Tres Toros expands its fresh take on Mexican cuisine
By Leslie Kilgore EBS STAFF
After building a loyal following in Big Sky, Tres Toros Tacos and Tequila has expanded to Bozeman, bringing its made-from-scratch Mexican-inspired cuisine and a vibrant cocktail menu to downtown Main Street.
At the helm of the growing restaurant is Executive Chef Brandon Blanchard, who owns both restaurants with well-known Big Sky restaurateurs, Twist and Jaime Thompson. Twist said the second location was the result of persistence and vision.
“It was a match meant to be,” Thompson said. “With my knowledge in opening and owning several restaurants with Jaime, Jaime’s incredible restaurant design skills, and Brandon’s culinary expertise, the concept worked from the start.”
Blanchard originally hoped to launch a restaurant in Bozeman several years ago, but ran into a challenge familiar to local restaurant owners: the city’s limited liquor licenses.
“In Gallatin County, there are city liquor licenses, and there are county liquor licenses,” Blanchard explained. “City liquor licenses, for whatever reason, they don’t seem to be adding anymore.”
The scarcity and current prices of liquor licenses in Bozeman make them difficult for most restaurant owners to obtain.
In 2022, the Thompsons aspired to open a modern Mexican restaurant as Big Sky continued to grow, particularly after seeing the success of their popular sushi restaurant, Blue Buddha Sushi Lounge. That’s when the two parties began to talk about concepts for a new Big Sky restaurant.
The restaurant quickly gained momentum, winning “Best Restaurant in Big Sky” two out of the three years it has been open in Bozeman Magazine’s Bozeman’s Choice Awards.
Shortly after, Blanchard said Jim Harris, owner of Bozeman Spirits Distillery and a frequent guest at the Big Sky restaurant, approached him with an idea.
“He informed us that he had a space next to the distillery. It had been vacant for many months, and asked if we’d be interested in starting a Tres Toros there,” Blanchard said. “So that’s how it all came about.”
The arrangement allows Tres Toros Bozeman to operate through a concession agreement tied to the distillery’s liquor license, a common workaround in Bozeman.
While the restaurant has grown quickly, Blanchard believes the core of its success is keeping the menu rooted in from-scratch recipes.
“Every morning we make everything in-house,” he said. “The chips, the seasoning on the chips, the salsas. Everything is made from scratch except for the tres leches and the churros.”
The approach is the opposite of what Blanchard said he notices at many Americanized Mexican restaurants.
“I feel like a lot of Mexican restaurants try to Americanize their food. It’s a little cheese-heavy, and a lot of deep-fried stuff. We wanted to do the opposite.”
The result, he said, is a fresher menu like elote street corn, loaded nachos and birria tacos, some of the restaurant’s most popular items. Blanchard explained the scratch-made approach also helps keep food costs down.
“It’s actually cheaper to make everything from scratch,” he said. “And it’s more flavorful.”
The Bozeman location opened just two months ago and was intentionally designed to mirror the Big Sky restaurant.
Within 60 days of opening, Tres Toros Bozeman was named “Best Mexican Restaurant” in the Bozeman’s Choice Awards.
While the menu is the same, the two locations serve slightly different communities. Blanchard said Big Sky still sees the heaviest traffic thanks to tourism and the ski economy, while Bozeman draws more locals.
“Big Sky is locals that ski and party and tourists who are on vacation, who are relaxed and drinking more cocktails,” Blanchard said. “Bozeman is more of a local working community.”
Looking ahead, Blanchard said their focus is on continuing to grow the restaurant’s presence in Bozeman, and that becoming a downtown staple of Bozeman is the goal.
“We’ve been lucky enough to obtain two fantastic locations for a restaurant concept that now works in both Big Sky and Bozeman,” Thompson said. “And it’s only going to get better from here.”
