Yellowstone Inn
 

We will be staying at the Old Faithful Inn 10-6 to 10-9. From what I've read on several boards the food at the Old Faithful Inn is of marginal quality and expensive, which is the case with many of the NPS lodges. So, what are my options if any other than to drive all the way out to West Yellowstone, which I really would not want to do.

I assume that that late in the season, most of the other park concessions will be closed.

The NPS website has a list of closing dates so you can find out exactly what is open and not. I couldn't tell if the general store in OF will still be open (I don't recall the name and so can't tell from the website). If it is, think about picking up a cooler before you get to the park and pick up food for lunch from the grocery store at OF.

There are three dining options at the Old Faithful Inn which vary in price. We ate a lot at the diner in the shop next door. Basic, diner type food. One of my favorite memories was sitting at the lunch counter on the last weekend of the season listening to and talking to the staff members who were on to their next adventure. Many of the staff were retired couples who worked in the park for the season and then moved their RV down to warmer climes for the next few months.

Unless you are a very, very picky eater you are going to find plenty of options at different price points. I don't see any need to drive out to West Yellowstone for a meal. I'd stay in West Yellowstone if that is your plan.

We had no complaints about the dining at Old Faithful Inn. We also enjoyed dinner at Yellowstone Lake Hotel. What we didn't like was the caferia at Canyon.

The food is fine and reasonably priced, relative to big city restaurants, anyway. The atmosphere in the dining room of OFI is priceless.

The best restaurant in the park (IMO) is the Yellowstone Lake Hotel; it will still open in the fall the last time we went, but not sure of exact dates. view is wonderful from dining room.

The food is not five star restaurant, but the locale and ambiance are unsurpassed and the food is good. I have had 2 or 3 meals at both Old Faithful and Lake Hotels and enjoyed the experience. Driving to West Yellowstone would be a big mistake, IMHO. It is a tourist trap town w/o any ambiance. The Gallatin Gateway Inn has an excellent restaurant if you want to drive for a meal. We have usually eaten granola and yogurt in our room for breakfast and picnic in the park for lunch, so a nice meal in a historic lodge at the end of the day is a relaxing treat. We spent a nice evening having drinks on the 2nd floor terrace balcony at OF Inn waiting for the geyser to erupt. It is a cool place!! Happy Trails!!

Our two breadfasts and two dinners at OFI were all wonderful. The breakfasts were filling enough for us to last us til dinner. There are several other options, both at the inn, and at Snow Lodge and The Lodge, or whatever it's called, as well as the counter at the general store, as others have posted. All these are within walking distance from OFI.Our only abysmal meal, this past Aug, was at Lake Yellowstone Hotel. It seems to depend on who the chefs are each day. . I agree, don't leave the park-and don't sweat it-you have a lot of choices, whatever you decide,

Spokaneman, we leave in 2 weeks. I would like to go late season like you. I sure hope you'll post a travel report about how your trip went. Thanks!
Speedy

I agree with the above poster about the restaurant at Yellowstone Lake Hotel--it was good and the atmosphere was very nice. Also, I liked the hotel much better than Old Faithful Inn.

Very interesting posts. Most of the information on the Travelocity website posts is pretty negative to the park resturants. But, I really would not want to leave the park, so I will take the advice of the Fodorites and try the park resturants.

We did a "winter in yellowstone" tour and the dining was the only questionable thing about it. Everything except the dining room at the Snow Lodge was closed, and reservations were required...but if you took a tour, getting back in time to get your name on the list was problematical. When we did eat (sometimes at 10PM because that was the first available time) they overserved something fierce. Price was high, but justified by the amount of food...but we couldn't possibly eat it all and there was a lot of waste. Limited appetizers were available from the bar for those who could not make reservations. This was in February.

But the park was beautiful!

Good point, my wife and I have gotten pretty good at asking to share an entre. That can make an overpriced $40.00 meal a more reasonable $25.00 meal. The prices at OFI seem pretty high so I will remember to split meals.