Originally a deli founded in ‘93, owners Pam and John Flach celebrate three decades running ‘word of mouth’ restaurant
By Mario Carr EBS CONTRIBUTOR
Taped to the window of By Word of Mouth Bistro, the Big Sky restaurant locally known as “BYWOM,” a small sign informed customers of a brief, celebratory hiatus from Nov. 24 to Dec. 4: “Taking time to SKI & PARTY!”
The break and the party are earned, as the staple celebrates 30 years of business in its current restaurant form. Explore Big Sky stopped by to see BYWOM’s longest-standing employee, Teresa Arneson, and others focused on a deep clean, while owner John Flach sat at a hightop table near the window working on the new winter season menu. The restaurant will reopen Friday, Dec. 5, kicking off the winter season with a “Friday Fish Fry” event to celebrate the anniversary—an homage to Flach’s upbringing in Wisconsin. Countless “Best Burger” awards through Best of Big Sky hang on the wall beside the entrance, the key ingredient being love, Flach explained.
“It’s been the same since we put it on the menu,” Flach said.
This decades-old business has been steeped in local culture, providing a haven for good times and good food for fellow hardworking people of Big Sky, as well as tourists. John and his wife, Pam, bought BYWOM in November of 1995. At the time, it was only a deli, located in the same building as today, but the Flachs have since expanded into the two units next door. The couple kept the name “By Word Of Mouth”, which the previous owner supposedly borrowed from another restaurant somewhere in Palm Beach, Florida—the Florida owner has even visited Big Sky’s BYWOM a couple of times, John said.
He moved to Big Sky in 1987 for the skiing and eventually met Pam while they were working at Buck’s T-4. He always wanted to start his own restaurant, and kept his burger recipe close to the chest.
“When I was working at Buck’s I thought about putting it on the menu there, but I was like, ‘Nah, I’m just gonna keep this in my back pocket and when I have a chance to do it someplace else, I’ll do it,’” Flach said.
John eventually quit Buck’s, and he and Pam nearly moved on from Big Sky in the mid-1990s. But the right opportunity came about at the perfect time.
“We were trying to figure out what to do… and this came up. It was well worth it,” John said.
Thirty years later, the Flachs’ youngest son Henry just graduated high school last spring, and is currently “obsessed” with skiing.
“One of the greatest things Pam and I could do was raise our kids here,” John said.
That feeling was emphasized by a quote from their daughter, Emma, when she left for school. John has it memorized.
“It sucks that you guys raised us in Big Sky, cause all we want to do now is come back to Big Sky,” John recalled Emma saying, with a chuckle. He’s thankful that his three adult children have the ability to come home and visit anytime.
While BYWOM has a special place in John’s heart, it’s clear that his family, skiing and all that Big Sky has to offer are his greatest motivations. When asked about his work-life balance, John said there’s no formula—you just do it.
“I’m still here [in the restaurant] way too much, but I was here a lot. That’s why we went to being closed on weekends in 2020… Pam and myself, and all of our friends, were just trying to keep our kids corralled while we were all working, and make the best out of our ski weekends,” he said.
John reminds his kids to stay focused on what they love to do, no matter how frustrating work may be. And he jokingly advises against buying a restaurant.
“Your job pays for your fun, and your fun is what should make your life happy,” he said.
Operations resume at 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, and the celebratory fish fry event is open to the public, beginning at 5 p.m.
