Old West Days in Jackson Hole: A Food Lover’s Guide
If you’ve ever wanted to eat your way through a real-deal western festival, mark your calendar for Old West Days in Jackson Hole. The 45th annual celebration runs May 15–25, 2026, and while the parades, rodeo, and Town Square shootouts get plenty of attention, I’d argue the food is the real headliner. Between the chili cook-off, the brewfest, and a full week of restaurant deals across town, you can plan an entire trip around what’s on your plate — and I think you should.
I’ve been to my share of Wyoming festivals, and Old West Days is one of the few where the food scene actually lives up to the scenery. Here’s how to do it right.
High Noon Chili Cook-Off: The Main Event
If you only make it to one food event during Old West Days, make it the High Noon Chili Cook-Off. Local cooks — ranchers, restaurant chefs, and a few stubborn home cooks who’ve been perfecting their recipe for decades — line up on Town Square with bubbling pots and a lot of opinions about beans (some have them, some don’t, and the debate gets heated).
For a small tasting fee you get a spoon, a stack of sample cups, and a ballot to vote for your favorite. My advice: pace yourself. There are easily a dozen entries, and they range from smoky brisket chili to fiery green chile pork. Bring an appetite and an open mind.
If the cook-off lights a fire under you and you want to try competing — or just step up your own chili game at home — a serious cast iron dutch oven is the single best investment you can make. The locals who win these things almost always cook in cast iron, and there’s a reason for it.
Old West Brewfest: Wyoming Craft Beer in One Place
Tucked into the festival schedule is the Old West Brewfest, where regional breweries pour samples of everything from crisp Kolsch-style lagers to barrel-aged stouts. Wyoming’s craft beer scene has come a long way in the past decade, and the brewfest is the easiest way to taste a wide swath of it without driving all over the state.
A few tips from someone who’s learned the hard way:
- Eat before you go. Sample pours add up faster than you’d think at 6,200 feet of elevation.
- Bring an insulated tumbler for water between pours — Jackson sun is no joke in May.
- Talk to the brewers. They’re almost always pouring their own beer and they’ll tell you exactly what to try next.
Jackson Hole Restaurant Week: 25+ Restaurants, Special Menus
This is the sleeper hit of Old West Days, especially if you’re traveling on a budget or just want to try the high-end spots without the high-end commitment. Jackson Hole Restaurant Week overlaps the festival and brings together more than 25 restaurants across Jackson and Teton Village with special prix fixe or discounted menus.
It’s a rare chance to sit down at restaurants that are usually packed and pricey during peak season. Look for menus featuring local trout, elk, and bison — ingredients tied to Wyoming’s deep ranching heritage, which you’ll taste in nearly every serious kitchen in town.
How to Plan Restaurant Week
- Book early. The best spots fill up within hours of reservations opening. Don’t wait until you’re in town.
- Mix it up. Try one fine-dining splurge, one casual spot, and one place you’ve never heard of.
- Ask for off-menu suggestions. Servers will often tell you what the chef is most excited about, even if it isn’t on the prix fixe.
Billy’s Burgers and the Town Square Hoedown
For something more laid-back, swing by the hoedown on Town Square, where Billy’s Burgers serves food and drinks while the music plays and folks two-step in the street. The burgers are simple, classic, and exactly what you want after an afternoon of beer samples or chili tasting.
If you want a deeper dive into what makes a Wyoming burger special — green chile, sharp cheese, and the kind of beef that tastes like it came from down the road — check out our take on the classic Wyoming green chile cheeseburger. It pairs well with everything happening at Old West Days.
Chuckwagon Dinners: The Most Underrated Experience
If you really want to lean into the western theme, book a chuckwagon dinner during your visit. Several outfits in Jackson Hole run them during festival season — you ride out to a backcountry spot, sit down at long communal tables, and eat slow-cooked beef, beans, biscuits, and cobbler while the sun drops behind the Tetons. Live music usually comes with it.
It’s touristy in the best possible way. Bring a jacket, because May evenings in Jackson are still cold, and bring an appetite. If you fall in love with the format and want to recreate it at home, a good cowboy chili and chuckwagon cookbook will get you most of the way there.
Planning Your Old West Days Food Trip
A few things I always tell friends who are coming to Jackson for the festival:
- Stay close to Town Square. Most of the food events happen within a few blocks, and parking gets brutal during the Best of the West Parade on May 23.
- Pace your week. Don’t try to hit chili, brewfest, and a Restaurant Week dinner all in one day. Your stomach will file a complaint.
- Bring the right gear. If you’re grilling or camping on either end of your trip, decent western-style BBQ tools make a difference.
- Combine it with the parks. Plenty of visitors pair Old West Days with a trip into Grand Teton or Yellowstone. Pack snacks — park food gets expensive fast.
Why Old West Days Belongs on Your Food Calendar
What I love about Old West Days is that the food isn’t an afterthought to the festival — it’s woven into the whole experience. You taste the ranches in the chili. You taste the breweries in the beer. You taste the kitchens that have been quietly putting Jackson on the culinary map for years. And you do it while a parade rolls down Broadway and someone in a cowboy hat is auctioning off elk antlers down the street.
It’s Wyoming at its most Wyoming — and the food is a huge part of why.
Planning your visit? Keep exploring our guides to Wyoming festivals, recipes, and local spots over on the Wyo Food homepage — there’s a whole state’s worth of good eating waiting for you.