I spent a few days in Branson experiencing as much of the Branson life as possible. I was there as part of the Blogging Branson team to experience an Ozark Mountain Christmas. We saw shows and restaurants, attractions and more. I’ve posted about a few things so far and today we are talking about Branson’s IMAX Entertainment Complex, Montana Mike’s and McFarlain’s Restaurant. We watched a movie at the IMAX and had lunches at both McFarlain’s and Montana Mike’s. I even got to sit at a very special table at McFarlain’s. This was all part of a trip that I paid my way to fly to Missouri and then all meals and hotel accomodations were taken care of by Blogging Branson. Opinions of the experiences are my own.
Each of the places that I’m talking about today are under the Branson IMAX Entertainment Group. The first place that we went to while on this trip was lunch at Montana Mike’s. This was an inexpensive family restaurant. They had meals set up for us to choose from and I decided upon a burger. I know, adventurous. I just wanted a burger to go with Mike’s Marvelous Onion Rings. They also put out some apple crisp for dessert and it was very tasty, too. I made a Facebook Live video while I was at Montana Mike’s that you can see below.
I don’t like eating on camera but I had to make an exception here because once we were done we were headed to Silver Dollar City. We learned about Montana Mikes and I took a walk through the restaurant. This is a cozy place that will get your family fed quickly and within budget. I enjoyed the burger, and the fries were great, too. The apple crisp was a nice dessert as well. If burgers are not what you are looking for Montana Mike’s also offers steak and seafood. They have many signature dishes that will appeal to a wide variety of palettes.
Out of the Rain and Into the Rockies>
The second day of our adventure brought us to the Branson IMAX Entertainment Complex. It was a good day to do it, too because it was pouring buckets of rain out there. Inside the complex there are many shops, individual kiosks, the smallest theater in Branson (Not the IMAX but a live entertainment theater, the Little Opry Theatre), McFarlain’s Restaurant and also the IMAX and the Elite Cinema III theaters. We went right into the IMAX which was built from the ground up to support the latest IMAX technology and for one of IMAX’s largest screens. There we watched the movie Rocky Mountain Express. The beautiful locations of this movie looked spectacular on the giant IMAX screen.
Fill Your Plate on a Table Piled High
After our rocky mountain adventure in the IMAX theater we wandered a little bit more through the complex. I poked in and out of the shops like The Shadow Box, The Ozark Mountain Time Clock and Legacy and Legend Gifts. There were plenty of things to purchase after taking in a movie. However, we were hungry and it was time to take a seat at the table and enjoy the delicious comfort food of McFarlain’s.
Inside McFarlain’s looks a bit like a rustic barn. The tables are all wooden slat type tables with rounded backed chairs. Good solid table to eat upon. There were also individual booths and everything was nicely decorated. Because it was my first trip I was asked to sit at the special first timer’s table. This was one of the round tables that they had in the building. We sat down and began to enjoy our meal.
One of McFarlain’s specialty items is Fried Green Tomatoes. We split a basket of them for the table and also enjoyed some Sweet Potato fries with Calypso sauce. I am not a sweet potato fan but these were good with that sauce. The Fried Green Tomatoes were also very good with a ranch dressing.
The main course was what I was craving. With the wind whipping outside and the rain making everything miserable you just want some good comfort food. My choice for lunch was the McFarlain’s Special. This was an open faced beef sandwich with gravy and mashed potatoes. The beef was slow cooked pot roast and it was absolutely melt in your mouth. I could have had that for every meal I enjoyed it so much.
Halfway through our meal we noticed something odd about our table. It had become harder to see the person across from you and to reach your food because the table had slowly risen through the meal. McFarlain’s has six or so rising tables. This is something that people will request when they come just to see the looks on the faces of their friends and family. You don’t even realize it when it is happening but when it does rise to the top and you want to make it go back down, well… You have to sing it down. Just like we do in the video below (courtesy of my friend Becky from Week 99er)
There are a lot of things to do in Branson but if you want to slow it down a moment and take in a movie on a giant screen, or a live show in a tiny theater, eat fried green tomatoes as they lift high into the air then you should check out the Branson IMAX Entertainment Complex location and also Montana Mike’s.