First opening a Best Burger in Bozeman in September 2013, Bozeman natives Wade and Jenny Nason expanded to Butte, opening a second Best Burger in the original city hall, built in 1884, in Butte in mid 2016. For nearly eight years the building had been home to Jail House Coffee, which closed its doors as Best Burger opened theirs.
With the changing of the guard comes the inevitable media coverage, this time in the form of a news article in the Montana Standard. Excerpts follow.
An interesting side story here is the fact that the building seems to be haunted, occupants of the building for years having experienced many inexplicable experiences. The old building is " a popular stop for ghost tours and has even been investigated by a team of paranormal investigators".
When one door closes, another opens:
Owners of Jail House Coffee retire,
Bozeman-based burger joint moves in
Annie Pentilla | Jun 19, 2016
After nearly eight years of operation in Uptown Butte, Jail House Coffee recently shut its doors.
But former coffee-shop owner Barb Strohl says the decision wasn’t due to financial hardship. Instead, Strohl said, she and her husband closed the establishment April 29 because the couple wanted to retire.
The Strohls opened Jail House Coffee in 2008 at 1[1]6 W. Park St. — in the same building that housed the first jail in Butte.
[Previous owner Barb] Strohl said that she loves the history of the building, but that the history came with a price. She said many people have claimed that the former jail is haunted, noting that 1[1]6 W. Park St is a popular stop for ghost tours and that the building has even been investigated by a team of paranormal investigators.
She added that she’s had many strange experiences in the coffee shop, including repeatedly discovering a picture removed from the wall and carefully placed against the wall beneath the table.
But the ghosts of Butte’s first jail won’t be the only occupants of the former coffee shop in the coming months. Bozeman residents Wade and Jenny Nason say they’ve purchased the property and plan to open a fast-casual burger place in the wake of the former coffee shop. Construction on the new burger joint, dubbed Best Burger, is already underway, and the Nasons said they have a goal of opening in July.
However, the Uptown burger restaurant won’t be the only Best Burger location in Montana. The Nasons said they opened their first Best Burger on Huffine Lane in Bozeman in September 2013.
A family-owned restaurant, Best Burger offers angus-beef burgers — “never frozen,” Wade Nason was quick to point out — hand-cut fries, double-fried sweet potato fries and milkshakes and ice-cream cones made from Wilcox Ice Cream, among other menu items.
Burgers at the Bozeman location currently run from $4.50 to $6.50, Nason said, and milkshakes are $2.50 to $3, which he described as “thick and creamy and delicious.”
From the Montana Standard