Fine dining downstairs, party upstairs. On the lower level of this Old Town restaurant, enjoy fine dining dishes. Upstairs, sip some of the best cocktails in the city with views of the Sandia Mountains and the city.
Twisters may have been the setting of Los Pollos Hermanos, a fictitious fried-chicken restaurant in TV show Breaking Bad, but it serves honestly breakfast burritos. It’s most famous for the Twister burrito—an over-the-top monstrosity of deliciousness with the meat (or beans) of your choice, potatoes, chile, and cheese.
The food may be simple and solid –wraps soups and burgers – but it’s so good that lines of hungry customers often block the stairs to this first-floor café. Easily best spot for breakfast and lunch in town; its home-baking is excellent too. The menu offers pretty much everything in veggie or vegan forms, but whatever your requirements, expect large...
Friendly, chalet-style 216-bed hostel, that sprawls over several buildings among the woods of Tunnel Mountain, 3km from downtown. Lodgings range from basic shared dorms ($35–44) through private rooms ($102–133) to cabins; members get small discounts. Look out for good-value ski and rafting packages online. Facilities include large kitchen, laundry, lounges with fireplaces (& free wifi) and an inexpensive restaurant, Cougar...
This impressive Scottish Baronial flight of Victorian fancy is Banff’s greatest landmark. Work on the turrets and cornices and the thick nine-story granite walls below began in 1888, but things were massively rebuilt in the 1920s. All this resulted in a labyrinthine pile that both celebrates the bygone days of the genteel travel and somehow mirrors, maybe even enhances, the...
This imposing landmark hotel – whose interior is a bizarre fusion of alpine and neo-colonial furnishings – is famous above all for its commanding views over Lake Louise from its 511 suites. Rates are reduced significantly outside of holidays and weekends and in the off-season (Oct–Dec), and good value ski packages are offered too. The hotel’s battery of five-star facilities...
Mountain chalet-style 150-bed hostel, offering dorm beds ($35-42) and private rooms ($95-123). Clean, quality facilities include communal kitchen, laundry, Internet access and a mountaineering library. Reservations are virtually always essential. Also here is the excellent Bill Peyto’s Cafe (daily 7am–4pm) which serves great snacks and reasonably priced full meals; non-guests are welcome. Menu items include sandwiches, burgers, mountainous nachos, salads...
Whole Foods on Pearl Street has the largest “ready-to-go” section in the city. In this massive ready-to-go food emporium you can get made-to-order, or ready-to-go sandwiches, pizza and sushi, create Asian dishes on the spot, or choose from a variety of innovative foods. Anything from the prepared food selection can be heated and eaten at tables set up in the...
Billy Gail’s Cafe doesn’t advertise and it doesn’t need to. Breathing new life into a former gas station, this is a bustling, friendly cafe, popular with the locals and the kind of place where the waitresses call you “honey.” It’s located just a third of a mile south of Highway 76, not far from Silver Dollar City. It’s famous for...
When Black Oak Grill first opened, it had high hopes of attracting a sophisticated crowd willing to pay higher prices for gourmet meals. The crowds never materialized, so the menu went more pedestrian, but remaining is an urban-chic atmosphere enhanced by tall ceilings, an island bar and an outdoor deck that looks out, unfortunately, mostly on a parking lot. Trying...
If Branson Cafe could talk! A real regulars’ hangout, it’s been the place to go since 1910 for its down-home country cooking. All the dinner rolls, cookies and bakery items are made from scratch. Start the day with biscuits and homemade gravy or a three-egg omelet. Lunch and dinner offers burgers, sandwiches and homes-tyle dinners like fresh fried pork tenderloin,...
There was lots of local opposition when the bucolic but under-used Taneycomo waterfront just east of downtown was transformed into this 1.5-mile-long shopping and dining complex some years back. But there’s no doubt now that Branson Landing has revitalized the downtown district. More than 100 specialty stores and restaurants line the boardwalk, anchored on either end by Belk Department Store...
The Buffalo Bar is part of the Top of The Rock complex, which includes a golf course, the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum, the Lost Canyon Cave and Nature Trail and two restaurants, the casual Arnie’s Barn and rustic but refined Osage Restaurant. The bar is popular not only with golfers at the end of the day, but also regular...
Rustic-looking Charlie’s Steaks-Ribs & Ale, located right on the Strip, rustles ’em in with its own microbrews and sizzling steaks. Its specialties include ribeye, bacon-wrapped filet mignon and other cuts of beef, aged 21 days and cut fresh from the loin. But there is plenty of other options as well, including burgers and sandwiches, baby back ribs, chicken and seafood,...
There’s no better place to watch the sun set over Table Rock Lake and enjoy fine dining and a glass of wine than Chateau Grille with its drawing-room ambiance, located in the Chateau on the Lake resort complex. Be sure to make a reservation for a window-side table. Dinner entrees give a wide range of steaks and seafood paired with...
Some swear Danna’s Bar-B-Que & Burger serves the best barbecue in town, and with the amount of preparation and care that goes into preparing its dishes, not to mention the crowds that pour in, that doesn’t come as a surprise. Family owned and managed, the casual restaurant offers pulled pork, smoked chicken, pulled beef, ribs, fried catfish and other platters...
Country music star Dolly Parton owns the Stampede Dinner Attraction (she doesn’t perform in the show), presented in a huge arena with stampeding buffalo, 32 horses, and a large, talented cast that sings, dances and rides horses, while you enjoy a four-course meal that includes rotisserie chicken, barbecued pork loin, side dishes and dessert (vegetarian and gluten-free meals are available...
Located in the same building as Mabee Lodge, Dobyns Dining Room is staffed by students, part of the College of the Ozarks‘ policy that students work instead of pay tuition. In keeping with the Ozarks tradition, the dining room features bark-covered wood chairs, a copper-stamped ceiling and copper-covered menus. There’s also a verandah overlooking the hills. Much of the food...
The homey Farmhouse Restaurant has been serving home-style cooking for more than 40 years and is popular with older generations of locals and tourists alike. It’s hard to imagine most customers wanting breakfast any time, but it’s available even for dinner if you wish, along with burgers, sandwiches, a Bar-B-Que Plate of brisket and pulled pork and roast beef dinner....
The Grand Country Buffet may not be the best meal you’ll ever have, but it sure will be plentiful, with enough variety to keep most everyone in the family happy. In addition to a salad bar and dessert station, the dinner buffet offers fruits, vegetables like green beans and carrots, freshly baked breads, side dishes from macaroni and cheese to...