Buglin' Bull Restaurant and Sports Bar — Restaurant in Custer

We checked in at the Holiday Inn Express in Custer SD and asked the nice lady at the front desk where her favorite spot to eat was in town. She IMMEDIATELY pulled out the Menu for Buglin' Bull. We looked over the menu, including the Bison Stuffed Mushrooms, and figured we'd give it a go.

Place looked clean, modern, and inviting both inside and out. We were seated promptly and our waitor came in a reasonable amount of time. We ordered a flight of beers, the bison stuffed mushrooms, mac & cheese with an upgrade to shrimp, and an elk stew in a bread bowl.

Our hilariously terrible experiences are as follows: -The bison stuffed mushrooms came out and were TINY. Sure, there were about 10 of them, but they were the size of quarters. No bison meat to be found... more of a cream cheese like stuffing. They tasted good but I would give them 3/5 stars for lacking size and meat

-The Mac and Cheese was $9.99 if I recall, but the shrimp was an upcharge to $17.99. The bowl came out like a soup. It was so watery you could have poured the cheese through a straw. There were 3 shrimp on the mac. 3 shrimp for a $8 (if I recall the base price correctly) upcharge.

-I brought the lack of shrimp to the attention of our waitor, politely, and without asking for anything specific to be done. Simply mentioned "I would have expected to see more." He shot back "I have no control over things like that. I'll ask my manager to come talk to you." He turned and walked away.

-Another lady immediately swooped in behind him, within 5 seconds of him stepping away... like she was lurking in wait. She didn't introduce herself but stood awkwardly at the table. I asked "Are you the manager" and she said she was, still without providing a name. I mentioned my concern again "I think for $7 you might expect more than 3 shrimp." She said "I agree. I'll go and talk to the chef about it," and walked away. No mention of bringing more shrimp, asking if I'd like something else, asking if she could comp part of the meal, or offering a desert or drink on the house. Nothing at all. Just acknowledged the concern and walked away. Weird as heck.

-The Elk stew was like $16 and came with a 1-cup serving in a bread bowl. Oh well. It was good.

-But the real icing on the cake was the sliding glass door cooler by the bar. They were charging $7/glass for wine. Hilariously, it was coming from boxes of wine in the fridge/cooler. Guys, if you're going to charge bottled wine prices you can't pour $7 glasses from a $7 box of wine. Grow up.

Even funnier.... there was a glass full of draft beer in the fridge/cooler. Someone must have poured the wrong beer for a customer and they were saving it waiting for a customer to order that same beer so they could re-use the one in the cooler. You guys are SO cheap you can't pour our a glass of draft beer when you mistakenly pour the wrong thing for a customer?

Anyway, although the place was nice to look at and sit in, the service was a joke and while the food tasted good it lacked the enough that it wasn't food we would ever go back...

Just finished eating here. We were seated quickly, but the waitress took at least 10 minutes to arrive at the table. When she arrived we gave her our order, but she seemed as through we were putting her out. We should have left and moved on to a different place to eat. It took at least 10 more minutes for our waters to arrive. If it was busy, I would understand, but it was not. Our six onion rings arrived, we asked for ketchup, which arrived 5 minutes after the onion rings were eaten. A family arrived after us and ordered at the bar and received their food before we did. Our waitress never checked in on us between the time the onion rings arrived and this family received there food. At this point she stopped by to let us know our ticket was being "worked on". Probably 20 minutes from onion rings to lunch service, which arrived via someone not our waitress, who never stopped by the table. Chicken sandwich, burgers, and fries were all cold and two of the orders were incorrect, still no waitress. I had to ask the host to flag down the waitress, which took another 5 minutes for her to arrive. Again she was put out, rolled her eyes, and left to correct the order. Seems as though she felt we should have been satisfied with cold food, which we did not order. She never once checked to see how the food was, how we were doing, or refill waters, but the check did arrive in a timely manner. At which point she told my daughter, that the she would bring the kids meal cookie. It took another 10 minutes for her to acknowledge I was ready to pay the bill. When she arrived, no cookie. Another 10 minutes to swipe the card and return, no cookie. I asked about the cookie and she stated, "I have other thinks to do also", with attitude and another eye roll. Remember, she said she would bring the cookie in the first place, we were not asking for it. We waited again for the cookie and as she passed by the table, she dropped it off without acknowledgment. Honestly, the worst service I have ever had. At the end the hosts were apologizing as they had been observing. I understand bad days, and I do not need much in a server, and I do not mind waiting for service in an appropriate time frame based on a busy day,, but our family did not deserve the disrespect that occurred on this day. I hope this...

Edit 8/16/22-both of the cards we used to pay with at this restaurant have been used again in the restaurant without our approval. We live very far away and it definitely wasn’t us. I have tried to contact them on every outlet available, several times. I have received no response and have since had to cancel both cards. Total hassle and I have no idea if it was theft or what because no one responded to ANY of my messages. Sad because I really liked this place and hoped to return. If I do it will be cash only, I won’t be letting my card out of my sight. 😔

Very nice staff. Food was great. Restaurant is clean and decorated in such an amazing way that is perfect for the area. So many cool things to look at while you sit and dine. Restaurant, bar, upstairs or deck seating available, all are equally cool but the deck is amazing on a good weather day! We visited twice in the 2 days we were there. We sat in the bar area and ordered a Chicken Caesar wrap with garlic Parmesan fries and a Bison Burger with slaw the first visit. Everything was delicious, just wish we would have asked for a m/w burger because it was just slightly over cooked. Still delicious tho! We had Blue Moon drafts and they were cold, fresh and garnished correctly. I also got a Long Island Tea and it was perfect. The next day we just stopped in for some beers and nachos on the deck. Nachos are huge and come with all the perfect toppings! Deck closed early tho so we didn’t stay long enough to try anything else. Everyone here was very friendly. I really want to compliment the host staff that makes you feel immediately welcome upon entry. We got there late the first night, after a long drive. We were turned away with dirty looks by 2 other restaurants. The young man was smiling when we walked in the Buglin’ Bull and said we serve up until 10, no problem come on in! The server didn’t treat us like a pain either. Nor anyone else. I could tell the manager took pride in his job as I observed him interacting with the staff and guests. The bar and bar furniture is a must see if passing through. Just an amazing little place that I’m so happy we stumbled on while visiting Custer! Thanks for the great experience! (I was too tired to remember pics of the first meal, but these are...