South Dakota’s Monday Prime Rib Dinner Comes With Hearty Sides At A Price That’s Hard To Beat

Some restaurants save their best dish for the weekend, but this South Dakota spot flips that idea entirely by making Monday the night to show up. A hearty prime rib dinner takes center stage every single week.

Nothing about the cut feels lower quality despite how reasonable the whole meal turns out to be. The meat gets slow-roasted the classic way, carved to order rather than pre-sliced ahead of time.

Sides come generous too, never treated as an afterthought next to the main course. Regulars plan their whole week around this one deal, treating Monday as the best night to dine out.

This restaurant proved that sometimes the best deals happen on the least expected day of the week.

The Garlic-Herb Crusted Prime Rib That Anchors The Night

Slow-roasted beef with a garlic and herb crust does not need a gimmick. The prime rib here comes out medium rare by default, with au jus on the side and horseradish cream for anyone who likes a little sinus-clearing kick.

Beef is aged on-site for at least 30 days, which is the quiet part of the process nobody sees. USDA prime to choice grades and Certified Black Angus make up the lineup, so the starting material is already strong before anything hits the heat.

Prime rib is one of the most talked-about items on the entire menu, and it earns that attention through simplicity. No heavy sauce, no towering garnish, just beef treated with patience.

Order it as-is if you trust the kitchen, or ask for a different doneness, and they will accommodate. The medium rare default exists because that is where the fat and herb crust play best together.

What makes Monday work is timing. Doors open at 4 PM, the room fills more slowly at the start of the week, and a slow-roasted cut like this rewards people who show up early.

You will find it all at 1325 N Elk Vale Rd, Rapid City, SD 57703.

Bread With Honey Bourbon Butter Arrives First

Fry bread gets mentioned more than almost anything else on this menu, and it shows up with the prime rib dinner as part of the deal. Golden, warm, slightly crisp at the edges, and served with honey bourbon butter that melts on contact.

Some people compare the texture to funnel cake, minus the sugar dusting and the county fair crowds. It is a Native Plains staple, and putting it on a steakhouse table instead of standard dinner rolls tells you where this kitchen’s head is at.

Fair warning for anyone easily distracted: the bread is good enough to derail your appetite. Pace yourself, because there is still soup, salad, a side, and a slab of prime rib coming.

If the basket does not appear right away, it is worth asking about. Fry bread is included with entrees, and the kitchen turns it out fresh rather than letting it sit under a lamp.

The honey bourbon butter deserves its own mention. Sweet, rich, and just enough to coat a torn piece without overwhelming it.

Pair a piece with the au jus later in the meal. Sopping up the last of it with fry bread is not on any menu, but it should be.

Soup Or House Salad

Here is where the prime rib dinner starts feeling like a real multi-course meal. Every entree includes a cup of soup or a house salad, and both options have their fans.

Three Sisters soup is the one worth knowing about. Built around corn, beans, and squash, it is a nod to traditional Plains agriculture and one of the more mentioned dishes in the whole building.

Soup of the day rotates, and tortellini has made appearances. If you are a soup person, ask what is on rotation before committing.

The house salad plays it straighter. Crisp greens, steakhouse-standard toppings, and a light finish that clears the palate before beef arrives.

Choosing between them is less about quality and more about strategy. Soup warms you up on a cold Black Hills evening, while salad keeps things light before a heavy main course.

Groups often split the difference and order both across the table, then trade spoonfuls. Nobody is stopping you.

Either choice is included, which matters when you are adding up what a full dinner actually costs. Starters at most steakhouses come as a separate line item, and skipping that math is part of the appeal here.

Start with the soup if it is your first visit.

Eleven Side Options And Only One Slot

Decision paralysis is real, and the side list is where it hits hardest. Eleven options come with the prime rib dinner, and picking just one takes actual willpower.

Potato lovers get four paths: French fries, sweet potato fries, a baked potato, mashed potato, or wagon wheel potatoes served with chipotle remoulade. That last one is the show-off of the group.

Macaroni and cheese arrives two ways, fried or creamy. Fried mac and cheese next to prime rib is an unapologetically indulgent combination, and nobody is going to talk you out of it.

Vegetables hold their own too. Bacon-wrapped asparagus gets talked about constantly, steamed broccoli keeps things simple, and balsamic glazed grilled carrots add a sweet-tart edge.

Brussels sprouts come fried with a balsamic glaze, which converts people who swore off sprouts in childhood. The prep is closer to shredded than halved, so keep that in mind if texture matters to you.

Bacon-wrapped asparagus is the safest bet for a first-timer. It hits salty, smoky, and green all at once, and it stands up to a rich cut of beef without competing.

Table strategy tip: everyone picks something different, and the sides become a shared spread.

Dakotah The Metal Buffalo Out Front

Before anyone orders anything, there is a buffalo to deal with. A life-size metal sculpture named Dakotah stands near the entrance, welded together by South Dakota artist John Lopez.

Look closer, and the sculpture gets weirder in the best way. Lopez built other bronze castings right into the body, including a miniature Mount Rushmore, a smaller buffalo, a pronghorn antelope, and a mountain lion.

A life-size bald eagle appears mid-flight beside it. The whole arrangement reads like a South Dakota highlight reel compressed into one animal.

Lopez is known regionally for scrap-iron sculpture work, turning discarded farm equipment into wildlife. Old gears, tools, and machinery parts become muscle and hide.

Kids tend to circle it for a few minutes before dinner, hunting for the hidden pieces. Adults do the same thing, just with less obvious enthusiasm.

The building behind it matches the energy. Natural bark siding, a rusted metal roof, and native prairie landscaping make the place look like it grew out of the ground rather than getting dropped there by a contractor.

Photos taken here rarely need a caption. The buffalo does the explaining on its own, and it sets expectations for the Western character waiting past the door.

A Three-Sided Stone Fireplace In The Middle Of Everything

Most restaurants shove the fireplace against a wall. Not here.

A three-sided fireplace built from local stone rises right in the center of the dining room, which means multiple tables get a view of the flames.

Fireplace seating comes up often enough that it is worth requesting when you call ahead. On a cold South Dakota Monday, that request pays off.

High vaulted ceilings run overhead, crossed by heavy wooden beams. The design softens sound, so conversations stay at your own table instead of bouncing across the room.

Seating spreads across multiple levels, giving you a real choice in mood. Booths work for quiet dinners, while custom Old Hickory tables with high-back chairs suit bigger groups.

Glass partitions divide the sections, and they are embedded with actual branches and twigs. Small detail, but it keeps the prairie theme running without shouting about it.

Lighting fixtures were made by a local artisan, and they cast a warm glow rather than the harsh overhead wash you get at chain places.

Midwestern artwork covers the walls alongside sculptures and mounts of buffalo, moose, and deer. The whole room is built as a tribute to Black Hills ranching and farming life, and it lands.

Infrared Broilers Hitting 1,600 Degrees

Steak temperature nerds, gather round. The kitchen uses infrared broilers that push past 1,600 degrees, which is roughly three times hotter than a standard home oven can manage.

All that heat does one job well: it seals the outside fast. Juices stay inside, natural flavor concentrates, and the crust forms before the interior overcooks.

Pair that technique with beef that has already been aged on-site for a minimum of 30 days, and you understand why this place gets called a serious steakhouse rather than a tourist stop.

Prime rib takes a different route, since it is slow-roasted rather than broiled. But the same standards apply to sourcing and aging.

Other cuts on the menu benefit directly from the broiler. Ribeye, filet, tomahawk, and buffalo ribeye all pass under that intense heat on their way to the table.

Worth knowing: the restaurant serves dinner only, 4 PM to 9 PM every day. Running a dinner-only operation is a bold move in a highway-adjacent market, and it lets the kitchen focus entirely on one service.

Back in 2015, Local Eats and Business Insider named this the best restaurant in South Dakota. That kind of recognition sticks around for a reason.

Buffalo And Walleye Round Out The Menu

Not everyone at the table wants prime rib, and that is where this menu really opens up. Buffalo sourced from local ranchers, elk, and walleye sit alongside the beef, giving the place a distinctly Dakota identity.

Elk ravioli shows up as one of the more unexpected offerings. Bison satay, buffalo ribeye, bacon-wrapped bison, and walleye fingers fill out the rest of the regional lineup.

Minnesotans have been known to order the walleye specifically to test it. Fresh preparation tends to survive that scrutiny.

Bison burgers give a lower-commitment way to try the meat, and beef burgers can be swapped for bison meat if you ask. Lean, slightly sweeter than beef, and worth a shot.

Dessert leans regional too. Kuchen, a German-style custard pastry and South Dakota’s official state dessert, appears on the menu alongside apple crisp and creme brulee.

Families are welcome throughout the restaurant, which keeps things relaxed despite the upscale trappings. The dress code is loose enough that shorts and flip-flops will not raise eyebrows.

Reservations are smart, especially on weekends when the dining room fills fast. Monday just became the best night of your week.