Rex

2401 Montana Ave., Billings, MT - (406) 245-7477

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Posted By Michael Stern on August 24, 2005 4:22 AM

Montana Avenue in Billings has become something of a restaurant row with a handful of trendy places drawing people back downtown for dinner. One of the stalwarts in the area is the Rex, an old hotel dining room that has been cleaned up but not drastically modernized to be one of the city's most respected upscale dining rooms. Unless you sit on the breezy patio, accommodations are dark and clubby, all varnished wood, brass, raw brick, and cut glass under an old stamped tin ceiling.

Beef is king here, and the prime rib we had was one of the best around: thick, juice-laden, and full-flavored. We were introduced to the Rex many years ago by a local saddle maker whose doctor had told him he needed to eat less beef, so he ordered cream-sauced pasta, which looked to us like it was richer than a ribeye steak!

Overall Rating

Prime Rib

Salad

Onion Rings

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Posted By Steve Warren on March 3, 2007 11:28 PM

The Rex is a wonderful restaurant. The food is great and the atmosphere nice. I have spent many an enjoyable evening here.

Some "non-food" items to consider: the restaurant itself is fine, but for my taste, the tables are too close together. If you want a romantic, private conversation with your date, think about dining in the bar. Try to get a table by the window, as the sidewalk traffic is almost dinner theater on its own. The dining room proper offers no privacy, and the ambient noise makes it very difficult to hold a conversation even if you don't mind sharing details with the tables on either side of you.

Here's an off-the-wall recommendation: make it a point to use the men's bathroom downstairs. The urinals appear to be carved out of solid marble and I'd bet they are at least a hundred years old. They stand about four feet tall and are close to two-and-a-half feet wide. On more than one occassion, I've taken my date downstairs to check them out. After a cursory "recon" to make sure the room is empty, the women seem as impressed as I.

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