Interesting. I like Tillamook’s grated cheeses, and I’m a huge fan of their mocha almond fudge ice cream (which is why I never buy it anymore). They seem to do dairy quite well.
1 Like
I had to comment to them a few years ago on their ‘Mountain Huckleberry’ ice cream. Huckleberry flavoring, no actual huckleberries.
I’ve only had Beecher’s Mac&Cheese in the restaurant. It’s very good - mushier than my home version, maybe because they use higher fat cheeses.
2 Likes
Sadly, their flavors are hit or miss. I love a good butter pecan ice cream… theirs isn’t. Other flavors were also a letdown. But that mocha almond fudge is like crack to me.
I saw that a Texas Roadhouse moved onto Brooks in Zoo town recently.
I bought some of the frozen Tillamook mac & cheese. Walmart carries 9 and 10 ounce sizes, and Safeway carries the 22 ounce size. I got a couple of Sharp Cheddar & Uncured Bacon Mac & Cheese and a couple of Classic Cheddar Mac & Cheese from Walmart. No Tillamook with Hatch chiles available here. I also got Chef Ramsay Four Cheese Macaroni.
I’ve only tried the Sharp Cheddar & Uncured Bacon. It was okay. I’d rate it a little above average for frozen mac & cheese. I’m not sure if it’s any better than Devour White Cheddar Mac & Cheese with Bacon which is slightly cheaper. The Tillamook is oniony which I would say is the main difference.
Beecher’s is better by a fairly wide margin. I’m looking forward to trying the others but not expecting them to be in the same league as Beecher’s.
2 Likes
I found Doritos Smart Food (popcorn) at Sam’s. Pass. It’s nowhere near as good as the chips.
I will have to check it out next time I am down in Missoula. I have been doing a ribeye at Spinnaker here in Lakeside every week to get my steak fix in. It is always fairly decent, and the price is right so it has become a mid-week ritual for me.
On a less positive note, I just went to a chain restaurant in Kalispell for the second time thinking the first time was just a bad day for them. LOL! I am not up to speed on chain restaurants here in Montana yet, but I hope Texas Roadhouse is a LOT better than Dickie’s Barbecue!? Steaks vs. BBQ would make it seem so. 4.4 vs. 4.0 on Google.
Dessicated brisket and rather bland pulled pork complemented with mushy mac and cheese and canned green beans.
And what is up with pizza up here in the valley? Every place I go to has the cracker crust burned just a bit too much to be tasty. Bias Brewing is irredeemable but Del’s is close to being good.
Sorry for the OT post!
5 Likes
I hear you on the bbq place. They’ve gone down since before the pandemic, but they’ve always been dry, imo. They’re all the dry type here.The pizza place around the corner from them used to be great, then mediocre and then changed hands. Even the famous pizza place (starts with an M) is almost inedible, but ppl like it. Costco pizza, isn’t pizza…just a pile of burnt cheese on atomato sauce topped dough. Jersey Boys in WF is okay but on the expensive side, but then again they all are! We usually make our own because we have the time, but there are times you gotta have a slice.
Sure miss Blondies and the old Albatross in Berkeley for pizza.
For bbq, have you been to the CF’s Back Room? That’s different, too.
I’ll move my discussions on western MT to the mid-west /mountain west thread topic to keep down the dreaded topic spread.
1 Like
Cape Cod chips are something I haven’t purchased in decades, but the actual entry into this thread is the Michel et Augustin croissant chips. Sadly, they were rubbish … I tasted more of the packaging than croissant.
However, I’m still a fan of their chocolate-filled cookie squares.
1 Like
Montana deserves to be in the PNW category.
Just my opinion. 
4 Likes
I kinda thought that, but but but, the Rockies really divide this state and that has an effect on ag and culture. A ‘straddle’ region.
2 Likes
The part of Montana that is west of the Continental Divide does seem to have its own personality.
I was taught as a kid that Idaho was supposed to have all the lands Montana now has that are on the west side of the divide but I am not sure if that is true or not. Idaho and Montana would sure look different if it had happened.
4 Likes
Even the part that is next to North Dakota? I don’t know about that.
1 Like
“Deserves” is an interesting choice of words.
Ditto.
Idaho, before MT, for sure. Maybe even “deserves” to be PNW, as well.
3 Likes
I pity the fools of the Grand Prairie 
Did Mr T say that?
2 Likes
I’ve long felt state boundaries are not an elegant or precise way to describe cultures, their foods, and customs but it seems that dividing lines are drawn along those “artificial “ barriers.
Idaho is already considered a PNW state, at least here in the PNW.
Plains states don’t really exist as a category officially, though they should.
I want a Nine Nations of North American Food!
sorry, @ZivBnd . Didn’t mean to start a controversy.
This is about politics but along the same idea regarding self image and how one identifies with their roots, I suppose.
2 Likes
Climate change is affecting it all, too.
1 Like
