Spud's Grub Hut to bring more options to Havre

Havre will be getting a new, Havreite-owned home-cooking sandwich restaurant in about three weeks or so.

Spud's Grub Hut is being remodeled in the upcoming weeks in the building on 5th Avenue near the high school where Full Throttle used to be.

Ryan "Spud" Sorensen and his wife, Jessica, are bringing something new to Havre, he said Monday while working on remodelling the old restaurant.

"There's only so many things in life you can do and feel proud of," Sorensen said.

Sorensen said he sold cars at G & B Toyota for 12 years and this seemed like the next logical step. He has always loved to cook.

"This will be homemade food," Sorensen said. "It's the stuff we make in our kitchen. We have people over for dinners and they're always raving. So, I thought, shoot, why don't I give it a shot?"

He said he decided to call the restaurant Spud's because that has been his nickname since he was 8. He said he wanted something that sounded and felt fun. The restaurant's motto is "Fun with food."

He began his career as a cook at 4B's and then was asked to work with Chinook Motor Inn. The owner from those restaurants then opened Char's and he helped out with that restaurants for a bit.

"It's just kind of the way I feel a community should be run," Sorensen said of helping out others in Havre. He was born in Havre, but spent some time in Seattle. " ... Boy, nobody wants to help anybody out there. It's very cutthroat."

He said he decided that if he wanted to stay in Havre, he wanted to give back to the community and help it grow.

"At some point in a guy's life, he wants to create his own thing instead of running something someone else created," he said.

The building's first incarnation with Jim Treperinas, who had the structure built 16 years ago, was the Parthenon. The Parthenon served Greek food until Treperinas decided to close his business and lease out the building.

The next business was Full Throttle, a burger restaurant that closed last year.

Spud's Grub Hut will start with a basic menu as Sorensen and his crew get a feel for the business. As they progress, they will add more items as they find out what they can handle and what the community would like to see.

They are going to start with four basic menu items: fried meatloaf sandwiches with homemade barbecue sauce, pork schnitzel sandwich with a creamy dill sauce, a sweet and spicy Asian beef sandwich and a black bean veggie burger with a Southwest twist.

"Something a little different," Sorensen said. "I'm not trying to take away business from Rod's. The veggie burger I'll serve will be that veggie burger. I'm not trying to steal business from anybody else. In fact, if nothing else, I want to make the business in town stronger."

The sides will include homemade fried macaroni and cheese, Kentucky bourbon baked beans, country potato salad and hand-cut French fries.

He is going to try to make everything he serves in-house. He's going to get all his meat from Big Sandy.

"Keep it local," Sorensen said.

He said he thinks the more restaurant options a person has, the friendlier the competition is - the better everybody does. He cares most for Havre growth, he said.

He said he also wants to train the people who work at Spud's to really be able to learn how to cook and work as a family.

Each sandwich will run $5. Each side is $2.50. Each drink is a dollar.

"I want people to be able to come in here and get a full meal for less than $9," Sorenson said.