They served us the best burger and a French dip we've had in ages. Their onion rings are to die for!! read more

Prospector Restaurant - The Ultimate Burger and onion rings. - American Near Me - Cooke City, Montana

At first I thought it would be okay, but there was absolutely no one there during dinner time. Waiter came out, said nothing, set down styrofoam cups and a pitcher of water, walked away. Ok, whatever. Then I looked down and the table was covered in bird poop. Safe to say we left. read more

I fortunately I didn't have cell service to preview this eatery. Food was ok, pastrami sandwich (with tough pastrami) and fries. Service met standard tables were filmy and bathrooms and fixtures were dingy. There are better options in Cooke City MT. read more

If you don't mind waiting a bit (the wait was genuinely pretty long), the food is actually not bad! Portions are huge, burgers and sandwiches have insane amounts of meat and are huge. Potato fries were solid potato strips lol not the fluffy type. Chili was rly good too. Surprised haha bc of the long wait time and low rating read more

Unfortunately we didn't check reviews before stopping in. The place was nearly empty but still waited a bit for service. I wish I would've used the restroom before i ordered because I would've just left. Black carpet and it felt like an 80s horror movie where the restrooms were located. We ordered a Reuben and the cheese steak. Reuben came without sauce and the pastrami was over grilled or honestly could have been out of date. The cheese steak didn't fare any better. Onion rings and tots were fried to oblivion in old cooking oil. Plastic utensils, empty condiment bottles and mustard and mayo packets on the table like a food cart place. I hate to bash family run places, especially in small towns where tourism is what they have to rely on but we are just hoping that we don't get food poisoning from our lunch today. Avoid this place like your gut depends on it. Hot dog dude across the street, Sup Dog, was a much better choice after we couldn't finish half our meal. A health department check is probably in order for this place. A one star review because yelp doesn't allow no stars. read more

Worst steak I've ever had!!! The owners don't understand English very well, the service was abysmal, and they didn't check on us once. Plastic utensils. I think they had a below usda legal meat cut if that exists. Bagged salad. Plain baked potato. Had to ask for butter and sour cream. Asked for shredded cheddar and they gave me whipped cream cheese. I eventually got mozzarella? No steak sauce--they brought me Tabasco? Seriously if you are trying to get a bite to eat coming out of the northeast entrance--please do yourself a favor and don't eat here. For context, I have never left a bad food review. This is that bad and then some. read more

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Poor food choice, slow service and overpriced . Stopped in for breakfast and waited for the server to bring coffee, finally got served coffee, then waits longer for a menu. Ordered diced ham and eggs with whole wheat toast, told, "only white bread " . Finally got our food and the toast was "grilled " tasted terrible. I would never recommend eating here. read more

We stopped on the way out of the NE entrance of Yellowstone wasn't much so stayed open. The food was awful the service no one could understand or speak to us. Just the owner my husband had a stuffed burger he took a bite and almost got sick the meat smelt awful then it took forever to find someone to speak to they brought him the same burger after we asked for a kids burger, the restroom was beyond gross. The owner didn't charge for his burger but now hubby is feeling sick from the one bite at lunch around 4. Avoid this place. Let your gut tell you from just the dirty and nasty appearance and the fact no one could talk to us to help out read more

Not much open or available in the area for late lunch after a great drive thru Yellowstone where we saw about 100 bison today. We were pretty hungry and were happy to find an open place to eat in Cooke City. Nothing fancy, but good burgers and sandwiches, and such nice people running the restaurant. During busier times I hope there would be more vegetarian options. read more

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This was basically the only option when traveling through to Yellowstone. Two workers that didn't speak much English, never checked on us once, walked up to take our order and said "Go." Food was awful, place was not very clean at all. You can tell they just count on passer-bys for business because there's no way anyone local is choosing to stop in, which sounds terrible but seems true. Keep driving and go elsewhere! read more

We had a party of 8 and were the only people in the restaurant. Took an hour to get our food. Everything was cold, toast was hard and the bacon I'm pretty sure was cooked the day before. It was so burnt and shriveled it just crumbled. $140 for an inedible breakfast. Will never eat there again! read more

They don't clean. The kitchen is awful. Do not eat here unless you want to get sick. Sewage backed up. They don't give AF about this place. Owners are terrible. Service is bad. Food beyond bad. Go elsewhere until this place and owners start giving a sh*t. Run far away from this place. read more

We had 2 great burgers with hand made patties. Homemade fries were great too! Typical seasonal restaurant ambience.

This place needs to be shut down by the health department! We visited Yellowstone early this month August 2025. We went to Cooke City for breakfast/lunch. This "restaurant " had the strongest smell of cleaner and seemed to be coming from the downstairs bathroom area. Bathroom was unusable unless you waded through an inch of cleaner poured on the floor. Still wanted to give them the benefit of doubt. Our 13 year old granddaughter wanted biscuits and gravy. Took 25 minutes to get our breakfast. Our granddaughter tried to get a bite of biscuit covered in gravy and said she couldn't eat it. The biscuit was as hard as a rock. Since they only have plastic silverware we tried to stab that stupid biscuit many times! I am grateful that none of us ate that crap! I took her plate to the owner and he told us he would fix it! With what? Told him to keep his lousy food and walked out. Please avoid this place! read more

We were so pleased with our dinner and drinks! We had bison burgers & tots which were cooked perfectly and had great margaritas. But the real delight was the vegetable curry and naan! We are connoisseurs of Indian food, and this curry was incredible. I went back the next day to order more and they were out. :( I am glad I got to experience it once. read more

Starting with the stellar ... the vegetable curry!!! If you like curry, this was complex, rich and spicy. I hope to have time to stop back tomorrow for more. Our other orders were the bison burger special and the "juicy lucie" burger with fries and tots. Both burgers were fresh and well prepared and the sides were served hot and crisp. The restaurant is in the Soda Butte Lodge and the whole space is in need of some updates, but don't let that turn you off. If fine dining was your priority, you probably wouldn't be in Cooke City to begin with. It seems to be family run and the hospitality industry execution may be a work in progress but the service was friendly and accommodating. The young lady tending bar / servicing tables was entertaining in her matter-of-fact engagement. Did i mention the curry...? read more

Came here five years ago and it was absolutely amazing -- not sure what's happened since, but there were no other customers inside, styrofoam, paper plates, and plastic utensils while the servers ate on ceramic plates right across the restaurant with no music. The bill somehow got to almost 60 dollars for three burgers that were worse than Mcdonald's with fries that were still half frozen. Not sure what happened, but the place is definitely not what it used to be. read more

This was the only restaurant open for miles when we came through in mid-May 2023. The establishment was filthy (black carpet, odd white powder on napkin holders, etc.), and the owner's personal belongings and papers were strewn around the dining room, like we were dining in their basement. The ice in the soda tasted bad, like the machine had not been cleaned in a very long time. Menus covered in grime and food smears. Very odd interactions with the family running the restaurant. Eat here at your own risk, I wish we hadn't. read more

I am giving two stars because I ordered at 8:37AM, and the food fully arrived at 9:09AM. That's over 30 minutes for just eggs, potatoes, corned beef hash (which I know is canned), bacon (added this, doesn't come w/entree), toast, and orange juice ($18.69). At time of my order, I was the only person whose order needing placing; there were only four other tables in the restaurant, all with food. There were people who were seated after I ordered and left before I got my food. I even asked a couple of times about the status of my food and was always told, "It'll be out in just a minute." What's worse is that by the time the food arrived, it was cold. That's not right! Otherwise, the food was pretty good. The bacon was hearty - some sort of applewood or smoked bacon. The potatoes were ok, but the corned beef hash was just right. I know this is going to sound crazy, but I like it when the corned beef hash is mashed up and looks like dog food LOL. If I am ever in Cooke City again, I would eat here for breakfast. This restaurant is located inside the Soda Butte Lodge, where I do not recommend staying though (see separate review). At least there is WiFi here since there is no cell service in this city! read more

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Trust me this place is the place to eat in this small town! I get that it is an older hotel and not the newest but the staff is friendly and the food is the best in town!! I recommend the BISON burger myself! read more

Stopped in over the weekend. Got seated and a menu and drink brought right out. Ordered the Cheese Steak Hoagie with gems. It came out within 10 mins which was quicker than expected as multiple groups showed up at the same time. Hit the spot and had decent flavor, but the Gems were the best at the perfect crisp without being over cooked. For around $12 it filled me up and was worth it. read more

Wasn't there when we walked in. Had to wait 15 minutes to be seated. We sat down and it smelt like something was burning. It was the only restaurant near and their food was terrible. The eggs were burnt, so was the bacon. The pancakes tasted terrible and all of the food was cold. They didn't give us the stuff they needed considering there was 4 people in there not including us. Everything was old and rusted. It was their first day open in 2 years. This restaurant felt very sketchy. The tables were very flimsy and they had plastic silverware. read more

Great place with great atmosphere. Service was excellent! Food was delicious and the Bar menu is great. Setting just above the river with great views and wonderful people. A must go to-when you are in town! Tahoe Phil read more

We ordered two pizzas. They forgot to cook one of them. Had to wait an extra 30 minutes before getting the second one. And there was only one other family in the restaurant. The place was a little run down and dirty. The bathrooms were absolute filthy. Carpets looked like they haven't been replaced since the 1940's. The pizza was average. read more

This was not a good experience. The place was filthy. Carpet on stairs was worn and was black with grease and grime. Cheese Steak sandwich tasted like a dirty grill. Chef Salad had iceberg with brown edges and cheap meat and cheese. The folks that run it seem nice but need to step up! read more

You hate to pile on but geez. This place smelled terrible when I walked in and appeared filthy. We were super hungry though and no place else appeared open. We sat down and ordered the pastrami burgers. The lady behind the bar came to our table to take our order. She was so confused. Their are maybe 10 items on the menu but she didn't understand her own menu. She came back to our table three times. We ordered soda and waited. After she came back to our table the third time totally confused by our order. (Again directly from menu no substitutions) I really debated leaving. I sat there for another five minutes. The table next to us got their food. Nice looking family of 6. Nothing out of the ordinary. They started eating thier food and immediately freaked out. Telling each other it was disgusting,the grandma found a hair in her food, they all looked at each and decided to walk out! I was so nervous at this point because of the confused waitress, the stinky smell, the unappetizing look of the food at the next table that we left five dollars for the sodas on the table and walked out! Really gross place. read more

Extremely irritated about having customers. The ambience here is dead air. The menu is all meat with the exception of a grilled cheese on the kids menu (which my wife was chastised for trying to order) We watched the only other two tables walk out while we were there. Another couple attempted to get seated and finally left after 5-10 minutes of being ignored. Definitely try somewhere else! read more

Stayed at the lodge for 3 nights with the wife for our anniversary (most time spent looking for grizzlies in the park). We shared the SBL Power Pastrami / Reuben for dinner our first night, and had the Cheese Steak Hoagie to go a couple days later. Wife had a gin and tonic with dinner, it left a little to be desired, my local IPA from Red Lodge was decent; and we took a Coke with the to go order. It's funny to rate a soda, but sometimes they suck; this on for all intents and purposes tasted as it should. The meals were actually quite tasty; the pastrami sandwich could have used a little more of their "homemade Russian sauce", but it was still delicious! A nice pile of meat, all tender and none of that gristly crap at all. The bread was fresh, solid kraut; just a solid samwich! Cheese Steak Hogie was also a pleasant surprise that we mowed-in as we drove back to the park. Served open face, it was impossible to eat by hand so my wife cut pieces for us to devour. Again, excellent quality meat, stringy melted pepperjack, grilled onions and shrooms. Just an overall good experience for the couple of meals and limited (seasonal / Covid) menu they had to offer. Crowd-wise, dinner time is very quiet this time of year, but the lunch crowd was good to see; 4 tables occupied when we were there, another group coming in when we left, and later that evening the owner said it really picked-up after that for a while. I can only imagine most enjoyed what food the Prospector was able to provide them. read more

I've never seen the filthier place. We drove to Cooke City because we'd never been, and this was the only place open. The table was grimy, the menu greasy. Thank God I went to the bathroom before I ordered, The bathroom had serial killer vibes. It was obscene, I couldn't find a clean toilet. I don't mean just some toilet paper and pee left lingering. I am talking stuff smeared on seats, used hygiene products all over the floor..Looked neglected for years, the smell was indescribable. I walked back up the nasty, stained stairs to my husband, and said I think we will get sick if we eat here! I convinced him to leave. In the parking lot a gentleman had just left the restaurant, he saw that we walked out before ordering. He exclaimed it was the best decision of the day. He had just eaten there receiving uncooked meat, he had to send back, wilted salad, still hungry because his food was inedible. I can't review the food as we didn't eat. But I do know it was closed by the health department sept 30, just a few days later!! Do yourself a favor and keep driving read more

We did not eat here, but we visited the bar. We walked by the front desk -- no one there. So we decided to go to the bar. There was only one other couple there. The bartender was either talking to another employee or the other couple, ignoring us. Finally she was ready to wait on us. My husband asked about eating there later and she probably not. She said she is just an employee and does what they tell her to do. I guess that means ignoring customers and rudeness. We left. read more

It was such a strange experience. Very, very dirty inside. The food is so salty it's inedible. We drove through Yellowstone thinking we'd drive out to Cooke City to check it out and get lunch. It was the only place open this time of year so we have it a shot. The people were nice, but like I said the whole experience was very strange. read more

This place is BAD, I've tried it a few times to make sure it wasn't just a bad day. I've gotten raw burgers ,raw chicken soggy fries. It's just all around bad. Staff is rude and just looks at you like your stupid. Trust men when I say GO ELES WHERE!!!!! read more

Ugh. Sorry. I wanted to like it but I didn't. The place is huge and everything. I mean it's a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, a bar, had pool... and it was so empty. So why was the service so slow? I don't know. The food was mediocre. I mean really mediocre and it wasn't cheap either. Although cheaper than many of the other places we looked at it in town. The place across the street was hopping despite it's prices. After we ate here I realized why this place was so empty. read more

I can't believe that this place had such a good food. We were driving from Yellowstone North gate to the end of the road in winter time and was curios about Cooke city where it was like a hidden town since the other end of the road closed in winter. We saw this place open on the Christmas and were glad. The server was very nice to us. I loved the French dip sandwich. My husband's sandwich was good too. I forgot what it called. read more

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Came here for breakfast and it wasn't our first choice. Bearclaw was closed. We walked in and long story short they were not prepared and were severely understaffed. Took 10 mins to get drinks and 20 min before order was taken and an additional 45!!!! Mins for food to arrive. My Eggs and ham scramble was watery and bland hash browns were pasty and my bf eggs were made wrong AND over cooked and when we told them they said "thank you"????? y'all.. it was $36... wtf read more

Never ever going to stay here. I think the ownerships has changed. THE COMMENT FROM A YEAR AGO IS NOT ACCURATE. The staff are unprofessional and rule, there are no refrigerator in the room, no hair dryer, no racks to put your luggage, no water boiler in the room, AC/heater also not working. They only give 2 chairs and a small table for room for 5. WiFi is super SLOW, took a few fail to send a message. Food are expensive there, I suggest to eat at beartooth across the street. read more

Food was good. Waitress "Ann" I believe she said her name was, was rude. She told the non English speaking guests next to us to be quiet. Rolling her eyes, irritated by everything! Three groups came in behind us and oddly enough got their food before us, pretty sure she just ignored putting our order in. My friend and I are traveling with two small children. Ok changed the baby right before entering, only for him to poo while in the place LOL so my friend takes her son to the car not to smell up the place. The waitress came to the table making a big deal nasty face and tossing things on the table. I honestly could go on about her demeanor and behavior. Spare yourself and go somewhere else. Took our order and didn't come back until she brought our food read more

Took 45 minutes for lunch- a grilled chicken sandwich and fries. Fries were limp and very greasy. The place was dirty!! I would not recommend this place to anyone. :-( read more

We had lunch here because it was the only place in town we could find open at the time. Eating there during the COVID-19 pandemic was downright scary. Even though other places had signs saying that masks were required by law in Montana, nobody was wearing them here. Not the staff and not the customers. We found the only table that wasn't really close to other diners but that put us in the traffic area where people were coming and going. The staff were pleasant but service was very slow. The food, when it finally arrived was barely acceptable. My advice is to eat somewhere else or just get a head start on your starvation diet. read more

This place doesn't even deserve one star. My son orderd a cheeseburger and it didn't have cheese and the patty was extremely burnt. My husbands salad was consisted of frozen leafs. I got a milkshake and it was spoiled. I got the sick from it and vomited. This place was the worst restaurant I've ever been to in 47 years of life. Lastly the meal costed 80 bucks. read more