We are going to our first trip to YNP in June. We are staying in the park, three nights at a Canyon Lodge cabin and two nights in a Lake Hotel Cabin, we are flying in and renting a car. While we aren't looking for any gourmet food inside the park. I would like to know the best places to eat inside the park, I've heard some of the restaurants have very slow service, that would drive us crazy!

Any suggestions would be appreciated!

Just curious, do you own a rottweiller?

Anyway, in my experience the best in park meals were at the Yellowstone Lake Hotel and Mammoth Hot Springs. Neither was gourmet. The service is very slow and everything is very crowded. Quite frankly the whole park experience is so fabulous, food which is normally my guiding force, just wasn't that big a deal.

If your cabins have kitchens, I would definitely stock up on groceries and cook your own meals. I wish I had as positive an attitude as the previous poster-while the whole park IS fabulous, the badly prepared, overpriced food I had at Old Faithful Lodge and other places in the park ticked me off.

Packing a big, soft collapsible cooler and adding lunch meat, fruit, a bottle of wine, cheese, etc., is a great way to eat while in the park. Find a picnic area and soak up the atmosphere for at least a few of your meals. Yellowstone is fantastic.

I don't think there is a best place to eat. While I enjoyed the experience of eating at the Old Faithful Inn, the food was only okay and the service was slow. I think this is typical throughout the park.

Yep, I own a Rott, actually he is my second rott, my first one died 5 years old at the age of 10---if you raise them right (he is a housedog), they make wonderful pets---and both of my Rotties loved kids! And neither one of them was even much of a watchdog--they loved people, even strangers

Okay, enough about dogs---sorry!!! I was afraid of the answer to my question, the slow service will drive me crazy. I'll take in as much food as I can. Thanks for your replies!

We spent a week in Yellowstone last summer. Found food that was OK, a lot of food that was basic fast food, and no memorable dining experiences. I do not know of any NPS lodging that has kitchens, but you can buy picnic supplies at any of the lodging/food stop areas in park. I agree that you should bring a cooler every day, even if it is just for snacks/drinks - it is easy to get pleasantly delayed on some loop of roadway and it is nice to be able to pull off the road to eat.

We had a wonderful visit to YNP (and Grand Tetons) about 6 years ago. The food, however, was not a highlight! Due to having young children/baby and wanting a bit of space for them to run around and make noise, we stayed in a suite hotel in West Yellowstone. We figured our food choices would be better. They were faster, at any rate; I remember we had pizza several times. We are not big "meat-and-potatoes" folks, and it seemed like most of the restaurants focused on that type of cuisine. Our picnic lunches were fantastic - the best scenary you could imagine!

We were in Yellowstone last year. The best overall meal we had was at Yellowstone Lake Hotel. The best dish was the elk medallions at Old Faithful. And don't forget the huckleberry cobbler! You need to make reservations for both places in advance of your trip. The best meal experience we had was the Roosevelt cookout. Some of our group went by wagon and some by horse but all enjoyed the scenery and steaks (and huckleberry cobbler). I know the Canyon cabins don't have any kitchen facility (bear issues, I assume). There is a small grocery at Canyon and other locales. We would usually pick up lunch supplies (PB and huckleberry jelly!) and picnic. Plus, there's lots of ice cream in the park - - you guessed it - even huckleberry!

If you drive to YNP via Moose,WY there is a store called, I believe, Dornan's on the way. I was very pleased with the food we bought there, great trail mix. Plus we had excellent sandwiches and pizza.

I also meant to mention I agree Rotties are marvelous animals. My dog trainer has two, Sugar and Blitz, who are among the best trained dogs I have ever seen.

Yellowstone is a very large park, I would suggest you pack a cooler and stock up on supplies of your choice before entering the park. Jackson to the south offers a good selection for shopping with Cooke City the least, Cody would be the best. What you will find at the stores in the park is limited and expensive for what is offered. Fast food is plentiful but when you are traveling around and being a tourist it may not always be available when you are wanting to eat. Enjoy one of the many senic picnic areas that abound in the park. As others have mentioned, a better offering can be found at the lodges.