“I’m your huckleberry,” is an iconic line from the American film "Tombstone" starring Val Kilmer. In St. Regis, Montana, “your huckleberry” can be found in countless food ideations at St. Regis Travel Center.

“Huckleberries only grow in the wild, west of the Mississippi and cannot be cultivated. They have a unique flavor. It’s not like a blueberry,” explained owner Muffy Bullock. Northwestern Montana is a well-known region for picking the tiny purple berries.

St. Regis Travel Center has been in Bullock’s family for almost 60 years. The travel center includes fuel, a c-store, Huck’s Grill, Dolly’s Ice Cream and Espresso and Cutthroat Henry’s Casino and packaged liquor.

“We’re very much a convenience store with the feel of a country store. We offer everything you’ll find in a traditional store with variety and high-quality small production batch items,” said Colin McKearnan, St. Regis Travel Center general manager.

Tourists come to this part of Montana to visit Glacier National Park and Flathead Lake, the country’s largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. When they stop in, enjoying a huckleberry milkshake is often on their mind.

“Our shakes are made with real huckleberries. We use a soft-serve shake with our own recipe of huckleberry topping and whole berries in it,” said McKearnan.

“We sell 800 on a really busy summer day and 100 a day in the winter” across the travel center, Bullock said. “We average around 260 a day year-round.”

At Dolly’s, the best-selling fudge flavors are “huckleberry, huckleberry chocolate, huckleberry cheesecake, huckleberry walnut,” Bullock said.

At Huck’s Grill, there’s a turkey wrap with huckleberry vinaigrette. For burger lovers, the hand-patted Huck’s Signature Burger includes cheddar cheese, and what else? Huckleberry barbecue sauce.

Huckleberry cream cheese toast and huckleberry pancakes are favorites for breakfast, which is served until noon each day. Of course, there’s fresh-baked Montana Wild Huckleberry Pie for dessert.

There are plenty of healthier alternatives, too. Most of those are grab and go. “If you’re traveling with dietary restrictions snacks may be hard to find,” said Bullock, but St. Regis Travel Center has options.

“We make five different salads, and we do healthier snack packs. We have keto-friendly items,” said McKearnan. “We have an eight-foot gondola with healthy options that include items like vegetable-based chips, mushroom jerky, fish jerky and tomato jerky.”

We use a soft- serve shake with our own recipe of huckleberry topping and whole berries in it.

GETTING THE WORD OUT

In the digital age, St. Regis Travel Center does things a little different. “Our strongest campaign is highway advertising. People see that purple milkshake and stop,” Bullock said.

Adds McKearnan, “We have generations of families that have visited the travel center each year. We feel if we treat them right they’ll come back and their children will come back.”

On Facebook, customers are encouraged to post pictures showing where they shake for a chance to win $20 gift certificates.

And don’t forget about restrooms. You hear it all the time—clean restrooms will draw customers to a store. That can’t be stressed often enough. “The ladies’ room is partitioned into two parts. It can be closed off, so one side can be cleaned while the other side can be open to customers,” McKearnan explained. “Cleaning the restrooms is a central focus of what employees do. Every 60 minutes the janitorial team cleans them.”

PANDEMIC

Everyone knows that 2020 was a tough year for businesses. While some areas of St. Regis Travel Center were closed, the c-store and fuel pumps remained open. When things reopened it was busy, and “We had the best summer we ever had,” Bullock said. “People came to Montana to retreat from the rest of the world. They could safely hike and camp. We see more campers and more boats than ever.”

“During the pandemic we were doing more volume at the window. Now it runs neck and neck,” Bullock said of Huck’s Grill, which has a dining room plus a takeout window.

With the resurgence of COVID-19 and differing attitudes about staying safe, caution and respect are important.

“We try to balance guidance from the CDC and the governor. We have free masks and hand sanitizer. This recent increase is offering challenges. Everyone in business is trying to balance safety of customers and staff. We try to respect everyone’s views. It’s a tricky place to be standing right now,” explained McKearnan.

Montana is Big Sky Country. The tiny huckleberry made St. Regis Travel Center Big Pie Country … and Big Shake Country.