Jonathan G.
Yelp
Having driven about two hours outside of Yellowstone's northeast entrance, and conquered the just opened Beartooth highway... I realized two things. 1. Holy s**t is that an amazing drive, and 2. Holy s**t I'm hungry.
Feeling as if I was in the middle of nowhere, my GPS showed a little town called Red Lodge. It was only maybe 10 miles away, and I knew it was the closest chance to get gas and something to eat.
Turns out Red Lodge is a full on town, and a pretty gnarly one at that. After hopping on the YelpMachine™, I landed on PREROGATIVE Kitchen. I slipped in around 2:30, a little worried because they closed at 3pm. They were as nice as could be, making us feel extremely welcome, even closing in 30 minutes. We were told they were doing brunch only currently, and turned us around to see a menu on the wall.
It's an "upscale counter service" place, where you order and pay, and they bring out the goodies when ready. We got two dishes: The eggs Benedict with smoked trout, and the shrimp and grits with pork belly. Now I don't know if it's cause we had hiked all morning and we're just famished, or if the food was just that good. But it was a 9/10 across the board.
One of the chefs was a nice Englishman from the midlands, who was making me delicious brunch in the middle of nowhere Montana. That actually made it all the more unique.
Great food. Great people. Great experience.
If you find yourself hungry in Red Lodge, don't hesitate even for a moment. It's your PREROGATIVE, you can do what you want to do. (Sorry, had to get a Dad joke in there. If you're over 40, you get it!)