Tag Archives: Missoula

Cafe Rio Review

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After not authoring a restaurant review post for quite some time, the opportunity to get back into the much too easy food critiquing business presented itself to me this afternoon when Paige and I decided to eat lunch at the trendy new Mexican chain place to come to Missoula. So after skipping breakfast and working up an appetite, the two of us ventured out to North Reserve Street to eat at Café Rio.

As with most big name restaurant chains that come to Missoula, business is crazy busy for the initial honeymoon stage. This has been no exception at all for Café Rio. Since opening on November 7, the place has enjoyed loooong lines and a never ending sea of customers. To this late date in December, Café Rio continues to be swamped. When Paige and I walked in today, we got behind about fifteen people waiting to order. The seating area was about 75% full and by the time we got out food and sat down, it was nearing capacity.

A look inside the Cafe Rio dining area.

A look inside the Cafe Rio dining area.

Okay, let’s talk about the ordering format at Café Rio. As I alluded to above, you stand in line and order up front. You go through a cafeteria type line where you talk to about four different employees to get your desired order. Although you only talk to four employees, they have a small army of workers occupying the “cafeteria” type line on the other side of the glass. They are spinning tortillas, warming up meals, and providing support to the workers dealing directly with the customers. While in line you tell the first person who greets you what you want and he/she will make your main entrée item and get it baked. Next, you will talk to another employee who will put sauce (s) on your entrée. Next, another employee will dish out your rice/beans, veggies, or other special items that come with your meal. Finally, you get to the cashier and he/she will get you your drinks, chips, desserts, and ring you up.

Once you get through the hectic, busy ordering process, it is finally time to enjoy your food! I ordered the single sweet pork enchilada meal ($5.60). The double enchilada meal is just a little over a $1 more but I am so happy that I did not get that option because my single was more than enough food. With the enchilada plates they give you a generous portion of cilantro rice and then your choice of pinto or black beans. I went with the pinto beans. Paige got (are you ready for this)….MEXICAN PASTA! I had never heard of such a thing. It was fideo pasta with your choice of either steak or chicken topped with veggies and sprinkled with lime juice. It was the special of the day and came with a drink and was only $6.85. And, because we couldn’t resist and because I knew I would write this review, we also got the chips with salsa and queso. For a little under $5 they give you a large portion of chips, two different salsas, and a big bowl of queso dip.

A shot of the food we ordered! Tons of chips.

A shot of the food we ordered! Tons of chips.

When it comes to the quality of the food, it was pretty good. The chips tasted great. Of course they were tortilla chips but they had kind of a buttery taste to them. I thought both salsas were average, maybe lacking in flavor. The queso dip was great and they gave us so much that we could put it on our entrees as well! My beans and rice were both good. I enjoyed taking a chip and dipping it in the queso and then re-dipping it in my rice and beans. My sweet pork enchilada was decent, but it did not match the goodness of the sweet pork enchilada I had at Costa Vida (Costa Vida is a place very similar to Café Rio….exact same concept and similar menu). The enchilada sauce was about average as well. I took a bite of Paige’s Mexican pasta and found it very tasty with a unique flavor and texture! She personally gave it a rave review. Café Rio gets extra points for such a creative menu item.

Paige with her Mexican pasta!

Paige with her Mexican pasta!

So obviously Café Rio impressed me with some of their food items while just meeting expectations with others. But, there is something that makes Café Rio stand out and allows it to get by with some subpar tasting food, namely, it has that “it” factor. What exactly am I talking about? It is just a fun place to eat at with lots of options!

Me with my Cafe Rio food.

Me with my Cafe Rio food.

Let’s just start with the dining area. The restaurant is filled with brightly colored round and square tables. Hot blue, hot yellow, and hot green table tops with a contrasting color splashed on it cover the floor. Chairs painted in the same hot colors splashed with the same contrasting colors are paired with the tables. Interesting light fixtures illuminate the place and there are plenty of chili pepper decorations to let you know that you are eating food from south of the border. It is a fun atmosphere and enjoyable to eat a meal in, even if it is filled with people.

Remember how I said some of the food lacked a little bit of flavor? Well, don’t worry, you can make up for it by adding one or many of their special sauces they have available. At your disposal, you can try a myriad of different hot sauces. They also carry a whole line of sauces from a brand called Iguana. I tried the Iguana bold gold habanero sauce and the Iguana rockin’ red pepper sauce. I thoroughly enjoyed dumping out these sauces onto my plate and dipping the chips into them. Many of these you have probably never seen before, let alone tasted, so it makes for a very unique experience.

One of the Iguana sauces.

One of the Iguana sauces.

Finally, Café Rio offers an awesome drink selection. Shame on me for just ordering water but luckily a drink came with Paige’s meal and she got to test out the selection. First off, they have the crushed ice pellets, a great way to make any drink taste better. After you get your ice, it is time to make the tough decision on what you actually want to drink. If you want to go basic, you can choose from the expanded Coca-Cola products they offer. If you want to add a little bit of a kick, you can add any amount of flavor shots that you want! Yes, exactly as if you were going to make an Italian soda, Café Rio has all the syrups available for you to add to your pop. But if soda and flavor shots are not your thing, you can go for something a little more exotic and try one of their limeades. Paige tried the mint limeade. While Paige loved it, I can’t say I was much of a fan. But hey, they also offer regular limeade, strawberry lemonade, and a really weird milk type drink called Horchata! The amount of combination possibilities you can whip up is pretty impressive.

While I am skeptical of some restaurants that open up in Missoula, I think Café Rio will enjoy great success here. Like I echoed throughout this whole post, the place is just fun. Maybe more importantly, it is reasonably priced. Add in the facts that the food portions are big and that the city currently does not have a place like it, and I see Café Rio operating in Missoula for a long time. I recommend that everyone gives it a try. Don’t Blink.

Bad Eating

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One of my major philosophies in life centers on my belief that we can do pretty much anything we want to do through positive self talk. More to the point, we can do whatever we want as long as our mind is telling us that we can. My whole life I have used my mind to continually reinforce to my body that I can accomplish any goal, workout regimen, test, or simple day-to-day task that I want to. Constantly I am running positive thoughts throughout my body from my brain, telling myself to stay on task and stick with my goals. However, sometimes in certain areas my mind lets my body slack off a little bit.

For the past three months, I have struggled with my eating habits. No, I have not struggled in a way that I am eating too little (I wish) but rather the opposite. My discipline has lowered quite a bit and my diet has taken a turn for the worst. Last year I have documented the onslaught of food that comes the way of myself and my co-workers once the fall sports season kicks off in late August. But this year there seems to be even more obstacles than just the typical availability of tasty and high caloric food around the office and in the press box. I think a combination of traveling with the football team on the road this season, going out to eat way too much, having a lot more food in my apartment available, and simply letting my self-discipline slip has contributed to a significant decline in my diet. But there is something more depressing than what I have let my body digest in the recent past. Brent, what could possibly be more depressing? Thanks for asking! What leaves me feeling less than optimistic are the opportunities to eat even worse over this next month.

Holiday dinners are one reason for why my eating habits are so bad during this time of the year.

I am a realistic person and I know I will not be kind to my body this month. With the holiday season upon us, I don’t have the necessary self-control to put a halt to the past few months of garbage eating. Throughout my life leading up through graduating from college I would practice good eating habits during the first 11 months of the year and then use December as my month to let loose and enjoy good food, drinks, and sweets. So obviously if I ate terrible in December back in the day when I would actually eat good majority of the time, I am for sure going to eat like a pig during this month when I have already been doing so for the past 100 days. Ay caramba!

I seriously need to stop eating hot dogs this big.

I leave for Las Vegas on Sunday. That whole week I will most likely fill up on greasy food, buffets, and early morning snacks. Making matters even worse, I won’t be working out during that time either. When I return from Vegas, it will be December 13 and the holiday season will be in full swing. Our department will have Christmas treats available for the taking, well-wishers will drop off tasty and heart-hating plates of candy and food, and yummy holiday spreads will doom me at Christmas parties. Once the actual Christmas week comes around, I will gorge myself on even more yuletide confections and of course I will go way over the top consuming my mom’s cooking. Then of course comes the last week of 2012 and along with it all the appetizers and junk food that accompanies New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

I want to say that I will turn the ship once 2013 starts. Although I have a trip to Orlando right in the middle of the month which will no doubt make any type of revamped diet of mine difficult to follow, I do have confidence that I can make some positive changes. I do feel awful pretty much conceding December as a lost cause. I feel bad that I am negating much of my hard work in the gym with the poor eating habits I have let take over my life. I feel worthless that I have not let the most powerful tool I have, my brain, clamp down on my needless eating. But you want to know the silver lining in all of this? I can blame myself for everything. No one is forcing food down my throat, no one is holding a gun to my head telling me to go eat out at a restaurant for the third time in a week. It all starts and ends with me. I have the power to make changes and get back to where I need and want to be. The ball is in my court and I like my chances….just after December is over of course. Don’t Blink.

Buffalo Wild Wings

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When Buffalo Wild Wings opened up in Missoula one year ago, I am pretty embarrassed to admit that I had never dined, or even stepped foot into, one of their numerous locations nationwide. I know, right? How could an obsessed sports guy like me never have taken the time to walk into what is widely considered as the Mecca of sports themed casual dining?

Probably the main reason for my prior absence to BWW centers solely on the fact that I have just never really cared that much for wings. My basic attitude throughout my life was that wings were messy and they never really did the job at filling me up. If I went to Hooters or Pizza Hut, I would always pass on both places self-proclaimed “famous wings” and order a burger, or, big surprise, a pizza.

Buffalo Wild Wings opened up to large fanfare in Missoula. The grand opening was built up with lots of advertising and much anticipation. A promotion was staged that guaranteed a year’s supply of wings to the first 100 people that walked through the doors. The media covered the event aggressively. Customers crowded the restaurant non-stop. Everyone I knew could not stop talking about it. Despite all of this that was going on right underneath my nose, I never really felt a strong desire to go eat there. I stayed away.

A couple weeks passed and the buzz continued to swirl. In my opinion it felt like people were going a little overboard on how awesome this place was. As part of my internal backlash, I somehow managed to block out the endless praises of the place and latch onto the minor criticisms I heard whispered, namely that it was too crowded, the food came in box trays, and there were few healthy options on the menu (like I eat healthy anyway). However, after lasting a month with never entering Missoula’s newest dining gem, I entered BDubbs for the first time.

A couple of my friends had developed a little obsession with the place. They had developed a schedule where they were going there a few times each week to eat wings, watch their favorite teams, and banter with the wait staff, many of whom they were on a first name basis with. After some convincing, I decided to join them.

My reaction upon walking into Buffalo Wild Wings for the first time? THIS PLACE IS COOL! Televisions are plastered on every piece of real estate those walls hold. Better yet, each TV is set to a game (or other sports programming). The booths come with mini built-in televisions and the volume is set in a way that you can clearly hear the announcers of the featured game yet you can comfortably have a conversation with the people at your table. My first go-around at Buffalo Wild Wings I followed my preconceived idea of what my taste buds like and I ordered a burger. I got chastised by my friends for committing such a heinous act in a place where wings are king. But let me tell you what, I had no complaints about that burger. It was at least a ½ pound and came topped with bacon, pulled pork, and an onion ring!! I couldn’t believe I had neglected this place for a month.

After another visit of ordering something other than wings, I finally took the plunge and ordered twelve spicy garlic wings the third time I went. My whole life I have ate food that was supposedly supposed to be so good that it might make you live forever only to be let down at something that failed to meet expectations. Expecting to not fall in love with the famous delicacy in front of me, I chewed the first wing skeptically. About two seconds after I chomped down, I became a believer. Let me attest to you, the wings at BDubbs are the truth.

It just took that first wing to make me realize why people love this place so much. I don’t want to get too deep into the taste, texture, flavor, etc. about the wings themselves but please just believe me when I say they are the real deal. In fact, Buffalo Wild Wings made me become much more accepting to wings in general. I have now ordered wings at other restaurants and I use BWW to compare them (which is totally unfair because nothing comes close to Buffalo Wild Wings). At the restaurant you can choose from numerous different types of wing sauce, you name it and they probably got it. Spicy garlic is still my number one favorite but their mango habanero is a close second.

How good is this place? My parents even liked it! Whenever they come to Missoula I usually take them to a less casual place with more, how shall I put it, fine dining options. However, this past time they came up we went to Buffalo Wild Wings and had an enjoyable time as we munched on wings and watched Stanford upset USC. We left the place with my mom saying she wants to go back another time.

If you are a wing fan and you have not tried Buffalo Wild Wings, what are you waiting for?! If you are not a wing fan, still try the place….you will be a wing fan afterwards. When I travel to other cities and eat out, I tend to avoid the chain restaurants that I have in my own town. One of the few exceptions I make is for Buffalo Wild Wings. Man, I just got myself very hungry. Don’t Blink

Missoula Up In Smoke

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When researching a place to live, a big part of gaging if that certain location is a good fit is to look at the air quality that impacts it. Some people can handle the smog filled atmosphere of a metropolis such as Los Angeles, others cannot. Usually, looking at the average air indexes of cities can give you a good idea on if the place fits your personal needs or not. However, such is life, certain uncontrollable events can occur that will alter the normal meteorological/climate patterns of an area and disrupt what people are normally used to. When Mt. Saint Helens erupted, ash descended on cities on the total opposite side of Washington State, thus polluting the air and sending the normal pleasant days of May for a complete twist. When 9/11 occurred, the New York City air became filled with nasty toxins that have had devastating effects on thousands of people. Closer to my home, we are currently undergoing a pretty significant challenge to our usually healthy air.

Over the past few weeks, Missoula has turned from a gorgeous, colorful slice of paradise to a dark, smoke filled bowl. With wildfires raging in the Bitterroot area of western Montana and in the Idaho Panhandle, The Garden City has been the unlucky recipient of more smoke than any compulsive liar could ever manage to blow.

In normal times, the air in Missoula could rightfully be caught in bottles and sold for an expensive price to anyone in need of a “breath of fresh air.” The Missoula air is usually golden, a sweet reminder of why Montana is The Last Best Place and a selling point for all the California people who decide to pack up their belongings and head north to take up residence in our beautiful state. Whenever I would return to Missoula from travel to a bigger city, the major factor that would help me get over my post-vacation depression would be to step outside of the town’s mini airport and breathe in the clean, therapeutic Montana air. On my many return trips from Las Vegas, filling my lungs with the Zoo Town vapor immediately refreshed my body from several days of sun, smoke, pollutants, and other unsavory things. It was an immediate cure. Good thing I don’t have any Vegas trips planned for the next couple of weeks, I would hate to have that experience totally flipped around.

On the flight back home from Tennessee last week, the descent into Missoula was something else. Instead of mountains, valleys, and the beautiful colors that define a western Montana autumn, all I could see out of my window seat was grayish-brown smoke. Nothing became visible until about a minute before we landed. As we descended I looked at Jimmy and told him that I couldn’t believe people were living in this. After five days spent in the sticky, humid air of the south, I was ready for some reprieve. However, what I got when I stepped outside was 5X worse than what I had been exposed to over the better half of the past week. I walked through what seemed like plumes of smoke to my car as my nose was greeted with the somewhat welcoming smell of a campfire…only no hot dogs or marshmallows were present. This was not right.

The smoke has only gotten worse in Missoula. This past Friday, the school district canceled all of its after school football games. Even night competitions were called off. To get an idea of how bad it is, the homecoming football game for one of the local high schools here had to be moved to Ronan, a very small town sixty miles north of Missoula. We went on with our football game here at The University of Montana but from my vantage point in the press box, it was a pretty weird site to see Washington-Grizzly Stadium filled with a brown, hazy smoke for the whole game. People were wearing masks in the stands.

I feel for the people who have a low bodily tolerance for the smoke. Surely for them it has to be hell living in Missoula right now. As someone who can handle even the dirtiest of air, it is even tough for me to stomach this environment. It is a challenge to find the silver lining in something like this but if you look closely enough, you can always find a couple things. First, the sunsets have been pretty cool. The smoke has made the sun look bright red as it sets over the mountains. Secondly, it just really makes me appreciate even more the rich, healthy air we get majority of the time.

With the fires still raging, Missoula is likely to be under smoke for quite a while. Our saving grace? WIND! Right now, we need strong winds from the west to blow this smoke out of our valleys. Until then, it might be better for the health conscious and nature loving people of Missoula to spend more time inside. Eventually this will pass and we will have our clean air back. I know I won’t take it for granted again. Don’t Blink.

Bad Time For Twitter to Crash

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At work, I live for days like these. Yesterday, we announced a press conference for 10am the following morning (making it today!). With people outside the department not knowing what to expect from the mid-morning announcement, speculation was rampant. Media and fans alike wanted to know what was going down and everyone wanted to be the first to break it.

One of the duties I love best about my job centers around working with the sports information department to relay information to the general public. Because we work inside the organization, we are the first ones to learn, and then distribute, information. I get an adrenaline rush out of the buildup that comes with a major announcement and then I bask in the awesome feeling of the weight lifted off our shoulders once we deliver the announcement and the baton is passed onto the media to take our info and make their stories.

As I have mentioned several times in previous posts, Grizzly Athletics is king in the state of Montana. Because of this, our department attracts an enormous amount of media attention. This is both a blessing and a curse for obvious reasons. When the times are good, the coverage is favorable….when times are challenging, the coverage is not favorable.

But that is the nature of the beast and the press has to do their thing. Yesterday I said I have a high degree of respect for teachers. My level of respect is at the same level for people in the local media business, especially the broadcasting realm. Talk about a tough, cut throat business. Competition is high, hours are crazy, and pay is less than satisfactory. I have become friends with several of the former and present news personalities in the state of Montana and I root for them. There is an immense amount of pressure to cover the story and, very crucial here, to be the first to report. In this day and age, many depend (and rightfully so) on social media.

Remember that press conference I told you about that was held today? Well, our special announcement could not have carried with it much more good news. Our interim head football football coach signed a two year contract to become THE head coach of our program. Come early this morning, most people knew that the announcement was going to relate to a contract of some sort for our football coach but no one knew specifics. At around 9:15am, a reporter’s worst nightmare occurred: Twitter crashed.

Up in the Canyon Club where we held the press conference, basically all of the news media in the area were starting to gather. The minutes edged closer to 10am and Twitter was still down. So much for any tweets that these journalists wanted to send out regarding the atmosphere or attendance of the impending press conference. Five minutes before 10am there was no miracle, Twitter was still down. At around that time, we sent out the breaking news. The details of the contract signing hit our website, our social media outlets (besides Twitter of course), and the inboxes of all the reporters cramming the podium where Mick Delaney was about to chat about his sweet new deal.

As the media sat up in the Canyon Club when we broke the news, they had little chance to relay the information as they only had their phones on them. Besides posting to Facebook, they were unable to send out any 140 character messages summarizing the contract stipulations. A reporter’s best friend in this day and age had viciously disappeared when they needed it most.
After posting everything, I hustled up to the press conference just in time to see our interim athletic director announce Mick. His words were short and to the point and by the time he had finished and the press conference was over, Twitter was still down. About an hour later, the service was finally resurrected from the dead and tweets started flying left and right. I got a kick out of the good natured tweets that many members of the media sent out regarding the unfortunate time that Twitter decided to take a break. They had a good laugh at it after the fact but you know at around 10am this morning you were not finding many smiles.

It is amazing how much we depend on social media to get by these days. Not that it is a bad thing at all, I love social media and make a career out of it. It is just fascinating to see how the times can change so much over the years. Twitter will crash again and it will come at an absolutely terrible time for groups of people elsewhere around the world. However, I feel it is safe to say that the state of Montana paid their dues in the bad luck department this morning. Tweet on! Don’t Blink.

Thank Goodness: Summer in Missoula

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Today marked the first day of summer and for once here in Missoula it is just not the alignment of the sun and a designation on the calendar that is verifying this fact. Looking ahead at the 10-day forecast, all I see are highs in the seventies and eighties. I see more sun graphics than cloud graphics, more blue skies and less rain. Finally! Summer is here and I couldn’t be happier.

I hear all the opinions and arguments defending the other seasons here in Missoula. Fall is the most beautiful time as leaves change colors, a refreshing crisp air rolls in, students come back on campus, and football season takes over. Winter is a time that defines the toughness of Montanans, it is ski/snowboard season, an excuse to eat hot comfort food and guzzle down hot chocolate.  Then there is spring, an entrancing period of new life, flowers bloom, animals have babies, grass starts to turn green.
I could care less.
For me, it is all about summer. You could take all of the attributes of the seasons above and combine them all into one mega season and I would still take summer. I love the heat and in a town like Missoula where you are lucky if you only see two real hot months all year long, this time on the calendar should be coveted. I know there are people out there who like sub-zero temperatures, blowing winds, torrential downpours, and weather that changes by the minute but I don’t. Give me the sun, give me the warmth, and give me the girls in bikinis. Thank you.
Once the weather part of summer is secured, all the activities that go with it trump anything else the other seasons have to offer. Activities such as eating and drinking on the outdoor patios of some of Missoula’s great restaurants. Hiking the “M”. Riding bikes. Stopping by Big Dipper for some ice cream.
These summer-musts just scratch the surface though. Summer in the Zoo also means Missoula Osprey baseball at beautiful Ogren Park at Allegiance Field. Nothing beats the laid back atmosphere, the people watching, the cold beer, and…oh yeah…the actual baseball. I got my tickets for the first homestand starting this Friday and I can’t wait.
Summer in Missoula also means great community events. Downtown Tonight, Out to Lunch, Farmer’s Market, Roots Fest, Testy Fest, Celtic Fest, outdoor concerts, and many more such events make late June, July, and August such fun months to hang out in the Garden City.
Let’s not forget the rivers and lakes as well. Camping, floating, and swimming are all rites of passage if you spend a summer here. Nothing beats the sun beating down on your body as the cool water underneath you neutralizes the rays while you down a beverage.
Summer in Montana also means long nights, beautiful sunsets, and breathtaking night skies. We have it so lucky here in Missoula. Summer nights in this state have provided me with some of the best memories of my life. Hanging out with friends while watching the sun set at 10pm is a special experience.
But the best part of summer in Missoula is the relaxation factor. Because most of the students leave the town for the summer and many townsfolk relocate to other areas, the city is just less busy and more mellow. This time of year makes people more care-free and, in my opinion, happier. Work is the slowest for me at this time so I get to enjoy myself with very little stress. I get to use vacation time and get away from the office a little. It is a time to get rejuvenated.
Welcome back, summer!! I am so glad you are here, please stay as long as possible. Hope everyone had a wonderful summer solstice and are ready for the next several awesome weeks that are to come. Don’t Blink.

Tom Dooley’s Review – Missoula

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This evening I finally got to try the place that I had literally counted down the days until it opened its doors to the Missoula community. My anticipation for the opening of this joint exceeded my excitement for the debut of any other business that I can ever remember opening in the area (with the exception of maybe Hooters). Tonight I ate dinner at Tom Dooley’s, a gourmet hot dog shop located on east Broadway right next to the Campus Inn.

As a huge hot dog fan, something really delights me about the prospect of a restaurant that specializes in just that…hot dogs. When the place happens to be a one-of-a-kind, local establishment it just makes it that much better. When I walked through the doors of Tom Dooley’s with an empty stomach earlier this evening, I was ready for business.
The storefront of Tom Dooley’s
The set up is simple at TD’s. You walk through the doors and the main counter is right in front of you. A black board hanging behind it creatively presents the menu in a variety of different colored chalk. To the right of the counter (from the vantage point of the customer) is a sectioned off area where the “hot dog artists” prepare your order. To the left is where the narrow but long seating area begins, complete with high tables and low tables. The soda fountain is right at the beginning of the seating area, the single unisex restroom at the end.
The ordering process is even simpler than the set up. A very nice and attractive young lady took our order. As first timers we kind of stumbled through what we wanted, making tweaks here and there. She got every detail and simply told the hot dog artists a generic word for each item we ordered (i.e. “dog”, “brat”, “fry”, “tot”). We went and sat down at a table and within two minutes, the nice TD’s worker brought us our food. Everything was exactly how we ordered it, every sauce accounted for. Not bad for a new business with new employees.
The set up inside Tom Dooley’s

Because I wanted to try both varieties and because I am a pig, I ordered both a brat and a hot dog. I selected “The Fargo” brat and “The Cowboy Luau” hot dog. My main man and eating partner, Money Mike, ordered the “Shout Bamalama” hot dog. We also got sweet potato tater tots.

A nice look at the food we got at Tom Dooley’s

“The Fargo” is a brat that came on a pretzel bun with pepper jack cheese and sautéed onions. As  I ate it, I generously dipped it in their volcanic radish sauce and their special BBQ sauce. What stuck out to me first was just not the warmth of the brat but also the warmth of the bun. Mind you, it is not a regular bun from a sack at Albertsons, it is a high quality pretzel bun. Anyway, every part of “The Fargo” was at the same temperature, the pepper jack cheese was perfectly melted on both the brat itself and the bun, and the sautéed onions topped it off. So the presentation and temperature of the brat was perfect, how about the taste? It was good! The freshness of the bun and quality of the brat contributed to a very positive taste. The pepper jack cheese was pleasantly noticeable and the sauces brought out extra flavor. The onions were so-so with many of them falling from the brat/bun and into the boat tray.

“The Cowboy Luau” is a hot dog that was served smothered in BBQ sauce and then topped with grilled pineapples! The original Cowboy Luau also comes with relish but I requested that they hold it. I had never tried a hot dog with pineapples before so I did not know exactly how it would taste, but it worked. I found it very tasty and once again, just like the brat, the temperature of both the bun and the dog were the same. The hot dogs definitely have a much more BBQ-type taste than the brats so that is probably what you want to base your decision on when deciding between the two. Or, you can just do what I did and order both.
I love you Tom Dooley’s! I gobbled down both my brat and hot dog in no time.
Maybe the best part of the whole dinner though was the sweet potato tater tots. The small, reddish-brown gems tasted amazing. You would eat a couple and you would get that clean, sweet potato taste and then you would eat a couple more at the bottom and you would still get the sweet potato taste but added in would be a pinch of what I made out to be cinnamon-sugar. Although Mike ordered them for himself, I pretty much ate the whole order. Speaking of Mike, his dog, “The Shout Bamalama,” came with cole slaw, BBQ sauce, and french fries! I had not seen french fries on a sandwich since I visited Pittsburgh last year. Mike said it was good but he was too busy talking about sports and the new Adam Sandler movie coming out for me to get much more out of him.

The final breakdown on Tom Dooley’s? It is a well-organized, clean spot to pick up a bite to eat. The food quality is good. Both the brats and hot dogs run around $5 with the brats being about twenty-five cents more if I remember correctly. One thing to keep in mind is that you pay the $5 price for quality, not quantity. The hot dogs/brats are not gigantic. In fact, they are regular size. Before going in I guess I kind of envisioned sausages more along the size of what Costco serves…this is not the case. Because of the size and because of the atmosphere and quick production of the food, I recommend visiting Tom Dooley’s for lunch. For someone like me, if you were to order a single hot dog for dinner you might leave the place still a little hungry. For lunch, it is perfect. Idea wise, the place is awesome. Missoula definitely did not have a gourmet hot dog place before but now it does. I am just hoping that the city likes the idea as much as I do because I would love to see it be successful.  Don’t Blink.

Missoula Burger Shack Review

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Tonight I felt like a burger but I wanted to add in a little twist. I don’t eat at McDonalds, I think Five Guys is overrated, and I didn’t feel like going to a busy sit down restaurant like Montana Club or Paradise Falls. It was definitely the perfect night to try out the Burger Shack.

The Burger Shack is a hole in the wall place located in the Holiday Village shopping center. For all of you who don’t know much about Missoula, the Holiday Village area is in a less than glamorous location, right off of one of our main streets, Brooks.  In this area you got a CVS, a ghetto casino, the most disgusting dollar store you could ever imagine, a sketchy Chinese buffet, and a second hand clothing shop. Nestled in between all of these locations is the Burger Shack, an artisan hamburger shop that took the place of a questionable Mexican restaurant that I never had the guts to try. However, with my craving for a burger and based on the recommendations of a couple people, I was ready to take a chance.
The outside of the Burger Shack

If you had to guess how nice the Burger Shack would be inside based on its exterior and its close proximity with the other businesses I just mentioned, you would probably keep your expectations rather low…and that would be a smart move. You definitely are not entering a place meant to impress even the lowest aesthetic expectations. About eight tables cover the hardwood floor of the small space. A counter in the back right hand corner serves as the post for the lone Burger Shack employee I saw. Their soda fountain is at the back of the restaurant but is not enclosed by the counter so it is out in the open although the employee is in charge of serving all the drinks/refills. The walls are covered with pictures of their various hamburgers. Also taking up lots of wall space are typed out 8.5 x 11 construction paper signs plastered all around advertising things such as their various specials and their man vs. food challenge (will explain this later).

The inside of the Burger Shack.

So while the place could scare away someone like my mom who has a bit classier needs than myself, I didn’t really care about the modest surroundings. I tend to judge a restaurant based on its food rather than its scenery. Unless a place is a total disgusting hell hole, I have no problem eating in a rustic environment.

The minute our very helpful waiter brought over the menu, I immediately tweeted that I was in burger heaven. I would guess that the menu featured around twenty different burgers to choose from. All starting at 1/2lb patties, my mouth was watering at some of the available choices. You could get a spicy southern burger, a breakfast burger, a philly cheesesteak burger, a Mexican burger, a chili cheese burger, a BBQ sauce/bacon/onion ring burger, and many more. It was an absolutely daunting decision. I think for the first time ever, we had to tell the waiter twice that we needed just a couple more minutes to order. That’s how tough it was to choose. To top it all off? That was just one side of the menu! From what Dan told me, the backside had a full range of sandwiches and cheesesteaks that were also available. I never made it that far.
I ended up ordering the inside out burger. That’s correct, the inside out burger. As the name implies, this was a stuffed burger. Cooked inside the patty was fresh cut bacon and gorgonzola cheese. Dan ordered the ranchero burger, a spicy creation that came drizzled in chipotle sauce with peppers and pepper jack cheese.  All burgers come on soft, fluffy buns with all of the regular fixings. In addition, you also get to choose one side to compliment your burger. Sides include french fries, garlic fries, sweet potato fries, onion rings, cole slaw, kettle chips, and a couple others that I can’t remember. I chose the garlic fries and Dan got the chips.
Me with my burger. Just about to dig in.

How did my burger taste? Amazing. I bit into it, and cheese started oozing out, carrying the bacon pieces with it. Both the bun and patty were so tender, a real treat to dig into. When our waiter first brought out our burger baskets, mine did not look too incredibly big for being a half pound, but looks are deceiving. I took a big initial bite into the burger and when I put it back down in the basket, I realized it looked as if I had just take a small nibble of it. It really was a beast. I admit that I felt a little guilty eating it because I could feel the alarms going off in my body singling an unhealthy assault on my digestive system but I couldn’t stop. It was a taste of true burger bliss.

Close up of my burger. Wish I would have taken a picture of the inside of it.
Dan thoroughly enjoyed his burger as well. Dripping in sweat, he swore that the Burger Shack is by  far the best burger in town.
Dan enjoying every single bite of his ranchero burger.

My garlic fries were nothing to write home about. I would say they were lacking in flavor. But I have to say that I put all fries of that nature to an extremely hard test because I evaluate them based on the Seattle Mariners’ garlic fries…the absolute best concession snack in professional sports. Dan said his chips were good.

The biggest knock on the Burger Shack? It would probably be the price. Most burgers are $10.25. So while they are pricey, especially by Missoula standards, you are definitely not getting ripped off. The hamburgers are top notch quality, freshness is probably the word that stands out most to me when describing them. Also, they are a half pound. And remember, you get a side as well plus a dipping sauce. You will definitely leave the restaurant with a full stomach.
Before I close out, I would like to shine a little light on their “Man vs. Food” challenge that they offer. Titled the Triple Shack Attack, the place will prepare for you a heart attack on a plate that is made of the following: 6 patties, 6 slices of cheese, 12 pieces of bacon, 3 buns, and 1 pound of french fries. If you manage to eat the whole thing in a half hour, you receive $100 in free food (The Triple Shack Attack costs $45 to make). To this date, only two people have attempted it. One completed it, the other didn’t. Both have their picture on the wall…one under the heading of “Wall of Fame” the other under the heading of “Wall of Shame.” I think it is sad that this challenge is so unknown in Missoula. I think it would be fun for different local celebrities and personalities to give it a try. Then again, it is no wonder that the challenge is so unknown when the actual restaurant itself is relatively untapped by the community.
I strongly recommend indulging in the Burger Shack. For anyone who likes hamburgers, it is a must. The burgers are fun, tasty, and big. The service is also great. While I did give the actual restaurant itself a hard time, just have fun with it. Eating in a dive is actually a great experience. Give this local Missoula restaurant some love and sink your teeth into one of Burger Shack’s mouth-watering burgers. After your first visit, as you walk out the door you will already be thinking about the new burger you will try next time. Don’t Blink.

Urban Deer

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Please view this great story that my friend Emily did that explains the issue I am about to address.

Growing up in Spokane, whenever my family saw an animal that was not a cat, a dog, or some type of domesticated pet, it was a big deal. We just did not see wildlife that often so our jaws always dropped when we saw something out of the ordinary, such as a raccoon or a moose. Another animal that would immediately cause my dad to slam on the brakes and have all of us look out the window in awe was a deer.  Seeing a bambi on a trip would all but secure the fact that we would be talking about the sighting for the remainder of the car ride.

Deer were rare, wild, and mystical creatures that everyone in my family had a fascination with. Then I moved to Montana…
When I first moved to Missoula and started going to school here, I was very impressed and amazed at the plethora and “friendliness” of the deer around the town.  Never had I seen a deer up close, let alone ten of them at once. I remember daily walking across campus from my residence hall to the gym at 6am in the morning and walking past a whole troop of deer that would congregate in the middle of the oval (big grassy space in the center of campus at UM). It seemed to me that it was Montana at its finest, man one with nature.
However, somewhere along the way my opinion started to change a little. The novelty started to wear off a little bit. Probably at the point when I moved up into the Rattlesnake did I realize that these deer might not be as cool as I first thought. I didn’t necessarily like them overtaking our lawn and leaving their droppings all over the place. They kind of put a damper on Halloween when they would eat our jack-o-lanterns one hour after we put them out on our porch. Waiting for them to leave the road when a big pack congregated right in the middle of it was a waste of my time. I didn’t particularly care for the shot of adrenaline I got the many times a deer would randomly jump out in front of me and I would have to make a split second turn of the wheel to avoid smashing it. Oh well, I guess that feeling was a lot better than what I felt after I actually did smash into a deer (that car has since been totaled)…
Missoula has an urban deer problem. Up where I live they run wild and they run rampant. They dominate our neighborhood streets and our bigger roadways. For all the people who don’t maintain their lawns, the deer have taken over camp and use it as their hang out headquarters. The degree that the Missoula urban deer “don’t give a shit” surpasses that of even the honey badger…I am not kidding. You really can’t rattle these creatures, mainly because they are too stupid to even realize what is going on. They basically run suicide missions on the hour every hour as they sprint across and down the roadways right in front of vehicles.
A bunch of urban deer in my backyard.
Lately, the city of Missoula has taken a closer look at this dilemma. It is very likely that legislation could get passed and Missoula could implement a program intended to diminish the urban deer population. The city would most likely borrow a plan used by Helena, another city in Montana that saw their neighborhoods overridden with urban deer. Basically, the city would set traps for the deer that would catch them in nets. When a deer is caught, the city would send a responder out who would humanely euthanize the deer. Next, the carcass would be taken to a center where it would be cleaned and cut up and its meat sent to a food bank for needy families.
Well I am definitely all for the trapping and humanely euthanizing of the urban deer I don’t entirely know about sending their meat to food banks. If you could see some of the deer up in my neck of the woods, you would understand what I mean. These are not your healthy, strong, stereotypical beautiful animals. Many of them are straggly and sad looking. You have to realize that these urban deer are out of their natural habitat and mainly dine on garbage and fertilized grass. The idea of any of the deer from my neighborhood ending up on my dinner plate disgusts the hell out of me. I would not wish that as a meal for anyone, no matter how hungry someone is.
An urban deer in my lawn from this past fall. Does not look too healthy to me.
I really don’t like the idea of killing animals, especially if there is no use for them once they have been put down. But something needs to be done about the population of deer in Missoula. I would support trapping them and transporting them out into the wild, but I imagine a few things would happen: They would either immediately get killed by predators or other deer because of their weak condition, they would starve to death because they never learned to properly hunt, or they would just return back to an urban environment. Also, I imagine that the time and resources to transport the deer into a more proper habitat would cost the city way too much money. So if there is no other option, I would go along with having the animals trapped and euthanized…just please don’t distribute their meat.
While urban deer cause a mess in our neighborhoods and eat our pumpkins/flowers/plants, this is not the main reason why we need to lower the population. Bottom line, they are a safety hazard. They cause way too many automobile accidents and negatively impact the lives of many people.
So until the city passes legislation to get this problem under control, I will let the urban deer continue to entertain and put a smile on the faces of my friends who come visit me from the west who think that deer in my neighborhood is the coolest thing they have ever seen.  But once some type of ordinance is put into place, I will be more than happy to lay out some of those traps. Don’t Blink.