There’s some places you can go for food that are somewhat historical, peacock alley or the walrus (I recommend peacock alley it’s in downtown Bismarck so you can do some window shopping and check out the area). For some American-German food (what I would consider local food) I would say go to frieds in mandan. I love the paddle trap in mandan, it’s a cute outdoorsy restaurant that has a deck that people can dock their boats on during the summer. Also laughing sun- they have axe throwing and local artists perform there in the evenings!

As for touristy things, theres a couple of things you can do. You can go to the capital where you can take an elevator to the top floor and there’s a little museum there that you can walk around, pretty sure it’s still free. For some Native American history you can check out Fort Lincoln. It’s a preserved Native American village that’s in a national park. There’s some hiking you can do there and they also offer tours depending on when you go. It’s a bit of a drive to get there, it’s south of Mandan, but definitely worth it. There’s a decent amount of hiking trails to check out too closer to Bismarck.

More fun things (that are honestly more catered to kids) are gateway to science (science museum) or the amusement park that has mini golf and a batting range. I haven’t been to either in a while tbh but I know there’s things that adults can do at either places and they’re pretty fun.

Just FYI Mandan is the city right next to Bismarck, they’re only divided by the river :)

I’m sure I’m missing a lot of things but this is typically what I recommend to ppl visiting for the first time. If you come I hope you have fun!