Being from New York, I have pretty high expectations when it comes to Italian food, and Abruzzo…read moreKitchen absolutely delivered. Spending some time in Montana this time of year, I honestly wasn't expecting to find arugula this fresh and perfect. It was crisp, peppery, and tasted like it had just been picked. That alone impressed me. The elk tartare was easily my favorite dish of the night. It was incredibly fresh, perfectly seasoned, and a great Montana twist on something you would expect to find at a high end restaurant in New York. I would come back for that dish alone. The steak was cooked perfectly, flavorful and juicy, with herb butter, asparagus, and roasted tomatoes. The pasta was rich, creamy, and covered with freshly grated cheese, but still balanced and not overly heavy. Everything we ordered was beautifully presented and clearly prepared with a lot of attention to detail. Coming from New York, where we are spoiled with great Italian restaurants, I can say Abruzzo Kitchen is one of the best Italian meals I've had outside of New York. Great ingredients, creative dishes, generous portions, and a kitchen that clearly cares about what it puts on the plate. If you are in Montana and appreciate really good Italian food, put Abruzzo Kitchen on your list. I'll absolutely be back.

An Italian place right in the center of downtown whitefish. A little compact, but definitely feels…read morehome-y. Service was great, and very inviting. Food took a bit to come out, but was warned ahead of time. Waiter claim everything is made from scratch definitely taste like it. A little price-y but within normal range of good quality Italian place. 3.5/5 - Caesar Salad - Standard caesar salad, tasted fresh with some fresh slices of cheese on top. Wish there was more crutons maybe to add better crunch. Nothing to complain about, but nothing special to stand out. 4.5/5 - Carbonara Pizza - Perfectly cooked, with a raw egg on top. Creamy, crunchy, and very savory from the carbonara. Exactly as it states bacon is nice and crispy, with the cream finish to cut any greasiness from it. One of the better pizzas I have. Waiter also claim its their favorite and I can see why. 3/5 - Fennel Sausage Pizza - The extra cheese adds a great creaminess to the sauce. On top of it the sausage and bell pepper makes a great topping as it tasted fresh. Only complaint the bottom was very burnt. Usually I accept a certain level of burnt crust from this type of pizza, but all i tasted was burnt dough. Ruin more than half the pizza. 3.8/5 - Wild Boar Ragu - The noodles used tasted very fresh and homemade. Velvet-y and slides off the tongue and grabs all the sauce easily. The price was way higher than the rest, but flavor was more flat than expected. Very little game flavor from the wild boar which is a huge plus. For the price there are better flavors on the menu. 3.5/5 - Classic Bolognese - Despite the same plus from the pasta noodles, the sauce was another letdown. Very watery for a bolognese. Usually its thick meat sauce where the pasta can pick up the sauce with ease. However this one was very watery jsut slides off the pasta made it hard to eat it all without a spoon or something under neath to catch the sauce. Flavor was okay tasted meaty tomato sauce. The fresh, light grated cheese to put on top of the pizza was surprisingly the stand out. No more dried parmesan for me in the future. Packed every night, so make sure to make reservation if possible.

Dinner at the Merc *…read moreThe food is exceptional, not simply for the Flathead Valley but for Montana. I suspect we'll upgrade that sentiment to "the Pacific Northwest" before too long. * The space itself is a perfect blend of old logging town saloon and upscale Montana bistro. You'd never find this place in Whitefish, let alone Big Sky. * The people, the ambiance, the service--together they'd make even a subpar menu forgivable. Instead it's an impeccable menu. The overall experience would make dining at the Merc totally worthwhile even if the food was just fine. Newsflash: there's nothing "just fine" about it. From eye level on down there's not a drop of pretense in the joint, above which you have the charm of Tiffany lamps and a gilded tin ceiling. Beyond those, the true opulence is on your plate. That's not to suggest that this restaurant isn't as blue collar as they come, the food just tastes better. Plenty of its brethren to the north serve fine food, but most are rather stuffy, or else their food struggles to live up to their aesthetic. At the Merc, your meal somehow outshines the space, the wine offerings are almost absurd--incredible quality and quite eclectic. The sommelier is a gem, a fixture in the Flathead for some time now and perhaps the savviest buyer in the state. Shyamali tells stories about a vintage or vineyard that withstand a retelling--even weeks later to people not drinking the wine. As the menu takes more and more risks, the dishes get perceptibly tighter. The imperfections are acceptable (the Wedge should be better for how incredible the Caesar is... Solution? Order the Caesar) The folks who tend bar can make you anything you like, but the smart money is on drinking what they like to make. Wait staff is best in the Valley (might not be close). Somehow, when you put it altogether, you get a restaurant that blows away the summer tourist crowd with elevated fare without ever alienating the lifer locals who call the Merc home. Threading that needle anywhere is an incredible feat in itself, let alone in the Flathead. Comparing Mercantile to restaurants in the Flathead Valley is a bit of a fool's errand. Only a few places within 100 miles can even claim a spot on northwest Montana's upper echelon, though most reading this may join me in hoping that changes soon. There are excellent chefs in Northwest Montana, but perhaps none with the resume of the minds behind the Mercantile. Mercantile is the kind of restaurant that makes me wonder why I ever go anywhere else... the problem is I get that feeling when I'm dining at the Merc, AND when I'm dining anywhere else. Disclaimer: I don't post reviews to yelp--like, at all--and I'm just a regular dude who doesn't know a lot about this stuff. My expertise is nil, but my experience spans all the way from the humblest street food, food trucks, roulottes, and tamale carts, to dining at 3-Michelin star restaurants. If there's a grain of salt to take with this review, it's simply that I've eaten there more than once. If popping into the mercantile (and its sister bar KM next door)) is a mark against this opinion (for some it is) then I get it. But that doesn't make me wrong.

A bit expensive, but well worth it. The filet mignon that I have was super tender, my wife had…read moresalmon which she said was also very good. Service was excellent. This is a top-notch steakhouse. If I lived here, I would be back.

Love the decor, and the service was fantastic. Our drinks were served in large jars, iced tea and…read morePepsi. There are cocktails available. My husband had the mushroom swiss burger and I had the grilled cheese and tomato soup. Both are highly recommended. We happened to be vacationing in Somers when we decided to try this place. Wish we had one in KC!

My favorite place to eat in Bigfork. I can taste the homemade goodness in everything I've tried…read moreover the past 5 years, since I found c this place. And now they serve alcohol, so you can enjoy a mimosa with your meal.

Fantastic food, excellent service. Food came fresh and warm, served all together…read more Excellent presentation too. Perfect table setup for 8, not crowded or crunched seating. This outside dinner was wonderful memory to take from Montana.

Hallelujah! Something besides bar food or pizza in Whitefish! And Tim's delicious! I had the…read morevegetarian plate and the falafel, and it was DELICIOUS. I'll definitely be back!!!

Awesome decor, awesome wait staff and an exciting menu. We…read morerecommend Casa Luna for fine adult dining, not suitable for kids Love a CLASSY restaurant for a memorable dining experience, making this our "go to" dinner house!!!

This place is chic, but the dress code is casual, at least when you're dining at 5 p.m. I made a…read morereservation because I wasn't sure what the crowd would be like. Sarah was my waitress and she did a fantastic job. She alone deserves 5 stars. I went by myself and they still let me sit at a table. Now for the food, the menu is great. I picked here because I'm vegetarian and they had a few good vegetarian options on the menu. I started with the patatas bravas which was delicious. I would order this again. My only critique is that the potatoes were not evenly cooked resulting in different textures. The sauce, however, was flawless. Next, I got the vegetarian paella. The vegetables were cut into small pieces and perfect cooked, however, the flavor was a bit bland. It could just be an understated flavor profile, but I think they could have elevated the taste. The presentation for both dishes was stunning. They have an amazing drink menu and dessert menu but unfortunately, I had no room. I would come back here, and I definitely want to try the house salad. The bill was reasonable for such a sophisticated place. I am excited to try other items from the menu next time.

Were the flies buzzing around like crazy? Yes! Did we give a dam? NAH! Cheapest meal I've had this…read moreentire Montana trip and reminded me of mom's home cooked meals. We shared a delcious vanilla malt. My sirloin steak was cooked perfect, home made mashed potatoes, corn, and a nice hunk of fresh baked bread. Yes ma'am! Our server was very attentive and kind. Thanks for treating us right and not charging us an arm and a leg for it. Would have provided photos of we didn't eat everything so quickly

The one saving grace about this place is that the service was friendly and attentive…read more The restaurant looks like it was designed around 1972 and hasn't been updated since. It feels tired. The food was meh AT BEST. My partner had fried cod and onion rings. When he was done, his comment was "I'm sure glad that I got the 3-piece order. I wouldn't have wanted to eat more than that. Three was bad enough." As for me, I tried to get two things listed on the menu, only to be told that they were out of those. I refused to play the "guess what we might have today" game and elected instead to eat nothing at all. In hindsight, that seems to have been a very wise decision on my part.

Three Forks Grille was recommended by our Airbnb host, and it was excellent…read more The setting is charming, with two levels and an intimate feel. We started with the appetizer special, a pear and feta salad, then split the bison short ribs and shared the lemon blueberry tart for dessert. I would happily go back for any one of those dishes. Our server was excellent. I believe his name was Eric, and he made the experience even better. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.

Sat at the bar at Three Forks Grille, and the bartender was very friendly and attentive throughout…read morethe meal. I ordered the special, a New York strip. It was good, but it didn't quite blow me away. More importantly, it wasn't served as it had been described, and the sides were different from what I was told would come with it. Not a dealbreaker, but definitely a disappointment when ordering a special based on the description. The friendly, attentive service helped make up for it, and overall I still enjoyed my visit. A solid four-star experience. I would come back and give Three Forks Grill another try.

What a dissatisfying experience for me and my Dad. Thought we'd try the newer place in town but…read moreover 30.00 (with a 15% Tip) for a 11inch pizza with no more than 8 inch of sauce and even less pepperoni served with a pair of shears to cut it up ourselves seems a bit much even for " the Fish " . Very bland flavor even with added red pepper flakes. My Dad wanted coffee but they don't serve it. And later when he asked for a Pepsi or coke no dice either. It's a clean little place with plastic chairs and very stark but has a cool pizza oven. If you're at all OCD clean person don't watch the pizza tossing.

This was truly some of the yummiest pizza I've ever had, and the hospitality was out of this world…read more A cozy little stop in whitefish, family owned, and when you're there, you feel like family too. The pizzas were delicious, as were the salads. We did not have room for dessert. One pizza and one salad should be sufficient for two people, but I could honestly eat that pizza for quite a while. I hope to be back, but until I return, please check this out on my behalf!