Black Canyon Bistro — Restaurant in Red Lodge

I really wanted to enjoy today. Little back story. We went for New Year’s Eve and although my bacon wrapped scallops were raw, my husband bison filet and the crème brûlée had me wanting to come back. Unfortunately today was met with disappointment at every level. The buffet food was either luke warm or cold. As I ate the cold quiche I kept thinking to myself “this place has to know about keeping food at certain temps to prevent food poisoning”. Mashed potatoes, look warm. Mushrooms, cold. The lamb was good :) The service was horrible. All our server had to do was remove plates and fill water. We waited for over 20 minutes to have our first plates cleared so we could go back for the desserts, and finally just went. At that point the fruit was gone, so we weren’t able to get any. As we came back the server came by so we asked if we could have our plates cleared. We were in a little two top so not enough room for the extra plates to be slid out of the way. My husband drank his water and mine, and finally got his water refilled after our meals were done. We had one mimosa each, would have liked another but again, no server to place an order with.

For $45 a person we we’re definitely expecting warm/hot food and...

Very delicious food in a pleasant inviting atmosphere. Service was very good. I personally felt that the food had a bit of New Orleans style, because of the use of butter and the tasty, not overly spicy, seasonings.

The garlic shrimp in seasoned melted butter definitely reminded me of my 20 years in New Orleans, including ample sauce to "sop" with the included toasted bread slices.

My wife and I tried several small plates, also including Steak Tips Diane and delicious Crab Cakes. All were very flavorful, as in the New Orleans cafes where I dined many years.

The two owners have very extensive restaurant backgrounds, including several years in Jakes West End in Billings as Chef and Bar Manager. As fate would have it, I remembered them from Jakes, and vice-versa.

We got there early and Black Canyon was not busy. By the time we left, about 6 pm, the Bistro was very busy, so reservations are recommended.

Very delicious, flavorful, seasoned food items in a very pleasant vibe, good service, owned by two very experienced upscale restaurateurs. We'll...

I forgot to take a picture of any of our food. Everything we had tasted good. Nothing was bad, although I wasn’t super impressed by anything we ordered either. It took quite a while to get our party seated and though one of the salads that was ordered as an entrée came out about 10 minutes after we ordered, everything else took about 20 more minutes. The biggest frustration for me was that I specifically asked our waitress if carbonated water from the tap was free or not and she told me that it was free. I said that it’s always awkward to ask, but that we didn’t wanna order it if there was a cost. Then, however, when we got the bill it was charged for 4 club sodas. When we mentioned it, she said she would take off the price of the kids ones. I really don’t understand how that occurred, and honestly, it is always such a frustration/pet peeve to me to be nickeled and dimed like that at a restaurant, but especially considering I had previously asked to make sure. So overall, not a bad place/meal, but it just...