Restaurateur opens bar, steakhouse in Kalispell

The new KM Bar and Mercantile Steak in the Kalispell Mercantile Building are built around the 19th-century bricks that have held up the community space for more than 120 years.

It’s a fitting design, since the leadership at the new businesses aims to play a similar supporting role for Kalispell in the years to come.

Pat Carloss, owner of Whitefish’s Tupelo Grille and Abruzzo Italian Kitchen, as well as the Gunsight Saloon in Columbia Falls, renovated the historic spaces in the hopes of bringing nightlife, culture and variety to downtown Kalispell.

“We really want to be the center of a downtown Kalispell revival,” said Gerald Miller, general manager of the new two-part business.

Miller served as the general manager at Abruzzo for the past two years.

Now he’s in charge of executing Carloss’ vision for Kalispell, where late-night options haven’t kept pace with surging population growth.

“The untapped potential is so great,” Miller said.

The plan for the KM Bar and Mercantile Restaurant looks similar to the setup Carloss achieved at the Gunsight Saloon on Nucleus Avenue in Columbia Falls.

The KM Bar offers drinks and bar food, live music and an outdoor patio.

Next door, Mercantile Steak provides a traditional sit-down steakhouse setting in the former home of The Split Rock Café.

Both sides of the enterprise will be open this week.

Those familiar with the Gunsight Saloon will recognize other traditional elements at the Kalispell location, such as the copper bar counter that was preserved and polished from a much earlier tenant.

“We wanted to use the historic value of the building,” Miller said.

In a space that dates back to 1894, there’s a lot to work with.

CARLOSS IS the latest in a long line of proprietors to utilize the landmark Kalispell building.

The first among them was Missoula County, which operated the building as a distribution center for all of Western Montana at the turn of the 20th century.

That was before Flathead County split from its neighbors to the south, a change that led the Missoula Mercantile to be christened the Kalispell Mercantile, as it’s known today.

Since then, the 80,000-square-foot building has been transformed time and time again: into warehouses for the Great Northern Railroad, private offices for more than 30 local professionals, and a one-of-a-kind apartment for the building’s owner.

Realtor Bill Goodman bought the KM Building in 1997 and set the precedent for the use Carloss is now carrying out. Goodman established a short-lived restaurant known as Reds, Wines and Blues in the current site of Mercantile Steak. On the KM Bar side of the building, a bar known as the Bulldog once operated.

But Goodman turned the keys over to Bill Goldberg of Compass Construction at the start of the year.

Goodman worked tirelessly to restore the decaying structure for 20 years before finally deciding to settle into a quieter lifestyle outside of town.

Under Goldberg’s ownership, the KM Building is poised for a multi-use revitalization, with the new bar and restaurant on the ground floor.

Much like the redevelopment plans, the food and drink menus on both sides of the building blend styles old and new.

Miller described their offerings as traditional items with “modern and contemporary spins.”

The specialty cocktails utilize spirits, garnishes and recipes that harken back to the 1800s. Some of the drink combinations haven’t been tasted since the age of Prohibition.

“I source a lot of my inspiration from the classics,” said Tyler Larche, the mastermind behind the bar.

The food, too, draws on classic staples with unexpected innovations, such as onion rings coated in cilantro-serrano beer batter. The eye-catching appetizer is presented on a tower made from copper piping found inside the KM Building.

Chef Shane Van Veldhuizen described unique creations like the “onion stack” as “approachable things, with an elevated, contemporary twist.”

The KM Bar and Mercantile Steak are open 4 p.m. to midnight, Tuesday through Saturday. Live music will play from 7 to 10 p.m. every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday night.

The KM Bar is located at 29 Third St. E. Mercantile Steak is located 30 Second St E.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.