Yellowstone Dining ?

Yea on 60 days. I was at OF for 2 nights in June but had a 7-year-old in tow so our meals were “get him fed with something he’ll eat” and not dining experiences.

We ate at the Geyser Grill (the fast-ish food place next to the Snow Lodge) on night 1. It was alright, slightly better than expected based on prior experience. I had a checken bacon ranch salad that was pretty good. We had lunch the next day at the Lower Basin General Store which is
west of the OF Inn between it and the gas station. This is usually my go-to eatery and it was good. My brother had the pulled pork sandwich and said it was quite tasty. For the 2nd night we were trying to sit so the kiddo could see OF go for the 7th time (he was obsessed, lol) so went with the OF Lodge cafeteria. I had the falafel plate which was cold (at 630PM), they were out of tabbouli but she gave me extra hummus so I had enough hummus for days. My brother tried their pulled pork and said it was inedible with big hunks of fat (it looked awful too). For breakfast on our final morning I’d seen on the website that the Snow Lodge Obsidian Room had table service. My brother and SIL got downstairs first as the kiddo wanted to go walk the geyser basin at 630A in the rain so I hadn’t told them to check to make sure there was table service. There was only the fairly dreadful breakfast buffet with lukewarm food and miniwaffles that were like hard dry hockey pucks. We’d have done better eating another breakfast out of the cooler.

Our next 2 nights were in Gardiner where we ate very well at the Yellowstone pizza and at Wonderland Cafe.

We did not eat at Canyon but they have a General Store with grill and it’s pretty good. Check their closing time, though.

That last bison incident was something. Really the guy was NOT too close according to the bystanders. The bison had apparently been tearing thru the tent sites earlier and was not in a good mood.

Have a terrific time. Wear your bear spray.

Oh, give me a home, where the buffalo thrown …

We had two picky granddaughters in tow so we generally used the dinning room of the hotel. They all were good but not outstanding. Your should give any buffalo lots of space. Buffalo are not known for their pet ability or intelligence. Admire then from a distance in a car and behind a fence.

I agree with Pam's assessment of the possibilities.
The Snow Lodge Obsidian Room was good during a winter visit. During a summer visit, the 2 choices at Lake Lodge were good. Otherwise, we survived.

Consider picking up a cooler and picnic supplies for a dinner early in your stay.

Our best dinner several years ago was our "gourmet" picnic with a bottle of wine on the patio outside the Old Faithful Inn.

OMG

This is reminding me of our trip to King’s Canyon and Sequoia about 10 years ago, though we actually had a couple of reasonably good dinners in Sequoia.

Breakfasts in the John Muir Lodge in King’s Canyon were so poor - and so replete with environmentally irresponsible products like individually packaged cereal servings in plastic boxes, plastic spoons and forks etc - that I wrote to Dept of Interior Secretary Sally Jewell (who I knew) to complain about the ironic environmental farce that the vendor performed daily.

Thank all for your lessons about

the fairly dreadful breakfast

Canyon General Store with grill

Lower Basin General Store is usually my go-to eatery

Consider picking up a cooler and picnic supplies for a dinner early in your stay.
Our best dinner several years ago was our "gourmet" picnic with a bottle of wine on the patio outside the Old Faithful Inn.

And of course, bear spray.

My favorite restaurant in the Park is the one at Mammoth Hot Springs. I lived outside the east gate for 30 years, and we used to drive in to eat there. If you are driving up to the north loop of the Park, the restaurant is open for lunch and dinner (yes reservations for dinner). It's not too much difference in drive time to get back to OF or Canyon (note that there are 2 different routes between Canyon and Mammoth). Or drive to Mammoth on your way between Canyon and OF and stop for lunch - It will give you an opportunity to see the north side of the Park.

Have a great time!

My favorite restaurant in the Park is the one at Mammoth Hot Springs.

Mine, too! And, I like to top the night off with a drink or two in the Map Room of the hotel.

Obsidian at Snow Lodge is my second favorite, and I think it's fun to dine once at Old Faithful Inn. Lake's dining room has a great view. I'd book there one of your Canyon nights.

Enjoy! We've been there every season and loved them all!

Any reviews of

• Old West Dinner Cookout?
• Roosevelt Lodge Dining Room?

Otherwise, after looking at your suggestions and reviews (and also Yelp, Trip Advisor, & photos on those sites), what can I say, other than that lunch looks like the main meal and the cooler will get a lot of use.

It’s just amazing how the NPS has managed food vendor contracts so badly for so many decades.

We returned from Yellowstone and Grand Tetons last night. We did have dinner one night at the Old Faithful Inn dining room. There were 6 of us. We all agree our meals were good, but not outstanding. You pay for the wonderful atmosphere and the experience of dining at the OF Inn. We enjoyed doing it once, but we wouldn't do it again.

We did have dinner one night at Lake Lodge on Yellowstone Lake. We didn't have reservations. IIRC, the menu was primarily burgers, sandwiches, and pizzas. The food was good. The view out the windows is stunning. We also enjoyed having drinks on the porch of Lake Lodge overlooking the lake.

We liked the pizzas at the pizzeria (don't remember the exact name) at Canyon Lodge. It's located next to the Visitor Center.

We packed a lot of picnic lunches, which is the way to go for lunch. Especially when you are hot and sweaty. The picnic areas are very scenic.

We stayed at OF Snow Lodge for 2 nights. For breakfast, we did the Grab and Go. The pastries were decent. So glad we didn't spend the money on their breakfast buffet. It's expensive: $22 per adult and $15 per child.

The Roosevelt Lodge dining room usually gets good reviews. Its menu is generally too "meaty" for me. I DO like a drink on their front porch - usually the Lamar Sunset or Lamar Sunrise...can't remember which, haha. I see they have a new "Roosevelt Saloon" this year. I did not go in in June although I stopped there because I wanted to show my great nephew the pieces of petrified wood in the foundation of the building. (It's around on the right side of the building just past the front porch area!). He was arguing that he couldn't understand that a tree could actually turn to rock in the way only a 7-year-old can argue so I took him where he could touch it.

https://www.yellowstonenationalparklodges.com/content/uploads/2026/06/RL-LUNCH-DINNER-MENU-S26-V1.pdf

The cookout is enjoyed by most everyone. I've not done it (again....too meaty) but most love the experience. Food looks slightly generic to me but you might have a wonderful time in which case the food would be secondary to the outing to Yancy's Hole!

he couldn't understand that a tree could actually turn to rock in the way only a 7-year-old can argue …

LOL. When I was a kid, my Dad had some handsome bookends from California's Petrified Forest, near the Napa and Sonoma valleys.

But Pam, I’d love to hear your explanation about how that happens. No cheating or referring to Google’s AI or Wikipedia.

"But Pam, I’d love to hear your explanation about how that happens. No cheating or referring to Google’s AI or Wikipedia."

Well, I boned up on it a bit before hand as I had planned to drive back into the Petrified Tree area to wildlife watch. One of the videos I watched was this one:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Bf8ApJfwK/

As I understand it the particular specimen at Petrified Tree parking area is a Redwood. It was covered in volcanic ash and mud 50 million years ago. The content of the mudflow was very high in silica. Over the millennia the silica seeped into the cells of the tree and turned them solid.

I had expected questions but did not expect the big argument that it couldn't be rock because he couldn't touch it. Thank goodness a long ago Road Scholar instructor led us around the side of the Lodge and pointed out the chunks of petrified wood that are turned so you can see (and touch!) the trunk end and therefore the rings.