benadrian wrote:I was just going to post about how when I was there on tour in 2002, we went to a guitar store and met a guy named Checkers. He was one of those guys who was so nice and clean cut and gregarious that it was creepy, or straight out of a 1950's television show.
Ben

Checkers Barker.

Heck of a name for a guy.

Food:

Double Front has world-class fried chicken.

Tower Pizza out on the strip is great cracker-crust pizza. Seriously. I have eaten a lot of pizza, and it's great.

Red Bird is an excellent fancy restaurant specialized in locally produced ingredients. Including meats and so forth. Holds its own with similar restaurants in big cities and so forth. Note: "fancy" in Montana means you should wear a clean sweatshirt.

Hoagieville's sandwiches etc. are nothing special, but their Hoagie Fries are superb.

Greek Pastry Shop is an improbably terrific gyro place. I cannot recommend it more highly if you are fond of the gyro. It's on its third generation of Greeks making gyros there.

Oxford, Missoula Club, and Stockmans are institutions on the bar/diner scene, as is the Top Hat. Missoula Club has good burgers, last I had one. You can probably still get brains-n-eggs (a/k/a He Needs 'Em) at the Ox.

Big Dipper is a very good ice cream place. It is owned by Charlie Beatton, who used to sing for the Banned, a funny punk band that we used to play with. Good guy.

If I were you, I'd rent a bike and helmet at the Trail Head or someplace similar and ride up the Rattlesnake. You can just ask them where to go. But try to go mountain biking if you're up for it.

Ear Candy, good store. Rockin' Rudy's Record Heaven, good if overpriced sometimes. Rockin' Rudy's HQ is like a department store of all things Missoula. Tell Bruce I said hi. I spent many, many years working there when it was much, much smaller.

It's a great town, and you will be there at the absolute perfect time of year.

Mt Sentinel just burned up again, too, which will look kind of cool.

I was there in September of 2007. Right around the corner from the place we player (the basement billiard/pool hall bar), there was a fancy coffee/wine/cafe shop. We had been on the road for two days non-stop. I don't know if it was just the deprivation from quality coffee and food, but the coffee and crepe from that place seemed godlike.

Also by the club was a fun army/navy surplus store.

Ben

benadrian wrote:I was there in September of 2007. Right around the corner from the place we player (the basement billiard/pool hall bar), there was a fancy coffee/wine/cafe shop. We had been on the road for two days non-stop. I don't know if it was just the deprivation from quality coffee and food, but the coffee and crepe from that place seemed godlike.

Also by the club was a fun army/navy surplus store.

Ben

You're probably talkin' about Liquid Planet.

It's good. Break Espresso down the street (north) is better, probably, but they're both good.

That's a damn lot of good sounding stuff to do. My brother has mentioned to Rockin' Rudy's and the ice cream place. I think I have to hit the Oxford now.

Steve, I will totally say hi to Checkers if I get to the store. Tim, I will do the same for Bruce.

This trip will end up a shit ton cooler than it would have been otherwise. Thanks everybody.

tmidgett wrote:Oxford, Missoula Club, and Stockmans are institutions on the bar/diner scene, as is the Top Hat. Missoula Club has good burgers, last I had one. You can probably still get brains-n-eggs (a/k/a He Needs 'Em) at the Ox.

I had the brains'n'eggs! They were freakin' great.

I also had one of the scarier experiences of my life in Stockman's, but it probably wouldn't be scary to anyone else.

I am bumping this to thank everyone for all the great suggestions. I am in Missoula right now, and have been enjoying my time intensely.

1) Had lunch today at the Oxford. I was tempted to get the brains 'n eggs, but J.J.'s chicken fried steak just looked too good - that gravy was fucking preposterous. It was a slightly spicy bacon gravy with garlic and a few other things I can't remember. It was like sawmill gravy on crack. Perfect. The place is the best kind of dive - it can appeal and cater to absolutely anybody (they have decent vegetarian options, and that just rubs me the right way). The staff were also super nice, like everyone else in this town.

2) Hit the Big Dipper for the best ice cream I've ever had. Cardamom ice cream? Are you kidding me? Awesome.

3) Picked up a few records at Ear Candy. Got my first Dead Moon LP, Crack in the System. Also a great staff who were informative and friendly. The clerk, and I think owner, gave me all sorts of great recommendations and invited me to a show at the Palace tomorrow night. I'll probably go.

4) Scott Gill, the owner of Scotty's Table, a restaurant on Higgins, is a close friend of my brother, and he catered the non-rehearsal rehearsal dinner. He is an incredible chef, and I ate ridiculously well.

5) Totally having lunch tomorrow at Double Front. Looking forward to awesome chicken.

6) I hear there's a tremendous farmer's market every weekend. I'll be sure to hit that as well.

Haven't had a chance to get to Rockin' Rudy's or Electronic Sound and Percussion yet, but if I do I'll try to say hi to Bruce and Checkers respectively.

I did find a recent interview with Bruce that interested parties can read here.

This is going well. If anything else interesting happens, I'll let y'all know. Thanks for the ideas, I'm having a great time.

DregsInTheCrowd wrote:Haven't had a chance to get to Rockin' Rudy's or Electronic Sound and Percussion yet, but if I do I'll try to say hi to Bruce and Checkers respectively.

I did find a recent interview with Bruce that interested parties can read here.

Good interview.

Very smart businessman, Bruce Micklus.

That guy's blog title is totally Missoula: his name is Joe Nickell, and his blog is called Nickell's Bag.

The TOTALLY Missoula thing is that he has a column in the local newspaper--like, the regular daily paper--with the same name.