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The Garden Bar
Recipe for Success
The Garden Bar “Spamorama!” By Denise Lang Photos by Lucy Williams. The Garden Bar is a living legend in Bigfork for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is the annual “Spamorama,” now in its 20th year! Owner, Mark “Mister” Langlois believes that Spam is “miracle meat in a can.” “The way it works,” he explains, “is anyone can show up with a spam entry. In the past, winners have been Spambalaya, Coconut Dipped Fried Spam, and Upsidedown Pineapple Spam Cake and there are prizes.”
Wherever the imagination goes, spam can, too! In addition, there is the Spam Carving contest. That really needs to be seen to be believed. But, oddly, Spam makes pretty good modeling clay. When you’re in the Garden Bar, check out the Spam Trophy Showcase. “Spamorama” is paired with the Bigfork Brewfest and will be held Saturday, March 7. Brewfest is from 3-7pm. Spamorama starts at 2pm. I asked Mister how he came up with this unique and weird event. “I think up winter events to get people out of their houses.” The Garden (as the locals call it) is a safe and happy place to come, have a beer, cocktail or food and meet up with friends, and their hamburgers are the best!
If you have not been there, you are missing a Bigfork landmark. It’s full to the brim with character and characters! Mister calls it a “decorated dump.” But it is way more…kind of a history of the area-a trip down memory lane--in funky, cool bar décor. This is where old Bigfork signs go to live forever. In the bar and in the Beer Garden, there are hundreds of old signs, reminiscing Bigfork’s past over the last 50 years. Mister says, “When you make a sign, make a good one because it will probably end up at the Garden Bar.” I’ve known Mister for 15 years and he just gets happier all the time. His motto is, “I’m always happy because it’s just too much work to be mad. Life is good!” He grew up in Bigfork when Electric Avenue was gas stations, bars and a few art galleries and he never wanted to leave. As a teenager, Mister remembers when the
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owners of the Bigfork Station forgot to turn off the pumps. “We got in our cars and drove around all night, just so we could gas up for free!”
Those gas stations have now given way to trendy shops, art galleries and restaurants, but the Garden Bar remains as one of the few businesses still run by the same owner and in the same place. Mister started working at the Garden in 1983, when it was just 10 bar stools plus the garden area in the back. There was no kitchen and the front was Electric Avenue Gifts and Books. He added a kitchen 15 years ago and put together the whole bar into the establishment it is now.
If you eat there very often, you’ll know Phyllis. She’s been cooking at The Garden since 1988. By the way, the nachos are to die for. Every time I have them, I