Mike Scallen brings years of experience — and years of tacos — to Hungry Horse’s newest restaurant, Tex and Jerry’s Eatery.  

Scallen and his wife Andrea ran the kitchen at the old Columbia Bar for years in Columbia Falls, heralding a reputation for good food and a much-celebrated weekly taco Tuesday, a tradition the pair carried over to Tex and Jerry’s Eatery this summer.  

The Hungry Horse restaurant, which owners Steve Arons, Neil Curtis, Ted Thovson and Jeff Johnson acquired last summer, opened at the beginning of July. The bar and grill, located next to Bob’s General Store and the Hungry Horse Liquor Store, is operating on a limited menu for now, but still serving up the dishes people love.  

The name of the restaurant comes from two local legends: Tex and Jerry, freight horses who vanished in the winter of 1900-1901. They wandered the wilderness for a month until locals found them starving, but still alive. Nicknamed the “Mighty Hungry Horses,” their story is the namesake for the town of Hungry Horse.  

“At Tex and Jerry’s Eatery, we honor their hungry spirit,” the restaurant’s website says.  

Scallen described one taco featured on a recent Tuesday, made with braised and seared pork belly. The pork belly is braised in a citrus slurry, topped with intentional toppings to highlight each unique flavor, including a watermelon and jicama salsa.  

Outside of the specials, Tex and Jerry’s Eatery’s limited menu consists of sandwiches and salads. But they aren’t your usual sandwiches, Scallen smiled.  

“[The sandwiches] are as big as your heart,” he said.  

Take the traditional club sandwich and make it Tex and Jerry’s way, it becomes a massive, hearty lunch or dinnertime meal —three pieces of bread, a hefty serving of ham, turkey and bacon, and loads of cheese, veggies and mayonnaise.  

“We’re not bending any culinary boundaries, but we’re definitely doing everything to the best of our ability, given what we have,” Scallen said. 

Right now, the most popular item is the Rueben sandwich, which Scallen says will most likely carry over to the expanded menu. It’s a whooping tower of pastrami, Swiss cheese and sauerkraut on grilled sourdough rye, smeared with Thousand Island dressing. It’s the perfect bite of crisp bread and salty, tender meat — with its own zesty tang.  

Scallen hopes to grow the menu into a classic bar menu, highlighting simple food that everyone loves, made well. From juicy burgers to spicy wings to flavorful sandwiches and fresh salads, the team behind Tex and Jerry’s Eatery looks forward to the future flavors they’ll be able to provide.  

“To have a real restaurant is great, we wanted to do well,” Scallen said. “And we are... we’re excited for the future.” 

Scallen went to culinary school in Portland, where he met his wife, Andrea. The pair moved to the valley 15 years ago and had been operating the Columbia Bar’s kitchen for around a decade before it closed.  

In early 2024, Neil Curtis — one of Tex and Jerry’s Eatery’s owners — took over Bob’s General Store, renting out all-terrain vehicles and side-by-sides.  

Steve Arons, another owner, said that while working late at Bob’s with Curtis, there was often no place to get a bite to eat after work.  

That's how the idea of Tex and Jerry’s Eatery came to be. When a restaurant space next to the general store opened up — the former Dan d’Lion Eatery — it seemed like it was meant to be. 

The restaurant is not affiliated with a previous food truck called Tex and Jerry’s that operated out of Coram.  

The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day and plans to stay open through the winter. The restaurant has a large patio with a stage and often hosts live music on the weekends.  

Scallen looks forward to expanding the menu and implementing more specials like a Sunday brunch and sports deals and events. At the end of the day, he said, he just wants Tex and Jerry’s Eatery to be a fun place to go — with good food of course.  

“I hope we’re known for our hospitality," he said. “I like when everybody and everyone comes in and a lot of people know each other. That’s the community vibe we’re going for.” 

Tex and Jerry’s Eatery is located at 8942 U.S. 2 East in Hungry Horse. For more information, visit texandjerrys.com. 

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or [email protected].