On our final night in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, we had dinner reservations at Teton Tiger. I had been following the restaurant on Instagram for several months, and I was excited to finally experience it.
The restaurant is located just off the town square in downtown Jackson; two doors over from Moo's Gourmet Ice Cream.
For all my Real Housewives fans, it's also directly next door to the hat store Kemo Sabe.
We approached the hostess stand, and I noticed that everyone working there was wearing branded flat brim hats. If that's your thing, these would make a great a trip souvenir.
I gave our name to the hostess, she looked us up and immediately perked up. She said with a smile, "I see you are celebrating a birthday tonight. Who is the guest of honor?" Our birthday girl raised her hand, and the hostess replied, "Awesome! Welcome and follow me this way." She led us to a big booth in the back corner of the restaurant.
A word on this reservation: Teton Tiger was the only restaurant to acknowledge the note I made about us celebrating a birthday. I booked all the meal reservations for this trip, and I added that note to every single one. No one acted on it except Teton Tiger.
We were looking over the menus when our waitress appeared. She was warm and friendly and came to share some vital information: the boozy slush flavors for the evening. I had seen these drinks on their Instagram account and knew I wanted to try one.
We made some quick selections on cocktails and then decided to share a bunch of things for our meal. Strangely, the food came out before the drinks (which we did not love).
As you can see in this photo, all the food was already on the table by the time our cocktails to made it to us. We ordered (from left to right): the cucumber and gin slushie, sake, the Tigerita margarita, an espresso martini and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
The cucumber slushie was far and away the best drink. To the point where two of us wound up ordering those for our second round because we were jealous! It tasted like cucumber and honey dew melon blended over ice.
The Tigerita margarita was also excellent. The friend sipping the espresso martini said, "This is just ok. I really wish they had used Bailey's instead of Kalhua."
Back to the food. The first dish to arrive was the handmade dumplings with pork, tofu, sesame, oyster sauce, cabbage and ponzu sauce.
The girls sharing them admitted, "These are not as good as the dumplings we had at Teton Thai. That set the bar too high!"
All of us were pleasantly surprised by the tofu lettuce wraps and how generous the portion was. A friend described, "the tofu tastes a bit like a tofu breakfast scramble. I really love the crispy noodles on the side. They're addicting."
Two of the gals decided to share the chicken tikka masala, and they added a side of garlic naan.
They agreed that the tikka masala was "very good" but they didn't feel the naan delivered on the garlic promise.
I shared two dishes with my fellow vegetarian. The first was the a butter curry, which was butter (duh), tomato, ginger, cashews, fenugreek and honey, served with jasmine rice. We decided to add a side of potato and paneer (cheese).
I can't imagine ordering this without the potato and paneer. Drizzling those two things with the butter curry sauce was heavenly. The tomato base was really yummy and the spice level was perfect.
We also ordered the General Tso's tofu which was crazy hot! I love spicy food, but this was making my eyes water. I had to take it very slow.
We made a pretty good dent in all of our dishes, but eventually had to tap out from being too stuffed. Before we could even decide if we wanted to have dessert, our waitress said, "We have a little birthday surprise for the table," and she placed a tray of mochi in front of us.
As you can see from this photo, our birthday girl was thrilled! She's a huge mochi fan.
Overall, I really loved the Teton Tiger experience. I appreciated that they made a point to recognize our birthday girl. I loved the slush drinks (a must!) and there were tons of vegetarian options on the menu.
The restaurant reminded me a bit of Little Donkey in Cambridge, Massachusetts, both in the vibe and the menu. On the topic of Teton Tiger's decor, a friend mused, "It's sort of like library graffiti chic." That's exactly it.
If you have a trip planned to Jackson, this has to be on your list. Teton Tiger is located at 165 N. Center Street, Jackson, Wyoming 83001.
