What Actually Changed About Eating Out in Great Falls This Year

Ask a neighbor what's new in Great Falls dining and you'll probably hear about Texas Roadhouse or the ongoing Chick-fil-A watch. Those are the openings that made the group texts. They're also the least interesting part of the story. The real shift over the last twelve months is that the Electric City picked up a vinyl bar, a Himalayan kitchen, a Friday-Saturday pop-up bistro run out of another restaurant's kitchen, and a horror-themed ice cream shop. For a city our size, that's a different food scene than the one we had in 2024, and it means fewer drives to Bozeman or Missoula when you want something specific.

Here's a walk through what actually opened, where it is, and what each place is trying to be.

The national chains that got the headlines

The chain arrivals are worth naming because they reshuffled the 10th Avenue South corridor, but they aren't the story. Texas Roadhouse opened in Great Falls as the chain's fourth Montana location and brought more than 200 jobs to the city. It sits at 1216 10th Avenue South in the northeast corner of the Holiday Village Mall parking lot, in the space formerly occupied by Fiesta En Jalisco and, before that, Applemill Grill.

Panera Bread opened in February 2026 in the space formerly occupied by JB's Restaurant. A block or so away, Dave's Hot Chicken opened at 1225 10th Avenue South, adjacent to City Brew, on Friday, May 22. The menu runs chicken sandwiches and sliders, cheese fries, and slaw, with seven spice levels from "no spice" to "reaper."

And then there's Pizza Ranch, which is easy to overlook because it doesn't feel new anymore. Pizza Ranch officially opened September 22, and company officials say it is the largest Pizza Ranch to date, with a FunZone arcade, beer selection, and the chain's buffet.

If you already had opinions about these brands from other cities, you already know whether you're going. Move on.

The openings that changed what you can actually order

This is where the city genuinely broadened. A short table before the details, because the addresses matter and nobody wants to reread a paragraph to find one:

Buffalo Noir opened in the West Bank Plaza and bills itself as Great Falls' first vinyl bar, offering music, wine, and food in a lounge setting, with the goal of being a multipurpose spot where people can meet friends or unwind before or after supper. That's a category the city didn't have. A wine bar with a record collection is not what Great Falls historically supported, and its existence is a fair proxy for how the after-work scene has shifted.

Annapurna moved into the space formerly occupied by Maria's Mexican restaurant and serves traditional Himalayan and Indian dishes, including butter chicken, tandoori, biryani, momos, and fresh naan. If you've been driving to Bozeman for momos, you can stop.

Xóchitl took over the building formerly occupied by Kellergeist, and before that, Bert & Ernie's. That address, 300 First Avenue South, has been through three concepts in a short window, which is worth knowing if you're wondering why the interior feels like a bar that got a paint job.

Pomodoro is the sleeper of the group. It's on 10th Avenue South, with fast, fresh Italian takeout, pasta made to order, a few seats inside, and a large patio for warmer weather. The building formerly housed Mrs. Wright's Pasties, and the menu includes pasta, piadinas, and dolci, with gluten-free pasta available.

River & Range Bistro is the most interesting operation in town right now, and it's the one most people haven't heard of because it isn't standalone. It plans to open on May 1, 2026, inside Saibeens Kitchen on the second floor of the Columbus Center at 1601 Second Avenue North. It runs Fridays and Saturdays only from 4 p.m. until 9 p.m., and describes its food philosophy as rooted in a lifetime of outdoor recreation in Montana mixed with modern cooking techniques and high-quality local ingredients. Sample menu items shared publicly include osso buco, caramelle pasta, and poached cod vin blanc.

Read that menu again. Caramelle pasta and poached cod on a Friday night in Great Falls, operating out of somebody else's lunch kitchen. That's the model that would have felt implausible a few years ago.

Sweets, coffee, and the small storefronts

Haunted Scoops opened Friday, March 13, at 1900 Fourth Street NE, in the space formerly occupied by Nitro Creamery. The theme is what it sounds like. Take the kids or don't.

Coffee moved too. Heroes Rise Coffee Company, a first responder-owned business originally from northern Minnesota, is relocating its headquarters and roasting operations to Great Falls, with a site at 5600 7th Street opening October 6 and a full headquarters expansion scheduled for completion in 2027, plus a second location planned near Scheels. A roaster relocating its actual headquarters here, not just opening a satellite, is a different kind of investment than a cafe lease.

Then there's the yarn shop, which isn't food but tells you something about the downtown foot traffic. Mountain Colors Hand Painted Yarn celebrated its grand opening September 20 through 21 at 610 Central Ave, and the woman-owned shop specializes in hand-painted yarns made in Montana.

The expansions and the quiet closures

Not everything is a ribbon-cutting. KellerGeist, the German bar, is expanding its capacity from 20 to around 120 people, providing more space for beer enthusiasts to gather. That's a sixfold increase in seats at a single downtown bar. Even accounting for standing-room math, it's a real bet on downtown demand.

On the other side of the ledger, Stadium Sports Bar & Casino at 1121 Fifth Street South announced it was closing its kitchen, with the last day of food service on March 29th. The drinks and machines stay; the food doesn't. If you had a standing wings-and-a-game routine there, that routine is gone.

What still hasn't landed

A few of the most-asked-about names are still in the pipeline rather than open. Chick-fil-A is opening a Great Falls location, with a proposed address of 711 10th Avenue South, but there is no word yet on the date. The City of Great Falls has confirmed that Chick-fil-A submitted a preliminary traffic impact study, which is a step in assessing potential impacts on surrounding roads. That's a permit process step, not a construction start. Don't hold your breath for a 2026 opening.

WinCo Foods has acquired the former Shopko property on the Northwest Bypass according to state property records, but no building permits have been filed yet. Watch that address; grocery competition changes household spending patterns in a way that a new chicken chain does not.

A one-week eating plan, if you want one

If you've read this far and want a way to use it, here's a sequence that would actually get you through most of what's new inside a single week:

• Monday lunch: Pomodoro takeout, eat it on the patio if the weather holds.
• Tuesday: Annapurna. Order momos and butter chicken.
• Wednesday: Skip. Go for a walk along River's Edge Trail.
• Thursday: Xóchitl for tacos and a margarita.
• Friday early: Buffalo Noir for a glass of wine and a record.
• Friday later: River & Range Bistro upstairs at the Columbus Center. Reserve if you can.
• Saturday: Haunted Scoops with anyone under twelve, or with yourself, no judgment.
• Sunday: Texas Roadhouse if you want to see what the fuss is about, or KellerGeist if the expansion is done and you'd rather have a pretzel.

That's the practical answer to "what's new to eat around here." The bigger answer is that Great Falls now has enough range for a plan like this to exist at all. Two years ago it didn't.

If you're weighing a move within Great Falls, thinking about whether to sell, or trying to figure out which corner of town suits how you actually spend your evenings, the team at Lynn Kenyon lives and works in these neighborhoods and can help you match a home to the routines you're building. Connect with a Montana expert when you're ready.