The dining room at the Palms at Indian Head — a 1950s motor inn restored as a small boutique hotel — is the most ambitious kitchen in town. A short menu of California-style cooking with desert ingredients (prickly pear, mesquite, citrus from the local orchards) and a serious bar.
The poolside terrace looks out at the badlands; on a clear night you can see Orion rising over the rim. Reserve for dinner in season; closed on quiet weekday nights in summer.