Windbag Saloon & Grill

Although I no longer live in Helena, my hometown, I am a frequent visitor and sometimes come to the Windbag with people who are new to the area. I get that when the place changed hands six or so years ago, the new owners had a vision that is obviously working for them. To me, being a frequent visitor to the Windbag of the prior 30+ years, the loss of the beautiful back bar, the atmosphere that encouraged intimacy and memorable conversation among friends, the same loyal and exceptional staff that had delivered reliable service in a very busy establishment for years, and the consistently excellent food are a huge loss. Now it is a noisy sports bar, the food quality is inconsistent, the staff is different each time, and service is spotty. The ratings show that many are satisfied with a place that could land in almost any town and work just fine. But what I see is a beloved, historic landmark and unique bar/restaurant stripped of its character. Kudos to the present owners for making a success of it though. Change is inevitable, and they had great foresight.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 3

Service: 3

Cool historic building, I work in a historic building in my home town that’s upstairs was also a brothel. Came because multiple friends recommended it. Unlikely we’ll be back. Stood at the host station for 5 minutes with a “please wait to be seated” sign while multiple employees walked past us, until one finally told us to seat ourselves where ever we’d like. We sat at the bar. We were greeted as soon as we sat but asked for a minute to check the drink menu, but no one came back to us for a decent amount of time. At that time we order drinks apps and food. Apps came out about 2 minutes before the food. Specialty drink was wonderful. Cream ale was a little heavy for a dinner beer. But was unable to get more drinks as there seemed to be a staff member off shift on the opposite side of the bar that majority of the employees were preoccupied with. We sat with food finished and trays stacked in front of us for probably 5-10 minutes before we were noticed again and asked if we wanted more drinks. We opted for our bill and left.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 2

A great saloon! This place was very spacious and I loved the daily special, 6$ mules. We had the giant pretzel. Not the best one I've ever had but it was satisfying and I liked the 2 mustards and queso cheese sauce. We also had the pickle chips. I really liked those, crunchy and delicious! There were lots of things on the menu that would have been great but we really just came in for snacks. Service was friendly and the bathrooms were very clean. Overall a great place to visit.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Gigantic Pretzel

Brisket Mac and cheese was not good. Small bowls, very very little Brisket, with BBQ sauce poured over. Kinda yuck.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 2

Hard to get recognized.
Hard to cash out.
Felt like a place filler.
Planned to eat and drink. But felt invisible at the bar and bailed before it got worse.
Had high hopes. But this place was like pulling teeth just to get a beer.

Service: 1

Visiting from out of town, had a police academy graduation and this place was highly recommended. Food and drinks were delicious, service was great too.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: French Dip, Cheese Curds, Brothel Bites

Just go......try to go at non peak times to avoid any rushes. Great overall atmosphere, downtown Helena, walking mall, what's not to like.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: French Dip

The lady who served us was very rude and yelled at my mom. I don’t know the waitress’ name but I don’t recommend her as a server, ever.

Service: 1

Nice little place. It got a bit busy after we were there for an hour or so. Did some research and found out there was one of Montanas last brothels upstairs.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Great place to sit and watch the trick or treaters go by!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Consistently good bar fare.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

We were a big group. Waitress was nice. Food was average margarita was the worst thing I've ever had. The price was ridiculous... $14.75 I was charged $2 for salt even though I wasn't asked if I wanted salt. Not really impressed.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 4

Loved the food fish tacos and BLT, GREAT SERVICE FAST AND

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Beautiful restaurant in the central area of ​​Helena, very good and abundant dishes, excellent beers! Advised!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The other to watch football and they have a TV for every game

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: French Dip