Rocky Mountain Magazine & Meeting Place

You can get a bite or a byte at downtown Billings’ cafes. This wasn’t so in 1910… business here was different…

After a long horse or train ride, where did ancestral folks dine?

Railroads dictated restaurant placement of Stockman’s – where ‘men meet men’, Sherry’s, the Rex, Northern Hotel, and Northern Pacific Beanery, with it’s ‘chef second to none’. Our first masters in culinary creations were French trained and prairie learned.

When you have lunch at the Rex, you are dining right where Will James, Calamity Jane, and Buffalo Bill Cody ate. Buffalo Bill’s chef for the Wild West Show built this restaurant and bar.

Limited entrees then maybe included beans for 15 Cents or Sirloin at 75 Cents. The Rex’ current Chef David Maplethorpe who ‘midgeted’ under a French tutor, includes specialty soups, seafood, and steak, among his entrees.

’Comestibles’ offered by one 1910 restaurant ad were always fresh. “A chef never opens a can.” Quotes Maplethorpe. He shares “Three Pepper Beef”, but keeps eccritic his Gumbo recipe.

McCormick’s old picture?
Fine chefs own the avenue again in the same buildings as fore chefs. Only the menus have changed. Billings is fortunate to have an eclectic ballot of cooks. Chef Steve Marsh of Café Italia and McCormick’s is ‘kicking things up’ with a new menu. Keep that current secret sandwich sauce, Steve.

Sushi? Italian? French? Asian? Mexican? …any genre. Honey, what do you feel like? Sweet Grass’s sandwiches rock! The Soup Place fills me with aroma. Don Louis’ depth of flavor delights the tongue long after. Take a sensual feast of Sarah’s smooth green chili sauce. Touch your Irishness with a Pastie at Pug Mahon’s. Stella’s St. Patrick’s Day plate of fare filled two truckers!

• Today there’s cuisine while cruisin’, a huge choice in boozing.
• The businessmen’s lunch, or a champagne brunch. Have sea bass enmasse, or tiramisu, alas!
• Try alfredo pasta, or your choice of tapas.
• There’s sushi, Italian, or au-tartare with scallion.

Downtown Billings is an epicenter of epicurean dining.
On assignment, I witnessed Billings population engaging in: a gal bunch having leisurely lunch, suits having business dinner, stop ins, carry-outs, couples over romantic dinners, beer with lunch, dessert-only crowds, and singles savoring alone time.

Three Pepper Beef
5 Pounds Ground Beef, Cubed
6 Poblano Peppers, Diced
6 Red Bell Peppers, Diced
6 Yellow Bell Peppers, Diced
1 ½ Tablespoons Crushed Red Chili Peppers
1 ½ Cups Beef Stock/Broth
1 ½ Cups Tomato Paste
1 Cup Fajita Seasoning
3 Red Onions, Diced
2 Leeks, Pale Green, Diced
7 – 8 Roma Tomatoes, Diced
Cook beef, beef broth/stock, and water to just below the first knuckle on high until beef is tender. Add other ingredients.

Cook over moderate heat 1 hour.

Check the owner favorites:

• The Rex: Wild Salmon with Shrimp
• Walkers: Risotto Primavera
• Crowne Plaza: Butter Milk Tabasco Frog Legs
• McCormick’s: Banana Stuffed French Toast
• Jake’s: Jake’s Great Filet Medallions

Salivating yet?

Every chef or food aficionado says culinary adventure has to do with freshness, zest in spices, blend of textures; twists in preparation and serving, and artistic signature. Secrets hide in their cucinas.

Check out old style buildings and new style cooking in the city’s joints. You won’t be disappointed. To borrow a line from the Rex: “Most important…the beer is still cold as, it was in 1910.”