The Rex Restaurant Bar & Grill

In town for a weekend with my son & had dinner here after walking by. The patio fire was lit and the restaurant looked inviting with a piano player in the bar area.
We had the ahi appetizer to start. It was seasoned well and cooked perfectly.
My son had the shrimp po boy which looked great. The shrimp was spiced and cooked great.
I had the garlic filet with risotto and brussel sprouts. It was so good! The filet was melt in your mouth amazing! The risotto was also very good. My only complaint was the sprouts. They were too undercooked for my liking.
The wine and beer choices are great and the ambiance on the patio (warm night) made our dinner perfect.

I was in town and this used to be mom’s favorite restaurant. When we walked in main entrance bus tub and condiment station were sitting in foyer and wasn’t welcoming or professional.
I ordered Saldo Zinfandel ($ 12 per glass) I am very familiar with this wine so when I tasted a bland cheap Pinot I thought I was losing my mind. My mom was bragging to waitress about me being a wine snob so I wondered if replacing a nice one with crap was intentional so I mentioned it to the server. She took back to bar and came back and apologized because they were out of Saldo.
Ordered dinner both my mom’s and my salad was great. I had wedge with blue cheese she had spinich. They serve cold bread, warm it up guys nobody goes to a nice restaurant for cold bread. Dinner sucked! I had stuffed halibut special with risotto, cold raw fish. Risotto was perfect. Mom had salmon, it was cold and raw. Sent back fish to get cooked. Came back still yucky. No seasoning on fish or sides. Took home because couldn’t eat. $ 31.00 for a meal we couldn’t eat or enjoy.
Cook came out and was using foul language. Guy with possible fake dreadlock hat who was sitting at bar when we arrived at one point went back in kitchen with another African American man. Did he work there? He was very friendly to us when we left once again seated at bar. Probably spit on our fish when returned to kitchen another reason I didn’t eat mine.
Waitress Eva was a star! She got thrown under bus by other cruddy staff.
Sad an iconic restaurant has turned to crap. Also explains why it was empty and the grand piano had a half inch of dust.

I have never had such a poor expierence! 2.5 hours to get our food, ½ of the orders were wrong. When we asked for the manger he offered to comp one drink each and dessert, which most did not even want. Another 2 hours to get our checks and get out once we finally all got our food. We were the only table left in the restaraunt, one of our group asked another server if she might help our server, and she got snippy and refused. They told us «we don’t need your negative comments, we are all just fine». We will Never go back.

Love The Rex! I have been enjoying the food and ambience since the 90’s. It’s open on Sundays and the kids and I made it a monthly tradition to enjoy delicious steaks and seafood. My friends and I love the patio and our favorite mixologist Tom. Close to the tracks with beautiful evening sunsets reflecting off the south hills. Thumbs up all the way. Also be sure to check out the quaint piano bar. Wed night is wing night and it is a party scene.

WORST SALMON EVER! Last time I will suggest dinner at the Rex or eat there. It was not only our 20^th ann, but my husband’s birthday as well. The only good thing was the overpriced Key Lime Martini. the salmon was a feature and $ 37. I had the filet of beef which was super small but tasty. The service was inexcusably SLOW. I can understand if the room is full but there were many empty tables. It took at least ½ hour to get our spinach salad. when our main course was served, It looked as if someone had served it up from a prison lunch line. There was no presentation. The brocoli was limp and looked as if it was a week old. My bake potato was not done and cold in the center. My husband’s salmon tasted like it had been pulled out of the irrigation ditch in Billings. Our server only asked how our meal was when we received our check. when we told him about the salmon, he offered to give my husband a desert. We said no. We just wanted to get out. We spent over $ 90 for this? Well, never again. SHAME ON YOU GENE! You had better get your ducks in a row. Ted and Diane Kylander

We have always loves the Rex but we recently went and the jambalaya was absolutely terrible. It was watery, gray and tastless. We also had a buger which was average. I was so disappointed and when we told the waitress the jambalaya was unacceptable she made no offer to bring something else or fix it.

Was there for a couple of cocktails and when the stereo boasted the theme from «Frozen», we asked if the managing bartender could change the tunes, he made up some excuse of the song being on a rotating system that could not be changed. «Frozen»? At happy hour on a Friday night? LET IT GO!!! We left after our first drink!

One of the many descent dinners I had while visiting Montana and Wyoming! Awesome pricing for alcohols esp. glass of wine!

One star only because I couldn’t give it zero. Waited over an hour for our food even though we said that we where in a rush. Food came out cold. Horrible experience. Won’t ever go back.

If I could give this place a zero right now I would. Service very poor. Took 45 minutes to get the food. This is suppose to be an excellent staple place to eat in Billings. I do not recommend it.

Came here on a recent Travel Channel episode highlighting top stake houses across the U.S., and Rex made it within the top ten.
I recall the episode featuring a bison bacon wrapped filet which they no longer had, but had the beef filet option. Sticking to the theme of what I saw I went ahead and ordered the filet. The filet was good, but wouldn’t rave being a top ten stake. Perhaps I should have tried there bison New York cut. Maybe next time in town.
Overall the service was friendly, and first to see them offer a bar n grill side of the restaurant along with a fine dine side. If with a family the bar n grill side would be a good choice.

Food was ok, but the wait time was so long. Waited 45 min for a cup of gumbo. Hope they work on that because the food wasn’t bad.

Love the wings, dislike the rude staff.

Went to Rex twice this week. Courteous staff and reasonably priced drinks. THe food is good too. Barbecue and steaks are their specialty and we had the bbq the first time we went. The brisket was and ribs were delicious. The second time we had the 7oz salmon. For $ 18 it came with soup or salad, veggies, and choice of potato. The honey/​white wine marsala sauce was a perfect pairing with the salmon. The beer cheese soup was lacking.

So absolutely disappointed in the downfall of one of my favorite places.
We went in early evening/​late afternoon on a Sunday, (between afternoon church and a performance at the Alberta Bair) there are only a couple of other tables in the place. 4 in our party. Seated immediately and served drinks quickly.
Ordered two Cobb salads, a brisket dinner and a bacon cheeseburger with fries.
I had to take my husbands water to the bar to get it refilled. (While standing… waiting to get that, I had to listen to another server and the bartender chat about how the computer system F’n sucks there)
A full hour after we got there, our food finally arrived.
As soon as my moms and husbands salads hit the table, I could smell the rotten smell. I thought it might be the blue cheese so I picked up a piece of my moms turkey off her salad and it was green. I don’t mean greenish in hue, I mean GREEN
The salad stank so bad I gagged. We told the waiter and he took the plates, mom reordered mussels (or clams? Can’t remember)
We couldn’t get the waiter back to the table for a long time so I had to go find the «manager» and tell him we needed his attention.
He listened to me and went into the kitchen. He came back out a few minutes later and said «I checked the turkey and you are right there’s a problem with it. We will comp your meals»
A problem? It was Green!!! How did that cook not smell the turkey? What must their walk in smell like? Or was it ever refrigerated? And why didn’t the server tell the manager already?
We tried to order another entrée for mom and husband… but with the rotten meat, and the hour wait and no drink service we just wanted to leave.
Fetid turkey aside, my brisket was so dry that one slice was actually unchewable. I had to flag the waiter to get barbecue sauce to try to moisten it enough to eat it. I didn’t eat it.
The «Cobb salad» was served on stale shaved iceberg lettuce and looked like it came out of a bag. The tomatoes were soggy and precubed… It was just so awful on every level.
My sons burger was adequate although the fries were obviously cooked in very old oil and the whole thing seemed to be drowning in a pool of grease. My coleslaw was just raw shaved cabbage with absolutely no dressing on it. I don’t mean «not enough» dressing, I mean none at all…
I remember going to the Rex and the chef was always around and there were professional servers and bus staff to attend to you. The food was PERFECT. There were accoutrements and it was cuisine, not bagged lettuce, rotten turkey and cold dry precut meat…
I might as well go ahead and talk about how dirty the whole place it…
…time to call Robert Irvine…
So sad!!! I LOVED the Rex…
We had to grab a burger at Hardee’s on the way to our show at the theater… they were freshly made and delicious and served quickly.
Only wish there were a «No star» option

Great restaurant. Very accommodating since our party was late! Nice bar and restaurant. Service was a little slow but I guess Friday gets that way. Started with a great gin martini and shrimp cocktail at the bar. Then I had striped bass which was great! Fresh and perfectly cooked with fresh veggies, mashed potatoes all good. The soup (clam chowder) was a bit salty but was loaded with clams!
Our group had a buffalo new york steak which I tasted – yum! Filet mignon, ribs all good. Will come back for sure! Parking was pretty easy. The Rex has a lot right next to the restaurant and even thought is was full, there is plenty of street parking around.

From the moment I walked in they were taking care of us. Great local spot and next time I am going to spend some time on the patio outside and by the fire pit. The food was really nice and the service was good.
We had a great time there with our group of 8 and they really took care of us.

First time in Billings, was told by a recent local to check out this place, first of all the prices were pretty up there for just about anything, they had some nice options but could not see me paying the prices for them so I played it safe and had the Chicken portobello sandwich with Rex fries. Nice toasted bun, good sized chicken breast, mushroom ok. The taste was meh, the chicken was very lightly seasoned or had no seasoning and kinda ruined the experience. Fries were actually tasty and crisp very well seasoned (should have used it on the chicken breast) iced tea was nothing to write about, just a very blah experience. Not sure I would come back here. There were other intriguing options around town. Maybe on my next visit here I’ll check some of the out.

Really good food. Great service. We had onion rings and a Reuben. Nice setting outside and the bar indoors is cozy. We will be back.

The Rex is a great place to hit if you’re looking for decent food and good drinks in downtown Billings. Their brisket sandwich and «wheel of sauce» is one of my favorite things to eat in town (sub fries for beans).
The place can be busy, but the service is generally great. For the best service, belly up to the bar and chat up one of the bartenders. Tom, especially, is half the reason to go to the Rex.