Hill City Cafe, 209 Main St, Hill City, SD 57745
This little cafe on the main street of Hill City seems to be a local favorite. The staff is friendly and very happy. They seem genuinely happy.
We stopped in here to get a decent breakfast and the food was good. It is just basic cafe food. No surprises, but everything is Western themed. Check out the menu. If you want a good breakfast this is the place.
Hill City Cafe is just a nice cafe to eat normal food in.
Hampton Inn – 240 North 27th Street, Spearfish, SD 57783
The Hampton Inn in Spearfish, SD is right off the interstate and clustered near a few other hotels in case you didn’t make a reservation. The prices are fairly low. The hotel seems clean. Here is their website.
Issues I have had with this particular hotel include a deadbolt that wouldn’t lock due to the door not being properly aligned, tiny pillows, and the breakfast.
You get a free breakfast at this hotel, but it isn’t very good. Everything is prepackaged and then heated up which is what you would expect at a hotel of this quality. Actually based on how nice the inside of this hotel is and the dining area I expected more, but they do not have a proper kitchen area or connected restaurant so you get prepackaged food. This might not be an issue, but I swear the potatoes were freezer burned last time we ate there.
The bed is actually really nice, but then they give you a ton of tiny pillows. Move your head to the side and boom you are on the bed and not the pillow. It is pretty annoying. The bathrooms are new and nice.
You do have access to WiFi and I believe it works fairly well. They also have a pool. The children running the halls seemed to be very happy about that. There are stairs at the end of the halls or an elevator that you can take in the middle.
Overall it is an OK place to stay, but I suggest getting your breakfast somewhere else. The price makes it a place worth staying in this area. Plus on the other side of the interstate is a pretty decent Perkins chain restaurant where you can get your breakfast or a late meal.
Alpine Inn – 133 Main St, Hill City, SD 57745
The Alpine Inn is great from a location standpoint being super close to Harney Peak and a ton of other places like Mount Rushmore. It has a long history and is family owned. It’s history dates back to the gold rush. I cannot speak to the lodging, but they keep the stairs to the upstairs area well watched and you have an excellent bar and restaurant right below your feet when you stay here. The prices look reasonable.
Check out their rates and the restaurant menu on their website, Alpine Inn Hill City.
Now let’s discuss the restaurant and bar. Expect to wait for a table in the evening and take advantage of their indoor or outdoor bar area as you wait. The wait is well worth it.
Their lunch menu has a few more items to choose from on it than their dinner menu, but their dinner menu is awesome both the items on it and due to how short it is.
We went for dinner. I enjoyed a nice glass of wine while we sat on the porch. They moved the people through pretty quickly. This is a cash only til so make sure you have cash on you before you go inside. They also have an ATM available to use.
I love the atmosphere inside the restaurant. It seems like a rather large restaurant, but it is divided into many little areas with very low lighting. We ended up in a room with 4 tables and one other set of guests.
Your evening dinner choices basically come down to meat or vegetarian. With a second choice of small cut of meat or large cut of meat. Oh and the meat item is a dirt cheap filet mignon. For those of you who have never heard of filet mignon this particular cut of meat is meant to be eaten medium rare so please do not ask them to burn it to a crisp. The salad was a quarter wedge of lettuce covered in homemade ranch dressing, so good and simple.
I was scared based on the price, but this was a truly amazing meal. Super cheap for what you get, but very good quality.
This place is well known for their desserts. Order one. Just do it.
Everything is great about The Alpine Inn. If you are in the area definitely stop in, this place is worth it.
