Because every restaurant is more than just what’s on the plate.

Type: Burger Joint / Meat Market
Price: $$
Location: 502 Main Street, Suite 200, Rapid City

Settling In

When you walk into Dakota Meat Company, you’ll catch a scent that most restaurants have engineered out of existence. Raw meat. It’s subtle, but it’s there, and if you’ve spent any time around a real butcher counter, you’ll recognize it right away. I did spend a summer as a teenager working for a butcher. It’s when I realized I didn’t want a job that required that much upper body strength. Which I didn’t have anyway. The subtle smell of fresh meat means that what you’re about to eat is going to be good.

The room is simple. You order at the counter, and the place can comfortably sit about 50. There’s a cooler stocked with vacuum-sealed cuts you can take home. While Victoria and I were eating, a woman walked in, bought two tomahawk steaks, and left. That’s the other half of what this place is. You can have lunch here, or you can stock your freezer, or both. .

The Little Stuff

The menu keeps it focused. Wagyu smash burgers, a few hand helds, tallow fries, some onion rings and cheese curds. Every burger is also available as a bison patty. There is also an add-on called bacon jam. I didn’t get it, but come on, it’s an obvious add on next time. 

When you order, go double or triple on the patty. The thing with wagyu is that the fat sits inside the muscle fibers rather than around them. It also melts at a lower temperature than regular beef fat, which is what gives it that buttery quality when it hits the heat. More patty means more of that happening. The single is good, but double it.

The Reason You’re There

The burger of the week when we visited was a hot honey smashburger with smoked Gouda, bacon, and a honey drizzle. The sweet and heat playing off each other in a way that I loved. My only wish was more of that smoked Gouda, though I think a double would’ve taken care of that. After the first bite I was happily covered in spicy honey. That’s what my wife called me for the rest of the afternoon.

Victoria had the mushroom Swiss. The mushrooms were fresh, generously piled, and meshed so well with that buttery burger. I have to get that next. 

Everybody has a favorite type of fry. Mine have always leaned softer, a little less crispy than most people go for. I’m not ashamed of that. But the tallow fries here made me question my life choices. Cooked in beef tallow, crispy on the outside, just soft enough on the inside. I could picture just walking in, grabbing an order with a dipping sauce, and wandering around downtown with nothing else on the agenda. Not long after I thought of that line, a guy came in and did just that. No joke. 

What Sticks With You

Meathouse Wagyu. Badlands Angus. Dakota Pure Bison. The sourcing here has names attached to it, and those names stand out when you’re eating a smash burger and eyeing the cooler at the same time. The beef in your burger and the beef in that cooler come from the same places. Chef Eric Bartel opened this in October 2024, and from what I’ve read, that traceability was the whole point from day one.

South Dakota raises exceptional meat. The approach here is simple: source well, serve it simply, keep the menu tight, and let people decide how much they want to take home. The burger of the week rotates every week. The cuts in the cooler shift with the season too. There’s always a reason to come back.

Victoria’s Taste

The Mushroom Swiss was really satisfying, and I appreciated how many mushrooms were actually on it. The space is simple but it didn’t bother me at all for a burger spot. I will say, next time I’d probably go with a double just to get a little more of that beef flavor. But I’d definitely go back.

Final Bite

There are burger places everywhere. But there is something about knowing exactly where that meat comes from. I don’t know why it matters, I obviously haven’t been too concerned about it anywhere else, but it changes the way you taste that meat. I know I’ll have to come back and buy something from the freezer, or just grab some tallow fries for the drive home from work. Dakota Meat Company needs a drive-thru. 

Taste the Room pays for every meal we review. We don’t accept comped food, and restaurants aren’t notified of our visit in advance. It’s how we keep our reviews honest and independent.