Thermopolis Safari Club — Restaurant in Thermopolis

Dear GM,

I am writing to express my disappointment regarding a recent visit to your restaurant on the evening of July 20, 2025, around 9:00 PM. My husband and I chose your bar to celebrate his birthday, as he has fond memories of visiting as a child, and we hoped to enjoy a few drinks after two days of driving. Unfortunately, our experience was confusing and partially comical.

The front desk staff at the hotel was incredibly professional, kind, and humorous, which made our initial impression positive. She was welcoming and spoke to everyone who walked in the door, while also sharing pertinent information.

However, our experience in the restaurant was severely lacking. As a former bartender in a busy city, I have immense respect for those in the service industry and pay close attention to how customers are treated. Success reflects leadership, and it's essential for staff to make customers feel welcomed rather than inconvenienced. Even a simple "Hello, I'll be with you in just a few, thanks for coming in" goes a long way. They just blatantly said nothing. It was intentional. Bartenders have a big responsibility; they set the tone for the business to thrive.

Upon arrival at Safari, we initially sat at a table but were not acknowledged for a significant amount of time. We then moved to the bar, where the bartender ignored us for nearly 20 minutes, despite only a few other patrons being present. When I finally spoke up, the bartender's response was, "it's only me," and she rolled her eyes, which conveyed a clear lack of interest in serving patrons or representing the business positively. Bartending requires both skill and the ability to create an environment that encourages customers to return. She then doubled down and continued to ignore us and the man sitting to our left. Passive aggressive & manipulative behavior. The entire staff didn’t want to be there. This tells me, leadership is setting the bar really low by either example or apathy.

The bartender's behavior was truly awful and lackluster. My husband and I both work in customer service roles, and we would never treat anyone with such disregard. Your establishment deserves better leadership to fulfill its potential as a place for community and positive experiences.

I urge you to consider hiring experienced staff who can communicate effectively and a bartender who knows how to make the experience about the customers and the craft, rather than a pity party. A successful business relies on employees who enjoy their craft, strive for excellence, and treat customers with kindness and respect. We voiced our concerns as we left and also left a note for the general manager through the front desk. Thankfully, there were several other options in town. Please check your cameras to verify our account of events. This place...

Not a place for sensitive vegetarians... it’s full of “The Big Bad White Hunter’s collection”.

The owner has used this hotel, bar & restaurant to show his life long collection of fish & game trophies from around the world. This is quite an impressive collection that reminds me of something I could imagine Theodore Rosevelt having. The collection is very intriguing and spiked the interest of every patron I seen come in while I ate dinner.

As for the food I figured if I was going to eat at the hunters palace I better get the 14 oz prime rib with the stuffed baked potato. With a place like this you know the meats going to be good and the veggies are going to be lean. Driving 100’s of miles passing 1,000’s of cows who would ever dare to get fish?! Get what you know is going to be fresh the ocean is 1,000’s of miles away!! I got the salad and it was iceberg with a few small tomatoes, peas, celery. I hadn’t had veggies in a while so it was nice. The prime rib was good and soaking Ajou to keep the meat moist. The stuffed potato was brimming with real thick fresh baked bacon & cheddar cheese. There were no veggies included on the plate just a big slab of meat. OH! We also got the cheese curds and they were awesome! Unfortunately all there good wines from California were out of stock. My wife had the Malbec wine for $5 a glass and she was happy enough. My 4 yr old daughter had the spaghetti and meatballs. It was an adult sized side dish for $5.00! All in total 2 prim ribs, 2 glasses of wine and a spaghetti was $107 with tax; great deal for how much food we ate and had to bring home with us. Looking at other patrons plates it I noticed they were all brimming with food Black Bear Diner style. So if you like American style food surrounded by animal trophies than this is the...

After reading the reviews, I thought we'd try them despite some bad reviews about service; they were not wrong...

Asked for a table for 2 on the restaurant side. There were 3 families seated and open tables otherwise. Hostess seats us In the bar. In the bar, there are us and 6 other couples; 2 couples at the bar, 2 seated adjacent to us, and 2 by the pool table. In addition there are 2 groups of 3 seated in the pool table area. Most of these folks already have drinks and salads in front of them. We order our drinks and food. 15 minutes to get a Double Jameson on the rocks... 2 Families get seated after us. They order and receive their food before us. Our waiter disappears for 10-15 minutes several times. There were 3 waitstaff working the bar in addition to the bartender. At 1 point all of them disappeared for 10 minutes. Literally took an 70 minutes from ordering to get food. Had to remind the waiter of my salad when he brought out my steak. After concluding our meal, our waiters is once again missing. After waiting 15 minutes, I try to flag down the waiter serving the families seated by the windows. He looks directly at me then departs for the kitchen. My wife, beyond irritated by this point, walks over and demands our check. The guy was indignant and rude. No attempt at concession was offered. No tip was left and...