Marquette took a gold medal at the 2012 Mid American Wine Competition (chief judge is Doug Frost, MW and MS). It also got the award for the best red wine of the entire competition.
Dont forget Costco’s. They are all over and a good place to look for Champagne and Bordeaux. I bought some 2000’s back in the day in Bozeman. Also, Chico Hot Springs is an old time resort not far from the north entrance to Yellowstone. THey have a pretty nice wine list.
I’ve driven I-90 a dozen times from Seattle to Rochester, MN, pretty much every summer. The only real serious wine restaurant is in Gilette, WY at a place called The Prime Rib Restaurant. They have a huge wine cellar, and the owner is definitely a wino. I’ve had a number of conversations with him over the years, especially back when they had some screaming bargains on well stored older bottles. Gilette is now a coal boom town, and the restaurant has expanded greatly and has a showcase glass enclosed cellar. He probably still has a bottle of 1990 DRC RC on the list, in the old days it was listed at $1,100 or something, now it’s probably $5,500 or more. Used to run a special like 25% off any bottles on Mondays, not sure if they do that anymore, as I try to avoid staying in Gilette any more. Another good steak house there is the Chop Shop, good food, not as wine oriented.
If you’re an adventurous eater and willing to try some tasty grub from the Southern Hemisphere, I believe there’s at least one Outback Steakhouse in each of the states you’ll be traveling through. The menu tends to be traditional Australian fare such as chicken quesadillas, spinach/artichoke dip, California chicken salad, etc. They do a lot of grilled meats and fish, as well as a delicious Australian parmesan pasta (which is a favorite in my family as it reminds us of our trip down under where we were treated to unbelievably fresh and delicious parmesan pasta almost every night). Here’s the menu.
http://www.outback.com/menu/menudescriptions.aspx
Their wine list is small (http://www.outback.com/menu/pdf/drink.pdf), but they keep whites nicely chilled at about 36 degrees F, and ALL their wines get a good “audouze” - often several days worth. The Mirassou Pinot Noir really starts to shine with about 6 days of air at room temperature. Save room for dessert as the Chocolate Thunder from Down Under is not to be missed! It’s a dense, chocolate cake-like cookie that the Auusies call a “brownie” that’s then covered with ice cream and chocolate!
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