Transport: Uber is sometimes great and sometimes not. Arrange a ride with Joe Frese, especially for oddly timed flights. Ride from the airport to Whitefish is $30–$40 depending on where Mercury is in the moon cycle.
Restaurants
- Abruzzo. Hands down the best restaurant in town. Italian / high-end American.
- Jalisco’s. New high end but casual mexican place owned by a guy with a restaurant in San Diego. Chef is from Alinea. Extremely good and lots of outdoor space.
- Gunsight Saloon in Columbia Falls. Very good food, very fun atmosphere. Especially good around Glacier trips. Lunch Fri–Sun and dinner nightly. Huge backyard with live music on weekends. Owned by Tupelo. If we go on a river trip, we’ll stop there on the way home.
- Wild Coffee. Just outstanding. The pourover is unmatched and the biscuits are incredible.
- Fleur Bakeshop. 5/5 coffee and exceptional baked goods. Pastry chef from Seattle. Levi, the barista, roasts the beans. He has the handlebar mustache.
- Great Northern Bar. This is the dive bar. Live music a lot. No food (or at least avoid it).
- Bulldog. Classic dive bar and the burgers are good. Don’t order a big city drink here. Bartenders will shit on you.
- Buffalo. This is the place for breakfast, full stop.
- Remington Casino. Renovated old bar in town with a mexican restaurant that’s great.
- Tupelo. A good backup restaurant. Predominantly Cajun. Often very chill live music. Don’t sit by the stage.
- Whitefish Lodge. Go there for a drink or a brunch on the patio overlooking the lake when it’s warm. Food is meh.
- Loula’s. Simple sandwich place with great pie.
- K&M at the Mercantile in Kalispell is a great steakhouse. They have the main dining room and the bar. Bar has the same menu and a music stage.
- Ed McGrew BBQ. Take out only. Order larger things a day ahead. He’s a friend.
- There are lots of other places, these are just my favorites.
Casual Trails
- Check out the Whitefish Trails system. All of the trails are great. The prettiest is the Lion Mountain overlook.
- Winter a lot of them convert to cross country ski trails. Especially the golf course. Rent for cheap at Sportsman’s or if at the golf course, just right there on site.
- Whitefish Mountain. You can hike up and around and take the lift down or the opposite. In early-August huckleberries start to bloom. The mountain is a great place to go pick them.
Life
- Super 1 grocery is better than Safeway. Huge organic section, better produce.
- Chop Shoppe. Absolutely epic butcher. Make sure you specify you want local meats.
- Whitefish Farmer’s Market is Tuesdays and is mission critical. The produce here is great. Some time in August the Dixon Melon people will arrive and blow your mind with their melons.
- Flathead Fish Market is right by our house. They have a steady supply of great fish and email out new arrivals on Fridays. They also stock a bunch of local beef, chicken and egg farms in their store.
- Costco, Target, etc. are in Kalispell ~15 min away.
- The Wave gym. Local good gym. They do day/week/month memberships. Sort of like a YMCA.
- My gym. World Gym on 93. 10 min south on Kalispell. More of a modern squat-friendly kettlebell gym. It’s where I go.
- Wag Dog Park. Huge dog park with lots of sections and a pond, and it’s usually not busy.
- Tailwaggers. Local dog store with a huge, high-end food selection, treats, toys, all the things.
- Look for Farm to Market Pork in stores or go out to their shop of Farm to Market Rd south of Whitefish.
- Get jerky at M&S Meats. You used to have to drive down to Flathead Lake but they have a shop south of Kalispell now.
Random
- Boat Rental. The best (surf/pontoon) boat rental is from Whitefish Marine, you’ll pickup the boat at the State Park. For a bougier, seamless (but much more expensive) experience, you can rent a boat from The Lodge at Whitefish Lake.
- Thursday Rodeo. Go to the Blue Moon for the REAL rodeo on Thurs nights in the summer. Dress the part. Don’t make out with your significant other. The mean old lady behind the bar is Charlotte, she’s actually sweet but she’ll throw you out for kissing.
- Lakestream Fly Shop. Book a fishing/rafting guide here, you can usually do it the day before with no issues. They will have all the gear for a half or full day out.
- Sportsman in Whitefish is an easy place to grab most outdoor things. You can also rent SUPs, kayaks, etc.. If you need more, go to Sportsman in Kalispell. Both have firearm stuff. The REI sucks.
- Renting mountain bikes and trail riding is fun. There are a few bike shops in town, I like Glacier Bikes for mountain, Great Northern for road/gravel.
- Shopping downtown is really good. There are lots of jewelry stores, etc.. The Toggery is a local favorite. It’s like a high-end REI. Cabin Creek for home stuff, tell Madeline you’re a friend of mine.
- Spotted Bear Spirits. A local distillery with great vodka, tequila and gin. Their tasting room is open daily and worth going to.
Tourist (none in Winter, but yes in shoulder seasons)
- I highly suggest an early wakeup and drive on Going to the Sun road to Logan Pass. It’s a must do at least once. I am retired from driving people out to that road. Use my national park pass to get in free. While there either before or after driving the road, park in Apgar and walk out on the Lake McDonald dock. It’s mind blowing.
- One thing you can do for fun is float the Whitefish River for several miles from downtown to the bridge close to our house. Or you can just swim in it. Jump in at the hotel…there’s a stairway that accesses it directly. Hotel has tubes and SUPs. This is where you should jump in.
- Polebridge. Take a ~1.5 hr drive to Polebridge following the North Fork of the Flathead River. Get a bear claw at the mercantile. There’s an entry into Glacier just past it that leads to Kintla and Bowman Lake. These are two of the most beautiful places you’ll ever go but they limit traffic into them because there’s nowhere to park. Check with the ranger station.