Traeger on the menu
Wise River Club
With help from Traeger grills, chefs around the world are forging new ways to create culinary experiences and delicious food. “Traeger on the Menu” highlights restaurants where wood-fired flavor is always on the menu.
THE WISE RIVER CLUB IS BUILT ON HISTORY, MUSIC, AND COMMUNITY
Wise River, Montana, is primarily known for being a tributary to the Big Hole River—one of Montana’s best-known fly-fishing areas. For over a hundred years, the small mountain community’s Wise River Club has served as the gathering spot for a host of anglers, hunters, and outdoor recreators.
When rock and roller Tim Montana and ZZ Top’s Billy F. Gibbons took over, it became so much more.
“Since 1896, this place has been serving up a good time, and now it’s serving up a better time with live music and food fresh off the Traeger,” Tim says.
On any given night, locals, snowmobilers, cross-country skiers, and fishermen can be found at the Wise River Club. What started as a hotel has expanded to include a bar, restaurant, and cabins—the vibe of the place has become anything but tame.
Live music, cocktails, and a full wood-fired menu—that’s what can be expected at the club. Tim brought in Traeger Grills when he opened the restaurant, and a seriously impressive menu was the result.
“You will not find a better chicken wing in Southwest Montana!” Tim yells in a Wise River Club Instagram video.
Tim Montana’s
Wise River Club
Watch where the good times are rolling and the smoke’s flowing.
The Wise River Club serves up delicious wood-fired food with classics like hamburgers, chicken, steak, and prime rib (on special weekends). When making Tim’s favorite chicken wings, they season the wings with Traeger Rub before smoking, frying, and dousing them in Whisker Bomb hot sauce.
Also on the menu: tri-tip sandwiches, pulled pork tacos, broccoli salad—a Montana favorite—and more. Joking or not, you can ask for the loaded BBQ baked potato (with in-house smoked pork, cheese, bacon, and chives) “extra trashy” for a Montana-worthy surprise.
Tim said it was hard for locals to find good BBQ in the area. Now, with the good times rolling and the smoke flowing, the Wise River Club has become the go-to spot for BBQ and more.
But, when it comes down to it, the nostalgia of the century-old club has not changed. Preserving its history was essential for Tim, who visited the Wise River Club as a kid with his uncle.
“Since 1896, this place has been serving up a good time, and now it’s serving up a better time with live music and food fresh off the Traeger.”
— Tim Montana, Wise River Club Owner
When an offer came in for Tim to buy the place, he sat down to discuss it with his friend and mentor, Billy F. Gibbons. The legendary ZZ Top frontman was all-in.
“If it’s new, he doesn’t want it,” Tim says. “If it’s old and cool and has a story, he’s all in,”
Since its first advertisement in November of 1914, the Wise River Club has been the local watering hole. While some things have changed—like the decades-old mattresses and appliances—the history of the place has been upheld.
“We don’t want to change,” Tim says. “When you walk in here and see those antlers and the old nostalgia of the bar… we don’t want to change that.”
While the Wise River Club holds on to its history, it’s destined to be a Big Sky Country favorite with a loyal local community, music, drinks, and delicious wood-fired food that draws in hungry crowds near and far.
Visit Wise River
Head to Southwest Montana for live music, drinks, and delicious wood-fired flavor.
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Wise River Club
Wise River, Montana, is primarily known for being a tributary to the Big Hole River—one of Montana’s best-known fly-fishing areas. For over a hundred years, the small mountain community’s Wise River Club has served as the gathering spot for a host of anglers, hunters, and outdoor recreators.