A New Bakery Opens in Bozeman's First Shopping Center, Steps From Joe's Parkway Market

Where do you get lunch on West College Street? In a recent Explore Big Sky column, Rachel Hergett noted that many businesses along that stretch cater to college students. The street sits directly across from the north edge of Montana State University, with neighborhoods on the other side, and lunch options there have been scarce.

Two changes this fall point the strip toward those neighborhood blocks. A bakery and cafe called Farro has moved into a storefront in Westgate Village. A block east, Joe's Parkway Market has a new owner who says he wants to keep that building a neighborhood store.

Westgate Village was built for exactly this

The building Farro now occupies has a longer neighborhood history than its current signage suggests. Bozeman Magazine's history of 1003 W. College St. describes Westgate Village Shopping Center as Bozeman's first planned multi-unit shopping center. It was developed by Walter Mecklenburg and opened in November 1957.

The architect was Hugo Eck, a Montana native who earned his architecture degree from what was then Montana State College in 1941 and later taught architecture there. His design for Westgate followed the modern ideas he cared about: simple glass storefronts, an open floor plan, a low horizontal profile with a flat roof, and a covered walkway beside the parking.

The first tenants were a neighborhood lineup: L & H Café, Cresap's Men's Clothing, Hauseman's Ski and College Shop, Village Casuals Women's Wear, and Gallatin Drug. Over the decades more than 30 businesses cycled through, including Karl Mark's Pizza, the Next Door Saloon, Cactus Records, Accent Camera & Photo, and the Community Food Co-Op. When the magazine published its history in June 2024, Colombo's Pizza & Pasta and The Break Room were among the tenants.

November 2026 marks 69 years since Westgate opened. The former Break Room space is now a neighborhood bakery.

From trivia night to a wall of ovens

That storefront at 1011 W. College St. has changed hands several times. Hergett hosted a weekly trivia night there for years, first when it was the Break Room and then after it became the College Street Taproom. According to her column, the taproom closed this spring, and a barbecue restaurant expected to take over never opened. Farro opened in its place in October.

The room is laid out around the baking itself. Loaves sit on an industrial wire shelf, a stack of large ovens fills one side, and a butcher block counter runs the length of the front room. Bakers shape dough at that counter in full view. Co-owner Collin O'Keefe described the open baking area to Explore Big Sky as having "kind of an honesty to it."

There are still traces of the taproom. The murals are gone and the walls are back to cream. The old bar at the rear is now the sales counter, and beer is still on tap. The current list includes Round About Rye, a collaboration with Bridger Brewing. O'Keefe's own carpentry shows up in the rustic industrial interior, which has black metal and wood tables and wooden chairs.

Farro was started by O'Keefe and Jacob Turtletaub, who had worked together in Bozeman's food industry. Jarret Wrisley, co-owner of Shan, is also a co-owner, and baker Sean Lehmann works the counter.

What's on the counter, and where it comes from

Farro's sourcing tells you more about what kind of neighborhood bakery it wants to be than any mission statement would. Here is what the Explore Big Sky column reported:

• Flour: Cairnspring Mills of Burlington, Washington, which sources grain from farmers using regenerative practices
• Coffee: Studio Coffee Roasters, poured from carafes on the counter
• Chocolate: Front Porch Chocolate, in the babka
• Cheese: Lifeline Farm cheddar from Victor, Montana, in a cheddar and scallion loaf
• Sandwiches: local meats at the center, locally grown garbanzos on the vegetarian option, and turkey roasted in house

O'Keefe is candid about the limits. "You can't have it all in Montana in December in regards to ag," he told Explore Big Sky. "We do what we can to support producers we care about."

The sandwich that got the most attention in the column was a Chicago-style Italian beef on Farro's own hoagie roll, topped with house-made giardiniera. The pastry box included vanilla strawberry buns, miso tahini cookies, and lemon loaf. O'Keefe said toasts and labor-intensive puff pastries may come later. In his words, "Bozeman loves a turkey sandwich."

Demand arrived before the menu settled

The early numbers back up the idea that the neighborhood had room for this. In its first weeks, Farro sold out well before closing every day. By the third week, more bakers had been brought in to keep up, and the column reported that things had calmed a bit. On a Wednesday morning the room still looked packed but was running smoothly.

O'Keefe told Explore Big Sky that more savory options are on the way. When asked what he most wanted people to know, he said, "We're here and we're building."

Colombo's Pizza & Pasta, at the Westgate address of 1003 West College Street, serves dinner seven nights a week and lunch Monday through Friday. Farther east, Pickle Barrel at 809 W. College St. makes sandwiches and breakfast sandwiches and runs its own bakery, as Explore Big Sky reported in March 2026.

The other anchor, a block east

Farro opened the same month the strip was set to lose one of its oldest businesses. Joe's Parkway Market, at 903 W. College St., opened in 1969. In September, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle reported that the family-run market would close in early October, after a customer appreciation day and closeout sale on September 16.

The Chronicle described Joe's as known for hard-to-find cheeses, meats, and sauces, along with its seasoned prime rib, wine selection, charcuterie boards, and holiday gift baskets. According to the paper, the market was a gathering point for south Bozeman's historic neighborhoods and for MSU students and faculty across College Street.

What happens next is what connects the two buildings. Owners Tara and Tyler Wantulok sold the land, building, and business to Todd Waller, founder of Venture West Development, who studied at MSU in the late 1990s. Waller told the Chronicle his first priority is "a local business that services the greater residential neighborhood and the university, and fills the big void left by Joe's." He plans to renovate the building and add on to it, creating commercial space for more retailers, while keeping the property's role of serving the neighborhood.

No tenant has been named for the Joe's building yet. Tara Wantulok told the Chronicle that the whole three-block College Street business strip could use a little love, and that she believes current and future business owners, along with neighborhood residents and the Montana State community, can keep it going.

Here is the strip as of the most recent reporting this fall:

A strip mall built in 1957 to serve the college neighborhood now has a bakery with Montana cheddar, local meats and in-house turkey on its counter, and the building down the block was bought by someone who has publicly committed to keeping it a neighborhood store.

If you'd like to talk about how changes like these along College Street fit into your own plans in Bozeman, Joy Vance & Co. would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.