Out to Lunch celebrates 40th season of music and food in downtown Missoula

She passed away in 2014, survived by a huge family, and her legacy lives on every week in the summer because Out to Lunch is celebrating its 40th season this year. It's the "longest-standing outdoor music and food festival in Montana," according to the Missoula Downtown Association.

In a phone call with the Missoulian, J.K. Simmons recalled his mother's work to bring the event to life.

"Absolutely, I have fond memories of that," he said. "From dropping in on her in her office and from the first time she talked about it as a concept and all the way to its fruition, half of me can't believe it's been 40 years and the other half feels like, because it's such an institution, it feels like it's been around for 100 years."

He said it's been important for locals and visitors alike.

"It's been a beautiful thing, obviously, both for Missoulians and for tourists who happen to be in the right place at the right time," he said. "People get wind of it. And it has continued to grow and flourish."

He's proud that his mom's hard work paid off.

"It's a really important part of our mom's legacy for my brother and sister and I, and her many nieces and nephews and grandkids and beloved friends," he said. "It really does our hearts good."

The Missoulian asked Simmons about his favorite aspect of Out to Lunch.

"It's grown like everything of course, but the trifecta of having food options from great vendors all over Missoula, fantastic entertainment that's usually local Missoula and western Montana performers and the sense of community," he said. "I never go there without bumping into somebody I'm glad to see and catch up. It's a beautiful thing, just to think about what a good time it has been for 40 years and will continue to be for a long time going forward."

You might just catch Simmons at an Out to Lunch later this summer, by the way.

Held every Wednesday in June, July and August from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. in Caras Park, the event is part of Missoula's cultural fabric, according to Hanna Reese, the membership and events director at the Downtown Missoula Partnership.

"I think the reason Out to Lunch has remained such an important part of our community for four decades is that it's about so much more than food and music," she explained. "Caras Park serves as a 'third space' where people can connect outside of home and work. People come because of the atmosphere, the beautiful setting along the river, the new playground underneath the Beartracks Bridge to enjoy and the chance to spend time with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors."

Obviously, there's a lot of history and community memories involved with an event that's been going on so long. Who remembers the famous dancing couple? Ronald Kephart died in 2018 at age 77 while dancing at Out to Lunch, and the following week the crowd paid tribute to his memory by dancing in his unique style.

Even as Missoula has changed, Out to Lunch has remained a summer tradition.

The event is free, so there's no attendance data, but it's been busy every week this year.

"We've definitely heard really positive feedback from our food vendors this year," Reese said. "It feels like visitation from both residents and visitors is up at Out to Lunch and Downtown ToNight (on Thursday evenings), which has been great to see. One of my favorite things about the event is the variety of food, you can grab everything from Pakistani and Peruvian cuisine to smashburgers and pelmeni (Alaskan-style Russian dumplings). It really is a chance to experience flavors from around the world right here in downtown Missoula."

Tiffany and Daniel Hankel are the owners of Wemo Bistro, another food truck at Out to Lunch.

Their peanut butter and jelly burger is by far their best seller, Tiffany Hankel said.

"I'm actually from Great Falls, and basically it was something I ate growing up as a kid," she said. "I get a lot of feedback from people like 'I never knew I needed this burger in my life, oh my gosh, it's so creamy.' And then the best one was 'the peanut butter and jelly on the burger is like the syrup to your bacon and sausage in the morning.' So people love it."

She said at the beginning of the season, they only brought 80 burgers, but now they sell about 135 every week.

Zohair Bajwa, the owner of Zeera, a Pakistani food truck, is a mainstay at Out to Lunch. He said his butter chicken and butter chicken poutine are his best sellers by far.

"It's definitely been busy all season," he said. "Helter skelter. It's fun to see all the tourists in town and see all these new faces. People are here for concerts. (On Wednesday) there was someone from Georgia. It's cool just to see people from Georgia flying to Missoula. What an amazing way to present a soft image of how awesome Missoula is."

For more information visit MissoulaDowntown.com.