The village was constructed in the late 1980s as a dormitory for Mount Hotham, where suitable land for expansion was not available. It takes its name from the plain, where, last century, the coach from Bright to Omeo used to stop for dinner. All buildings in the village are designed in an Australian alpine style based on early cattlemen's huts. Corrugated iron, timber and stone are used for the external walls, with pitched iron roofs.
Buildings are limited to the height of the existing trees.
There is a hotel and some shops including ski hire. The lodges are mainly privately owned. The protected flat plain is above the snowline but the gentle slopes only allow beginner skiing. However it is ideal for nordic skiing and there are 16 kilometres of trails around Dinner Plain. Shuttle buses ferry people to Mount Hotham for downhill skiing.