Café has old-time appeal that draws customers from near, far

But not all of the café’s attractions are on the menu.

If you ask, one of the friendly wait staff will point out the bullet holes in the pressed-tin ceiling over the quaint, turn-of-the-century dining room. They date from a wild evening decades ago when an inebriated customer of one of the café’s long-gone predecessors opened fire on flies clinging to the ceiling.

Deane Mitchell and Tim Andrescik opened the Willow Creek Café 11 years ago in a building that’s about 100 years old.

A more recent addition to the main building now serves as a bar.

The dining room, which seats 45, has a warm décor with walls covered with flowered wallpaper and elk, deer and antelope heads.

The two owner-chefs came to Willow Creek after working at the Corral Bar down Gallatin Canyon and other chef jobs at Big Sky.

Andrescik, 44, who grew up in Minnesota, had come to Big Sky to ski and stayed on when he discovered how wonderful Montana summers were compared with the swelter of the Midwest.

Mitchell, 50, lived and worked around the country before settling in Montana.

The café has become so popular that only nasty winter weather puts a dent in business. Most summer evenings and weekends year-round, it’s a good idea to have a reservation before making the drive to Willow Creek to eat.

The Willow Creek Café is one of several restaurants tucked away in small Gallatin County towns that attract people from afar. Sir Scott’s Oasis Steakhouse in Manhattan and Land of Magic Dinner Club in Logan are two more.

The café in Willow Creek seems to attract a particularly dedicated following of both locals and out-of-towners.

Pilots flying into Gallatin Field near Belgrade have rented a car and driven out to Willow Creek to eat during a layover.

Recently, one group of hungry skiers drove to Willow Creek after skiing at Big Mountain near Whitefish to eat one night. The next day, they skied Big Sky and returned to Willow Creek that evening for another meal.

Local residents flock to the café, too.

As the only public place to eat in town, the café is the social center where locals come to catch up on area news and trade gossip, said D.K. Brooks, principal and superintendent of Willow Creek School.

The café offers what Andrescik calls an American cuisine.

The rib recipe is a closely guarded secret, although Mitchell will say that they use a mustard-based sauce.

Chicken-fried steak with pan gravy is another popular entree, as are steaks.

Mitchell and Andrescik like to throw their customers a curve ball with specials that may be duck confit, sesame-crusted ahi tuna or salmon with ancho-shallot butter.

All soups and sauces are homemade.

Megan Higgins, who is married to Mitchell, whips up the café’s desserts, including a rotating selection of 25 cakes.

The chocolate Heath bar crunch cake is among the most popular, but customers also can order a chocolate silk cake accented with Grand Mariner, hazelnut butter cream cake, pecan-caramel torte, pumpkin cheese cake and bread pudding.

Cakes bring together hands-on creativity and the science of how ingredients work together, she said.

Some of her customers are so dedicated to certain cakes that they ask to be called when it appears on the menu.

Andrescik and Mitchell say they like running a restaurant in a small town. One bonus has been loyal employees.

Stephenie Parks has worked as a waitress at the café off and on since it opened.

Parks proudly points out that her daughter, Autumn Parks, 18, who cooks part-time at the café, is the seventh generation of her family living in the valley.

If you go …

To get to the Willow Creek Café, take the Three Forks exit on Interstate 90 about 55 miles east of Butte. Follow the signs to Willow Creek, six miles from Three Forks.

The café is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays. The business is closed Mondays.