Enchanted Realms whips up quick eats with local ingredients

Enchanted Realms Bakery and Cafe isn’t your typical confectionery.

On the walls are framed photos of gaming characters and a live stream of people gaming runs on a TV in the corner.

Coinciding with the gaming theme is the menu, which features sandwiches, hot dogs and other dishes named after Dungeons and Dragons characters.

Co-owner Jared Mecham, 42, and his partner Chris Beadles, own the gaming store, Heroic Realms, two doors down and wanted to create a space for those customers to eat without having to leave the shopping area.

“We don’t do any video games over there — it’s all table top, face-to-face board games, RPG, card games” like Dungeons and Dragons or Magic the Gathering, Mecham said. “People like to eat when they’re doing that.”

For years he’d watch those patrons walk in with bags of fast food and decided it was time for him and his partner to fill that need. The space the cafe is in now, 2181 U.S. 2 in Evergreen, used to be home to Just Desserts, a bakery specializing in gluten-free offerings and elaborate cakes that was owned by Joyce Dye. When it came time for Dye to sell the establishment, Mecham and Beadles decided they were ready to take the next step. In addition to acquiring the space, they also bought many of Dye’s recipes, so loyal customers wouldn’t have to do without her mainstays such as chocolate chip cookies, snickerdoodles and brownies. Enchanted Realms will still offer select gluten-free products, mostly by special order. And as for cakes, they’ll handle smaller orders while contracting with Dye for more elaborate creations.

While Enchanted Realms will continue many of Dye’s traditions, the owners are also bringing their own unique flair to the business.

“We have some savory foods in addition to the sweet delicacies … now it’s not just desserts,” Mecham said.

Their menu was designed to cater to gamers — but also anyone looking for a quick, affordable lunch or dinner option with locally sourced ingredients. Among their most popular offerings is the “Fighter,” a sandwich filled with a cheeseburger mix topped with even more cheese. Enchanted Realms also sells a Detroit-style hot dog topped with a special chili sauce. All of the sandwiches are panini-pressed and fixed on slices of homemade bread in varieties like garlic Parmesan and olive oil and rosemary. They use flour made in Montana and come summertime, add ice cream from Kalispell Kreamery to their ice cream sandwiches.

“We’re probably stretching what you would define as ‘game food.’ I know when I gamed when I was in college, you had a bag of Cheetos and a Surge, the green soda,” Mecham said. “We wanted to do something a little more on the higher end that was still savory and good … The bread is homemade and it’s crispy when it’s done. It’s not something I can go up the road and get at another place.”

Enchanted Realms is open Tuesday through Friday from 12-7 p.m. and on Saturday from 12-6 p.m.