Jackson Dining Roundup

The town of Jackson, in the Jackson Hole valley isn’t much different today from when I visited 10 and nearly 20 years ago. The Cadillac Grille still glows with neon and blinking lights on the west side of the square. Steel-horse Harleys line the front porch instead of the four-legged variety. The Bunnery still has long lines of hungry tourists waiting for a taste of home cooking and freshly squeezed orange juice. Away from the square, Bubba’s Bar-B-Que is still cranking out some of the tastiest brisket and ribs this side of Texas. I adore their sweet, smoky, oniony baked beans.

There are plenty of new restaurants, tucked in with the old ones along the square and adjacent streets. The town’s even added a couple of Thai restaurants, although I didn’t make it to either of them. Something about Thai in the western themed town just doesn’t sit right in my saddle.

One notable new restaurant is Trio, An American Bistro, just a block off the square. Three chefs from the Snake River Grill (on the square, and one of the top restaurants in the entire valley) left to form Trio. The modern space features an open exhibition kitchen, a wood burning grill and a short but snappy wine list. We tasted the best Caesar salad we’ve had in a long time, topped with a paper thin crostini and a meaty white anchovy fillet. The Roma pizza, righteously smoky from the wood grill, was studded with spicy sausage, ricotta, thick Roma tomato slices and whole basil leaves.

The most unusual pizza belongs to the Snake River Brewery. Chunks of spicy chorizo are tempered with cool, fresh ricotta and slices of fresh peaches add a sweet note. There’s nothing unusual about the gold medal Snake River Pale Ale, but there is something special about the hopped up organic brown ale, OB-1. SRB claims to be the only Wyoming brewery crafting an organic beer. We love it. It wasn’t sweet like most brown ales, thanks to a heavy hand with the hops.

One thing is for sure, we weren’t lacking for choice in dining in and around Jackson. We ran out of time well before we ran out of options.