Montana's Rib & Chop House — Restaurant in Billings

Too often - 3 Stars

My wife and I have been dining at Rib and Chop House for maybe 10 years. And have very much enjoyed our experiences. But during the last few years, sadly there has been one new element - uncertainty. We now never know if it will be a great dining experience, or just another bland, overcooked, dry, tough meal. Because on any given day, Rib and Chop House might actually be very good. Or not; we never know.

The most consistent thing about Rib and Chop House today is it's inconsistency. My wife and I have said that to each other many times. The only true consistency is Robin. She is very professional, very courteous, very smiling and pleasant, and is probably a major reason we go there.

I have commented several times that my steak was tough and dry. But it might be very good the next time. A house speciality is the gumbo, often great because of the Louisiana heritage of the owner. But the next time we go, the gumbo could be bland and mostly tasteless. Two visits ago, I tried putting some sriracha in it to give it a bit of taste. That didn't help. But in our last visit, it was the original, very delicious, zesty, flavorful.

The other Southern speciality was originally the Fried Green Tomatoes . A few years ago I would always convince my wife to share an order of them. No longer; I simply stopped ordering Fried Green Tomatoes because they had become tasteless and dry.

This last visit the ribs were overcooked, burnt black, tough and dry, except for the last 5 or so at the small end, which were pretty good. The provided sauce was mostly ketchup-style, uninteresting.

My wife's Chicken Marsala was very full-flavored and moist. Excellent. But my mashed potatoes were cold and stiff.

This inconsistency must be a management problem. Someone there often is a good chef, but is frequently replaced by a burn-it, short order cook.

There is now another obvious management difference - portion cost control, an obvious strategy for short-term increased profits . My wife said the last time she was there with a group of ladies, that their dinner salads were so small that several ladies complained to each other. And ordered more food. Those ladies, a church group, probably won't go back.

There is another very obvious, and new, increased cost control. I ordered a LaCrema Pinot Noir. $14 per glass, not cheap. The glass was mostly empty. I have previously owned and operated TWO wine bars and can quickly spot a short pour. I estimated the pour to be between 4 and 5 ounces of wine.

Not long ago, the standard wine pour in an upscale restaurant was 6 ounces. Rib and Chop House poured 6 ounces in that not-distant past. Today, a very few restaurants are reducing the pour to 5 ounces. Their excuse was that wine prices had gone up. OK, yes, but the 5 ounce restaurants then also increased the price of a glass in addition to reducing the pour. Do one but not both.

I asked the waiter how much wine was poured. He said 6 ounces, so I asked him to check with the bartender. He apologized and said that the pour was only 5 ounces, not 6. It actually looked less than 5 ounces.

I have been to several good restaurants since my last visit to Rib and Chop House. EVERY ONE confirmed they were pouring 6 ounces, not 5. One of them said 6 but poured probably 8.

Rib and Chop House was a bit busy when we first arrived but mostly empty when we left. A few years ago it was mostly full for several hours. Our meal was $92 plus tip, compared to mid-$60s not long ago.

Yeah, maybe Covid increased prices and hurt restaurants. But some restaurants have taken that hurt out on customers.

We will go back. Robin will hopefully still smile and greet us by name when we do. Rib and Chop House is certainly capable of being a 5 star restaurant for Billings, but is too often a 3 star restaurant.

Did I mention that my wife said the ladies room was out of toilet paper in all three stalls?

I just got an email from Rib and Chop House stating that the firm is now offering franchises. A major change in company...

My fiancé and I came to Billings for our date night last Sunday and decided we'd go to the the Rib & Chop House as it was in walking distance of our hotel. It was not busy at all so I was quite confused as to why the four tables of people needed to be seated right on top of each other when there was obviously plenty of open seating. That definitely took away from the atmosphere for us as we felt crammed with the other tables, and not much for privacy. Our server was Tami. After we ordered our drinks and an appetizer she informed us of the specials of the night which included a wagyu steak special. My fiancé and I both decided on the wagyu, each with a side salad as well as the mac n’ cheese and sautéed mushrooms. I will note the drinks were great, as well as our appetizer. The salads were average. When the steaks and our side dishes finally arrived I thought it was odd for our steak plates to be sizzling hot, as if they were just microwaved. However both our side dishes were cold. Upon further inspection, our “wagyu steaks” looked exactly like the Baseball-Cut Top Sirloin off the regular menu. Nevertheless, we finished our meals and honestly were not yet disappointed with our experience at this point in the night because after all we were just out for a night of fun. When the check arrived we decided to leave a generous tip even though the meal was overpriced for such low quality. But as someone who also works in the food industry, I felt our tip would be truly appreciated, as I myself am always very grateful for tips and understand that the customer is choosing to splurge their hard earned money. We were the last customers in the restaurant when Tami took our bill, and as soon as she made her way to the rest of her coworkers we heard her very clearly snicker to the rest, “Wow, I feel bad for taking these people’s money, they just gave us a $70 dollar tip for microwaved steaks.” The rest of her coworkers joined in at laughing and mocking us. We were absolutely shocked by their ungrateful behavior, especially our server Tami. On the Billings Rib & Chop House website you’ll find their “Values & Beliefs”, to which Accountability is among some of their values on the list and I quote, “We hold ourselves to the highest standards because it is the right thing to do.” After speaking with the manager about this awful experience, I truly hope Tami and the rest of her coworkers take accountability for their unprofessional behavior, and strive for a better “Sense of Service” (another Rib & Chop “Value”) for future inevitable customers. However, we certainly do not recommend the Billings Rib & Chop House after this...

The $137.00 bill for lunch was well worth it. Drinks were nice and food was fantastic. Have the lobster tails.

The food was better Sunday afternoon than after 7 pm. After 7 pm, my chicken fried steak was Luke warm, and mashed potatoes were cold. Big portions, too, so cone hungry. I came over from my hotel, the online pictures gave a warm Friendly feel and when I walked in I was welcomed with 2 hostesses man and women and no need to identify here thank God 🙏🏼!! I sat at the bar. The bartender was a bigger guy, really pleasant, attentive, and poured a nice call sunrise. I ordered the tenderloin 9 oz. with 2 lobster tails, from where I was the past 3 days I was starved, so good smelling and tasting food is what I craved BAD!! The steak was not Med. Well, the inside was, but it had good flavor and needed no steak sauce. The lobster obviously was not boiled in salted water, but I added some, so no biggie. I was pleased about my experience, especially the bartender and staff, they were all friendly. The restaurant was nice, and it had a good chi. The locals were nice too, but the bar was surrounded by new hotels, so I'm pretty sure 50% were from elsewhere. As I said to start, I went back at 7pm for dinner, but the only thing that wasn't great was the food warmth and my salad was obviously the bottom of the bucket with thousands of carrots and cabbage pieces, way more than lettuce. The bartender (a Jamaica accent) made me the salad, and he tried blaming someone else when I complained, I told him he should have noticed that from the start. I asked him if he had prepared it? He stumbled and probably recalled just then he lied about "i hate when they do that," but admitted he made it. I ate it cause WTF, right? It's only salad. The blue cheese was thick as peanut butter, tasted good, but it, like peanut butter, just rolled around the lettuce picking up all the fines of carrots, and I gave in quick. After the food was cold, MY mouth said, "I'm out." I'd go again, but during the day to see the bartender with the mustache and beard. Day crew was top...