"The goals are small: just to make enough to pay the mortgage and keep the employees employed, hopefully year-round," Sarah Lewis told the Daily Inter Lake in early September.
The key word in that quote is "hopefully." She and her husband Randy opened Hawaiian Fork Grill on Electric Avenue in April. Their real test begins in October, after the summer crowds leave.
This fall in Bigfork splits in two. Everyday life now runs through new places built for people who live here all year. The big community nights are a different story. Between now and Thanksgiving, those nights still bring the village back to the Bigfork Inn, the building that has gathered the town for more than a century. The Inn has been fully restored, but it is still closed.
The Summer Side Has Already Closed
Bigfork's visitor season ended sooner than the weather would suggest. Bigfork Summer Playhouse's last listed 2026 shows ran September 3 through 5. Its homepage now thanks patrons for coming to the summer season.
Lake Baked, at 191 Mill Street where the Swan River bends, posted a plain notice on its site: "Bakery Closed from 9/21-11/20." Online Thanksgiving ordering is already open. The bakery's outdoor River View Bar runs only from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day. Its events page tells visitors to check back in May for the 2027 schedule.
Neither of these is bad news. A summer stage and a riverside bar are built around visitors and long evenings, and their schedules say so. They do leave a gap in the weekly routine, and two businesses that opened this year are set up to fill it.
Two 2026 Openings Built Around Locals
Hawaiian Fork Grill, 459 Electric Ave.
The Lewises didn't set out to run a restaurant. Sarah is a dental hygienist and Randy is an electrical contractor. They moved to Bigfork six years ago. Their friend owned the Bear Paw Trading Post, a gem and knick-knack shop on Electric Avenue. When he planned to close it, they worried the storefront would sit empty like a unit next door already did. They took out a loan first and figured out the business afterward.
The business they chose was meant to fill a local gap. They wanted fresh, affordable food that people could eat more than once a week, and they specifically ruled out "another burger spot." The prices fit that plan:
| Plate | What's in it | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Small Fork | One meat, one side, one scoop of mac salad | $10.50 |
| Regular Fork | Two meats, two sides, one scoop of mac salad | $14.50 |
| Bigfork | Three meats, three sides, two scoops of mac salad | $18.50 |
The meats are teriyaki chicken, garlic chicken, Kalua pork and teriyaki steak. Everything except the mac salad is gluten free. The couple flies in banana leaves and spices from Hawaii. They track repeat business, and they told the paper that some customers come in three or four days a week.
Their plan for winter is also simple. "The pricing is aggressive, the margins are very small and we're relying on volume," Sarah said. She compared it to In-N-Out's model. The restaurant is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday. The seating area is small and set up mostly for takeout.
The Fort, 148 Timothy Hay Way
The second opening is one people tend to use more in winter than in summer. The Fort opened officially in early August and held its grand opening September 18. Everything is under one roof: River Bend Physical Therapy, a 24-hour gym, a Pilates studio, yoga, and the wellness bar Hayline Coffee. Swan River Massage is next door. According to the Bigfork Eagle, the gym has garage doors that open to a sweeping view of the Swan Range.
The project took seven years. Kaci Calaway and Joe and Michelle Sikkema first talked it over at the kitchen table of Calaway's father, Timothy, who wanted to turn his fields into a community center. He was set to break ground in 2022 when he died suddenly. "It was really just dirt," Calaway said. The street names still carry his mark: Cala Way and Timothy Hay Way.
Joe Sikkema called it "a one-stop-shop for your health and wellness," designed "for everyone in the Bigfork community." That is the same idea behind Hawaiian Fork Grill. Both owners describe their business as something for the people who are still here in February.
The Inn Is Restored but Still Closed
Then there's the Bigfork Inn at 604 Electric Avenue. Its history goes back further than any other spot on this list. The Bigfork Area Chamber's history project dates its opening as a hotel to 1910. The Eagle has reported that the Inn burned in 1937 and that owners Ernie and Catherine O'Brien rebuilt it as the Bigfork Hotel. Over the years it housed workers, traveling salesmen and local teachers before becoming a community gathering place.
Michael Brooks and Kelly Couzens Brooks bought the Inn in 2021. In October of that year, the chef walked out on a Saturday night. With the slow season coming, they closed temporarily to replace the dining room carpet and chairs, and the project kept growing. The Flathead Beacon toured the finished restoration in May. The building has all new wiring, plumbing and HVAC. The original wood ceiling has been uncovered, and a 2,000-square-foot addition holds bar seating, an entertainment space and a new kitchen. An 1890s western walnut back bar now sits behind a live-edge bar top. In the center of the bar is an old safe the couple found in the basement, which gave the room its new name, the Safe Bar. Upstairs, a private fine-dining room has replaced the old guest rooms.
The couple hosted two catered events on May 14 and 17. After that, they said, the Inn would stay closed until they found a restaurant operator.
"We're looking for an operator that really cares, that has plenty of experience, that integrate with the community, they're going to do everything they can to have this building serve the community, and those people are unique." — Michael Brooks, to the Flathead Beacon
The only public update since then is in the legal notices. On September 16, the Daily Inter Lake ran a notice that Bigfork Inn LLC, listing Michael Dyer Brooks and Kelly A. Couzens as owners, had applied for a new Montana all-alcoholic beverages license with a catering endorsement at 604 Electric Ave. The notice doesn't name an operator or give an opening date, and no local outlet has reported either one. The Inn is a step closer to reopening than it was in May. It has not reopened.
The Calendar Still Gathers at the Inn
Look at the chamber's calendar for the next eight weeks and you'll see where the community nights land. October is spread across the village:
- Tamarack Time, October 10, 1 to 2 p.m. A downtown food competition and tasting, with tasting materials from the chamber.
- Oktoberfest at Andy's Crafthouse, October 16, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., 8030 MT Hwy 35. The listing mentions Bayern Brewing and a Wooden Firkin tapping.
- The Game's Afoot (Holmes for the Holidays), presented by Bigfork Community Players at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts, 526 Electric Ave. Shows are at 7:30 p.m. on October 16, 17, 23 and 24, with 2 p.m. matinees on October 18 and 25.
- Día de los Muertos at Andy's Crafthouse, October 30 at 6 p.m., with live music by Seth Orr.
- Trunk or Treat, October 31, 4 to 6 p.m. Trick-or-treating runs along Electric Avenue. Businesses that aren't on the Avenue set up their "trunk" spots at Lake Baked, which is a month into its fall break by then.
In November, the calendar shifts back toward the Inn. Decorating Prep Day runs November 14 from 8 a.m. to noon at the Garden Bar, 451 Electric Ave., with bulb twisting, tree chopping and bow making. Lake Baked's posted break ends November 20. The next morning, November 21, Bigfork Elves Decorating Day volunteers meet in front of the Bigfork Inn at 8 a.m. and decorate downtown until noon. That evening from 6 to 7, the chamber's listing invites everyone to "gather around the Bigfork Inn" for the Tree Lighting Ceremony. Plans include a bonfire, hot cocoa, carols, a reading of "The Night Before Christmas," and music from the Bigfork Jazz Band and Five and Holding.
Bigfork's Holiday Art Walk follows on November 28 from 4 to 6 p.m., with shops, galleries and boutiques offering wine, treats and special sales. The Art Walk page also mentions a 6 p.m. tree lighting at the Inn that night, which conflicts with the separate November 21 listing. The dedicated tree lighting page says November 21. Check with the Bigfork Area Chamber before you set the date on your calendar. The next holiday shopping night after that is the Bigfork Shopping Spectacular on December 3, from 4 to 7 p.m.
So by the start of the holiday season, the busiest gatherings will once again center on a building whose front deck, red clock and new ADA ramp are finished, while its kitchen still needs an operator. Until the Inn opens its doors, lunch on an ordinary fall day is more likely to be a Small Fork from 459 Electric Ave. than anything downtown has served under the Inn's log beams since 2021.
Fall is when Bigfork shows what it's like the rest of the year: which businesses stay open on a Tuesday, which ones close for a while, and where people gather after dark in November. If you're thinking about life on this side of Flathead Lake, Heidi Lane is happy to talk through the village in the off-season as well as in July. Let's Connect.
