Montana Ale Works

My absolute favorite meal while in Bozeman!!! I got their seasonal risotto which had some mushrooms, herbs and cheese. It was simple in ingredients but phenomenal in flavor. My only disappointment was that I only ordered a half portion since it was so good. Their house salad was good as well. Their beer selection is almost overwhelming but I like that they seem to have a great local selection of beers and spirits. The friend I was with had their Mac and Cheese, I didn’t care for it but he seemed to enjoy it. This is a busy little place but they seem to make sure everyone has a good experience and has a great experience!!! Now if I could just figure out how to make risotto like that…

wait for 2 on a saturday night was only about 10 minutes.
Beer & cocktails were on point, and came out very quickly.
menu is pretty nice, lots of locally sourced ingredients.
Server was right on, super nice guy, friendly with recommendations.
Interior looks fantastic, prices were right.
We will return next time we are in Bozeman !

We’ve eaten here a number of times. Good food. Good beer. Great for a night out or a family dinner. Very popular, so plan ahead and make reservations.

Great food and great beer selection from all over. They have pool table and plenty of space for family’s too.

One of our favorites!!! Affordable and absolutely delicious. Extremely impressed with the service and the flavors!

In town on business.
We like coming here for the Beer selection and sometimes eat.
Now in the past I have never had a problem with the food.
I do a lot of traveling for work and play and have eaten all over. So when you see the words «Market Price» on the menu you would assume that the meat will be anywhere from $ 45 — 250.00.
But you also assume the meat is of superior quality and taste.
I have no problem paying $ 36.00 for a 14 oz Ribeye, but I would expect it to not be grisly. I would however expect it to have flavor and melt like butter in my mouth.
Management needs to address this, the market doesn’t change that fast to post Market price! I have bought multiple cows in Montana and the flavor was far superior.
Recommendations: get a new butcher or Manager.

I hadn’t been to Aleworks in a coon’s age when a group of us went last Friday. There was quite a long wait for a table for eight (50 minutes). So in true Aleworks fashion we all got beers at the bar. Half an hour into cocktail time we spotted an open table in the bar area which is open seating. Snagged that and our waitress got to clearing right away. We cancelled our table through the host and got to looking at the menu.
Our waitress was great with our food orders as well as splitting the bill at the end of our meal. Very fast and professional. She even rushed to put in an order of the mussels for us as they were selling out fast that night! So worth it as they were delectable, although tiny…
Throughout the night though, mistaken beer orders kept showing up at our table. We thought it was weird that they couldn’t keep those straight at the bar, when our waitress didn’t even write our orders down and they came out perfect even with omissions and modifications!!! My beet & arugula salad topped with steak was amazing, steak cooked perfectly and so fresh!
Tip: The Terrior Sour Ale is TERRIBLE! What was New Belgium thinking? It tastes like sour patch kids melted in water. DO NOT ORDER!

One of my favorite places that I went out to eat while in Bozeman! I was there for a week for work and the first night or maybe it was the second, this was where my friend who is a local recommended.
It used to be a legitimate train so it is adorable inside. I was crowded for a week night but it was also summer. The atmosphere is really laid back and an awesome place to go for really good food. They had bison burgers which some of the people I was with had and said they were amazing. I ended up getting a salad because of my annoying allergy issues.
I have told my husband about this place and he is dying for us to take a trip down to Bozeman for a few days and go to a few of the restaurants I couldn’t stop talking about. If you are in town, make this a definite stop of yours!!!

Always busy and busy for good reason. Solid service and solid menu. I always know I’m gonna get a great meal for the value and excellent service match it. I’ll always go to Ale Works.

Bison potstickers. Just do yourself a favor and eat them because they’re delicious. They have a hefty drink menu, which makes sense, but way more than just beer. They also have regional alcohols that they make into cocktails. The bison burger was super good, as was the regional salad I had (golden beets, assorted greens, perfectly crisp and smooth in all the right places). Only thing with the bison burger is to make sure not to get it super well done or it’ll be dry, according to the server. Which we trusted. Oh. And they have desserts, including a creamy, delectable pot de crème. Good service. Definitely worth a stop.

Casual brew house type vibe. Pool tables in the corner. Wide menu selection and tasty food. Loved the shrimp and butternut squash bisque! Daily risotto was good too. I loved that they offer half sized portions. TVs all around to catch a game. Cool, chill spot.

Believe me — this IS 5 star. I love Unilocal. Without it it we may have missed this jewel.
Service 5 star. Everyone seemed to sincerely care if we enjoyed our experience. Jessie gets s shout out! His quote of the day «it’s important that you get what you want and your happy», and Jessie — we are!
Food 5 star !!! — between 4 of us we split 1 Gallatin Salad (perfect blend of local greens, veggies, sunflower seeds, goat cheese and an amazing balsamic dressing. I’ll dream of this salad. Then we split 2 bowls of French onion (rich in flavor, lots of browned melting cheese and just the right amount of croûton). Followed by Sous Vide Pork Chop (star of the show, melt in your mouth seasoned to perfection — mouth watering) Montana Meatloaf (down home comfort food) and the one of the specials Beef Stir Fry (which under normal circumstances would have been a good meal — but didn’t stand a chance against the previous 2 meals).
Bozeman rocks and this place was something this car of foodies will talk about all the way to Yellowstone.
Thank you!

Pros: wonderful food, great microbrews, awesome atmosphere, reasonable price, friendly staff
Cons: long wait… this is a hot spot in town!

What a great place!
I loved my huckleberry lemon drop, with frozen huckleberries, that melted and turned the drink purple.
We enjoyed the bison potstickers.
The wedge salad was huge.
And we had the happy hour appetizers: seafood jambalaya, and the best item of all, the elk slider.
We got the key lime pie to go. Prices were reasonable. Service was great.
We came here after hiking six miles out to Lava Lake and swinging thru beautiful Ennis.

Oh what a crazy jolly crowded big bar! Service was spotty and overwhelmed. But the drinks were stellar and the company was the best ever. We were a very big group.
The huckleberry lemon drop was a very tasty little cocktail with sugar on the rim. My dark Porter was cold and satisfying, with just a hint of coffee flavor.
I ordered The Jake as a bison burger. The bison is local and excellent, not gamey at all. I had the baked beans, which I recommend as a side. Very tasty food, but it arrives lukewarm when you are with a large party.
Here’s my summary:
Drinks: ⁵⁄₅ stars
Food: ⁴⁄₅ stars
Table service: ²⁄₅ stars
I recommend that you try the Montana Ale Works in Bozeman. Try to get a reservation. It was mobbed on a weekday night.

From the impressive beer list to the delicious food to the great atmosphere, Montana Ale Works deserves 5 stars. We tried this place out on our last night of our trip to Yellowstone. I was really impressed with the number of local beers during our entire trip. But Montana Ale Works also has pretty rare beers from around the West. As a Floridian without access to most of this stuff, I had a hard time deciding. But, they do half pints so you can try a variety!
After spending a week in Montana eating pretty heavy foods, we opted for two salads and an order of mac n cheese to split. I got the Gallatin Valley – piled high with vegetables, olives, and cheese – and my husband ordered a fennel and beet salad. We were both impressed. And the mac & cheese was amazing! Big pieces of pasta (penne if I remember correctly), not that tiny easy mac bs, with a crispy breading on top. Definitely order it as an app or side to share!
The place is enormous but we were told there was a 45 minute wait. The hostess also mentioned that the bar and high tops are open seating. This area is huge and serves the same stuff, so check it out if there’s a wait. The service at the bar was outstanding, which was surprising since I wasn’t expecting much on a busy Saturday night at a restaurant that touts is brews. Plus all the servers seemed to be helping each other out which was nice to see as a former server.
Definitely recommend, just wish they were open for lunch!

What ales? There is a heroic list of local brews and booze to choose from. You’ll need it. I started with a Leveridge Lemonade which was a watered down sweet punch albeit served in a tall glass (we like that) it could have come from a can. Stick with the Beer and Wine.
This is arguably the best Bozeman has to offer, although Bozeman ranks up there with Adelanto for haute cuisine. They are serving «comfort food» whatever that is. Think Roy Rogers on Chopped.
This is a large place done up in Bozeman Boutique style, which means nothing special as the college goers who go there don’t really care. Ain’t nuthin’ warm ‘n fuzzy here. Okay, maybe the hostess. Four «awesomes» is the same sentence might be a record. Awesome for showing up on time for your reservation is not «awesome». Mud wrestling with Serena Williams and holding your own, is «awesome».
Service was efficient and proficient and mostly college kids earning extra money to buy used books and unused weed. Awesome. Never saw the same server twice, which wasn’t bad and might be a concept best applied to certain family members. Everything ordered was delivered hot and nicely presented.
We started with Chicken Chicharrones. Sounded amusing and a good pairing with the craft beers. Alas, it was kid food. Fried tenders to keep them from annoying the adults. Even though America’s favorite flavor is «crisp»…don’t bother.
The Chicken Wings are a better choice, but just slightly. Asian Style covered in a sticky goop that not even P. F. Chang’s would push. Then there was Buffalo Style and not good enough to keep the crew at the Anchor Bar in Buffalo from smirking.
The Bison Potskickers with Mango Syrup should have stayed in the pot. It was suitable for a converted Comanche’s catered Bar Mitzvah and that’s about it.
The Salads:
A combo of Organic Greens, Olives (3), «veggies» (I think they cleaned out the walk-​in), 2 golf balls of Chevre, and aged balsamic added with an eye dropper. It was actually okay.
The Spinach Salad with Grilled Onions. postage stamp sized pieces of good bacon and lot’s of it, Shredded Parmesan, Maple Cider Vinaigrette was really good. Yup, it was.
The Burgers:
A Black and Blue (Cajin Blackened, (not really… just dusted with seasoning), 2 strips of bacon, a whisper of blue cheese, and 2 sleepy leaves of spinach. (A salad-​burger head on collision).
The Smoke Stack had Fried Onions, House Made BBQ Sauce, (to rival a Wendy’s outlet), 2 strips of bacon, a whisper of Cheddar. Both were cheerfully upgraded to Wagyu beef. Yes, Wagyu Beef. (but only in a booth).
The buns were unadorned by aioli, mustard, hair pomade or anything else. Just dry buns. Who wants a pair of those? But all is not lost, just ask someone for what you might want as long as it isn’t too fancy, and it will arrive in short order. Yellow Mustard, Mayo, Brylcream, you pick.
The half pound patties were dry, sad to say. Compacted saw dust I think adequately sums them up. And it weren’t just mine, there was a mob of us with the same complaint.
All in all the burgers were like your roommates description of a blind date. Pretty much always sounds better on paper, like these.
Desserts:
Key Lime Pie. Really? In Bozeman? Okay, why not? It’s easy to make anywhere, but it just isn’t the same without the Caribbean lapping at your sandals and local ingredients.
Peach Cobbler. Really? In Bozeman? Not exactly the perfect peach cobbler unless the noise from Peachtree Ave. in Atlanta works it’s way into the restaurant along with local ingredients.
Pot au Chocolate. Really? Let ‘s call it what is… chocolate pudding that’s waiting for you when the family members you don’t want to see twice move you to The Home.
I am not a food snob (now, I sound like Nixon), but if its good, it good. Right?
Montana Ale Works, needs work to fix what ails.

I ordered the veggie burger. The waitress suggested the Jake with a veggie patty. She said it was spicier and had avocado. Sign me up! I’ve had a lot of veggie burgers and in all seriousness this is the best veggie burger I’ve eaten to date!!! It is homemade and has 17 different grains /​veggies. I personally LOVED that one of the ingredients was beets. It was moist and extremely flavorful with just the right amount of spice.
I will definitely stop in for this veggie burger again.

I was amazed at the highly rated restaurants in Bozeman. It was later in the evening, we’d driven all day from Seattle, and had another 9 hours to go in the morning, but I wanted dinner!
The décor is easy on the eyes. It’s hip, slightly funky without being cliché, and spacious. I sat at the bar, as I was by myself. I started with their sour beer. Not many places offer a sour, let alone a sour this amazing. It was spot-​on. My bartender was super friendly. The staff also seemed to genuinely like working with one another; they seemed to be friends, which speaks to the quality of management, in my opinion.
I needed beef, after indulging in decadent seafood for several days in Seattle. I got the New York Strip, and it was meatier and had more marble than most NY Strips. It was cooked perfectly and lightly bathed in a delicious horseradish jus — really more of a sauce. It was the perfect compliment to the well seasoned steak. I didn’t even need salt and pepper, and I almost always need salt and pepper. It was served with crispy garlic frites (my favorite way to eat potatoes), and impossibly fresh green beans and carrots. The salad that came with it was also quite generous — nice mixed greens, fresh vegetables, and a delightfully salty Asian dressing.
This is one of the best bar meals I’ve had in a long time. The entire experience was definitely 5-​star-​worthy.

What a great atmosphere and I am here on a Monday night. Waitperson was super, she could see I was not in a hurry and so have me time.
I had to try the buffalo potstickers as I had seen reviews before and I loved them. The crisp finish to them was super.
I had the crawfish risotto special, not a big seafood person I wanted to try this, it was super tasty and what I really liked was the half portion.
Why wouldn’t you go here if you were in town.