Editorial Stories

The Cow Is Still There. So Is the Dairy Behind It. At The Trough in Target Range, the 15-foot cow on the corner has outlasted three owners and one name change — and the place underneath it still runs like a neighborhood stop, not a destination. Drive west on Clements Road past Reserve Street and the cow is the landmark people use to give directions, even if they've never set foot inside. It's been standing since the 1970s, back when this corner was Dale's Dairy, run by Dale and Betty Jo Johnson after they bought the place from the original...

On a summer night in Missoula, you usually see the line before you see the counter. It runs along South Higgins Avenue with kids, parents, college students, tourists, and locals who already know how this works. Nobody loves standing in line. But at Big Dipper, the line has become part of the deal. You wait. You talk. You change your mind three times. Then somebody walks by with a cone stacked high with huckleberry ice cream, and suddenly the whole thing makes sense. Big Dipper Ice Cream has been part of Missoula since June 1995. It did not start as...

The Heritage of the Still Located on Front Street in downtown Missoula, Montgomery Distillery is a family-owned operation crafting old-world spirits from local Montana grains. Using grains grown on their family farm in nearby Heath, they oversee the entire process from planting to bottle, producing award-winning gin, vodka, and single-malt whiskey that captures the true flavor of the region.

Missoula's Maze of Wonders Walk through the double doors of Rockin' Rudy's, and the sensory overload is immediate. Vinyl records click in their bins, the smell of incense floats from the back corner, and gag gifts share shelf space with local art. For over four decades, Rudy's has served as the heartbeat of Missoula's alternative community. More Than a Record Store Started in 1982, Rockin' Rudy's has survived the rise and fall of cassettes, CDs, MP3s, and streaming, only to see vinyl roar back to life. But it's the sense of community that keeps locals coming back. It's where high...

The Heat of the Hearth Tucked away just off Higgins Avenue on the Hip Strip, the aroma of roasting beans blends with a faint, sweet scent of burning larch. This is Black Coffee Roasters, where the ancient art of wood-fired roasting is kept alive. In a world dominated by gas-powered automated roasters, owner Jim Litz prefers the tactile, unpredictable romance of fire. A Slower, Better Burn Jim adjusts the dampers on the custom Italian roaster, letting the wood smoke gently coat the green beans. The wood-fired process yields a deeper, rounder flavor profile, smoothing out acidity and introducing subtle caramel...