We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Left: Irene Allen, pictured in this recent photo, probably had the longest tenure working at the Tastee Bite Café. She cooked there, even managed the café for a while, from the late 1950's until 2001. The Tastee Bite closed in 2008 and was torn down soon after. The sign was left as a reminder of "the good memories" associated with the eatery on the south side of Highway 2 in Chinook. Right: This photo was taken on the south side of Highway 2, in Chinook, where CHS now stores ranch and farm supplies. According to Dan Johnson, who was manager of the Milk River Co-op until January, 2014, the sign was left when the old café was torn down in about 2008 or 2009. Johnson said, "The sign was there for years so we left it. It represented a lot of good memories and it was the best place in town to get a cup of coffee.
When I first moved to Chinook I was quite puzzled by a sign, for a café, right in the middle of a bunch of cattle-related farm supplies along Highway 2. It was only after a lot of questions of fellow coffee drinkers and others that I began to get a vague idea of the significance of the sign and the role that the Tastee Bite Café played in the lives of locals, and people passing through, over a 50+ year period. I decided I would see what I could learn of the history of the café.
Like a lot of the historical topics I find interesting, I also found conflicting information. Fortunately, there are...
