Meals during a visit to Yellowstone National Park always require some planning. Whether you eat in one of the many restaurants, pack a car full of picnic supplies or operate with a mixture of the two approaches, dining in Yellowstone means you perform a minimum level of planning unless you want to munch on a bag of chips purchased from a General Store. Here’s a look at our 2009 dining highlights and some pieces of advice.

The big dining rooms at Old Faithful Inn, Mammoth Hot Springs and Lake Hotel have been transformed in recent years into fine-dining showcases, with elk, bison and other “exotic” foods on the menu. Perhaps too high-end and exotic for the average Yellowstone visitor, as prices are lower and offerings are more mainstream this year, if changes at Old Faithful Inn Dining Room are any indication. Two years ago elk medallions were on the menu for $30.95; this year there are no elk medallions on the menu. Two years ago the rib eye was $30.95; this year it’s only $29. Other comparable prices for trout and salmon are higher now, but this year’s menu has more lower-end items like an open-face steak sandwich ($15.95) and rice and corn cakes ($16.25).

We also dined at the Lake Hotel Dining Room, where the food is more upscale and marketed as “slow food,” part of an international movement. Again, the offerings this season aren’t as exotic as seen in previous years; no antelope medallions this year. At Grant Village Dining Room, the offerings were midpriced (burgers for $13, bison meatloaf for $18).

The menu hasn’t changed at Roosevelt Lodge Dining Room: the emphasis is on smoked meats and hearty fare. We’d recommend the barbecue sampler ($21) or the pork carnitas ($17.45). Don’t pass on the Roosevelt beans.

So you will eat well if you go with one of the main dining rooms. Getting into one is a matter of planning and persistence.

(To help you on your way: A full list of Yellowstone National Park dining establishments.)

Old Faithful Inn Dining Room, Lake Hotel Dining Room, and Grant Village Dining Room all accept reservations (866-439-7375), which are mandatory most of the summer season. If you’re not staying at Old Faithful Inn, you can make reservations 60 days in advance of your visit; if you are, you can make them pretty much any time after May 1. (Yes, they will look up your reservation record.) The same goes for Lake Hotel Dining Room and Grant Village Dining Room.

We cannot emphasize this enough: make dinner reservations before you leave for the Park. We’re always a little saddened when we’re waiting in line to dine at Old Faithful Inn Dining Room and a first-time visitor saunters up at 6 p.m. and expects there to be an open table just waiting for them, only to be told the first available opening is at 9:30 p.m. Of course, we made our reservations months in advance.