By Alana Livingston
Cover photo courtesy of Alana Livingston
By now, you have no doubt heard of the Indigenous Eats Restaurant through its many deserving accolades, which include USA Today’s 10 Best New Restaurants this year, most unique menu in Best in BID Awards, Best New Restaurant 2023 and Best Taco 2024 in the Best of Inlander Readers’ Poll.
Indigenous Eats is serving up Native American comfort food that intertwines the idea of traditional and contemporary culture meeting at the table. The main vessel for this relationship is Indian Frybread. Frybread is a delicious, perfectly-golden, deep-fried, pillowy, light dough (cue angelic music). The menu utilizes many Indigenous foods represented by familiar dishes.
For the Hunter taco, the frybread is topped with black beans, shredded cheese, chunks of tomato, onion and shredded lettuce. Then, ground local bison seasoned strongly with sage (a sacred herb used historically for ceremonies and many health benefits) is added and topped with pickled jalapeño, tomatillo salsa and a sour cream drizzle. The ground bison is sourced from a Kalispell Tribe owned business, and Indigenous Eats hopes to source as many ingredients from local tribe-owned businesses as possible.
The Hunter Taco is nothing short of perfection. Deliciously seasoned, layers of flavor and textures are nostalgic in their own rite. Frybread can be served with sweet or savory toppings or used as buns in things like burgers or handhelds. Whatever your preference, I recommend you try some frybread as soon as possible! At Indigenous Eats, you can experience a culturally-significant food of the first peoples with a modern twist after recreating on native land.
