The CORRAL — Restaurant in West Yellowstone

This is a long, detailed review; but necessary to understand my rating. The owners are great people and I was in Gardiner to train the fire department on their new CAFS fire engine. We did the initial training on Sunday morning. When it was time for lunch one of the members suggested the Corral for burgers vs. pizza for the attendees. The owner was happy for the business and showed his appreciation for the volunteer firefighters by offering a 30% discount and free drinks! The burgers were delicious!

The following day I stopped by to thank them and to order lunch. This was when I met who I believe to be the owner. It was only lunch for two and the owner again showed his appreciation for me being there to train the firefighters and this time gave me 50% off the order. I ordered the elk burgers and once again they were delicious.

The next evening after training it was about 730 PM and I was so impressed with this little business that I decided to treat two others to a meal there. It was a totally different staff and "amazingly" even though I had a menu in my pocket from the day before that the owner gave me, the burgers jumped from $17.95 to $21.95!!!! I questioned this and did not get a reasonable explanation from the "guy in charge", however he reluctantly offered a 10% discount. Our 3 cheeseburgers and 3 drinks came to $100 with taxes and gratuity!!!

No wonder the "natives" all told me that cannot afford to eat in town! What was more disappointing was the overpriced burgers were dry and did not come anywhere close to the quality of the first two experiences.

Anyway, today is Wednesday and I stopped by to discuss this with the owner but the business was closed. The business is located next door to a firefighter family that made the initial suggestion and I will fill Jolynn in on what transpired.

Sorry for the long review and had the Tuesday night experience not happened the food quality would have been 5 star. Prices are still WAY TOO HIGH, even for a tourist town. So if you visit Gardiner and plan on eating there, be prepared to sell your first born child so you can...

No no no. Very rarely would I write a review unless it was necessary. If I didn't have the dogs to cart back to the truck and head back to our Airbnb, I would've stayed behind and told people in line not to order.

Burgers were incredibly overpriced ($21+) for what they were. I get it if it was premium bison or elk meat, but I wasn't impressed with the lack of taste and seasoning. Felt like a burger slapped together by my 10 year old nephew.

Fries, my goodness. Not sure why I finished all but three fries since they were disgusting, but I needed to keep eating them to figure out what was wrong with them. At first glance, it looked like they were going to be super crispy! But, they were limp and flaccid and had absolutely no flavor. I actually thought they were sweet potatoes fries upon first bite. It seemed like they were undercooked or JUST boiled...nonetheless, it's hard to mess up fries, but this place did.

Chicken wings, DO NOT ORDER. They tasted like frozen Tyson wings and for $19, it was an ultimate let down. But crazily enough, the wings were not the worst part of the meal.

To top it all off, we ordered ONE root beer and a shake, but were charged for TWO sodas and a milkshake. We never got the root beer or milkshake and the clerk (young kid with attitude) mentioned he told us to pick it up around back, but we were never told that and assumed it came with the food. We finished the food and no drinks came, so we asked for a refund which was given in cash along with the attitude.

Overall, seemed like a significant lack of desire to run a good business and seems like they are relying on their marketing (oldest restaurant in town + bison & elk burgers for the Yellowstone crowd) to do the heavy lifting.

Only positive thing was the outdoor seating that allowed for dogs. But...

The corral was a joint my wife insisted we have....and who am I to say no to a good burger joint. While in Gardner we stopped into this drive-in style joint with loads of patio seating. Pretty unique situation but on a nice sunny day can't complain about that.

Me being a glutton bonehead forgot to snap pics of the burgers we had.....doh! However they were good bison burgers. Thick, juicy and with plenty of fixings. One of those burgers that you need like 5 plus napkins style burgers. That grease and juiciness getting all over them mits. So sorry to say no pics but u get the idea. Good burger.

The best part that the whole family raved about was the fried cheese balls. Ooooooo weeeeee! I mean it's fried cheese. Well, at the corral they got these things perfected I don't know what it is. It's hard to describe but the cheese balls were fantastic. Something the way they prepare the breading or the process of frying the cheese something in that special way that they do. It makes them very good. I probably could have eaten two or three plates of those things and not even batted an eye. It's been all over a week since we return from those trip and we're still talking about these cheese balls. So do yourself favor if you're in the neighborhood in Gardner Montana swing by grab at least three plates of these bad boys. You'll thank me later.

Overall, pretty unique spot. Nothing fancy, but they do serve good food. They probably serve the best cheese balls I've had in a while. If not ever. Check them out. Tell him we sent you and you're welcome for letting you know where to get the best...