New owners at the Boot

The Bootlegger Inn opened under new ownership Oct. 21, after Amber Calvert recently purchased it from previous owner Alan Brandt. Calvert's daughter, Cady Calvert, is managing the kitchen.

"I'd been looking probably three years I think in western Montana, trying to decide where I wanted to go, what I wanted to do, that kind of stuff. This is not my first bar. This is my second bar and probably my fourth business that I've owned, so not a new venture that way," said Amber, whose last bar was in central Washington, where she relocated from.

Amber said she would drive around looking for places when she visited Cady, who was living in Stevensville, working in kitchens and breaking colts. This spring, Amber drove through Lincoln and noticed the real estate sign on the Bootlegger and decided to look into it. By the beginning of summer, she and Cady came to look at it and made an offer.

The Calverts plan to keep much the same about the Bootlegger, but will be trying some new things, too.

"We might be changing a few things here and there, but overall the environment is going to be the same old Bootlegger Inn that everybody loves to stop by. We want to keep that feel and keep that idea going," said Cady.

One of the new things on the menu is a line of sauces Cady makes herself, as well as some new specialty burgers.

"We've changed the menu a little bit, signature burgers and that kind of stuff. We're not 100 percent set in the menu because we want to see what works in Lincoln," said Amber. "We want to cater to the locals, bring our experience and our expertise but meld that with what works here in town, trying to kind of feel that out and find that balance. We're trying to expand the hours a little bit, so we are open for breakfast six days a week at 7 a.m., and then open all day, Friday, Saturday ... a little bit later, of course."

Taco Tuesdays and trivia nights will continue at the Bootlegger, said Amber, adding they're hoping to bring back prime rib Friday as soon as they can find affordable prime rib. She said she expects to bring that back this Friday.

"I hadn't heard a whole lot about karaoke, but that was something that I really wanted to do, cuz that's one of the things that a lot of me and my friends really search for is karaoke, and nobody seems to have it. We're not sure why because we absolutely love it, so if that's something that nobody else is doing, that's definitely something that we want to catch on to," Cady said, adding, "I love having the different activities and stuff, and it would be nice if everybody had their own separate ones so that we could all kinda bounce around instead of everybody all doing the same thing and trying to fight over the same people."

They also noted that they want to support the community and continue events and sponsorships that the Bootlegger has been involved with in the past.

"All of the sponsorships and that kind of stuff that they've done in the past we plan on keeping up on. I want to be involved in the community, I want to support the community. That's part of what the draw was in a small town, is it's a community," Amber said.