Laughing Water Restaurant

Restaurant is inside Crazy Horse Memorial. We were there two hours before closing, one of the staff informed us. We quickly ordered some burgers, kids had regular cheeseburger. Hubby and I tried buffalo burgers with fries and buffalo stew. I was hesitant to eat my burgers afraid of a gamey scent. Surprisingly it’s not bad, looks like beef. I prefer the stew instead, tasted much better with the spices. Service were great, the gentleman whom serve us he never once made us felt rushed. He ‘s attentive with cleaning our tables and refilling our drinks.

The food itself was okay but I liked that the prices weren’t outrageous as they could easily charge you an arm n a leg in a touristy place like this. I ordered the bison stew and that was good except that I had to add salt n pepper… Kinda bland.
The service was very good and efficient. Our waitress was kind. We troubled her for a side of pickles just because I was craving that and she was happy to bring me some.
Big restaurant. On a nicer day, I would sit in one of the booths outside where you could see the Crazy Horse statue. Except that day, there was no chance of the fog lifting. It was a hopeless wait. Booooooo.

Laughing Water refused to seat our party of two.
We walked into a nearly empty Laughing Water Around 5:45PM, waited for a hostess to seat us and were told that, «we can’t seat you because we have two tour buses coming through at 6:30.» We were sure the hostess was making a bad joke, so we asked again. We were told, «maybe come back in 15 – 20 minutes.» Ten minutes later, we asked for a third time because the whole situation was ridiculous to us, and again, «no, we cannot seat you, we have a tour bus coming through…»
So after asking three times, we were not able to get seating in a nearly empty restaurant because in thirty minutes more guests would be arriving. Get it together.
The rest of the Crazy Horse experience was lovely but do yourself a favor and take your money elsewhere.

Laughing water is quite possibility the worst restaurant I’ve experienced. We paid $ 20, per person for the buffet that included lifeless lettuce, canned beans and corn, tilapia with a rubber like texture and ranch dressing that tasted thick and syrupy. There are much better restaurants in the town of Custer.

I’m a 23 year old who was refused a beer since my valid id was vertical instead of horizontal. I was put off by that ordeal and after paying way too much for tickets to see a partially built memorial I felt the least they could do was sell me a beer.
We both had the Native American Taco and thought the fry bread tortilla was great.
No outdoor seating.

We were expecting mediocre food going in however we were surprised it was pretty good and reasonable! They had a Buffalo Burger and a Veggie Burger, which were both delicious. The FREE coffee was a plus and the Indian Fry Bread for dessert was great! The service was outstanding. We would definitely recommend.

We arrived at the Crazy Horse Memorial behind schedule, so we were starving. When we entered the restaurant, we had to wait a couple of minutes for the hostess to show up. Once we got seated, we were presented with a pretty limited menu by a rather unhappy looking lady, but still nice waitress. The kids and I all ordered buffalo burgers while my wife ordered the Tatanka Stew, which also has buffalo in it. Our orders came out fairly quickly and tasted great. However, I wish our waitress would have came by more often for drink refills, since she disappeared and was not seen until she came back to deliver the check.

The food was at best mediocre cafeteria food. The iced tea was instant. My children ate from the kids menu. I ordered lemonade for my kids, the waitress brought apple juice because the lemonade didn’t look good. I was disappointed that she didn’t come back and ask what we would like to substitute. My husband got the Indian taco, which was disappointing at best. It cost $ 10 and had less quality that Taco Bell. I had chicken tenders because on their very limited menu it was the only thing that sounded appetizing. If I ever come back, we will either eat from the snack shop or drive back into town.

The food was great nice large portions. Our waitress was very friendly and waited on us as if we were the only ones in the restaurant, which we were not! Would recommend if going to Crazy Horse

Great service and you can’t beat the view!
Tasty buffalo cheeseburger, was lean, moist and flavorful. Have had buffalo before and this was one of the best.
Need to visit again during the normal season, would be great for the nighttime light show.

My family and I got a glance at the taco bar and decided that it wasn’t worth getting. However, the frank I got instead was salty and disappointing. Fortunately, I thought the sweet potato fries were good. Unfortunately, I love potato salad and the potato salad here was terrible.
Plenty of seating was available and food came in a timely manner. In addition, the workers we encountered were friendly. Also depending on where you sit in the restaurant, you can get a good view of the Crazy Horse Memorial.
Pay at the front. If you need to use the restroom and there’s a long wait, you can take your chances with the restrooms in the shop located across the way.

This restaurant is located at the Crazy Horse building site. Crazy Horse is a man made statue like Mount Rushmore. They had some authentic American Indian food but not limited to, see pictures. I had the buffalo burger, and 2 desserts. Buffalo tasted like a leaner and tougher beef.
The service was ok. Our server forgot one of my party’s order. Our server explained that she had 2 other jobs so that’s she was so tired.

Great little place in the Crazy Horse Memorial complex. The buffalo stew is great, and the Native American taco was a great twist on a traditional class, with native fry bread instead of a tortilla. It was also a bit spicy, but I like that so it worked out well. Plus you can view the memorial from your seat if you sit near the window, which is great.

Had the Indian tacos which were excellent. Service was quick, staff was nice and prices were very reasonable. Good view from the restaurant of Chief Crazy Horse Memorial.

As the only restaurant at Crazy Horse, you shouldn’t expect greatness. The word that comes to mind is so-​so cafeteria food. Service was acceptable and the prices were fair given the location. They had a curious dish they called The Native American Taco. I had to try this out and honestly, I’m not sure who they’re trying to fool. It was a mediocre tostada-​like dish only instead of a fried corn tortilla it was this fried bread that reminded me a bit of a chimichanga only thicker and chewier (in a bad way). My wife had a fairly decent buffalo stew (they really like to put buffalo into anything they can up here!) called Tatanka Stew. They did have really good iced tea though.
If you are stuck here for lunch and don’t want to drive into Custer, this is what you’ll get. Though given that it’s only a 5 minute drive into town, you might want to consider that again.