Local legend Doody inspiration of new restaurant in Coram

Locals and travelers have a new place to eat and drink in Coram with the opening of Josephine’s Bar and Kitchen recently.

Nestled among the trees just east of the Glacier Distilling Company on U.S. Highway 2, the new eatery features a relaxed, down-home feel and a wide variety of excellent menu options.

Named for local legend Josephine Doody, the new establishment builds on the foundation laid down by owner Nic Lee and the Glacier Distilling Company.

“Being a rafter here, we passed by her (Doody) homestead all the time. Her moonshining inspired us to open the distillery and we wanted to continue with that tradition with Josephine’s Bar and Kitchen,” Lee said. “We want it to be like you are going to have a good, home-cooked meal on the old Doody homestead.”

Known as “the Bootleg Lady of Glacier Park,” Josephine Doody and husband Dan (one of Glacier Park’s first rangers) operated a homestead in the mining settlement of McCarthyville on Marias Pass. She was well known for running moonshine to the trainmen of the Great Northern Railroad, reportedly going so far as to have well devised communication system for the operation. The train would stop at Doody siding, and each toot of the whistle would mean one gallon of moonshine. Josephine delivered it across the Middle Fork of the Flathead River in a small boat.

Lee said that Executive Chef Erin Grimes wanted a menu that exuded that down-home feel and came up with a number of comfort food-style menu items.

“Erin has come up with a great menu of comfort food that is served as if Josephine had guests coming over for dinner,” Lee said. “It’s all casual. Order at the window and just grab a seat. Heather Recker has come up with a great number of cocktails over the years and we really get the opportunity to showcase them all here.”

With options including bison gyros, a prime rib sandwich, fried green tomatoes, poutine and gumbo, the Josephine’s menu has something for all tastes.

“The menu is a culmination of things that I like to eat, but with a Montana flare,” Grimes said. “I tried to pick items that might not be readily available around here, just to help us be a little different. It’s upscale comfort food or diner food with a twist. It’s food that is familiar, but different enough to make eating here an experience.”

Along with Grimes’s home-style menu, Manager and “mixologist” Recker has a number of Montana-inspired cocktails available behind the bar. Made exclusively of local, Montana ingredients, the list includes drinks with names like the “Trail of Cedars,” the “Enchanted Forest” and “Josephine’s in pear-ative.”

With a grand opening tentatively set for sometime in June, Josephine’s Bar and Kitchen will be open every day from 4-10 p.m. until November.

“We’ve gotten a lot of really good feedback so far,” Lee said. “We have started to see the tourists coming in, so that is good. We have had a lot of locals come in to check us our and they have given us the nod, so hopefully, things will continue to grow from there.”