Riverhouse BBQ & Events — Restaurant in Big Sky

TLDR: Okay barbecue, great service. Prior experience expectations unmet.

We (party of 3) walked in a Wednesday evening around 4:30pm. Though it was early for a dinner the main parking lot was already full and the restaurant about 75%. It was freezing out (-15!) so we were glad to be seated next to the fireplace. Unfortunately this was a high table and was a bit wobbly. Throughout our meal alot of people stood warming up next to us (and watching us eat) which was a little weird but not all too bothersome. Each table had a roll of paper towels, a menu, and sauces: ketchup, sweet barbecue, and Carolina mustard.

Our waitress was Gwyn. She was friendly, efficient, and took the time to suggest menu items and make sure our order was correct.

We ordered sweet teas for drinks, the fried pickles and garden salad (large) for an appetizer, and the Full Rack Ribs Plate, Beef Brisket Plate, and 3 piece fried chicken for our entrees. Each entree came with a predetermined four sides: cornbread, corn, beans, and coleslaw (the latter three in small, ranch cup sizes). For dessert we opted for the chocolate sheet cake.

The sweet tea tasted a bit weird. It was definitely tea but just not what I was familiar with, so it was a bit off-putting. The fried pickles were good, though the batter was of a hard-crispy variety and didn’t cling well to the pickles (they dropped into the ranch dipping cup easily). Also, for 12 bucks, it was definitely a pricy stretch and not all that worth it. The barbecue was disappointing. The ribs came out extremely blackened and were not that tender or juicy. The brisket was dry; the (somewhat) saving grace was a tiny string of fat ontop. The chicken on the other hand was good. The skin was crispy and the meat tender and juicy, though it lacked seasoning. I didn’t feel right dipping it in ketchup so I ate it as is. The sides were underwhelming. The corn and coleslaw were bland, and the cornbread dry. The beans were good though; they had a chili-like taste. The salad (which we saved for last) was a welcome, light refresher. It had lettuce, onions, tomatoes, and cucumber, as well as raspberry vinaigrette on the side (our choice). For ten bucks it wasn’t a great value.

The highlight was definitely the sheet cake, which was heavily recommended by Gwyn. It was soft, moist, and melted in the mouth. The vanilla ice cream served alongside paired nicely. The portion was larger than we expected; we happily shared it between the three of us, and for $8 it was good value to us.

We had visited this spot about two years ago and loved the food. Unfortunately I cannot say the same about this experience. We came out with full stomachs and the cake was delicious, but what we hoped to find in the barbecue went unfounded. From this visit alone I’d say the restaurant is decent, at...

I wanted to give this place a better review because I really did enjoy my food, but unfortunately the service was less than acceptable.

We had dinner tonight around 4PM. The staff that seated us were friendly and helpful... and the view is gorgeous!!!

Once our waiter came to our table the good service stopped. He took our drink orders and then asked if we were ready to order food. We politely said that we weren't given menus. He seemed exasperated and brought us some. Then proceeded to walk away and not return for what seemed to be a long time. When he returned with our drinks, we placed our orders and tried our drinks. My husband's Moscow mule was okay, but my Honey badger was awful.

When the wait staff brought our food they didn't bring my child the fries that came with their kids meal. The server (different than our waiter) said that a kids meal order wasn't placed. When I politely said that I had specifically ordered a kids meal for my 5 year old she offered to get an order of fries to go with the meal. I said thank you. The order of fries never came, which in the grand scheme of things isn't a huge deal, but when they still charged us for the side of fries that was supposed to be included in the meal that isn't okay.

Our waiter did not return to our table until we were completely finished with our meal and offered to get our check. No drink refills, no anything. When he returned with our check there were other discrepancies with our bill that we had to rectify and our waiter acted very irritated that we asked him to fix our bill so it was accurate. He came back with our check and I saw that he had us listed as a party of 7 and there was an included 20% gratuity added to our bill (not optional). When we asked why we were listed as a party of 7 our waiter had no answer, when he was asked why the 20% gratuity was included in the bill and mandatory he said that he didn't know, the computer just did it and he didn't know what to tell us. I have no problem tipping anyone who is working at any kind of establishment that provides a service to me because I appreciate the work they do, but a tip is how you can show your satisfaction with the service provided and when I am forced to give a good tip for poor service that irritates me.

I hope that our waiter has a better day tomorrow. I don't think we will be coming back again anytime soon, but hopefully this will just serve as a reminder to that waiter, that if we did not cause your bad mood... please do not take it out on...

From other online reviews to even the locals singing it's praises, I was very excited to try out this BBQ joint. This place has that perfect outdoor country feel that you love to see from any good barbecue joint, from rusty license plates, plenty of wood paneling, old beer signs, and bison skulls adorning the walls. On top of the spacious indoors they have a great outdoor space in the side and back that gets you a great view of the mountains too. Staff was very friendly and offered all kinds of recommendations for us. Although they don't take reservations, we didn't have an issue of waiting very long even for a party of 9 on a Friday night.

Now for what you're really here for, the food and drinks. Cocktails were decent, but nothing out of the ordinary (except for maybe a heavy pour!), I got their version of an old fashioned, but it was nothing to write home to mom about. For starters we split the corn nuggets and cheese curds, both of which were perfectly fried and delicious, but if I'm picking one it's gonna be the curds every time. For a main course we split the family platter for two with ribs, but let me tell you, you can feed a lot more than two with this thing! My favorites on the plate were fried chicken, ribs, and pulled pork. The brisket was okay, but a little dry and a little thick cut for my liking, sausage was good and snappy, but unexciting. One thing to note about the fried chicken though, they only sell so much in the day, and when they run out, that's it! Even by the time we got there, they were only giving it out on the platters and you couldn't get the separate meal (which is what I originally had my eyes on), and I get why, the chicken is just that succulent and delicious. So come early! Lastly for dessert we split a cinnamon bread pudding with Huckleberry ice cream, and although I only had enough room in me for one bite, it was a bite that was every last bit worth it.

Parking is deceptively large actually, from the street it looks small but there is a lower lot you can...