Breakfast here was good, wait service was great, nice looking restaurant in a small town. I had my all time breakfast favorite steak and eggs with cheese yum yum. Quiet cool atmosphere. I'll definitely will return whenever in town. read more

Yikes. Go to Dairy Queen instead. . Or just go hungry. Maybe start a fast until you get to a bigger town. $18 for a small hamburger steak with no gravy. A dry hamburger. $18. Can you even believe that? read more

This is one of the few places to eat in DeSmet, particularly on a Saturday afternoon. The only other choices were the Subway and the Dairy Queen across the street. The menu is diner food with burgers, a Ruben, fish and shrimp baskets, chicken dinners, etc. we had burgers and an egg salad sandwich. Our food was good and our server was nice. The iced tea was giant but good and refreshing on a 90-degree day. The crowd was a mix of locals and French-speaking tourists. read more

There are very few places to eat in De Smet. We stopped in for breakfast. I had a cheese omelet and toast and my child had french toast. The french toast wasn't sweet enough and was raw in places. So, we do not recommend the french toast. My cheese omelet was good, but it was very basic. The food wasn't bad, but certainly not the best I've ever had. Considering De Smet's lack of restaurants, we were glad to find this place and would eat here again. read more

Food was terrible, the chicken was Dino nuggets that sat in the cold for days and then got moldy. Would never recommend, Dairy Queen is way better. That place will probably make us have food poisoning tonight. The service was not that good either the waitresses were not coming by much at all. It was awful don't go there. The Ambiance was cool they had a buffet and that's were I got the awful chicken. And they had a pretty cool fireplace. read more

Food was nasty , overpriced, the service was very slow, ok environment but I came there for food , buffet food wasn't good at all . Chicken nuggets tasted like mashed up Dino nuggets .don't go there save yourself some money read more

We ate here after we visited the Ingalls Homestead, they recommended it to us. I think the other choices were the DQ and Subway. Our waitress was extremely friendly and personable. I originally ordered a Reuben but you couldn't get it without the 1000 Island dressing so I got a Western omelet which was fine. The iced tea was undrinkable and the coffee was not much better but the oj was ok. I had a slice of strawberry rhubarb pie which would have been better without the ice cream. It did the job, we got fed for a reasonable price before we moved on. read more

See all

Stopped here after a day at Laura Ingalls Homestead. Many people had the same idea as we saw multiple groups at both places. It did not seem like the restaurant anticipated this Saturday afternoon traffic though..... Food: not great. They did have a bigger menu and something for everyone. I had the fried chicken which was not great. Kids had chicken strips, corn dogs (they ran out which was not a huge problem but still) and others had burgers. No one lived their meal but we were pretty hungry so no complaints. They do have chocolate milk which won some points from our group. Price: fairly typical for diner food, not a good deal since food wasn't terrific. Service: the two servers were polite but clearly frazzled. The two large groups with 7 kids each didn't help either. They didn't have anyone to bus tables and were clearly understaffed with 1/4 the restaurant full at 2 pm on a Saturday. It took a while (15+ minutes) to get drinks ordered and we ordered food right away too. No refills until we asked specifically. Location: dated but clean. read more

There wasn't exactly any choices of where to eat near the Laura Ingalls experience but this wasn't too bad. I got the buffet lunch which was fried chicken and went back the next day for your standard fried breakfast. It was tasty enough with good service. read more

We stopped by on a quiet evening. The owner served us, and was very polite and friendly. The food was nothing special, but it was prepared promptly, and just the thing after a long day on the road. And contrary to what another reviewer said, you can definitely put a tip on the card. We'd definitely come again. read more

Pretty grim. I did the buffet and sadly, cannot say any item on it had real flavor to it. The pecan pie was served warm and was good. I would find other places and use this as a last resort. read more

Atmosphere is typical small town diner. A local, who shall remain nameless, says not a thing aside from the prices has changed here in decades. Chicken fried steak with mashed potatoes was tasty. The salad was rather eh. A limp mess. But... $3 glasses of fairly drinkable wine! read more

Stopped here with my wife and kids while passing through. The place feels as though it hasn't changed in decades, but that's not a bad characteristic at all. Friendly wait staff, and there was no TV anywhere or any radio playing. How refreshing! Food was tasty, with a wide variety of options on the menu. Enjoyed listening to the locals chat away. :) read more

Needs some serious remodeling. The potato salad was good. The hamburger was over cooked I'm guessing because I asked for no red. But it was dry! My friend got the Cole slaw and she said it was something different and not in a good way. The manager/owner was very nice so he gets the star. read more

Excellent home style breakfast. Very friendly atmosphere and the blueberry pie is perfection.

Clearly a hangout for the old local farmers so we felt a little out of place as tourists. The service was quick and efficient, just not all that friendly. The food was decent and reasonably priced. read more

This is a sweet little hometown restaurant. They took 11 of us at a little before 8pm (they normally close at 8:30) and were very accommodating. The food isn't top of the line but there was something for everyone and the gentleman who seated and served us was super friendly. I think they should update their salad bar which only had iceberg, croutons and dressing along with macaroni salad and coleslaw. However we were happy to get a real meal and enjoyed the stop. read more

Oxbow was a good place for lunch after seeing the Laura sites. I had the hot roast beef sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes. It was tasty and the service was pretty fast if not exceptionally friendly. One thing to be aware of -- they take credit cards but if you want to put the tip on the card you must tell them when you give it to them because you can't add it after the fact. I have never seen that anywhere else. read more

Left after ordering and waiting over an hour plus with no food. Waitress said they only have one cook and had a big party of 12. Worst service ever! (Started hiding in embarrassment). Left after ordering and waiting over an hour plus with no food. Waitress said they only have one cook and had a big party of 12. Worst service ever! (Started hiding in embarrassment). read more

This fun restraunt is based on Laura Ingalls book series and has a very decorative nature. The servers are very flexable in your order and can make any last minute changes. The food has a great taste to it, especially the motzarela sticks. read more

Very bad service. Place had know one In it and it took 15 minutes to take our order.one one girl just stood at counter reading her book( as she said my 8th time today). They got my husband order all wrong. Never asked for refills or asked if the food was ok.. old tasting..I give this place 1... read more

I think the food and service here was great! Yeah it's an older place, so what! The waitress, Mary, was as nice as could be..and the cook..a rather tall handsome guy, cooked our food to perfection. It's a great little place in a great little town!! read more

I definitely recommend this place! It had a great small town atmosphere, the food was great and all the staff were very friendly. If your staying for the pageant or just traveling though it's worth checking out! read more

Stayed in De Smet for Thanksgiving, visiting some friends. Oxbow was recommended to us by an uncle in the next town over. The food was good and hot. We all liked our food. The people are friendly. The towns out here are small, so anyone who is not local is pretty obvious. We enjoyed talking with the locals and exchanging information about our towns. The locals appreciate the business and do expect out-of-towners to drop by who come to see the Laura Ingalls Wilder homestead in town. This place was clean and had a semi-50's diner coffee shop feel to it with more recent additions thrown in.There is a small hotel approximately across the street. The gas station nearby has a store and postcards and a few souvenirs. There is a post office downtown. Downtown is a few blocks away and is about two blocks up one side and down the other. There is a bed and breakfast on a corner downtown walking distance to the Wilder homesite. read more