Billings, MT: Grains of Montana
After dining at some casino restaurants in Billings, Montana, I had given up on finding any food in an enjoyable atmosphere. Then we found Grains of Montana and were pleasantly surprised.
The most endearing part of the restaurant for me was a small touch that might not even be noticed by most people. The “number” that they gave us to put on our table while we waited for our food wasn’t a number at all. It was a little card telling me something about a town in Montana. In this case, it was Pendroy.
It gave the restaurant such a local flavor that I immediately loved eating my egg salad sandwich on sourdough bread with kettle chips. It was a simple meal, but it felt like incredibly good food that I couldn’t get anywhere else.
Mike had the chicken pesto pizza. I had no idea that Billings had heard of “pesto” until we saw it on their menu.
Unlike so many of the trendy bakery restaurants that have infiltrated Salt Lake City, Grains of Montana had an EASY ordering process. We were able to tell ONE person ONCE what we wanted and paid her. At Paradise Bakery, for example, we end up having to tell four separate people our order before we are allowed to pay for it. Grains of Montana made the process so much smoother.
There were desserts aplenty. We tried the cinnamon roll and its delicious cream cheese frosting was perfect: not too sweet and fresh. There were so many desserts to try that we wanted to return, but our time in Billings was short. If you get a chance to try their brownies, please comment here and tell me what I missed out on.
Best of all, there was free wi-fi available. We had looked all over Billings and finding free wi-fi is difficult, to say the least. Grains of Montana announced it loudly with this sign on their door. It had been days since we had partaken of free wi-fi, so it made that little cafe feel like a piece of home.
In the end, the visit to Billings was made better just by visiting Grains of Montana. It’s amazing how healing an egg salad sandwich and free wi-fi can be where neither are easily accessible.
Where:
Grains of Montana Bakery
926 Grand Ave.
Billings, Montana 59102
Phone (406) 259-7142
Fax (406) 259-7152
Email: grainsofmontana@qwest.net
STORE HOURS
Mon. – Fri. 7:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sat. 8:00 am – 9:00 pm
Sun. 8:00 am – 8:00 pm
Yes Laura, I agree, Grains of Montana is a great place. But wondering what gives with your condescending little snip about being surprised that anyone in Billings had ever even heard about pesto. If the only places you had found to eat till you found Grains was casinos, I’m assuming your approach must have been to just drive down street and stop at the brightest lights. Which, of course, would be the casinos. Guess you must not be quite as hip and sophisticated as the image you try to project on your cute little web site.
Comment by Dee — November 1, 2007 @ 11:42 am
Dee,
My visit to Billings was a sucking pit of depression, mostly because of family problems there. My grandpa made us eat at Western Empire Emporium that trip. It was one of his favorite places to eat and gave us a VERY bad impression of the food scene in Billings.
Grains of Montana was the one shining star we could find while trying to care for my dying grandpa.
Laura.
Comment by Laura Moncur — November 2, 2007 @ 1:28 pm
So next time your in billings, look up these places, and stay as far away from the empire as you can!!!
Momma Stella’s (best bakery/breakfast for a ways) The Soup Place The China Buffet Don Louis The BackPorch Deli
These are all locally owned restaurants that do what they do at the top of their game. Enjoy!
Comment by Joshua Austill — August 27, 2009 @ 8:53 am
or you could try McKormicks on MT. Ave. Breakfast and lunch only; and i’m not sure you can get pesto there, either. 😉
Comment by TBones — December 4, 2009 @ 11:07 pm