Fort Hays Chuckwagon Supper & Show — Restaurant in Rapid City

Party of 4 went primarily for the pancake breakfast. We knew from looking at the website that the bus tours departed around 8:50 am so we planned to arrive near that time to miss the crowds. As a matter of fact we were pulling in the parking lot as a bus was departing. There are plenty of signs advertising the $.99 all you can eat breakfast off the property but no signage when you arrive on where to go. We figured it was where the signs for the nightly supper show were pointing was a good bet and it was. When we entered the restaurant it was 9am and there was maybe 20 people at most in there eating. There are plenty of tables and benches. Our group of 4 followed the footsteps painted on the floor to the breakfast server. You get your plate from the server and order the pancakes, bacon, sausage, biscuits, gravy and whatever else you might want from them. You are served cafeteria style from food serving trays. The problem was that the server was the pancake maker. When we arrived there were 2 pancakes in the serving bin and none being cooked on the the stove top. The first person was served pancakes but then the rest of us waited for 5 minutes while the pancakes were poured on the stove and cooked. The server cooked exactly 6 pancakes each time, no matter how many people were waiting in line. The pancakes tasted okay, just generic plain pancakes. But not bad. But the waiting times to get more pancakes or for people arriving were at times exceedingly long. It was almost as if the staff had been told to never make too many pancakes and have left overs. Two people in our party went back into line to get seconds but the other two decided against it because of the long wait time. I know fresh pancakes taste better but from the constant stream of new customers coming in the pancakes would have never sat long. Frustration was apparent especially on the younger crowd that wanted to keep going back for more pancakes. I made a comment about the wait time for pancakes to a lady in front of me in line and she said she was an employee there and that they "usually" do a better job at keeping up with the demand. I must have caught them on a off day. The odd thing was that even though there appeared to be plenty of workers, they would rotate positions often, but they never had more than one person serving and cooking pancakes regardless of how many people were waiting in line. The staff needs to recognize better when demand requires them to pick up production. On a positive note, we decided to ride the Buffalo Hunt roller coaster. The staff there was phenomenal. All the young men were engaging and seemed to love their job. Overall I would give the pancake breakfast 2 stars. Mainly for the slow uninspired service. And I would give the Buffalo Hunt roller coaster 5 stars, not because it's an exciting and thrilling ride. I would say it is an mild thrill ride. But I give it 5 stars because the staff there was amazing. I wish I could recall the 3 young men's names that were working there because they deserve some...

(I will start with the good, and then address the bad)

I will start by saying that the Dinner Show was worth every penny- it was honestly an A+! I would recommend the dinner show to anyone- food was good, and the show was so so great! Great job to the performers!

I have a major complaint about how a situation was handled with the roller coaster on site. The manager (female, with dyed purple hair) was incredibly bossy and rude to customers. Long story short- they are required to shut down their roller coaster when there is lightning in the area- which- that was totally fine.

The problem was, is that I heard her, loud and clear, tell the front desk ladies to keep selling tickets for the coaster- even though she KNEW that the storm was “bigger than she thought” and that she suspected it would be continued to be shut down.

After I heard her say this, I was stunned, and honestly disgusted. So, the ride was closed, and they kept selling tickets! It remained closed for the rest of the night, and then acted snotty and condescending when customers were inquiring about refunds.

She didn’t know that I heard her tell the other employees (with a laugh) “don’t stop selling tickets….never stop selling tickets!”, so…it was very hard for me to hear her talk down to customers inquiring about refunds. It was very unprofessional, careless, and downright rude.

If this person is an owner, then, shame on you for your shady business practices. It’s not going unnoticed. Me, and several other customers were looking at each other in disbelief when she was being so rude. Lucky you are in a tourist town, where the clientele is revolving. You could never keep returning customers...

We started and ended the day eating at "Fort Hayes." Both meals were solid. The breakfast, for a family of four, was less than $20 which in 2024 is kind of amazing. Plate sized pancakes and sausage, bacon, and biscuit and gravy options. I'm not sure what dinner cost as it was rolled into the cost of the bus tour, but it also was solid. The brisket, although not smoked in house, was smoked somewhere and heated back up here. For feeding the masses, they did well. You get a baked potato, protein (brisket or chicken), beans, and apple sauce. Plus a biscuit and spice cake. It's a lot of food!

The show itself was also very good. The sheer musicianship on display was impressive. Several members of the band played multiple instruments each. One of the members, Bean, is a member of the South Dakota Music Hall of Fame. I thought that was pretty neat. When I was told it was a "Variety Show" I was expecting more than just a concert. So if you come, don't expect anything more than a concert. Yes, there were jokes told and a few impressions but I don't know that it qualifies.

If you're in the Black Hills, is this something you must do? Maybe. If you tour with them, then yes, you should do it. It's a nice way to end the day and the music and food was good. I'm not sure, though, that if I was touring with another company that I'd feel a need to come over to see the show. But some did. There were even some local Rapid Citizens present the night we were there, so who knows? Put it this way, I don't regret it and I enjoyed it...