Westward Social — Restaurant in Big Sky

My family and I are from a seaside resort in Newport, RI. My son is a chef at a upscale small restaurant, my daughter worked in one of the most renown restaurants until she went off to work in New York city. We read the reviews on Westward Social and were undecided if we should try it but am happy we did. Molly was our server and was very attentive and you could tell she really wanted us to enjoy our meal. She went above and beyond since it was clear she had other tables that were full. So good job Molly !! The food was far better then we expected. My son and daughter were both impressed and that is saying something since they can both be critical at times. I had the macaroni and cheese topped with roasted veggies since I felt the fried chicken would make the dish to heavy. To my surprise the cheese sauce was light and amazing - perfect. My son had the short ribs which he loved, my husband tried the bone marrow, again wonderful. All in all a great meal. So people try this place out, there were a few kinks - no dessert spoon which we had to wait for - soup we did not order - but great tasting. It's a new place so be a bit flexible because the service and food...

We made a reservation for a 40th birthday dinner and had high expectations. We were gravely disappointed. First of all, half of the menu was unavailable. No ribs, no elk, no draft beer! Our waiter said there were no birthday specials and upon bringing our drinks immediately dumped a shot of Jameson all over someone in our party who was wearing his sweet new jeans. Mind you, he hasn’t shopped in ten years and now probably has to go back to wearing mom jeans. The waiter was apologetic and brought another shot which he bought. So there’s that. I was the unfortunate one at the table to receive a piece of hair with a chicken sandwich wrapped around it. I was planning on eating it anyway since I’d spent all day skiing and was famished. But upon further inspection another, longer, more troubling hair presented itself. I waited for them to bring me another sandwich while everyone else ate their own subpar meals. I got tired of waiting and canceled the sandwich because it was taking so long, so then they immediately brought it. It wasn’t very tasty....

Very disappointed and I would not go back to this restaurant again at least this year. I’ve eaten in lots of really great bbq restaurants and this place is not one of them. I honestly think the ribs and brisket were cooked in an oven and really didn’t have any smoked flavor. There was no crust or evidence of spices or brown sugar etc on the ribs or brisket. No bbq sauces were available to use to even try and add some flavor. On top of this, they had no draft beers available and I was told it was due to their cooler malfunctioning and was in the process of being replaced. You would think that they would have an ample supply of bottled beer, but they only offered us 3 to buy and none that I liked. As for the service, this was just as bad and only two servers were working the dining room. Wayyy understaffed for sure. I will say that they’re a new restaurant so hopefully over time they’ll improve, but as of the 2020 ski season, I’d stay clear...