Tiffanie and Ryan Zavarelli stand outside the front entrance of Trixi's Antler Saloon with their dog Zeus after Ryan's parents, Ray and Cindy Francis had recently transferred the bar and restaurant to the couple. They are looking forward to integrating themselves into the community and maintaining the building's history.
OVANDO - Ryan and Tiffanie Zavarelli are ecstatic to be entering into a new phase of their lives as they take ownership of Trixi's Antler Saloon from Ryan's parents Cindy and Ray Francis beginning April 1.
Tiffanie said come April the couple will be jumping right into their new positions with no transitional break in between. The couple recently moved back to Ovando in preparation of the change. They will be taking this on as an opportunity to "step out of city life" and be closer to Ryan's family.
"We've always lived away from them so this gives us an opportunity to be very close for the next 20 plus years," Tiffanie said.
Ryan is looking forward to the couple being their own bosses instead of working for somebody else.
Ryan was raised in Missoula and moved to Ovando in seventh grade. He returned to Missoula after his freshman year of high school. Tiffanie was born in Wausau, Wisconsin to her "wonderful" parents Kay and Norm. They eventually moved to Texas before moving to Missoula in 1993.
Tiffanie and Ryan met in 1999 and began dating soon after. They married in 2002. They have one son named Jace who is currently attending Montana State University.
This is the first time they will be running a restaurant although Tiffanie said that they have over 10 years of experience in managing hotels together.
"We have the hospitality experience," she said. "[We are] passionate about customer service and meeting and exceeding those guests' expectations, which I believe we'll be able to just transfer right over to our restaurant."
Tiffanie has been working in hotels since she was 16. In 2008, the family moved to Butte so she could attend Montana Tech. She graduated in 2012 with degrees in accounting and human resources but her passion was working in hospitality and "delivering exceptional service and experiences to customers."
In 2013, Tiffanie was given the opportunity to become the general manager of a hotel in Helena. There Ryan took on the role of maintenance manager. In 2015 they took on the same positions at a different hotel in Helena. Tiffanie will continue her role as the general manager of this hotel in Helena while they take over Trixi's. She will help on her days off.
They both expect to learn a plethora of new skills including how to bartend but they both anticipate the "adventure" of the experience. They do not expect to make any major changes to the business right away but they do have goals and ambitions they would consider going into the future.
"Down the road maybe we'll add some different things but right now we want to keep it status quo," Tiffanie said. "You shouldn't fix what isn't broken and Trixi's is ... a place people keep coming back to. We just want to be able to deliver that same experience to every person that walks through the door."
The saloon has been operating in Ovando since 1960 and was originally owned by trick rider and roper Trixi McCormick. It serves a variety of American foods like burgers, sandwiches, steaks, chicken and seafood.
"Together Ryan and I have climbed a lot of mountains and we are so excited to start this new journey and share love, happiness, good food and laughter to everyone who walks in our doors," Tiffanie said. "We are eager to be a part of Ovando and keep Trixi's in the family."
Reader Comments(0)