MISSOULA — While the University of Montana and Montana State University football players are gearing up for Saturday’s game, local bars and restaurants are gearing up for the boom of business that comes with the Griz-Cat rivalry.
The Brawl of the Wild home game is the busiest weekend for many downtown Missoula bars. More than extra business — the rivalry inspires community collaboration both in Bozeman and Missoula.
Red's Bar on Ryman Street is a popular bar on any Saturday night, but that will be especially true this weekend according to owner Mike Helean.
“It’s generally our biggest weekend of the year when the Griz-Cat game is in Missoula,” Helean says. “So yeah, we have a full staff, but everybody needs to be on board this weekend. Just a little more stock, a little more beer, a little more whiskey.”
Red’s Bar will offer a bus to take patrons to tailgates at the University of Montana about an hour and 15 minutes before kick-off.
The Still Room on Broadway — which will show the game on Saturday — experiences a similar excitement as Red’s.
“Oh we’re always super busy for the Cat-Griz game,” Still Room owner Walt Muralt says. “Even though it’s a home game, we get a lot of people watching the game from here. And then of course, after the game, after we win — beat the Cats — it will be packed in here.”
The Still Room began celebrating the Brawl of the Wild early this week, inviting the UM Quarterback Club to an event on Monday night.
The restaurant is also taking the days leading up to the game to raise money for the Missoula Food Bank.
The Still Room is serving a special pork chop dinner this week called a “bobcat chop.” While it’s not made of real bobcat meat, for every chop purchased, Muralt will donate $20 to Can the Cats.
The Brawl of the Wild means extra support from the community for the Missoula Food Bank.
“We are so thankful to be in such a generous community,” Missoula Food Bank data and development manager Rebecca Paquette says. “We really wouldn’t be able to serve the 1-in-5 Missoulians that come through our doors every day if it wasn’t for the kindness of everybody who lives in this county. It’s just those small acts of kindness every day that we’re seeing that we get to see even more during Can the Cats.”
Other bars have shown their support for Can the Cats by serving as donation drop-off centers, including Imagine Nation Brewing, Cranky Sams Taphouse and Draught Works.
“We have a lot of neighbors with food insecurity, unfortunately, and we want to participate in any way that we can to help with that,” Imagine Nation Brewing Company employee Adam Farrell says. “We have a lot of folks with privilege that come in here, and if we can help spread food and spread that privilege and keep folks fed, we’ll do our part.”
Imagine Nation had a pint night for Can the Cats last week, and will serve as a donation spot until November 18.
A full list of Can the Cats drop-off locations can be found here.
