Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Have you had a good, bad or indifferent experience at a restaurant in the Glacier area? Let us know about it right here!

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griffin
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Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by griffin »

What are people's favorite places to eat near St Mary? Not looking for anything in particular, none of us have dietary restrictions (unless you count my friend Trish's freakish aversion to raisins) and we're just as happy in a diner or at a road-side stand as in a fancy restaurant if the food is good.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by Hockey Ref »

Two Sisters (burgers and such) and the Park Cafe (umm, pie!) come to mind. Also Johnson's. There's also the Cattle Baron steakhouse a couple of miles up the road in Babb, at the turnoff to the Many Glacier Road.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by sam »

Had a great breakfast and Johnsons...and what hockey ref said.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by Selkie »

St. Mary's is close to a lot of decent to good "roadside" places, the Park Cafe in particular, but right across the road from that is Johnson's (which I did not find memorable), and up the road is Two Sisters, then in Babb the Firehorse (?), along with other places I've never eaten at. Frozen huckleberry daquiris (with whipped cream) at Many Glacier Lodge (and quicky pickups, like ice cream cones and maybe heat-up hot dogs).
And you can buy one of the Park Cafe t-shirts in the general store next door: "Pie for Strength."
http://www.parkcafe.us/index.php
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by llholmes1948 »

Good Comments here but unlike Selkie, we have enjoyed Johnson's very much and there is usually not a line like at the Park Cafe:

http://www.johnsonsofstmary.com/services/cafe/cafe.htm

They are open early in the season and late in the season.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by pitamakan »

I like all those places, as well, but Johnson's is my clear favorite. It's definitely something of a greasy spoon, but the food and the service are generally both great, and in terms of atmosphere and vibe the place is a total Montana classic.

I remember one summer back in the late 1970s when I was working at Lake McDonald Lodge, a number of us had a contest to see who could eat at Johnson's the most over the course of the summer. I think a couple of folks got there at least a dozen times ... no small feat, considering we had to hitchhike over there!

I like the Park Cafe, too, and proudly wear my "Pie for Strength" T-shirt ... but in mid-season there's almost always a long wait to get a seat, and I often don't find the service to be very good.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by griffin »

Laundry? Get thee behind me, Satan! I will go out an buy clean socks and skivvies before I will spend precious vacation time doing laundry.

Does Park Cafe service beer or wine? (looks like Johnson's doesn't)

And do any of the bathroom stalls at the Cattle Barron have actual doors?
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by Selkie »

:twisted:
heh :D

I sent you a PM on various things. If you do find that place for clean sox and skivvies, that should enter the Important Geography Book (along with Babb's beer, beer, beer, laundry, firehouse, beer, post office).
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by Geezer »

Hands down the best place to eat in St. Mary is the Park Cafe - that is, if you care about putting quality food in your body at a reasonable price. My wife and I are vegans and were pleasantly surprised to find menu choices that are vegan or could be easily modified to be vegan. My sister-in-law is an omnivore and she was very pleased with the selections available to her. Most all entrees contain meat or cheese. It looks like they make some great pies but alas the crusts are not vegan.

We ate there three nights in a row. Each night my wife and I had a salad entree called the Gallanaceous Green (sp?) and then split another entree like their Gypsy Burrito. The salad contained lettuce and other greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, green peas, avacados, black beans and almonds. The burrito was filled with a tasty curry spiced mixtue of yams, parsnips and chick peas. My sister-in-law enjoyed a chefs salad, an interesting baked potato entree and a delicious salmon fillet on our last night.

The menu was a joy to behold with something for everyone's taste. We found the staff helpful and accomodating. The wait can be long if you come at peak time - maybe 5:30 to 7:30. We got there a little after 5 on our last two nights and had to wait about 5 minutes. Listen, good food, properly prepared takes time. They could squeeze two more tables in their dining room but they don't and it makes for a better dining experience. If you are happy with greasy dinner food that is way over priced for what you get and prepared by people that are unable or unwilling to make modifications, eat at the Two Sisters. We did that one night. It was our only bad meal in eleven days.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by scott-atl »

i like two sisters, park cafe, johnson's, in that order. the lodge in st mary has changed ownership and the prices on that menu which have been crazy high have moderated this year.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by Jen »

My main problem with The Park Cafe is I don't like to (and won't) wait to long to eat. But other than that their menu is decent. I prefer Two sisters over Park Cafe, hands down. I have never had a bad meal there.(Omnivore) and I can have a cocktail if I need to wait a bit for a table.

I always do a quick load of laundry at Johnsons on an off morning. (I pack minimalist)
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by MarxMN »

I would suggest the Glacier's Edge Cafe in Babb. You probably won't see the "Glacier's Edge" name on the outside, rather look for the "Cafe" sign on a building on the opposite side of Highway 89 from the Cattle Baron. We first ate at this place in 2011 with Kathy and the Glacier Girls. We only ate one meal here in 2012 but the food is very good. It has a variety of breakfasts. The afternoon/evening menu is primarily burgers and burritos and there are vegetarian varieties of both. We had burritos for dinner this year and all were good.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by scott-atl »

had a great meal at 2 sisters, average meal at park cafe, but excellent bananna cream pie. terrible meal at rising sun, and good hearty food at sperry chalet.
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by Mzambo »

Love Glacier's Edge in Babb for Breakfast, great omelette's, and according to our friends the pancakes are great too!

Two Sister's hands down my favorite! The atmosphere, the service, the food, all of it rocks! Ate there twice last year, and twice this year!
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Re: Favorite places to eat near St Mary?

Post by jnf »

We had a great breakfast at Glacier's Edge Cafe in Babb this year. I hade the vegitarians breakfast burrito and we split a junior stack of chocolate chip pancakes, yum. The food came a little slow because they were very busy, but the service was very friendly. This will be our go-to place from now on for all meals outside the park by Many Glacier.

With the exception of a horrible chicken fried steak at Two Sisters, we also had good dinners at Two Sisters and the Park Cafe, but that was before we discovered how good the Glacier's Edge Cafe in Babb was.
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