60 Best Restaurants in South Dakota, USA

We've compiled the best of the best in South Dakota - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.

The Green Bean Coffeehouse

Local character and flavor permeate this hip, comfortable coffeehouse inside a spacious former residential home, where the window seating is plentiful and padded chairs are tucked into corners and alcoves. Besides coffee and tea, there are also quick breakfast and lunch items on the menu.

Hat Creek Grill

For a convenient place to eat while you're checking out the local museum or the Mickelson Trail in Edgemont, try the Hat Creek Grill, which is right next door to both. This is a bar and grill, serving a basic selection of pub-style food at affordable prices for lunch and dinner.

Horatio's Homemade Ice Cream

One of the most interesting examples of early architecture in the city, the 1881 First National Bank building, hosts this old-fashioned ice cream parlor where local owners make small batches of ice cream and customers enjoy it outside on warm summer days. Inspiration for the name comes from Horatio Nelson Ross, who discovered gold in Custer in 1874.

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Kathmandu Bistro

Nepalese, Indian, and Tibetan food are on the menu at this small downtown eatery, which is a favorite lunch spot for locals. The exposed-brick wall and other decor is unassuming, and the focus is on the food. A wide-ranging menu includes tandoori, masala, curry, and, for the more adventurous, even a few alligator dishes.

The Latchstring Restaurant

$$$

This restaurant with a simple menu focusing on buffalo meat, beef, fish, soup, and salads is built in a log-cabin style with a stone fireplace and animal heads on the walls. It's in an unbeatable setting 14 miles from Lead, next to Spearfish Canyon Lodge in Spearfish Canyon. If the weather is good, no diner should miss walking the short trail behind the restaurant to Spearfish Falls, a 50-foot waterfall.

Laughing Water

With windows facing the mountain sculpture, this airy pinewood restaurant is noted for its buffalo burgers. There's a soup-and-salad bar, but you'd do well to stick to the Native American offerings. Try the taco made with traditional fry bread or the Tatanka stew featuring prime cuts of buffalo meat. A short kids' menu is available.

Legends Steakhouse

$$$

The atmosphere is historic elegance in this intimate, fine-dining establishment where steak, seafood, and dessert are served up with pride and style in the basement of the 1903 Franklin Hotel. With its stone walls, dark wood finishes, and large wine list, Legends Steakhouse is a great place to step out and spend a little extra on a relaxing evening meal.

Legends Steakhouse

$$$

In a place where legends aren't taken lightly, this establishment in the lower level of the historic Franklin Hotel has quickly made a name for itself, beckoning back locals who like its aged beef, moderate prices, and flair. You'll find all the usual suspects on the menu—buffalo, beef, and chicken—but each with a flavorful twist. Arrive early and have a cocktail in the lounge, because they don't take reservations.

Lotus Up Espresso & Deli

In a building that looks like a ski lodge, this multilevel coffeehouse has lots of private nooks and comfy chairs to settle in with a hot cup of coffee or tea. It's also in a great location with windows looking out to the Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center and the Open Cut.

Mary's Mountain Cookies

Indulge yourself with a flavor-packed treat at this small downtown shop, where the cookies are baked fresh on-site. The Hotel Alex Johnson, several restaurants, and the historic Elks Theatre are all close by, making this a convenient and tasty stopover.

Mavericks Steaks and Cocktails

Recycled barn wood decorates this casual bar-and-grill establishment in the heart of downtown, where steaks are the star of the menu and big-screen TVs are tuned to ballgames.

Millstone Family Restaurant

Depending on your early-morning energy level, walk or drive to the Millstone for a satisfying country breakfast before starting your day. Breakfast is so beloved here that it’s served all day and includes an extensive array of omelets, waffles, pancakes, and more, but the skillets menu is most worth your attention. There's another location on Main Street, as well as a location in Spearfish.

Miner's Cup

Stop into this little drive-through joint for a coffee or smoothie to go, or sit down and enjoy it at one of the picnic tables on the lawn. There's also a surprisingly good selection of fresh-made breakfast and lunch sandwiches, wraps, salads, and pastries.

Minervas

$$$

Minervas is a regional chain of elegant restaurants that began in South Dakota, where multiple locations are known and loved by local diners for high-quality food and service. Minervas focuses on Midwest steaks, fresh-made pizza and pasta, signature salads, and house-made desserts. The spacious Rapid City restaurant includes a bar and is located next to I-90, near several hotels and the city's major shopping mall.

Mornin' Sunshine Coffee House

Coffee, tea, smoothies, and quick choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner are served in a small, historical, and architecturally interesting structure with exposed-stone interior walls. This friendly, locally owned establishment is a great place to stop on your way through Hot Springs, before or after your adventures in the area.

Murphy’s Pub and Grill

Chow down on local ingredients that produce hearty regional favorites like buffalo meat loaf, while relaxing in a laid-back, pub atmosphere. Feel free to pair a couple pints with your meal—you can walk back to your hotel if you're staying downtown.

Nonna's Kitchen

Finding a good Italian restaurant can be challenging in some cities, but not in Spearfish. Nonna’s (Italian for grandmother) Kitchen opened in 2020 in an 1895 building that’s full of character and good, authentic Italian food. The owner wanted to share family recipes that have been passed down for generations, so everything is made fresh. There’s also a great wine selection. Outdoor seating along Main Street allows you to take in the crisp Black Hills air when the weather allows for it.

Pauly's Pizzeria and Sub Co.

Go here for some of the best pizza in Rapid City, plus other choices including salads, gyros, and subs, and a nice selection of craft beer. The many televisions playing sports in this eastern Rapid City establishment make it a cross between a pizzeria and sports bar, but it retains a family atmosphere appreciated by locals.

Powder House Restaurant

This rustic steak house at the Powder House Lodge is made for quiet mountain evenings with its indoor, log-cabin-style dining area and expansive, covered, outdoor patio. The menu focuses on quality meats (but with vegetarian options) and relaxing drinks. This is a place to unwind and enjoy a quality meal.

Pump House at Mind Blown Studio

This eclectic, locally owned establishment is a combination coffee shop, deli, and glassblowing studio all housed in a retro Texaco station that looks like something straight out of the 1950s, complete with old gas pumps and period signage.

Que Pasa Cantina

Every day is a fiesta at Rapid City's most popular and spacious Mexican restaurant, with its upbeat servers and its focus on gathering people together around food and drink. The Fifth and Main location makes this one of the most visible businesses in the city and puts guests within walking distance of everything in the downtown area, including Main Street Square.

Silver Lining Creamery

Few visitors to Main Street Square can resist the temptation of this shop, where local workers make small batches of ice cream daily. Order at a window overlooking the square and enjoy your treat outdoors, or take advantage of the small seating area inside.

Snitches

$$$$

Upscale, chef-inspired cuisine is on the short menu at this small, art deco--style restaurant with a clean, elegant, 1920s vibe inside the Tin Lizzie Gaming Resort. The restaurant bills itself as a "gastronomic experience" featuring "exotic ingredients" that dress up steak, chicken, and seafood.

Stage Stop Cafe at Cheyenne Crossing

Located at a crossing that can take you west to Wyoming, north into Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway, or east to Lead, this country café with simple decor serves up hearty, home-cooked food without pretension. It's 8 miles southwest of Lead on a site that also includes a small lodge and gift store.

Stampmill Restaurant & Saloon

Pub food is served up in a relaxed setting in this downtown Lead establishment, located in a lovingly preserved 1897 building with exposed-brick walls, wood floors, high ceilings, and a fireplace. There are two Victorian-style rooms for rent on the upper floors.

State Game Lodge Restaurant

Located in the historic Game Lodge where President Calvin Coolidge and First Lady Grace Coolidge lived for nearly three months on a 1927 vacation, the Game Lodge restaurant has the biggest dining capacity of any restaurant in the park. There are multiple seating areas ranging from basic to elegant to outdoors (be sure to inquire about the options). Breakfast and lunch buffets are available, and the menu includes a wide range of salads, burgers, and entrees, with a focus on local ingredients, including bison meat.

Sylvan Lake Lodge Restaurant

There's no better setting for dining in Custer State Park than the Sylvan Lake Lodge, which is perched on a hillside above beautiful Sylvan Lake. The dining area has vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors, large windows, and a stone veranda. Like other restaurants in the park, the menu includes a selection of salads, sandwiches, burgers, and locally inspired entrees featuring bison meat and other specialties.

Turtle Town

Treat yourself to a delectable dessert item from this tiny shop and enjoy it on one of the nearby boardwalk benches next to the 1880 Train depot.

Western Art Gallery Restaurant

More than 200 original oil paintings, all with a Western theme, line the dining room of this eatery in the Wall Drug complex. For a tasty meal, try a hot beef sandwich or a buffalo burger. The old-fashioned soda fountain has milk shakes and homemade ice cream. This place also serves the area's best doughnuts, and a regular cup of coffee is still just 5 cents.

Woolly's Grill and Cellar

As it's family-owned and -operated, it's no surprise that this place caters to families. Though it specializes in hand-cut steaks and prime rib, entrées on its modestly priced menu include helpings from the 18-foot salad bar. It's right next to the Mammoth Site.

South Dakota

South Dakota

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