Custer Deli — Restaurant in Custer

I usually dont like leaving bad reviews but reviews can make or break a company and if the owner doesnt know there’s a problem, they cant fix it. Place was tiny when I walked in and cramped with people waiting for food (4 people but remember I said it was tiny). I was literally up against the wall waiting to order so someone could pay for their food at the register. Had same problem getting out when I got my food. Lots of people is a good thing but its all tourists. You can have garbage food and people will still come. The key is getting people to come back though. Thats how you stay successful in the restaurant industry. Otherwise you’ll fade away eventually. I know. Ive owned my own businesses.

Half the menu is behind you so you dont see it when you walk in. Both small issues. Afterall, it is a deli. Saw the place online and was in the mood for their lemon blueberry pancakes. Nothing online said they stopped serving breakfast at a certain time. Drove there from quite a distance to get it just to be told they dont serve breakfast after 11:30. It was now noon. That was very disappointing. Had I known, I never would’ve drove there. So I decided then to order lunch and order the meatball and parmesan sub only to be told they were out of meatballs. So now Im very disappointed and had to look for a 3rd choice. Not off to a good start for a first timer. First impressions are last impressions.

So then I got the Cowboy burger. Sandwich was half cold when I bit into it and extremely mediocre at best for a hamburger. Cheese was cold and fake meaning they use cheap cheese with fillers in it. Nasty. Cheese should pull like strings without toppings coming off. This was a glob of a cold cheese they cooled into a patty. So gross. Geez. I mean Im getting a burger but still try to pretend people’s health is important too. Also there was supposed to be brown gravy on it but I saw none. It was very cold and dry and boring. The price of a hamburger these days, they need to be better than mediocre. I wouldn’t even have paid half of what I did for what I got. My girlfriend also had to go with a second choice. She doesnt like sandwiches so she had to settle for a small fruit salad. As a first time customer, you would think they would’ve made the exception on the breakfast when they couldnt give me my second choice instead of having to settle for a 3rd choice that wasnt even good and I never wanted in the first place. Only thing I liked was the employees attitudes. They were kind, polite and friendly which is the only reason why I’ll go back just to try the blueberry pancakes although I say that with hesitancy. If they arent outstanding, I’ll never go back and give this place my business. I could've walked across the street to the Saloons and got a way better burger.

This entire town so far seems to only have mediocre food. So far nobody in Custer has food that jumps out at me. There is some big entrepreneur potential in this town for sure that could easily put any of these restaurants, deli’s, bakeries and pizza joints out of business if they dont get with it and start taking care of their customers expectations and desires first. Its a tourist town so all these places care about is the money they make off the people, sacrificing the quality and customer service. Quantity over quality. Very very sad. This town has a 46% poverty rate so you think you’d be taking extra care of their customers knowing that. Otherwise its obvious where the business is coming from. One and done tourists. These places obviously are in it only for the short term.

I was laughing inside watching this place make my burger, thinking how many pancakes they could've cooked in the time it took them to make the burger. Good grief. This review has a section asking which items I recommend. Lol Really? Where’s...

An absolute gem you must not miss when in Custer, and worth going out of your way if you’re visiting Rushmore or Crazy Horse. The Braia family members are friendly and welcoming, and Gabi was delightful. She makes as much as she can from scratch and takes great pride in her food, and it definitely shows.

Our family of five went for breakfast and got the lemon-blueberry pancakes, chocolate-chip pancakes, bagel and cream cheese, breakfast sandwich, and biscuits and gravy. The lemon-blueberry pancakes were incredible. I knew as soon as I tasted the biscuits and gravy—and Gabi confirmed—it was all from scratch. That’s getting harder and harder to find these days, let alone in small-town South Dakota.

This is home cooking away from home....

Everything was made fresh to order and was such a great price! If you're a hot sandwich kinda guy you have got to try the Reuben. By far the best corned beef I've had anywhere. Likewise the breakfast sandwiches were delicious; but good lord let me tell you about the pancakes. I grew up with a dad who made homemade, chocolate chip pancakes every Saturday morning of my childhood and even HE would admit these pancakes served at Custer Deli are the king. All in all, whether you're driving through or staying for a while, dining in or needing a quick bite for the road, you have GOT to check out...