About Regional Flavor

The Big Sky State is a bonanza of big eats: ooey-gooey cinnamon rolls, pillowy steaks, deluxe burgers, and plate-wide pancakes. The western regions are huckleberry country, so look for the winey fruit made into ice cream, syrup for ice cream, candy, and pie.

Montana Regional Specialties

Huckleberry Sundae

Wine-deep and just this side of sweet, huckleberries make for a beguiling syrup on vanilla ice cream. It is such a perfect combination that whipped cream and nuts are superfluous.

Absolutely Best At

Cole Drug

Pork Chop Sandwich

A pork chop sandwich can be a whole breaded-and-fried boneless chop on a bun or it can be a patty of ground pork, like a hamburger. While the whole-chop variation is a connoisseur's choice, there is no slighting the extra succulence of a ground one, which is how it's done at Pork Chop John's in Butte, where this oinky sandwich first was served.

Absolutely Best At

John’s Sandwich Shop

Pancakes

Pancakes are everywhere. Montana's are not necessarily the most creative or deluxe, but they certainly are the biggest. The really good plate-size flapjacks deliver crisp surface and fluffy insides. One's a meal. A stack of three is an impossible challenge.

Absolutely Best At

Stella’s