Juniper at Vertex — Restaurant in Rapid City

My husband and I made reservations for our wedding anniversary. We called Wednesday for a Friday reservation @ 530, and it was quick and easy. I definitely suggest making a reservation opposed to just showing up. The place is small, and there was only 2 waitresses. They were kind and attentive the best to their abilities with a full restaurant.

We were seated about 5 minutes after walking in the door, we were given drinks about 10 minutes in. Overall we were finished in about 2 hours.

The Pros: the restaurant was pretty; clean & the food was great. The Cons: the tables were way too close to one another and I had the misfortune of sitting next to a drunk family cackling all night. I couldn’t even hear my husband talk. Also, our table was about 2 feet wide. Which means we kind of debated whether we should get bread AND soup/salad because of the lack of table space. Also, with having only 2 waitresses, a lot of dishes were left on the table which kept everything very crowded. The seats were all wooden, my husband sat in a wooden chair and I the wooden bench along the wall, very uncomfortable. I will say, I have sciatica so I was fidgeting the last half hour in immense pain, I thought I was going to have to walk out while my husband waited for the check. More comfortable seating is imperative for such a long dinner. I debated putting these things as “cons” but wanted to mention both..- while the food was good, and fresh, the chef has different menus. I’m not sure if they change it daily, weekly, monthly.. but we went here with full intentions on my husband getting the pork carnitas which is shown on a menu in the previous reviews. Unfortunately they didn’t have that on the menu when we went so he had to settle for something he didn’t quite enjoy. Although we can appreciate the chef’s authentic creative composition of his menus, my husband was pretty disappointed to not get what dish he truly wanted from the restaurant. Another thing I wanted to mention, was to kind of warn people about the atmosphere. It’s a beautiful little establishment but it seems to attract mid-upper class families in their 60’s, who drink a lot of wine, are very loud and kind of.. obnoxious? It was not the atmosphere I was expecting when I looked at the reviews. I thought it would be a quiet romantic restaurant but like I said, most of the time I could barely hear my husband talking.

Overall it was delicious food and you could tell it was fresh ingredients but my view of a restaurant is not on food alone, especially since getting out with my husband is so rare. I like it to really be worth it. I wouldn’t say that those last notes are the restaurant’s fault, and I don’t want to knock a star off my review due to a heinous hyena woman who knew darn well she shouldn’t have been laughing so obnoxiously 2 feet away from someone for 2 hours. But, she was drunk.. so can’t expect much more. Give it a shot, and you may love it, and at worst, you’ll have some delicious food around drunk wealthier people...

I am giving them 2 starts and i really didnt want to but for starters we have been eating at Juniper since they were out on Sheridan Lake Road at their 1st location. Then they moved to a larger restaurant then to the Vertex. Well I made a reservation about 1 1/2 weeks prior to eating there for 2. We got seated at their second floor right next to the stairs with the smallest table. Really just a cocktail table. (Something like that we shouldnt have been seated at since we made a reservation I expect to get a table. If a restaurant is at full capacity and someone just wanders in that is definitely a table that would be well suited for the non reservation. On top of it being literally right next to the stairs i had to push the table into my partner so i wouldn’t block the path. Honestly it shouldnt even be there at all). We also ordered Scallops for the appetizer and we got two small scallops for $28 - not jumbo or large scallops - i cook and also buy things from dakota seafood i know sizes of scallops and their price. I did feel quite cheated for not having at least 4. They were laughably small for that price not even jumbo scallops just normal sized scallops. The entree was delicious but trying to have two plates plus two cocktails and also water on the table made it so hard to even try and eat and drink. I was disappointed for being shoved next to a stairwell and seated at the smallest table they have and paying $200 for it all was kind of sad. So i hope they get rid of that 1.5’ ft round table or reserve it for non reservation guests…. and also accommodate for the people who made reservations well in advance and not stuff them somewhere just because they can. I really like the owners they seem so nice and i was excited to see how it was in this location but last night was a let down from where...

I was trying to figure out how to start this review and sorry Kelsa for such a long wait! I know I said I’d get this done after vacation! Anyhow y’all, this place is well worth the visit, but be aware that you must either be a guest at Alex Johnson or be a member to gain access as a key card is required.

So, this was the last stop on a leg toward Mt. Rushmore after some crappy weather northbound in Wyoming. I was so tired I don’t know, but it sounds right. Let’s roll with whatever the route was! The first couple of photos are going to be of what we ate as it was late, and after some crazy weather on the drive, we relaxed and then were tired. It didn’t quite stop us from enjoying the view, though, and we dove right into a Charcuterie board and Baguette for dinner. I enjoyed the board and a Fuji Apple Salad, and it was excellent!

After the next day, and the expensive Beef Jerky stop, we relaxed and got dressed up for dinner at the Juniper again; but we meant business this time and the restaurant didn’t fail to deliver a wonderful experience. They made my daughter a Mocktail that she truly enjoyed that was custom by request, and my Lord, the food was delicious! We enjoyed the soup de jour, which I believe was a beef and barley of some sorts, but the broth was fantastic. My daughter went after the Huli-Huli BBQ Pork, and I went after a pork tenderloin with a Sweet Potato Puree, Raspberry Vinaigrette, and Broccolini. The menu changes so this is what we had, but I assure you that you won’t be disappointed!

As is always tradition: Service

The service was excellent, and I highly recommend this place if you’re looking for an upscale dinner for a date, but an important note, casual IS just fine. Remember, if you’re going to take someone here, make sure you are a member or a...