Gunsight Saloon — Restaurant in Columbia Falls

Husband and I came to Montana from Ohio for our 30th anniversary. We are staying for a week, so we have tried several restaurants amd had positive experiences until now. We saw that the Gunsight Saloon had live music every night and the pics of the interior looked very western and rustic. With this being Friday, we thought this would be a good option. As we walked in, we saw a sign that said to seat ourselves anywhere. Ok, not a big deal. Then on the napkin holder on the table, it says to order at bar fir beverage and kitchen counter for food. So my husband went and got us menus we decided on an appetizer of chips and salsa, and we each chose a burger. I chose the Last Chance, my husband chose the Sportsman. There were a few options for sides, but under appetizers it said skin-on fries, so we though that is what they had, so that is the side we both chose. He went to the kitchen counter and placed our appetizer and burger order. They gave him a pager for when it was ready. Then he went to the bar and ordered our pop. We waited and waited. I had plenty of time to admire the decor, which is very nice. Finally, after close to 45 minutes the pager went off. My husband went to pick up our appetizer and came back with everything at one time! They apparently don't send the appetizer out first. Also, they don't ask how you want your burger cooked, and they were well done. Even crispy all the way around the edge. And the fries, definitely not skin on. They were more like steak fries, luke warm. There is a garage door by the bar that was open to the outdoor area where the live performance was, and they have a screen over that, but the door beside that was propped open, so flies were in the restaurant and I had to fight them off the whole time I ate. When we wanted refills, my husband had to go get them. So, we sat ourselves, ordered drinks one place, food another, appetizer and main course came out at the same time which my husband picked up for us, got our own refills, and fought off flies. And for what? To pay over $50 for service we would receive at a fast food restaurant. Definitely disappointing to say the least. L This is such a neat atmosphere and could be a great restaurant. Would not have thought it was completely self-service and filled with flies. I can't recommend any of the dishes. Maybe something besides the burger & fries would be better. We decided to not go outside for the entertainment after dinner like we originally had planned on. Will do more...

Beer and food is way too expensive for quanity/quality. A $16 order of wings got us 8 wings. Far short of a dozen, or a pound - the two typical metrics I expect when ordering wings (especially at that price!). Jalapeno poppers were woefully overpriced as well.

Manager also was strangely aggressive to my brother and I. We wanted to sit in the sun on the back patio, so to get out from under the awning we ducked a rope. In hindsight this was dumb and we obviously should've known better. Well we learned quickly enough, the manager came out and accused us of ignoring "at least 3, if not more", of her employees who apparently had all told us explicitly not to go under the rope. Literally not a single employee had spoken to us about this...

I guess they had replanted some of the grass in the lawn and were somehow worried that by sitting within 10 feet of it on a roped-off stone patio we would somehow damage it? No big deal, we made a mistake, reprimand us and move on, totally understandable. Not sure why there had to be a strange lie built into her case against us and why she was so aggressive. We were polite, apologized, and immediately moved of course, but were more than a little confounded by her behavior. To be clear, all the other serving staff and bartenders were really nice and friendly.

Long story short, overpriced food, ornery manager, would...

It would benefit the management at Gunsight Saloon to let the patrons of their restaurant how their seating and ordering works. Upon entering, it was very disorganized and people were wondering where to sit. There was one small sign that showed where to line up and place an order, but again nothing to show if it was self-serve seating or table service. The outside seating looked like a huge family reunion with tables strewn around and again - disorganization. It took waiting in a very long line to order and to finally be told it was self-serve seating, inside or out. Nobody was sitting inside so as one would guess most people didn't know they could sit inside. With the self-serve business model, it didn't come as a shock that they requested a tip at the register when paying for your order. You also had to pick up your order when it was ready. So the tip was a big fat 0%. Also it is self-serve soda and condiments. During our meal, it began to pour rain and all of the 100+ people outside came in like a hoard trying to find an open table. There are no coverings outside over the tables so if it rains, you're out of luck and your food is wet. The food was OK at best. Very overpriced for the quality and portions given. We tried it once and will be...