Modern Forage: Hudson, WY
Svilar's Bar & Steakhouse (Hudson, WY, pop ~450) has operated since Yugoslav immigrant Dan Svilar bought the Miner's Bar in 1912. Mama Svilar opened the restaurant in 1941. Visitors have included Neil Armstrong, Dick Cheney, and Duncan Hines. The sarma (14-day pickled cabbage leaves rolled around ground pork and beef) is the must-order dish.
Hudson, Wyoming (pop ~450, between Lander and Riverton) anchors Svilar’s Bar & Steakhouse, the Yugoslav-immigrant supper club that has served sarma since 1912 and is the last survivor of two competing Hudson Serbian-Yugoslav steakhouses.
This list is almost certainly incomplete; rural central Wyoming holds further hyper-local dishes that have not yet surfaced in the survey.
A note on the Where-to-eat blocks. Every entry below carries a list of restaurants and, where available, star ratings as of the date this post was published. These are a snapshot. Verify hours and addresses before driving anywhere.
Hudson, WY: Svilar’s and the Yugoslav Supper Club Tradition
In tiny Hudson, WY (pop ~450, between Lander and Riverton), Svilar’s Bar & Steakhouse has operated since Yugoslav immigrant Dan Svilar bought the Miner’s Bar in 1912. His wife Bessie (“Mama Svilar”) opened the restaurant in 1941, initially serving fried chicken, spaghetti, ravioli, and sarma, a Balkan dish of 14-day pickled cabbage leaves rolled around ground pork and beef with onions and spices. Steaks were added in the 1960s. The restaurant claims to have served the first pizza in Wyoming. Svilar’s is the last survivor of what were once two competing steakhouses in Hudson (both with Serbian/Yugoslav heritage). Relish trays before the meal, a supper-club format, and Mama Svilar’s handed-down recipes define the experience. Visitors have included Neil Armstrong, Dick Cheney, and food writer Duncan Hines (who said of Hudson: “Ah yes. That tiny town. Splendid food, excellent. And what a surprise.”). Roadfood calls it “an old-fashioned high plains supper club, well-worn and utterly local.” The sarma is the must-order dish that doesn’t exist anywhere else in Wyoming.
Sources: Cowboy State Daily (2022, firsthand with Danny Svilar interview); Only In Your State (2023); Roadfood; Oil City News (2021, with Dessie Svilar Bebout, age 100, interview); TripAdvisor (41+ reviews); Yelp (sarma mentioned in reviews). Six+ independent sources.
Where to eat: Svilar’s Bar & Steakhouse, Hudson, WY (since 1912/1941; the canonical anchor; cash-friendly, supper-club format).
More from the series
Browse the rest of the Modern Forage survey.
Research & primary sources
Methodology, validation logs, and the entries that didn’t make this post are in the modern_forage/ on GitHub. Every entry here passed a 2+ independent-source check; the citations under each dish list them.