Blazing Paddles Cafe
at Montana Whitewater's Gallatin River office
Steve was good at pounding nails. He was good at hanging cabinets. He was good at installing linoleum. But he hated his work.
Instead, Steve spent all his spare time cooking and prepping for his weekend job: selling his food at the local farmers’ market. He did so well that he purchased a food truck and started catering on weekends. People love Steve’s cooking because he puts love into his food. Not only does it taste good, it makes people feel good.
“Having your own business is a ton of work,” Steve said. “ I was scared of getting into something that I couldn’t sustain. But cooking is my passion. I love to feed people.”
By chance, Steve had a friend who worked at Montana Whitewater.
Montana Whitewater’s Gallatin River operation has no restaurants nearby, so when Steve contacted the owners about parking his food truck at the raft company, it was a no-brainer.
Thus, the Blazing Paddles Café was born. Steve packed up his U-Haul and became another happy Californian on his way to Montana. His wife happily joined him, and they’ve never looked back.
Blazing Paddles serves burgers, hotdogs, sausages, black bean hummus with veggies and specialty tacos. The tacos are the real deal – smoked meat, beans, special sauce, and veggies on soft corn or flour shells. And they’re huge! Special requests are welcomed. Steve loves to make sure that all his patrons are happy and not hungry.
Steve is also pretty psyched about being able to go rafting at the end of a workday!