By Rachel Hergett EBS COLUMNIST
For as long as I can remember, Buck’s T-4 set the standard for gathering in Big Sky. Buck’s history begins in 1946, when Buck and Helen Knight opened it as a hunting camp, adding a restaurant and bar in 1950. But over the decades it became so much more.
Buck’s was a social hub for the community, while opening its doors to visitors from around the state and the world. Its dance hall was home to raucous parties and concerts, with guests pregaming in the restaurant and stumbling to its hotel rooms after the festivities. Conferences and wedding spaces were added to the offerings. After the 2020 acquisition by the Lone Mountain Land Company, however, Buck’s future seemed uncertain. Hotel spaces were converted into workforce housing, with additional housing constructed onsite. Then, in fall 2023, the company announced it would not open Buck’s restaurant and bar for the winter season as planned.
But Buck’s is back, baby! The restaurant and bar reopened in December, though the Knights’ “T-4” cattle brand has been dropped from the name. Now called Buck’s Roadhouse, the restaurant is now open to the public for dinner at 5 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday.
I had been dragging my feet about visiting until last week, when Buck’s did what they do best and threw a party. The April 23 event was billed as a “tasting tour” of the renovated event spaces and was mainly for stakeholders and hospitality industry people. I was unsure what to expect. Would Buck’s—a space that holds so many memories—still feel the same?
I walked into an expanded entryway. No longer is there a dark tunnel of a hallway to the bar, but a light-filled space with leather couches for lounging and listening to the live music booked for Thursday evenings. Logs wrapping the lower walls and the collection of taxidermied animals blend with the aesthetic of older spaces like the dining and game rooms. As I wander through the event spaces and private dining rooms, I hear snippets of history from employees and other guests. One room—I am told as I pause my wine tasting to take pictures of a tableau of taxidermied wood duck—was at one point a fly shop. Now fishing baskets and associated gear nod to that history.
Food-wise, Buck’s chef Cody Rydin said he’s aiming for “good, bountiful feasts.” The focus is centered on big game meats and ingredients local to Montana. This particular party started with passed appetizers, including smoked trout dip and red deer skewers. Yes, the signature red deer—sourced from New Zealand—is back. Most exciting, though, was the take on pigs in a blanket—game sausage wrapped in flaky puff pastry coated in a maple bourbon mustard glaze and topped with fennel seeds.
Next I found a table of focaccia and salads, each more delicious than the last. I’ve opined here about my love for a wedge, but must say it was overshadowed by the signature roadhouse salad with its spiced pears, pepitas and port wine vinaigrette.
Next up was a full, family-style dinner in the Montana Room, with plates of roasted chicken with Meyer lemon, a braised beef shank they call a “Thor’s hammer” served with SporeAttic mushrooms, and an elk tenderloin with Buck’s signature steak sauce. Sides—each better than the last—included a slightly spiced broccolini with Aleppo pepper, crispy fingerling potatoes and fried Brussels sprouts that were slightly sweetened with an agave gastrique. I was not, however, served a popover—the yorkshire-pudding-like pastries that once accompanied Buck’s prime rib. Nor did I see them on the bar, dinner or event catering menus.
Finally, we were ushered into the game room, where a table full of desserts awaited. There was cobbler and cheesecake, bread pudding and lemon tarts. I simply could not eat more to try them all, and had to flag down a server and beg for a covert to-go box. I’ll tell you now that there is not much that can beat Buck’s whiskey caramel apple bread pudding for breakfast.
“Hopefully we have done a good job representing what it is to the community,” said Jimmy Patten, the regional event sales manager for Après Cru, a hospitality company that controls operations at Buck’s Roadhouse, Block 3 and Tips Up.
There are changes, surely. Buck’s physical space feels a little lighter and fresher. The menu updates seem aligned with my possibly alcohol-stunted memory. It is an homage to the area, and ultimately to the hospitality of Buck and Helen Knight.
It’s T-4 no more, but still feels like Buck’s.
Rachel Hergett is a foodie and cook from Montana. She is arts editor emeritus at the Bozeman Daily Chronicle and has written for publications such as Food Network Magazine and Montana Quarterly. Rachel is also the host of the Magic Monday Show on KGLT-FM and teaches at Montana State University.
