The Desoto Grill — Restaurant in Kalispell

From my Facebook post to my 2000 friends:

Gotta share about tonight’s dinner.

On this trip, we’ve been to great steakhouses that serve exotic game, in world-renowned resort towns. We’ve been to an artsy, bougie French brasserie with entrees I couldn’t pronounce in the heart of a trendy university town.

And tonight, I had my best meal of the trip in a BBQ dive Miles found as highly rated in Kalispell, Montana.

They smoke their own meats. Miles had the brisket, I had the pork belly. Yummy cornbread with honey butter and tasty sides, which included 4 different Mac and cheese options.

So good!

As you’ll see in the photos, the atmosphere is kitschy and cute! When we walked in, the joint was popping! Packed. Only two seats available at the end of the bar.

And that perch allowed me to see behind the curtain, to what I truly loved about the place.

As many of you know, my mom owned a restaurant. And staff seldom got along. Lotsa spats and snark.

While enjoying my divine pork belly, I got to eavesdrop on an hour of conversations at the adjacent server’s station and host stand. They repeatedly asked how we were doing, if we needed anything—so much so that I had to ask who was actually our server lol.

How they treated us wasn’t what stood out, however. I must have heard these kids say “please” and “thank you” to each other a dozen times. I heard praise and gratitude for how other servers pitched in to help with a large party.

And I even heard an “I’m sorry” about something I didn’t see.

Great food. Fun atmosphere. Good people.

If you ever find yourself in Kalispell, don’t deny yourself the joy of eating at The...

Absolutely terrible. We waited roughly 30 minutes for a table, and the people who walked in right before we were sat were getting their order taken before the server even bothered to come over to our table. She didn’t even apologize and the only reason she came over was because we asked if a server was going to come over after waiting for 10 minutes. She never even bothered to get us water, we grabbed it out of the cooler after waiting several minutes. Not hugely important but we waited over 20 minutes for food and the kids didn’t even have kid’s menus to color or anything. Our meals were small, they brought 2 pieces of cornbread out immediately but it wasn’t enough for everyone so we just waited until it was cold so we could eat it with our meals. Food wasn’t that good, we got a very small pulled pork platter, mac and cheese and potato salad. It definitely was not worth 20 dollars and wasn’t even hot. Our server never checked on us once and aside from taking our order she never came back to the table. Someone else refilled our drinks, brought our food, gave us to go boxes and brought our check. The only reason we ever saw her again was because the kid cashing us out didn’t know how to do a military discount. Overall obviously was very unimpressed but also the restaurant is crowded and tacky. There isn’t really anywhere to wait for the 30 minutes it takes to get a...

My husband and I like to have date nights and when we come to the Flathead, we always eat here. We have traveled a lot of places and can say that this is our favorite restaurant.

The food is phenomenal! We get the nachos (we usually choose brisket for the meat) and order our own sandwiches. The nachos are a meal on their own, and they always put tons of food on our plates. We can barely eat half of what we order so we always have a meal the next day. My husband says they have the best Reuben he has ever had. I ordered a loaded baked potato once, and was blown away at how many toppings they had, delicious! The Mac and cheese is some of the best!! Peanut butter pie dessert is also great. I have heard wonderful things about the huckleberry desserts, but have never had them.

As for the service, the owner has been there every time and she is so sweet. She usually gets us our table and our drinks. We always have very sweet and attentive waitresses. You can see the cooks, and they do a wonderful job.

I love seeing all of the history in this place, too. Lots of old photographs, decorations from when it was a blacksmith shop, and a beautiful rustic atmosphere.

Don’t miss out on a wonderful family owned restaurant with delicious food, old style atmosphere, and good drinks. Be prepared to bring home some to go boxes! They load ya up! Best bang for your...