A Hearty Stop at Higbees Cafe in Sundance

In Sundance, a sausage-and-egg biscuit covered in sausage gravy carries a local landmark’s name. Higbees Cafe calls it the Devil’s Tower, and it is a fitting order for travelers headed toward the monument or rolling through northeastern Wyoming on a hungry morning.

Higbees is a compact, clean, plainly decorated cafe with booths, tables, and the comfortable informality of a town diner. Local conversation is often as present as the coffee cups and breakfast plates, giving a meal here the pleasant sense of having stepped briefly into Sundance’s everyday routine.

This is food built around recognizable things done generously: eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, pancakes, omelets, biscuits and gravy, plus burgers and sandwiches when lunchtime comes around. The menu is straightforward, but it covers a useful amount of ground for a mixed table.

The Devil’s Tower breakfast is the order to consider when plain biscuits and gravy will not quite do. It begins with a biscuit layered with sausage and egg, then gets blanketed in sausage gravy. It is a full, fork-and-knife breakfast rather than a little side dish.

The sausage gravy is one of Higbees’ most talked-about kitchen strengths, and it gives the Devil’s Tower its identity. A biscuit can hold up to plenty of gravy, while the egg and sausage turn the whole thing into a substantial morning meal.

For someone on the road, it also has the advantage of being distinctly regional without becoming precious about it. The name nods toward nearby Devils Tower; the food remains good old diner food.

Breakfast at Higbees follows the reassuring classic-diner formula. A plate of two eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast, and a pancake gives the table plenty to work through, and the portions tend toward generous.

Pancakes are a particularly sensible choice after a night of camping or an early start in the Black Hills. A large pancake plate has the sort of staying power that makes a second breakfast unnecessary.

Omelet fans have reason to look beyond the basics. The ham omelet has earned particular praise, and it fits the cafe’s larger approach: familiar ingredients, ample portions, and no unnecessary fuss.

The food has a from-scratch, home-kitchen character, especially in the breakfast staples. That matters with something as simple as sausage gravy or hash browns, where a diner either gets the details right or it does not.

Higbees also works neatly as a midday stop. Bacon cheeseburgers, a patty melt, and a notably large burger give the lunch side of the menu enough substance to stand alongside the breakfasts.

These are filling, straightforward meals rather than dressed-up pub burgers. A burger and fries—or a patty melt with its griddled, diner-counter appeal—makes sense when breakfast has passed but a long drive still lies ahead.

Value is part of the cafe’s appeal. The plates are often described as generous, while the prices have the sensible feel people hope to find at an independent roadside lunch stop.

The room is small and informal, which suits its purpose. You come in, find a booth or table, settle on something hearty, and soon have a chance to listen to the low current of local conversation around you.

Service is warm and attentive without ceremony. Meals commonly arrive promptly, useful for travelers trying to fit breakfast or lunch into a day of driving, though the compact dining room can naturally feel busier when the area is full.

During a busy rally period, diners have even shared seating. That is not a polished-resort version of hospitality; it is the practical, neighborly kind that belongs in a small-town cafe.

Sundance makes a natural stopping point for people traveling Interstate 90, visiting Devils Tower, or moving between Wyoming and the Black Hills. Higbees fits that rhythm well: a place for breakfast before sightseeing or lunch before getting back on the highway.

The cafe serves breakfast and lunch, and its unhurried community atmosphere offers a useful break from drive-through meals and chain restaurant predictability. A warm plate of biscuits and gravy or a big burger is more memorable than another snack eaten in the car.

Higbees is the sort of stop that can turn a practical meal into a small slice of local life—especially if the Devil’s Tower arrives at the table covered in gravy.