Broken Spoke

Never eaten here before so I can’t speak on the food, but this was my favorite bar when I lived in Big Sky. As far a bars go, it’s a locals favorite with a divey-​feel. And I miss the hell out of it. Wednesdays were my favorite because they did a stellar karaōke. Not sure if they still do or not. But I’ve been searching for karaōke as good as this one for over a year now and no dice. Also, upstairs they have a couple pool tables.

Great for locals to grab a beer but that’s about it. Food was pretty terrible, packaged and processed, burnt buns, dry meat.

Food was great. Owner even came to table to ask if food was ok. Definitely check them out. Will be eating here again when we return to BS.

Great service, great beer selections, and most importantly great food. Pulled pork is smoked in house and BBQ sauce is one of a kind. Will definitely be returning!

Great bar atmosphere! 4−7pm happy hour is BOGO drinks! Good drink selection. Very friendly bartender and waiter. No reservation needed, no wait!

Nice bar. We stopped in and had a few beers… good selection of regional microbrews on tap. There are also a couple of pool tables and a foosball table upstairs.
It was a Friday night, and a band was playing. This is a small bar, and after 3 or 4 tables were cleared in front of the band, there were only a handful of tables left in the place. The band was awesome… they played some jazz and the guy on the keyboards was incredibly talented.
We started smelling some pot smoke as the evening went on, and some stoned snowboarders began dancing by themselves in front of the band. No women, just men. Seemed a little strange.
Friendly service, good beer, great band. Recommended place to visit.

Wow. The BBQ sliders were the best. Dropped in as we were just wandering around the square and wanted a cold beer and burger. The smell of the smoker caught my nose when we walked in and the sandwich delivered the yummy reward. Nice folks running the place and local brews on tap. The Trout Slayer went well with the food. We are going back for sure!

Great food, great service, and great beers on tap. It is clear that the owner takes pride in his establishment, and each meal and patron is treated with care. We came in during the senior citizen dinner time (4:30pm) as we have two little ones, and we were treated like royalty. We started off with the buffalo wings which I’d consider above average. I am a huge brisket fan and thought the brisket entrée was delicious, especially for the price. Oh yeah, the cheesy garlic grits were outstanding. My wife had the sliders — 1 pulled pork and 1 brisket — and left with a smile on her face. My son nearly ate an adult size cheeseburger, which speaks for itself. If you’re a pretentious foodie that needs a white table cloth with your BBQ, this is not your place. If you’re open minded, like to get a taste for the local atmosphere, and appreciate good food, give the Broken Spoke a try.

There are a few things you should know about the Broken Spoke, and one of those things is that the Broken Spoke is the best Hockey Bar in town. If you show up on a game night, be prepared for some serious game faces, swearing, and shots.
Aside from that, and this is the most important item on my list: the Spoke has the best onion rings in the state of Montana. Period. They’re as big as your head and fried to perfection.
The bar-​b-​que is excellent. The meat is smoked and it’s so tender, it falls right off the bone. They use a red chile’ dry rub on the ribs, so they’ve got some kick to ‘em. I dig the food here. I even like their chicken wings, and normally, I would not eat a chicken wing to save a puppy.
I would also like to take this opportunity to address something another review mentioned: eating in a dive bar. Do you want to eat in a dive bar? The answer is a resounding hell yes. Dive bars, often times, are home to the best of food. Not good food, mind you, but the best, and the onion rings, wings, and possibly the ribs are the best I’ve ever had.
This is a popular bar with the locals, and they have a good variety of craft beers and specialty drinks. The owner made special pickle backs for my group of girlfriends one night, and that shot/​back is one of the best shots I’ve ever done.
I do not recommend this establishment for squares after 7:30pm as it can get rowdy. During slower months, it’s best to call and make sure they are open before planning your night around BBQ.

This place has always been hit or miss, unfortunately lately usually a miss. I have had great meals here and some bad. Service is sketchy at times, if the owner is in you seem to be taken care of. If just want to visit a kinda local/​dive bar this would be your place.

Excellent food!!! Service was great! Met the owner and he was very nice. He’s from the south and knows how to BBQ! Said he had his smoker custom made and uses mesquite wood! The atmosphere was ok. It is more of a bar or pub but families are welcome and they treated us excellent!

This is a locals bar where you go to DRINK and have a good time. As long as those are your intentions, you will be fine!
I have not eaten here, nor do I think I would want too. Guys, lets be honest here, it’s a dive bar!!! Do you expect great service from a true dive? They also happen to have a nice patio outside in the back. I’m giving it 3 stars because of the nightlife, not the food. There are not many bars that have live music in Big Sky and this bar has music every Saturday night… Sometimes they have DJ’s spinning during the week… You meet people. You dance. You party. That’s it!
If you want great BBQ and Wings, and you want great food and service, go down 191 to the Gallatin Riverhouse. They are the best BBQ in town.
This is a hangout for younger locals. People go here with intentions of getting wasted. Consider yourself warned!

Seeing the smokers crowded around the outside entrance, my girlfriend and I decided to grab a beer to kill some time while waiting for our reservation at the Lotus Pad. The place wasn’t too busy, with the only real action happening up near the bar. The place looked a little run down, but seemed like it would be fun place to party. Good to know, because there isn’t much for nightlife up at the village
We found some room to belly-​up and waited for the bartender to get to us. And waited. And waited. After 10 minutes, nothing. She was much more focused on knocking back shots with a handful of her friends. She would pour and drink the shots, serve one or two of the dozen or so people waiting for a drink, then go back to her friends for more shots. After several rounds of this we gave up and went across the parking lot to another pub, where the service and atmosphere were much better.

We came in here on Dec. 23 (2012), a party of 4. I had called before hand, as I saw the reviews on here and was a bit skeptical… We had heard they did not serve food — but found when I called that they sure did. BBQ (pork/​ribs/​tri-​tip) and wings — enough said, as my boyfriend and I love wings. The guy who answered, actually told me on the phone that they had awesome wings…
It was a bit crowded, and the staff seemed a bit lost in the confusion of all the people dining. However, they did an awesome job keeping the beer flowing and keeping tabs on our table.
Food was really great. Not real greasy, like some pubs are — but really tasty and a good variety for a somewhat minimal menu. The BBQ items were well cooked, flavored to perfection and enjoyed by all.
Wings were really good. If we make it back out to Big Sky to ski, I’m sure we will surely stop back by! We spent some 3 hrs here and no complaints at all. Give the Broken Spoke a try! My sister and her husband had heard false things about this place, of which they were in disbelief about after we left. There was a server gal who was dining/​drinking that the guys had asked to hop aboard to help out. She was reluctant, but helped to keep things flowing smoothly.
I did feel a little sorry for the table that had some 15 people seated, as the employees were a bit shaken by such a heavy crowd — which had started as a very quiet and slow night. Good beer selection, good food choices, well seasoned and well-​made.

Absolutely the worst service I’ve ever seen in a bar. The bartender ignored us and numerous other people waiting for drinks. Even after finally acknowledging us, he went on to serve his buddies multiple times while avoiding to even look in our direction. It was almost amusing to see the level of incompetence in him performing even the most basic of tasks. And watching the look on people’s faces as he screwed up their orders.
Those in our party that did get service said the bartender was clueless about the beer selection and had trouble making simple drinks. The sign said there would be a DJ, but instead there was a bizarre mix of funk, electro-​rock, 80s, etc. while the jukebox was turned off.
Anyway, I won’t be returning.

Would love to review but we attempted to go in three times and either they wouldn’t give us service (and they were dead) or they watched us sit down, grab a table, and ask us «you aren’t planning to eat, are you? The kitchen is closed»… at 8 pm! They don’t seem to be too passionate for non-​local business.

Stopped in one day for lunch as I was driving through town. Not too crowded for lunch as they recently opened for business and the word hasn’t gotten out yet. Awesome, awesome smoked barbeque. I had the sampler platter and it was the best I’ve had. Met the owner, super nice guy — he served me the food himself. Nice scenery around the restaurant — views of the mtns. I’ll definitely be back :)

We saw the smoker outside and were positive this would be a great experience. We were positively wrong. We walked in and said we’d like to sit outside. The waitresses handed us our menus and told us she’d be right out. It became pretty obvious to use that she was high.
Anyway, we ordered some pulled pork and smoked brisket along with cheesy grits. The grits tasted like someone made Cream of Wheat and put an artificial Mac N Cheese packet of cheese in it. Actually three packets. It was plain inedible. The pulled pork was pretty delicious. Especially after I submerged it in BBQ sauce. The brisket tasted more like a roast. I’m not expert on BBQ but I think brisket should taste like brisket.
We were very unhappy that we wasted a date night at this place. They have one thing right about their name. Broken. They should give the smoker to someone who knows how to use it.

Food was good. Ate outside on nice patio. Good selection of BBQ foods and salads. Will go back. Needs more outside signs in parking lot area. Very friendly staff.