[best of missoula]
Megan O’Dell, Loose Caboose
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Best Retail Wine Selection Worden’s Market & Deli
Best Coffee Hut, Best Baristra Loose Caboose, Megan O’Dell
Here’s a tip for the next time you sit down across from a date and pop open a nice bottle of wine to mark the occasion: Don’t sniff the cork. The cork, for you rookies, is actually meant to be examined. You want to make sure it’s in one piece and not moldy, because if it is the bottle could be of low quality. Needless to say, you will find no bum corks at Worden’s. The venerable downtown market and deli stocks a staggering array of vino and is staffed by some of the most down-to-earth and knowledgeable experts this side of a French vineyard. And if you need additional help in avoiding any more rookie mistakes, we’re sure they’ll hook you up. Worden’s Market & Deli: 451 N. Higgins, 549-1293, wordens.com
Sometimes it’s the little things that make all the difference for a business, and Loose Caboose does so many little things—and big—right that it’s no wonder it’s named Best Coffee Hut. One thing that impressed us was the very straightforward and friendly notice that explained how badly the business gets dinged by credit card fees, and how customers could pay any way they wanted, but to please consider buying a pre-paid drink card that, oh, by the way, provides you one free beverage. That’s just smart. You know what’s also smart? Writing your customer’s name and preferred drink on the back of each loyalty card, so that regulars get personally greeted. Barista Megan O’Dell, who’s worked at Loose Caboose for four years, hardly needs those cards, though. Her service has generated a loyal following, one that she says keeps coming back because she “listens to what people say and what people want.” And if they’re not sure what they want, O’Dell recommends The Marlowe, an espresso with white chocolate, caramel and coconut. Loose Caboose: Multiple Locations, 7280833, loosecaboosemissoula.com
Finalists, Best Retail Wine Selection 2. CVS: 1914 Brooks St, 728-1380; cvs.com 3. Good Food Store: 1600 S. 3rd St. W, 541-3663, goodfoodstore.com
Best Wings Desperado Sports Tavern This is a new category for Best of Missoula, but local connoisseurs have long known the Despo serves up the best basket of wings in town. Those connoisseurs also know that the so-called Sissy Sauce does not make you an actual sissy. It just means you have tastebuds because, holy mother of hot sauce, anything but the Sissy will light a fire in your mouth. For many of you, that heat is exactly what puts Desperado atop this category. For the rest of us, it’s the meaty wings and the thought that someday we’ll graduate beyond the Sissy. Desperado Sports Tavern: 3101 S. Russell, 549-9651 CARING FOR YOU SINCE 1922 406.721.5600 • 800.525.5688 WESTERN MONTANA CLINIC.COM BROADWAY BLDG • 500 W BROADWAY ~ COMMUNITY MED CTR CAMPUS • PHYS CTR 1 & 3 • 2825-35 FT MISSOULA RD LOLO FAMILY PRACTICE • 11350 HWY 93 S • LOLO • 406.273.0045 NOW CARE URGENT CARE • SOUTHGATE MALL • 2901 BROOKS ~ DOWNTOWN • BROADWAY BUILDING • 500 W BROADWAY
Missoula Independent Page 22 Best of Missoula 2013
photo by Tommy Martino
Finalists, Best Wings 2. Buffalo Wild Wings 2615 Radio Way, 829-9464, buffalowildwings.com 3. Old Post: 103 W. Spruce St, 721-7399, oldpostpub.com
Finalists, Best Coffee Hut 2. Florence Coffee: Multiple Locations, 546-3538, florencecoffeeco.com 3. Lighthouse Espresso: 1900 W. Broadway, 541-828, facebook.com/lighthouseespresso Finalists, Best Barista 2. Lexi Klenow, Florence Coffee Company 3. TIE: Jenny Fawcett, Burns St. Bistro Lisena Brown, Le Petit Outre
Best Convenience Store Grizzly Grocery Perhaps this category should be renamed “Most Convenient Store.” Grizzly Grocery lies a mere five blocks from the southwest corner of the UM campus, but they really are a fully tricked-out grocery store squeezed into a Kwikee Mart foot-