BUTTE — The new restaurant that’s being built in the long-time location of the former Taco John’s here in Butte is truly a family affair and it’s being built on a foundation of hard work.
“Working together as a family all five of us sisters swinging hammers and building stuff, that’s how we were raised, we were raised to handle our own,” said BW BlackSmith co-owner Mandy Peacock.
BW Blacksmith is a restaurant and coffee shop at Harrison Avenue and Cobban Street. It’s named for Mandy’s grandfather Ben Willems who died from cancer in 2016. He was known for loving his family and hard work.
“That was what my grandpa always believed, that’s when he had the most fun when we were working on projects together, that’s what doing this does for us, it kind of just reminds us of him and working with him,” said Peacock.
The family started their first restaurant in Lake City, Florida, and recently opened one in Billings. They decided to return to Montana and make their headquarters in Anaconda.
“And I just fell in love with it, the smalltown community and the thought of raising my kids there and being in that type of environment, so it’s been really fun to see it grow over the past couple of years, it definitely does seem like it’s on an upward trend which is amazing,” she said.
The family hopes to have the new restaurant ready by the end of November and together they’ll get the job done.
“We’ve always been a very, very hands-on, do-it-yourself type of family,” Peacock said.
