Stopped in after riding through Custer State Park. They had a $15 cookout outside but my family opted to go inside and sit down. The food was delicious and the service was outstanding. My mother got the Buffalo Stew and it was amazing. It tastes as good as your grandmother's cooking. Get it if you can. P.S. The cornbread is also delicious. Get an extra plate. Worth a couple extra bucks. read more

Blue Bell Lodge - The Buffalo Stew. As good as your grandma's cooking. - Resorts Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

We did the hayride & Chuck wagon dinner. It was great. Keith entertained us on the hayride. He sang and told stories of the area and his time growing up in that area. Lots of interaction as he had everyone singing & clapping. At the chuck wagon, the food was excellent. Choice of steak or a burger. We had the steak. And all the fixins'. It was delicious. Be sure to book this on your trip. It was well worth it. Guaranteed a great time. read more

Blue Bell Lodge in Custer State Park was a surprise, The Blue Bell is a restaurant in the middle of the park, that specializes in buffalo dishes, but they have beef, salads and other things as well. We got seated right a way, they were mindful of covid and the service was fantastic! I ordered a salad with apples, grapes, goat cheese and cinnamon walnuts, delish! The other people in my party ordered the buffalo meatloaf, buffalo chili and one person ordered the beef hamburger (boring), lol. Anyway it was a nice surprise, food was good, prices were a little high, but we were on vacation and hungry! read more

Dined there with the family last Saturday for the second time in three years and the food was fantastic as always. Service was exceptional and the adults and kids both loved it. Great ambience and a great menu. Only reason it's four instead of five stars was due to the presence of flies. Otherwise, highly recommend. read more

We stayed in a log cabin. It was pretty nice, except the giant spider on the bed post The only negative was the employee at check in. Not a very friendly person to be working a front desk. Otherwise it was an average experience. read more

The cabins, while quite expensive, are very pleasant - clean, spacious, comfortable. Couldn't get a fire going in the fireplace as there was no kindling, but that's a very minor complaint. My only big problem is that the road had just been re-tarred and as a result the tar on my shoes got all over the inside of my car, but c'est la vie - my fault for not looking. The dinner service was pleasant - nice server, although kitchen was very very VERY slow, but what can they do if someone is out sick? Buffalo stew was nice & rich, wife's steak was good, cocktails were good. I wish the French onion soup had the cheese that it should have on top, and wasn't 50% tarragon stalks, but again, minor complaint. I would still stay here again, and would definitely eat here again. read more

$24.00 for the coldest and worst "buffalo tenderloin tips" ha! The sirloin the same. The mashed potatoes cold. Corn bread was best part of meal. Veggies were interesting... some squash mushy... some barely sautéed very crunchy. Ordered Medium Rare... got Well Done! Never will return. A PB&J would have trumped this place by far. McDonalds would have been a much better choice... and McDs is always cold pre-cooked trashy food. Told the server victor... he could've cared less. read more

Blue Bell Lodge Stables. The full day horseback ride was not a full day.., our guide brought us back 1 1/2 hours early which was a rip-off, especially considering the cost. The guide was nice but a bit "mouthy and opinionated"... she was obviously NOT working for a tip and did NOT get one. I also SPECIFICALLY asked if the lunch provided (turkey sandwich) was processed meat or from a real cooked bird. I was told it was NOT processed meat; not so...It was processed meat. Very disappointed in the whole day. I've had far better and honest rides. I don't recommend this stable. The cabin at the Blue Bell Lodge was perfectly fine though. read more

Great spot for lunch! Even accommodated my need for low-carb by allowing me to order off their dinner menu. Glad this was the place we chose to stop after our tour of Custer State Park read more

Stopped in for lunch and had the spinach artichoke dip that came with chips, broccoli & chips it was a good way to start the meal. Had the Belldorf Salad it was large and the chicken tender. Service was good and since there are very few places to eat-in the area it's worth stopping at. read more

Stopped here for lunch with the family. We had two appetizers that were incredible. The waitress was outstanding and can not say enough great things about this place. If ever in the Black Hill forest I can tell u that it is a must stop. read more

Actually I'm here right now with my wife and friends. There are so many flies in here swarming us as we try to eat it is ridiculous. The food is mediocre but the flies completely ruin anything that might be good about this place. I just spoke with the manager at the front and all she had to say is yeah we know and kill them every day. Blames it on the stables close by which makes total sense. There are ways of dealing with them so it's not an infestation. Makes me wonder if it's that bad out here what's going on in the kitchen!!! Gross!!!! Never coming back here! read more

The buffalo meatloaf was amazing. I highly recommend any of their buffalo meat dishes. The pouting was great. Their drinks are well made and more importantly strong ! read more

This was an amazing stop after a long day of hiking. Our server was very sweet and prompt. The food was INCREDIBLE! We shared the Buffalo Poutine, I had the Mac & Cheese, and my boyfriend had the buffalo meatloaf. It was all just wonderful! The Mac & Cheese was great, but if you're looking for something unique to the area, the meatloaf was so delicious and well seasoned. Definitely stop here if you have a chance! read more

Blue Bell Lodge - Resorts Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

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Got two bison burgers - amazing. Only reason it's 4 stars is the waiter never brought us our requested waters. Fries were a little bland. Overall pretty good will definitely be back when we visit Custer state park again. read more

Cute cabins! The food at the lodge was nothing special and wasn't the best so I recommend eating somewhere else or just picking up some microwaveable meals at the nearest grocery store and making the at your cabin (money saver!) Staff is so pleasant and beautiful environment. Free fire pit and firewood. The best part is the neighbors. So sweet and helpful (we might've just gotten lucky) and good stories. Felt safe! Shoutout to the older man in the restaurant. So so so nice and funny!!! Due to Covid we were unable to do the Chuck Wagon toast but it has been highly recommended! And I praise it for accommodating vegetarian options! read more

We were at the Blue Bell Chapel and Lodge for a wedding. First, a beautiful venue, it helps that the weather was great for an outdoor wedding, but truly a really beautiful little chapel. Then, the reception was in a separate little building overlooking a stream. It was very nice, peaceful, clean. Finally, the food! It was amazing! From the Mac n cheese for the kids, to the pasta salad, to the walleye and prime rib, the best wedding reception food I have had! read more

This review is solely for the Blue Bell Dining Room. The restaurant had the feel and flavor synonymous to a Texas Roadhouse. The servers and hostess were incredibly friendly and personable, cracking jokes and asking about our trip. The food was absolutely delicious. The grilled salmon on my salad was perfection, and my dad loved the corn bread that came with his meal. Parking was an issue with the chuck wagon supper and a wedding occurring at the same time. If you're looking for a window-view of some scenery, you're probably not going to find it here. I would suggest making a reservation, because you'll be really ticked if you drive all the way out there and there isn't a table for you. We will definitely go back! read more

Review for the Cabins. The good: The cabin was remodeled recently and was mostly clean (someones hairs stuck to the bathroom wall). The was a big fireplace, comfortable furniture, modern bathroom, porch, and firepit outside with tables and chairs. A/C. The location was great if you're doing things in the black hills and the cabin setting itself was pleasant but not private (privacy was not expected). Wildlife is abundant. There is a general store that sells everything (even beer and wine) close by and the Blue Bell Lodge (restaurant) is across the street from the general store. There's a TV that gets the disney channel and a few others if you like or the weather is crappy. Staff is generally pleasant and helpful. The bad: The are essentially two rooms in the cabin. The bathroom and everything else (kitchen, living/dining table, beds, fireplace, etc.). So there's no where to go if someone needs to go to bed early. The kitchen is a dorm fridge, microwave, two place electric cook top. 4 cup coffee maker, no toaster, and only a 3 qt saucepot w/ lid and fry pan w/o lid. There is a half inch gap under the front door. Cooking for more than two is difficult if you're planning to save money. Acknowledged - we should have been more prepared but were on a long trip and were led to believe facilities were better. 3 stars due to price. For that much $$$$ (A LOT) we expected better. read more

If you are touring Custer State Park, consider this for lunch. They have really tasty bison burgers. Service was quick, food was tasty, bathrooms were clean, restaurant had a wonderful rustic log cabin vibe, and the scenery was beautiful. What more do you want for lunch? read more

Blue Bell Lodge - Cob Bison Burger with fries - Resorts Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

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Delightful.. peaceful.. lovely.. a great cabin! Enjoyed our stay! Breakfast delish with great server! Great place to relax ! read more

Was awesome! we stayed in their cabins and were very impressed. Rooms were very clean and yet had that rustic feel to them. If you're in SD on vacation/get-away get their sleeper cabins . Iron mountain, wild life loop, wind cave are literally 10mins drive. Staff was very knowledgeable about the place and helped us plan our trip. Breakfast: Get french toast and spicy omelet (not on menu) lunch: I had pasta, friends had steaks both were good. read more

Great cabin, great view, awesome park. Got stung by a bee in middle of night so be careful, but hey, you're in a wildlife area. Be careful with the door open. Stayed only 2 nights on a 5-night vacation in the area, but would book full stay here next time pending price. Cabin was overpriced at $269/night. Plenty of room between cabins for park to build more, but ambiance and privacy would suffer, so glad they haven't!! Shady, spacious and comfy. read more

We took our family to the Blue Bell Lodge for dinner while on vacation, and we were not disappointed. The atmosphere/decor was rustic and fun, just like what a lodge should be. Our table was right next to the big stone fireplace in the center of the dining room. The service was friendly and pleasant, and our food was delicious. The BB margarita was refreshing and made well; served in a wide-mouth jar, adding to the rustic charm. We enjoyed the buffalo stew and the smothered hot beef sandwich, both hot, flavorful, and tasty. My picky eater child now loves buffalo burgers and said the bun was perfectly toasted just how he likes it. I wouldn't hesitate to dine here again....and we may stop in just for the apple crisp while we're still here visiting. read more

Blue Bell Lodge - BB Margarita - Resorts Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

Nice place. Good onion rings.....but we are hungry.....still waiting for our food. Had to ask for drink refills, silverware, and napkins, after the onion rings came...did I mention we are still waiting on our food? Extremely under staffed. Lunch at 2 pm shouldn't take an hour and a half....or 2-hours..on a Monday. Group of 14 people, told us 20 minute wait. Then proceeded to seat about 5 tables of 4. Then told us they were splitting us up into 4 tables. So all of those tables were seated and ahead of us even thought we waited 25 minutes. I hope the food will be good.....if we ever get it. Meanwhile our drinks are empty again. read more

We were visiting the park and decided to grab some lunch and this was the closest. Wow, am I glad we did. Some state park lodges are hit or miss when it comes to food but, this was a great surprise. We chose to sit outside as it was a delightful day. Our waiter, a spanish accent speaking little fellow, gave us fantastic service. He was very pleasant and fun to talk to. We had a wonderful meal. I had the Buffalo Meat Loaf, mashed pot. and beans. It was cooked to perfection and just delicious. the manager even came over to ask us if everything was alright with our meal. Now that does not happen often. Too bad we were only visiting as I would come back here often. read more

Best Cornbread in the West! We honestly come, just for that! But when we do, the food is just as good. We enjoy the beautiful old log cabin style building and the service they provide. The decor is unique on the inside and they have a beautiful property, We will plan to sit outside on the patio next time we visit. When you come here, plan a slow drive, as there are many buffalo to stop and take pictures of. read more

We were given a lunch at the Lodge with our half-day trail ride. Good service and good food! The Buffalo Stew was amazing.....a great stop! read more

If you are thinking of NOT doing the Hayride, you're dumb. It was the best part of our two week trip to South Dakota. If you DO go on the hayride, ask for "Cowboy Keith." You can thank me later. read more

DO NOT EAT AT THIS RESTAURANT!!! We should have walked back out the door after the rude greeting or lack of that we received by the hostess. Fast forward to 25 minutes later and after being seated no one had even greeted us or even taken our drink order. If we could have gone anywhere else at this point we would have but it would have taken a significant amount of time to drive somewhere else. When our food arrived one of the entrees was raw and it took us flagging down the rude hostess to have it taken back to the kitchen. Our overall experience was horrible and we would never recommend this establishment to anyone. Please note this was during high tourist season and during a weekday lunch. read more

Atmosphere: B+ Food: B Service: B+ Everything was above average, but perhaps our expectations were not sufficiently high. Having eaten at other state run restaurants I was expecting not much and Blue Bell Lodge was a pleasant surprise. The front desk was friendly and informative without being pushy. The service was attentive, but not hovering. The lodge itself is ... lodge-ish in a good way. The funny thing is, nothing stands out as being truly great, but as I reflect on the experience everything was just right. The food was standard fare, sandwiches and salads. Looking at the reviews, I think many others left with a similar experience. Let me stress, you will not be wowed--that just isn't this kind of a place, but if you take your time and relax, enjoy a simple, straightforward meal before/after going horseback riding or driving along the Wildlife Loop, I think the Blue Bell Lodge will meet your needs nicely. I would definitely return if we were in the park, but this isn't the place that you specifically drive out to get to--more a case of a nice little place to grab a bit to eat. read more

Didn't expect such lovely food after some unsuccessful attempts to get meatless food around here. Super fresh Salat and awesome dressing. Everything seamed to be outstanding and guestd left with a smile on their faces. read more

Blue Bell Lodge - "Belldorf Salad" in balsamic vinaigrette, spinach and artichoke dip with a side of chips! - Resorts Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

Reviewing the restaurant. I wanted to love this place so much. The decor is truly wonderful, what with enormous wooden beams, a plethora of mounted animal trophies, saddled bar stools, and a gorgeous stone fireplace. Regrettably, that was the end of the positive attributes for the restaurant. Service was slow. The menu was uninspired. And the food was adequate. Not horrible, mind you. But nothing terrific. read more

Slow server and slow food. We were here for lunch and it was not that busy, but it took 25 minutes to get our order in and another 30 to get our food. Food was good and ok priced read more

We stopped at the restaurant. The food was fantastic and the serving size was huge. The service was outstanding. Our servers name was Cliff and he really took care of us. read more

My family and I stayed at the Blue Bell Lodge on Aug 7th, 2019. We rented cabin #11 (two queen beds & a bunk bed). Within a half hour we SAW multiple mice running around our cabin, jumping in & out of the garbage can at times. My husband and I notified the front desk of our concerns & we were given 2 mouse traps. Optimistically we returned to our cabin, set the traps, and hoped our presence was enough to scare the mice off. To be proactive, we did not have ANY food in the cabin. Within 15 minutes of setting the traps, we caught 3....two in the traps and one in the garbage can! We returned to the office and asked to speak with the evening manager. Jesse seemed undisturbed with our catch. First, he offered us a different "newer" cabin which we declined because we had just put our children to bed. Then we were offered a free breakfast which wouldn't work for us because we were getting up at 6 am to get to the Buffalo Safari (restaurant opens at 7 am). Reluctantly, Jesse said WE could call the General Manager about the issue in the morning. I requested that he speak with her on our behalf because we would be on the safari and doing other vacation activities. He was visually annoyed by my request. Before we left, we asked for more traps to get us through the night. Jesse & the other evening employees had a hard time finding more and I overheard one of them say "man, we go through a lot of these" We got back to our cabin, set the new traps, struggled to sleep, and woke up to find that we had caught 3 more mice overnight! We played phone tag with Teresa, the General Manager, throughout the next day and when we finally spoke she was full of excuses...."middle of the forest, lots of rain, old cabins". I let her know that a mouse or two did not phase us as we are Minnesotans and we are comfortable with nature, however FIVE mice was an infestation and that we would like a complete refund. On 08/08/19 Teresa left me a voicemail & said that a complete refund wasn't possible, but she could refund me $60. I felt insulted that our inconvenience was worthy of a $60 refund. As of today, 08/20/19, I have yet to receive my $60 refund. We paid $260 for one night, making this stay the most expensive of our ten day multi-city family road trip. Needless to say we were VERY DISAPPOINTED with our time at the Blue Bell Lodge. The mice were excessive and the staff was unhelpful. We will never stay there again. We will never recommend others stay & advise other to avoid it as well. I would welcome a conversation with the Blue Bell Lodge management staff to somehow reconcile this issue. read more

Pulled Buffalo was stringy and just OK comes with choice if coleslaw or fries - I took the slaw which was just ok as well - rustic cabin like inside with many mounts on the wall read more

Blue Bell Lodge - Meals - buffalo vs chicken - Resorts Near Me - Custer, South Dakota

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This is a must do when visiting the Black Hills area. Our Singer "Bullhead" on the Chuckwagon was great, food was great and the experience is priceless. Buffalo walked by us in the Canyon where they take you to eat. I can't say enough about how great this was. read more

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This review is for dining at the Lodge only, not for accommodations or the chuck wagon dinners. Our service was very slow, though the server was pleasant. The food was very uneven. Some was fantastic, while others were disappointed in their meals. I called in advance for a reservation and was told I need a later time because it would be too busy, but it was nearly empty when we arrived later than we'd preferred with a child and elderly person in our group. Stereotypical "western" ambiance. There are much better dining options in the park at a similar price point. read more

The resort was great but be sure to eat at the restaurant! The chicken pot pie was marvelous and the poutine was exceptional! The bar tender was incredibly friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable about the area. We honestly loved it! read more