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On Your Table Blog

June 4, 2025

NoDak delicacy

NoDak delicacy

by Kelli Bowen

Of all the things I have found to enjoy for dinner in North Dakota, one thing that stands out is the Pitchfork Steak Fondue.

The pitchfork fondue pot

In the little gem of a town called Medora, you know it’s summer when the scent of steak and the sound of acoustic guitar wafts through the air as you sit on top of a butte watching the sunset light the badlands on fire while Cowboy Ken fires up the crowd and delivers the pinnacle of hospitality.

Cowboy Ken gets the crowd fired up at the pitchfork fondue

Every week of the summer, now through early September, people flock to western North Dakota for the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and the Medora Musical. It’s the 60th anniversary of the “greatest show in the west” this year.

In this serene setting, steak is cooked on a pitchfork. After a day of hiking and before settling in to see the Medora Musical, hundreds of folks settle in with miles of beauty in every direction. If you’ve never had the opportunity to sit atop a butte eating melt-in-your-mouth steak cooked on a pitchfork, I highly recommend it!! Bring on summer!

Long shot of the pitchfork fondue cooking area

Kelli BowenKelli makes her home in Billings County with her husband, two daughters and a dog. She works for North Dakota's #1 tourist destination by day and tries to be an alright mom, wife, friend, and writer by night.

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