Good food is hard to find out there, but the Peppermill in Valentine is worth a stop. It beats anything that I have found in Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte, etc.
Yep, the Peppermill is about the ONLY place to eat out that way. There's a buffet at the Rosebud Casino, but it's not great eats, by any means.
There's little else there in Valentine, except fast food, and it's very limited in variety.
Valentine is a great place, but lodging and eats aren't plentiful in variety. I've been there several times P-doggin'.
It's a long ways from anywhere, and a long ways in between motels and such. Make your reservations BEFORE you leave home, or you might not have a place to stay. Verify those reservations, too.
We've been shut out a time or two out that way, because our reservations got "lost" (not in Valentine, but right down the road).
DO spend time at Ft. Niobrara Wildlife Center, east of Valentine, and you can check out the fish hatchery. You can do the float trips on the Niobrara River, it's nice, and there are some neat things to see in the Sandhills down 87, too, some lakes, prairie ground, etc. I love the place, but it isn't for everyone.
I'm a person who likes wide-open spaces, so it suits me just right, but some folks will think it's a wasteland. I do not feel that way at all.
