Cattle Baron

[Ear Mountain]

There have been several posts in this forum with comments on the Cattle Baron. Maybe we can consolidate them into this thread.

I've eaten at the Cattle Baron 3 times now. Twice in previous years and once this past week (8/11/08). Each time I had the filet tenderloin dinner.

In each year the service was pretty good if a little slow.

The first two times the entire meal was excellent. The meat especially was cooked to perfection and was very tasty and tender throughout.

This past trip however was different. While the potato, salad and stir fried veges was good, the meat was not. It tasted great but most steaks were under cooked. Those that ordered medium you got medium rare. A medium rare order came out rare. Only mine was correct in that I asked for a little ore rare than medium rare and it was done perfect. But on top of that the meat had strings of tough connecting tissue throughout making it difficult to cut and chew. There ended up being a lot of waste. All three of us who had the filet tenderloin felt that perhaps the cut actually served was something other than what was advertised. We all thought that we were not given the cut or quality of meat we paid for. One individual ordered the New Yorker and was satisfied with both the preparation and the cut. Several ordered chicken and mentioned it was not as good as expected. One person order salmon and was very satisfied.

[July Guy]

Each time I had the filet tenderloin dinner.

Well, I'd read some not-so-great reviews of the Cattle Baron this year. But once again they passed my steak test (I'm picky concering how it's cooked.) I ordered the filet "Medium Rare". Across from me, SJ ordered "Medium Well". In cases like these the little fat boy in me always frets that they will mix up the two steaks. They did not- they had these little color-coded plastic things to identify the different steaks. I believe that Kathy also got the filet "Medium" and I heard no complaints from her. But she will eat anything. Service was great, as accommodations were made for Tara's herd of small people (pizza).

Thumbs up for this year again. Perhaps one day we will have a bad Cattle Baron experience, but it has not happened yet.

*On a side note, the BEST steaks we had this year were at Glacier Park Lodge. 16 oz Bison Filet cooked to perfection. Excellent service too.

[MG Ron]

I will preface my comments by saying that I was one of the negative reviews of the Cattle Baron based on our trip in mid-July so this is not a new negative review. Our experience was pretty much in line with Ralph's comments. The side dishes were very good but the steaks all had excessive waste. This was true for all four of our party. The portions were large but we probably had to leave up to half of it on the plate due to it being fat/gristle. We commented at the time that it would have been a much more pleasant experience if they had trimmed the steaks better prior to cooking/serving even though the size of the steak then would have been smaller. The percentage of edible meat could have been much higher. We did not have any problem with the degree of doneness though.

I would give them another chance on our next trip. I love a good steak and am pleased to hear that others have had good experiences there this year!
Ron

[sj in cal]

Cattle Baron gets two thumbs up!! Last summer my steak was just so-so. This summer...might have been the best steak ever (sorry Ringside). I guess I'll have to go back next year for the tie-breaker. Although I had to wait for that second beer, I was happy with the service too.

[glowingrock]

We just ate at the Cattle Baron this week. While the food was pretty good (anything probably would've tasted good after our long hike), we waited at the top of the stairs for around 40 minutes before we were even acknowledged. They had about 7 empty tables that were cleaned and set but were not sitting anyone down in them. One party that had a reservation waited over 45 minutes AFTER their reservation time. When someone else asked to speak w/ the manager, they were told that there was no manager. Once we finally got seated, the waitress was pleasant. The prices seemed high and overall we were not impressed with the service, however there weren't many other options that we could see.

[llholmes1948]

The more I read the reviews of the Cattle Baron this year, it seems to me that buying some steaks and cooking them on a grill in a picnic area is an attractive option.

Lyman

[Ear Mountain]

Cooking your own steaks is a great way to go I'd say. Used to be we could get good cuts of meat at the Trading Post in East Glacier. Now might have to go to Browning (Teeples) or somewhere on the west side.

[llholmes1948]

Cooking your own steaks is a great way to go I'd say. Used to be we could get good cuts of meat at the Trading Post in East Glacier. Now might have to go to Browning (Teeples) or somewhere on the west side.

Can't say that I have taken much note of it lately, but does anyone know how many picnic areas, etc.for day use in Glacier are equipped with grills? It seems to me that the picnic area at Avalanche is but I may be wrong.

Years ago, a friend who worked at the Prince of Wales in Waterton got some steaks and we had a nice cookout at a picnic area on the way to Cameron Lake as I recall. She was very concerned about bears coming uninvited to our cookout (they were no-shows fortunately) but I wonder if they had attended other people's cookouts that summer.

Lyman

[jrmacman]

we ate at the cattle baron in july. do not go there on a sunday night...they were out of a lot of stuff from a "big saturday night". food was so-so but after iceberg lake everything was a letdown! i would give them another try.

[scott-atl]

maybe they are suffering from a loss of leadership. bob is no longer around.

[merrylandmd]

We ate at the Cattle Baron twice in July. We had six other people with us, we got there at 5 pm (didn't want to wait in line), the food was great. Everyone enjoyed. While staying in Whitefish, we drove back to the Cattle Baron a second time and though the steak wasn't as great as the first time, it was still good. You really have to go by Park Cafe and try their Peach pie!
Not a food topic but-
Don't forget bug spray, they were out everywhere we went...

[Tara]

You will read this in my trip report too (yes, I'm still working on it. Really!) but we ate at the Cattle Baron twice this trip. Both times we had wonderful service, didn't have to wait for a table, and found the staff extremely accommodating (they didn't mind Jack laying on the floor playing with his cowboys, and the second time they were very nice about helping order a pizza for three of the 4 kids in my "herd" - not only did they order it for me but did it with a smile and had the guys bring it directly to our table. They couldn't possibly have been nicer. Oh, and Rosie and I agreed that our steaks were fabulous. I have yet to have a bad experience, or even a so-so experience, at the Cattle Baron...I think we've been there at least 5 times now. We've always had great food and great service. I love the place and still recommend it very highly!

[calicotraveler]

We ate at the Cattle Baron last week. The tenderloin fillet was done perfectly (medium rare). The side dishes were wonderful. There was no excess waste on the steak and there was plenty of meat. Service was great. We were very happy with our experience there! Will go back next year. I don't know what's been happening there this summer but ours was a happy experience.

[toddnick]

I ate at the Cattle Baron on September 13th. I had my nose pressed up against the glass when it opened after a long day of hiking (it opened at 5PM). It was certainly a nice change from campground food and the service was excellent (I sat at the bar). I had the rib-eye which was hot and had a very nice glaze but the meat itself was only passable. All in all, I'd say that for the Glacier area this is fine dining but for a real city this would be disappointing considering the price tag.

[Duncan J Kerr]

Sorry to have to report that our meal at the Cattle Barron last week was very disappointing when compared to my last two visits to the Barron. My order was the ribeye(my standard). Steak was smaller than in the past, undercooked, less flavor and too much fat. Was too hungry(after the Hockey-Ref hike), so I did consume it. But fell far short of my previous feed downs at the Barron. The other 3 guys(their first time) with me were also disappointed. And previous meals there, it was as good a steak as I have ever had. But I will give it another chance.

Duncan