35 Best Restaurants in Kalispell, Missoula, and Northwest Montana, Montana

This is the place for the classic small-town café experience. Locals and visitors happily blend in a casual, friendly atmosphere as they dig into well-prepared breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. You can start your day with huckleberry pancakes or biscuits and gravy and come back for a home-cooked dinner of sirloin steak Stroganoff or a hefty helping of Grandma Maetzold's original mac 'n cheese recipe.

On the edge of the Ninepipe National Wildlife Refuge, the lodge has views of the snow-tipped Mission Mountains and native-grass-edged wetlands full of birds. The restaurant is open seven days a week, and dinners include local Double R Ranch beef steaks, seafood, and specials like baby back ribs. You can find reasonable lodging here, too ($), as well as an art gallery, a museum, and a trading post next door.

Buttery croissants, cookies, cupcakes, scones, quiches, muffins, and other glorious baked treats abound at Missoula's best bakery, a longtime local favorite. Come in for coffee seven days a week from 6 am to 8 pm or for lunch from 11 am to 4 pm, when there's a small selection of soups, salads, and sandwiches, such as roast beef and Swiss, or hummus on whole wheat with feta and artichoke hearts. There's seating inside and out, or you can eat alongside the nearby river.

Shakes come in two sizes—regular or large—at Big Dipper, where folks line up for homemade ice cream in flavors like cardamom, green tea, huckleberry, maple walnut, and Mexican chocolate. In the summer, the line can extend around the block. There are locations in Helena and Billings, too.

This intimate, downtown pizza place is popular for its unusually creative flavor combinations. Locals come for the Caramelized Goat, a piping-hot pie capped with caramelized onions, goat cheese, roasted garlic, mozzarella, and fresh herbs. Other fun combos include the Prosciutto & Fig and the Sweet Potato, Bacon & Maple Chipotle. If you're not feeling that adventurous, you can always create your own.

Meet the brewmaster, sample a Bitterroot Bock or Single Hop Pale Ale and enjoy live music Thursday and Saturday. One of the oldest breweries in the state, Bitter Root Brewing brews 40 different styles of beer annually, and the kitchen churns out all your favorite brewpub staples, including their specialty, hand-dipped, Sawtooth Ale-battered fish-and-chips.

With its lodgelike dining room anchored by a floor-to-ceiling fireplace and exposed log beams, Blue Canyon pairs rustic yet elegant Montana ambience with excellent, hearty cuisine. Innovative, seasonally inspired dishes fill the menu. Plan ahead and reserve the private table to create your own five-course culinary experience with the inventive head chef.

With offerings like penne alla vodka and linguini alla carbonara, Ciao Mambo is the place to come for pasta in Missoula. Start with fried fresh mozzarella balls or classic bruschetta. For dessert, try the cannoli or tiramisu. There's soup, salad, pizza, and a kids' menu, too, as well as locations in Whitefish and Billings.

One of a very few small, local breweries that is all about lagers rather than ales, the Bayern Brewery offers dozen craft beers in this German-style brewery's tasting room. The Edelweis Bistro upstairs serves good German staples, including excellent sausages and schnitzels. Try the bratwurst and sauerkraut or the kasespatzle. Beer options include Schwarzbier and St. Wilbur Weizen, as well as seasonal specials such as Dopplebock, Groomer, or Face Plant during ski season, and Dump Truck Summer Bock when the weather's warm. Brewery tours are available by appointment.

For a bit of town gossip and great burgers, stop in this classic small-town café, a dressed-down spot where the locals love to hang out. On the weekends, enjoy the best breakfast buffet in the Bitterroot Valley.

Craft beer and gourmet burgers are the thing at Hop's, a popular chef-owned eatery in the historic downtown area. Its menu boasts 100 craft beers, regional wines, and more than a dozen burgers, including at least one vegetarian option. Start with crispy duck wings, then try a smokehouse bacon and Brie, wild boar, buffalo, or yak burger. The elk lasagna also is outstanding.

Loosely translated, the name means "The Little Outrageous," which is fitting since the croissants, scones, brioches, canneles, and other sweet baked treats here are outrageously good. It also serves the best coffee in town. In addition to pastry, this longtime bakery sells artisan breads (think baguettes, ciabatta, rosemary foccaccia, and New York rye), gourmet mustards, salts, vinegars, and olive oils.

Locals will send you here to watch the sun set over the lake while dining on the only thing on the menu: steak. Select cuts, all 16-ounce portions, are served with potatoes, garlic bread, and pickled watermelon rind served family-style. From October thru April you can get king crab legs, too. During the summer, grab a burger or chicken breast sandwich at Bay Burgers ($–$$) and enjoy the outside dining. October through March, Bay Burgers moves inside the steak house from 11 to 3.

For an authentic taste of Montana, head to this hearty steak house in a rustic log structure 8 miles south of Missoula, in Lolo. The dining room has a hunting-lodge atmosphere, replete with taxidermied wildlife on the walls. Although most diners opt for one of the signature sirloins—cooked over a crackling open-pit barbecue—there are other well-prepared meat, chicken, and seafood dishes from which to choose. The restaurant has often been selected as Missoula's Choice for best steak.

This family-run sit-down restaurant is known for its gourmet Italian cuisine and fresh seafood. A good way to decide what you like best is to try the sampler, which includes handmade pasta stuffed with different fillings, spinach gnocchi, fettuccine Alfredo, shrimp, vegetables, and another side. All meals include soup or salad.

The Rocky Mountains might be a strange place for a coffee trader, but the folks at Montana Coffee Traders have been roasting their own beans south of Whitefish for decades. Fresh coffee, pastries, and homemade gelato are favorites at this popular downtown hangout. Stop in to enjoy a cuppa joe and browse the hand-painted furniture, gifts, local artworks, and bulk coffees and teas that line the brick walls.

Sample high-quality, locally made gin, vodka, aquavit, and an award-winning single malt whiskey at the beautiful and now-famous distillery. Be warned, however, that there's a two-drink maximum per customer, which will make it difficult to choose from the long list of handcrafted cocktails. Try the Smoke Tones, made from homemade Quick Silver vodka, grapefruit, habanero tincture, and a smoked salt rim; or The Dude Abides, with vodka, coffee, coffee liqueur, and milk. They also make a great riff on the Old Fashioned, with Sudden Wisdom rye and creole bitters. Purchase whole bottles over at Grizzly Liquor, a few blocks away on Spruce Street.

This local favorite is known throughout the Bitteroot Valley as the place with the best burger in the region—and possibly the state. The locally owned family restaurant serves burgers, steaks, and sandwiches, all made with fresh ingredients and Bitterroot Valley beef. For those who want to eat lighter, they serve a fresh Mandarin Orange Salad.

Mountain-Mexican fusion—fine Mexican cuisine with a Rocky Mountain flair—includes handmade tacos, enchiladas, fresh seafood, and a fresh salsa bar. In the summer, enjoy a cold beer or glass of wine on the patio with stunning mountain views.

Sip a Yard Sale Amber or the award-winning Hat Trick Hop IPA in this two-story establishment overlooking the river. The main-floor restaurant offers a casual atmosphere with good views. With a literal wall of bigscreen TVs in the bar downstairs, it's the place to go when a game is on. On weekends, the mimosa and Bloody Mary bar is a big draw, as is the generous beer sampler and the build-your-own-Caesar-salad bar. Everything on the menu comes in ample portions, including fish and bison tacos, smoked bacon mac n' cheese, and a large selection of pizzas, burgers, and sandwiches. This is the brewery's first location outside of its hometown of Lakeside, Montana.

Locals wait in line for the fall-off-the-bone barbecue ribs, broasted chicken, and fry bread served with honey butter. The atmosphere is very casual, with a large main room, several smaller eating areas (great for families), and a spacious patio. A typical combination platter includes your choice of ribs (country-style or spare) and either broasted or rotisserie chicken served with sides of fry bread, baked beans, coleslaw, and red potatoes—or opt for a side salad. They also serve pasta and have excellent pizza with homemade sauce.

Come here for the best bread and soup in the valley. The café's baked goods, including fresh croissants, baguettes, and scones, will entice you in, but it's worth your while to stay for breakfast or lunch—the Reuben sandwiches are sublime, and any one of the salads makes a great lunch. Local artwork adds a warm touch.

Opened in 1949, this cozy café is a longtime Missoula favorite for any meal, especially breakfast. Hardly a shack, this elegant little eatery, in an old auto dealership, offers all kinds of American fare—from an array of salads and sandwiches to huckleberry pancakes and almost 20 omelets, including interesting options like apple, cheddar, nutmeg, and cinnamon; and veggie, cheddar, garlic, and crouton. Swinging doors take you into the saloon, where there's an oak bar that arrived in Montana via steamship up the Missouri River a century ago.