Dinner Bell - Gold Creek

On Thursdays starting at 6 p.m., Mennonite family-run operation has been dishing up sumptuous old-style dinners at the new Dinnerbell in Gold Creek Montana. In a spacious hall on long tables. Forty chickens give their lives for the weekly banquet, except on the first Thursday of each month when meatloaf is the entrée. Sides of mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables and salad, homemade bread and pie and ice cream conjure up savory memories of St. Ignatius Dinnerbell repasts of a decade ago. So too does the dismissal hymn the family sing at the end of the evening, usually a different one each week. The Thursday dinners are all you can eat for $13.50 and typically draw 120-125 patrons from Missoula, Butte, Helena and Deer Lodge, and smaller towns in half a dozen surrounding counties. For reservations to the weekly Thursday night family-style dinner at the Dinnerbell in Gold Creek call 406-288-2579. Dinner is served at 6 p.m.

Adjoining the dining hall is a quaint deli/store with bulk food items, quilts, crafts and Amish products. In the store is a deli counter offering ham, turkey or roast beef sandwich on homemade bread and stacked high with fixings for just $4.50.