30 Best Restaurants in Helena, Bozeman, and Southwest Montana, Montana

Fresh seafood, steaks, poultry, and pasta are served in this elegant restaurant that's one of southwest Montana's finest eateries. Try the scallops Provençal, sauteed with tomatoes, feta cheese,and garlic. A cafeteria-style lunch is served from 11 to 1. A rotating exhibit of paintings by local artists lines the walls.

The art deco–inspired interior, often filled with live jazz music, is a hallmark of this small but spacious restaurant, which started out serving comfort food but has branched into tapas and more exotic, internationally influenced but locally sourced fare. Favorites include the creamy tomato soup with fresh rosemary and the apple-tizer: black pepper feta and Flathead Lake apples drizzled with Montana honey. Look for menus items like lentil burger bowls, bistro steak frites, and rainbow trout served with saffron gnocchi.

Blue Moon Bakery sets out a tempting array of scones, muffins, cakes, and cookies. They also serve sizeable sandwiches and gourmet pizza.

This longtime local favorite for Mexican food, margaritas, specialty pizzas, and burgers is set inside a handsome historic downtown building but has a modern, rustic, real-Montana feel. Good bets from the Mexican side of the menu include pork chile verde burritos and mahi-mahi fish tacos, while the Surfing Pig (with Canadian bacon, grilled shrimp, pineapple, mozzarella, and barbecue sauce) is a favorite among the pizzas.

At night this restaurant fills with the boisterous merrymaking of the après-ski crowd—particularly Friday night, when a throng gathers for an all-you-can-eat fish fry. The menu includes Asian soba noodles, grilled rainbow trout, and lamb burger blended with mint chimicurri. There are several local beers on tap and happy hour is 3--6 with $4 drafts and $2 off wine by the glass and house cocktails.

Some call it funky; all call it good food at a fair price. Named for the shape of Grandma's glasses, this small family-owned restaurant serves up a sense of humor with breakfast and lunch, including a "Purrfect Lunch" special; "Look for the Catastrophe" (scrambled eggs with taters, toast, and veggies); the "Felix" (a breakfast sandwich with prosciutto, roasted red pepper aioli, spinach, gouda cheese, and a fried egg on a torta roll); and the banana bread French toast.

Multiple TVs, each tuned to a different sport, line the brick walls of this friendly place. The bar claims 20 beers on tap, the better to enjoy what locals call the town's best hamburgers and other hearty pub fare. In winter opt for buffalo chili. The fish tacos, bison burger, and beer-battered fries also get rave reviews.

Hungry Moose serves deli sandwiches as well as basic grocery items.

Here, in the middle of cattle country, you can expect the juiciest, tenderest steaks—such as the hand-cut rib eye—all made from certified Angus beef. Jambalaya, salmon, and baby back ribs marinated for 24 hours are also on the menu. It's a small chain, but a local one in Montana, Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado.

Wooden booths give this cozy restaurant an old-time, casual feel. Potatoes figure heavily into the breakfast menu, in items such as the Bakery Ladies' Special: potatoes and sausage, green onions, and cheese. There are vegetarian specials on weekdays, and the lunch menu includes burgers and enchiladas. Locals order the Tibetan Toad: scrambled eggs with sausage, green onions, cheese potatoes, and toast.

All the pies, muffins, and cinnamon rolls are made on the premises at this casual, family-friendly eatery. There are a lot of choices, but trust the name and go for the buttermilk or buckwheat pancakes topped with blueberries, strawberries, peaches, coconut, walnuts, or chocolate chips. Breakfast is served all day. There's also a basic lunch menu with sandwiches and salads and box lunches to go.

The creative deli sandwiches here have even more creative, often political, names. Try the Capitol Complex (loaded with different deli meats and cheese), or the Nuke (ham, turkey, roast beef, and three cheeses). The "clubfoot" sandwiches are stuffed, tubelike structures of specialty breads shaped like a can of beans. Zany decor ranges from old records dangling from the ceiling to various artists' paintings.

A deer head, often sporting sunglasses, surveys the cowboys and families that pack the counter stools and tables at this down-home breakfast and lunch spot. Peruse the local paper as you work your way through biscuits and gravy, eggs with corned-beef hash, or pork chops. There's nothing fancy outside or in, but for local color, this is it.

At Wheat Montana's Three Forks headquarters and flagship restaurant/store, you can enjoy tasty sandwiches, freshly baked bread, and pastries. You can even purchase grind-your-own flour from their Prairie Gold Whole Wheat.

Aaron and Megan Hecht make superb pizzas with crispy crusts, flavorful sauces, and memorable frontier names. Folks also come for the sandwiches, pasta dishes, and the live music hosted at the adjacent saloon.

This pub-style restaurant in the heart of downtown is housed in a historic building dating back to 1882. While it's a family restaurant, it's named for the political debates you're likely to hear while dining on burgers, sandwiches, mac and cheeses, and wings. The Windbag is known for its hearty and generous helpings and, of course, its history (ask about the brothel). It also has a large selection of imported and local beer, on tap and in bottles. Choose to sit in the restaurant, the bar, or on the patio in the summer.

Decorated with picks, shovels, and other mining equipment, this is a place for casual family-style dining. Locals come in for the steaks and seafood. Lunch and dinner are served year-round, and there's a breakfast buffet in summer.