MISSOULA — The popular Missoula Thai restaurant Sa Wad Dee closed its restaurant on Broadway in September of 2023.
However, now the shop is seeing new life as it's being split by two local eateries that you may know as food trucks.
“We just really want to have a place for the community to come, come inside, sit down, be able to chat and grow their connections with others," Stuffed 406 owner Hannah Kirk told MTN.
Missoula has had a lot of turnover when it comes to restaurants lately.
Some favorites like the Burns Street Bistro and Catalyst Cafe have closed but for other local restaurants, growth is happening.
“With the places closing down, it could kind of be kind of more depressing. But, I think seeing businesses grow and come into a building — kind of bring a little bit new life into downtown,” Kirk stated.
Inspired by one of the first dates shared by the married owners, Stuffed 406 has been a doughnut ice cream sandwich food truck since 2022.
"We're trying to just like dream per se and we've always wanted to own our own business," Kirk explained. "We binge-watched the Great Food Truck Race and I think it really inspired us to be like, well, why can't we do that?"
Through events like Downtown Tonight, Stuffed 406 had gotten to know the Mexican Moose family. “We’d be partnered by each other and became good friends," said Kirk.
“So, we started the truck in 2021 and then had the opportunity to work with the Sunrise,” Santos Flores of the Mexican Moose detailed. They have been offering tasty food at the Sunrise Saloon and from their food truck at different locations around Missoula.
Now that they’ve found a more permanent home at 221 West Broadway, the former Sa Wad Dee, they’ll be stopping food truck service to focus on their service at the Sunrise and Downtown.
"I think it's a great opportunity just to kind of reach out to more people, expand the menu just a bit, and kind of offer different things," expressed Flores. "So, kind of nice to have, another Mexican food option downtown and, hopefully, it works out down here."
Just like Mexican Moose, Stuffed 406 will be expanding its menu as well.
“Something we're going to be adding to our menu is breakfast sandwiches. We'll have bacon and sausage donuts,” Kirk noted. "We have Kalispell Creamery, we have the farm-to-market meat that we're going to be using, Wilcoxon's Ice Cream, and Wheat Montana. So, I think we're bringing a lot that local flare into our food."
Stuffed 406 is planning to keep their truck up and running, just less frequently.
"We're still going to run the truck around town. We won't be throughout the week as much. But, 'Out to Lunch', 'Downtown Tonight' you'll still find us there," added Kirk. Their first food truck event of 2024 will take place on Easter at the Christian Life Center.
The scheduling plan for the restaurant is to have Stuffed 406 open in the early to mid-morning. Then, the Mexican Moose will take over serving food from lunch until late at night. Doughnut sandwiches will be available in the evenings too.
The restaurant will have pool tables and other arcade games. Stuffed 406 also pointed out that there will be DoorDash and online delivery available.
“I’m pretty excited and from what I've received from going and talking with a lot of other people in the area, they're excited for us to get in here as well,” Flores commented.
The combination restaurant is planning on opening this spring. We’ll keep you updated.
