The menu choices keep growing in downtown Kalispell.
A fresh crop of restaurants opened recently in the historic center of town, shepherding in a new set of flavors that business owners hope will last.
Two popular restaurants reopened last week with a different look: Rising Sun Bistro, formerly of Whitefish, and Hop’s Downtown Grill, formerly Capers Restaurant and Pizzeria. The latest offerings join an expanding list of eateries, including the new Split Rock Café, Majestic Mountains Bistro Café, Bonelli’s Bistro and ScottiBelli’s Ristorante.
Slightly outside of downtown, the Original Chicken Coop has also opened in the last year on West Center Street and Pizza Hut on North Main Street recently grew to combine Wing Street.
“We’re committed to downtown and we’re committed to that feel of downtown,” Doug Day, co-owner and chef at Hop’s, said. “That’s what this is about.”
Rising Sun Bistro
Rising Sun Bistro, previously a popular destination in Whitefish, opened its doors last week in the classic brick building on Second Avenue West where the Knead Café was once located.
Owned by Jennifer Griffith, her mother Sally Racine and her godmother Peggy Kirby, Rising Sun features a French-oriented menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, along with a cabaret license and a bar menu.
Everything on the menu is tied to the current season and mostly local, Griffith said. Rising Sun is a member of the international Slow Food organization that promotes clean, healthy, local food that is produced without harming the environment.
“We’re good food oriented,” Griffith said.
Rising Sun earned praise while in Whitefish, even being recognized last summer in Travel and Leisure Magazine’s “Chef’s Favorite U.S. Restaurants” for Montana. But the owners, who took over in 2005, could not resist the opportunity to have their own building and expand the operation, opportunities that Kalispell offered. In its new location, Rising Sun has double the capacity and double the staff compared to Whitefish, Griffith said.
“We have a really good product and now our kitchen is four times the size, so the space is letting us do so much more,” Griffith said.
“People can expect quality and community and just appreciation for letting us come in and redo this,” she added.
Split Rock Cafe
On their first date, Jason and his wife Jocelyn Gerbozy talked about opening a restaurant. Seven years and two kids later, the Gerbozys have made it happen with Split Rock Cafe.
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Surrounded by historic photographs of the KM Building and the Flathead County Courthouse, Cece Balcom clears a table at Split Rock Cafe in Kalispell. |
In the historic KM Building where Red’s Wines & Blues used to be, Split Rock is a breakfast and lunch destination modeled after Buffalo Café in Whitefish and Echo Lake Café outside of Bigfork, two successful and popular breakfast stops that have built strong customer bases throughout the years. The Gerbozys hope to expand with a cabaret license and evening menu in the future.
“We’re trying not to get carried away with complex food,” Jason said. “We want to keep it simple and offer good food with fresh ingredients and good service.”
Managed by Jocelyn, Split Rock opened in July and has blended into the historical character of the KM Building. When talking about the building, Jason explains with enthusiasm the history he’s been learning since moving in, such as the significance of the KM Building as one of the first and most important buildings in town in the early 20th Century. And he points out that Second Street East used to be the main street in town.
To hear him talk about the history is to see how much he wants to be a part of it.
“We believe in what downtown could be and we want to be a part of that as downtown grows,” Jason said.
Hop’s Downtown Grill
Doug and Vonnie Day have had a restaurant on Main Street for 15 years, starting with Café Max and then Capers. The intimate downtown setting has transitioned once again to the type of restaurant Doug has wanted to create all along. And, as he puts it, he’s “saved his best for last.”
Last week, the Days unveiled Hop’s, a similarly fashioned restaurant with a new taste, described simply as “American.”
“The focus is American food and the diversity of American food,” Doug said. “What I describe it as is really an American restaurant, and that can mean a lot of things and that’s what I like.”
The new menu still lists the classic brick oven pizzas that Capers was well known for, but now there’s a long list of unique hamburgers and appetizers. The restaurant will also be home to almost 100 beers, Doug said. Right now, eight regional beers are on tap along with bottled beers from across the country. And the wine list is still as impressive as ever.
“This was always what I wanted to do, and the time was right to do it,” he said.
Doug has seen many downtown businesses come and go throughout the years. Staying power, he said, lies in the quality of food and service — that will always prevail.
Day isn’t considering the new crop of restaurants to be competition; he considers it a positive to have new roots being planted downtown.
“We really want to work with the downtown restaurants, as a group, not as a competition,” he said. “We’re really happy to see these places coming downtown.”