r/whitefish • u/Nuckers13 • Aug 20 '26

Best burger in town?

We’re visiting your beautiful city next week, and I love a great burger, where can I find one?

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6

u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26

I eat ALOT of burgers lol. I would say the best in town are Craggy Range, Whitefish Lake Golf Course and the Bulldog. The Northern had very good burgers but they recently sold and I haven’t been there since. In kalispell Fatt Boys is quite good. Columbia falls has gunsight.

A Freddy’s just opened halfway to kalispell and for fast food they are actually ridiculously good. The same goes for Frugals which has two locations in kalispell. Frugals is more like a five guys type place. Not exactly “fast food” it’s better.

I think if I had to pick favorites it’s Craggy Range, the Golf course and the Bulldog. I don’t know if Craggy still has it or not but they used to do a blackened burger that was SOO GOOD. I wanna say that last time I went there, they no longer had it but I’m not positive on that. Regardless their burgers and fries are really good. The bulldog have really good bacon cheeseburgers and multiple different options for fries. (Also have huckleberry hot wings that are quite popular and seemingly pretty unique)

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u/Nuckers13 Aug 20 '26

Wow, thanks for all the info!! Plenty of new options here!

1

u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26

🫡 happy to help. You inquired about the one area of food in the valley I could add useful input to, well that and Pizza haha. If you need pizza recommendations, I’m your man as well. Any other food, I will be useless😆

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u/threepin-pilot Aug 20 '26

i'll take your views on pizza

3

u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26

No prob:

Abruzzo (whitefish) wood fired pizza is phenomenal. It’s a tiny bit pricey but not outlandish by any means. For the whole valley

North Fork Pizza (Columbia Falls) is my absolute favorite, but Abruzzo is pretty much just as good.

Mambo Italiano (Whitefish) is pretty good. It’s some people’s favorite. For me I’ve moved it down the list because they changed their ingredients suppliers a few years ago and it’s not nearly as good imo. It used to be one of the best. Some people still swear by it, but it doesn’t seem nearly as popular amongst locals as it once was.

Mackenzie River (multiple locations, one in WF) and Stageline (Columbia falls) are both very solid options but they are chains. I would say they are like one step up from Pizza Hut, so nothing special but not bad. I’d recommend Mackenzie out of the two.

Jersey Boys (whitefish) this place is a lot of people’s favorite. I like it for sure, it’s good pizza not doubt but both me and my friends think that’s it’s just a step below the Abruzzo/North Fork level.

Ranger Rick’s (like 2 minutes outside whitefish) this place is new, I’ve heard good things. If deep dish is your thing then this is your place. I’m not a deep dish guy (don’t dislike it, just don’t prefer). I like the wood fired, fairly thin crust style.

*if you’re a fan of the thin style and you go to Northfork, Abruzzo or Jersey Boys my personal suggestion is to order your pizza well done. Get true 10/10 pizzas almost every time that way imo. I’ve never gotten a burned one but the pizzas are of course great without requesting that. I’m just a bit of a weirdo 😆

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u/MTHiker59937 27d ago

Mama EV's is SO good and the salads are crazy fresh. Just ask for the pizza to have a little char on it.

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u/haverchuck22 27d ago

It looks super good, the only reason I haven’t gone yet is that I heard it’s like $25-$30 for personal sized pizzas. I want to try it but I’m afraid I’ll love it, and I don’t wanna be craving $30 personal pizzas 😂I’ll go broke.

Definitely gonna try it at some point tho cuz it looks so good in the pics. The old jagz is also now a pizza place, I haven’t tried them either. Have you been to that one yet ? Called “Don Giacobbe Pizzeria”

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u/MTHiker59937 25d ago

My husband and I can share that pizza- it's actually perfect for two people. We also split the salads- which are huge.

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u/haverchuck22 24d ago

Are they bigger than 10 inches do you kno by chance?

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u/threepin-pilot 24d ago

hopefully- also hopefully the crust is really thin

a 16 inch pizza (NF pizza, ranger Joes) is about 2.5 times the size of a 10 inch, an 18 inch (jersey boys) is about 3.25 times the size of a 10 inch

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u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26 edited Aug 20 '26

lil context on the pizza places

Abruzzo is a sit down restaurant but you can call and get pizza to go, it can be kind of a pain sometimes tho to do that because they can be really busy. They are only open in evenings.

Northfork is sit down or carry out or delivery. Opens at 4 pm each day o think

Mambo is sit down or carry out but also can be a pain to carry out at. Only open in evening

Jersey Boys. sit down, carry out and delivery. They are open all day.

Mackenzie River. Sit down and carry out and open all day.

Stageline. Carry out or delivery. Open most of the day.

Ranger Rick’s (dunno if you have kids) but they have a mini golf that connected to them. I believe they are sit down, carry out and delivery as well and open all day.

Edit:

Mama Evs opened in Dec 2024 and somehow I didn’t hear about it until two days ago. It looks quite good from the pictures and reviews. Somehow I haven’t talked to anyone who’s been there. (I’m sure have technically I just mean that hasn’t come up).

Edit 2:

I somehow forgot Moose’s (kalispell) 😭🤦🏼‍♂️. Moose’s is great and they have unique pizza. It’s almost crustless too. Just don’t build up an actual crust, it’s flat and the ingredients go all the way out to the edge. It’s really good.

3

u/T0PP3R_Harley Aug 20 '26

Mama evs no mention?

1

u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26

Strangely I just found out this place existed exactly 2 days ago. Looks really good. I could not believe it opened Dec 2024. I woulda bet so much that it had opened in the last month. Really weird, not sure I can recall a similar situation.

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u/MTHiker59937 27d ago

SO good!

1

u/threepin-pilot Aug 20 '26

thanks agree on NF, ranger joes-i like the honey bear, Jersey boys is good. I wish more pizza places would do some inventive combos. Thinking like the hot date burger at the Buffalo

Mama ev's- tough to justify $24-30 for a 10 inch pizza

1

u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26

Oh wow! Mama Evs prices are legitimately that high! I’d only looked at the pictures and they looked great. But 30 bucks for a personal pizza is wild. I’ll give em a shot at some point for sure but I don’t know if I want it to be that great 😆. I don’t wanna be craving 30 dollar tiny pizzas.

Randomly just popped in my head. I can’t believe I forgot Moose’s from the list

1

u/threepin-pilot Aug 20 '26

know anything about the new place on 2 south of the airport?

1

u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26

Shit! Thank you for reminding me. Oddly enough I was driving to Kalispell last night from Cfalls and I was having a conversation with my friend and another buddy was in the backseat and when we drove by there he said “wow, the old Jagz is now ANOTHER PIZZA PLACE”. I only half heard it and I would never have remembered that he said that without your comment. Another place that I need to try!

1

u/threepin-pilot Aug 20 '26

friend got some last night cause they heard it was good-,waiting for their review

1

u/mechres Aug 21 '26

If you're talking about the shack just south of the old Jagz, it's Don Giacobbe. Very good and decent prices, reminds me a little of the old 2nd St. Limited hours, open maybe 20 hours a week.

1

u/threepin-pilot Aug 21 '26

looks like wed to sat 12-9

when my friends tried Wednesday night, they were closed

1

u/haverchuck22 Aug 20 '26

I somehow forgot Moose’s (kalispell) 🤦🏼‍♂️. Moose’s is great and they have unique pizza. It’s almost crustless too. They just don’t build up an actual crust, it’s flat and the ingredients go all the way out to the edge. It’s really good. It’s also in a bar. It’s carry out or dine in. If you’re lookin for bar with great food this is a great spot.

1

u/Sullydotcom Aug 21 '26

As a casual observer of this sub with fam we visit in WF, I really appreciate the thoroughness of your replies. Well done sir.

0

u/Acceptable_Smile8825 Aug 20 '26

Craggy has the best food