"Would you like to go to the prom with me?” read the note sticking out of my 10th grade locker. It was signed with a first name and a phone number. With my luck, the family of the guy who left me that note is reading this article, so I won’t name him. But I will brag that he was quite the big man on campus at the time, and he also happened to be friendly and easy on the eyes. I didn’t know much more about him than that, but my answer was yes. I had my Grandma Ovie’s maroon velvet cocktail dress from the 1940s altered to fit, bought some matching shoes at Payless, did my hair, and I was in business. I couldn’t believe I got to go to the prom; what a princess I must be!

My prince picked me up in his dad’s white Corvette Stingray and drove me to our dinner destination, where we met six other couples at a long table. Here is the moment when the evening took a turn for the awkward, and I learned that Mr. Popular and I were not destined for each other. Over his popcorn shrimp, he proved to have a passion for telling toilet jokes, which has never been my favorite quality in a man. Despite this guy doing his best to gross us all out, I’ll never forget the amazing French onion soup, rich fried chicken, and chocolatey tiramisu I enjoyed while tuning out his commentary.

The restaurant was the Bay Bar and Grille, known at that time as the Banana Bay. Since establishing the restaurant in 1987, Kurt Shull has been running this longstanding Bozeman staple in our town’s only mall and, in case you missed the memo, The Bay renovated and re-opened this past February. Shull and his new General Manager Mike Stone are excited to invite Bozeman to come check out their revitalized space and menu. Here’s more on our conversation.

Katie Thomas: How was The Bay conceptualized?

Kurt Shull: The original Banana Bay came about because my family and I used to visit Yellow Bay on Flathead Lake, where we often enjoyed a drink called the Matilda Bay. So when we opened our restaurant in 1987, we chose the name Banana Bay as a tribute to Yellow Bay. We still hold that place close to our hearts. Then in the late ‘90s we did a major remodel on the restaurant, adding the iconic stream and trees, and we renamed it The Bay. We just renovated again, and we added glass in front to let more natural light into the restaurant. We also wanted to put everything on one level, so it’s easier for both our guests and staff to maneuver around. We were going for a very American, upscale-casual look—lighter, brighter, and a little more of this very specific green, which is our brand color. The décor gives a nod to the old Bay—for example, our new wallpaper has aspen trees on it, and if you remember, we used to have actual aspen trunks on our ceiling.

KT: I do remember that!

KS: This particular green is also kind of a callback to a very ‘80s, casual living room, which is part of the vibe we’re going for.

KT: Speaking of living rooms, what would you like people to experience when they walk through your doors?

KS: A very warm, inviting, comfortable restaurant—including how our staff treats you. I think our food is geared towards comfort, so we want the service and the atmosphere to feel that way too.

KT: What would you say makes The Bay unique in the Bozeman food scene?

KS: We like to take something that people would recognize and put our own twist on it. Also, all our recipes are scratch-made. Our salad dressings and pastas are scratch-made. Another thing that I feel makes this place special is that it’s been here for such a long time; it’s probably the oldest restaurant in town under the original ownership the whole time. People tend to make core memories here, and they often share those with us when they return. We love hearing about the important events and special times in peoples’ lives that happen here, and it makes me really happy knowing that they keep coming back.

KT: What menu items do regulars keep coming back for?

KS: The French Dip is one, and another is the Fish and Chips. Those are pretty popular, as are the Mud Pie and the Tiramisu. Our French Onion Soup and Shrimp Wontons have been on our menu since the very beginning. We can’t ever take them off.

Mike Stone: Also, the Huckleberry French Montana cocktail is a drink that people ask for a lot, as well as the Bay 75.

KT: I love your French onion soup! I could drink a bucket of that broth. Those other things all look so good—the other day I had a hard time deciding what to order. But I loved the creamy short rib risotto I ended up choosing; the meat was perfectly shreddy and I liked that there were carrots in it. And your portions are nice and big, which is getting hard to find in this town.

KS: That’s true.

KT: Do you each have a favorite menu item?

KS: My personal favorite right now is the Steak Chimichurri Bowl.

MS: And mine is the Blood Orange Burrata Steak Salad.

KT: Are there any local purveyors you work with that you would like to shout out?

MS: Yes, we use Buffalo Products of Montana for our Wild Game Bolognese and Bison Bratwurst.

KT: What do you enjoy most about being part of the Bozeman community?

KS: Definitely the support that we get, from both newcomers and the locals that have been here a long time, who have grown up with The Bay. So many folks still come back and see us again and again. The community has been very supportive all through the year-and-a-half that we were closed. That was a challenging time, especially since the entire mall is still renovating.

MS: Exactly—many people don’t realize that the mall is currently open, because it’s still under renovation. We’re separate from the mall, even though we’re situated inside it. There are lots of fun new shops here already, some inside the mall and some out front as well. So even though we are updating with the times, The Bay is original. We’re not a franchise, nor owned by someone who doesn’t live here; we’ve been here since the beginning.

KS: Yes, we appreciate the community recognizing that and supporting us through change.

KT: Do you have any special events coming up?

MS: We do—I’m really excited about our new wine list, and we’re going to be doing wine pairing dinners. We have a wide selection, about 32 wines, including a lot of French, Spanish, and Italian wines. There are some New Zealand ones in there as well. I know that a wine pairing dinner is a commitment, so we’ll also be doing wine flights, so that guests have the option of trying just a few. I’m a level-two sommelier, so this is really enjoyable for me to get creative. Also, we have a great happy hour every day from 4-6pm and 8-9pm. All draft beers and eight-ounce glasses of wine are half off, and there’s a small plates menu to accompany that.

KT: What’s the best way for people to follow your events and happenings?

MS: We have our website, https://www.thebaybarandgrille.com, and people can follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

KT: Anything else you’d like readers to know about The Bay?

KS: For those who don’t know, we also have The Bay Casino, which is adjacent through a connecting door. The Casino has its own menu, but you can also order off the restaurant’s full lunch and dinner menu in there. It’s open 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. or later, seven days a week, and stays open till 11:00 p.m. or later on Fridays and Saturdays. So if people are in there past the posted closing time, we’ll keep it open. We don’t close when the mall closes. Mainly, we just want to welcome the community back to The Bay, and invite everyone to come see us—we’re happy to be back!

And it’s nice to have them back. Through many phases of life, the Bay has been there for me: it was our neighborhood dinner go-to when my husband and I first got married and lived nearby; it was a post-workout destination for my gym friends and me for several years (and will now be again), and remains my first choice when choosing a restaurant on the west side of town. It’s where you go before or after the movies. I kind of miss the weird interior creek and trees, but it still feels like the Bay in there. I just hope that anyone reading this going to a prom or otherwise blind occasion at the Bay will have better luck with their date than I did.   

photos: Tabitha Perez