Frank Morgan, known to all his friends in town as Frankie, and his wife Mindy, went to Glacier on vacation, took a break in Augusta and found themselves in The Lazy B. When they realized it was for sale, they got ahold of Matt Pfliegeer and told him all about it. “One of my dreams was to own a bar / restaurant” exclaimed Frankie. So, when he told Matt about his find, Matt was intrigued, they thought it would be a good adventure.
“Mindy and I love to travel and hike, so it gave us the opportunity to combine a neat business idea and a place to stay while traveling.” Explained Frankie.
Frankie and Matt took ownership of The Lazy B in March of 2020. Frankie admitted they were inexperienced when they bought the B and didn’t realize how many repairs they needed to get done. “The kitchen didn’t even have a hood, so in order to serve the food we wanted to serve that had to be one of the first things fixed.” Explained Frankie. “The previous owners weren’t open as many hours as we wanted to be, which meant we needed several electrical upgrades,” he continued.
Matt travels a lot as well and does a lot of business out west. But when he is in town, he takes care of several of the repairs needed or calls someone to get the job done.
With the technology of today, it’s easy to perform many of the demands of ownership through remote.
Especially when you have the help of trusted family members such as Michayla Medash, Matt’s daughter. She was the onsite manager helping keep everything going and organized while the guys were away. “Michayla deserves lots of credit for the growth of the business,” explained Frankie.
Michayla is transitioning out of the role of manager since she just got married. Stepping up to fill the onsite manager position is Tami Krone, with her first official day being December 1st. When asked how she feels, Tami responded with “I’m happy for the opportunity and look forward to serving Augusta.”
The Lazy B is located at 135 Main St, Augusta, MT. They are part of the dart league stop, and they have an outside corral bar with a jukebox. They have Bingo every Monday Night with tickets on sale at 5pm and games starting at 6pm. The cost is $5 per seat and $1 per card. When it’s not bingo night, this room can be reserved for private events. It’s away from the bar and is quiet, so is often used for birthday parties, baby showers, and other events.
“We are both from very small towns and love the people here and the fact they have accepted our lifestyles,” explained Frankie. Mindy continued with “we didn’t come to Montana to buy up real estate, we came to conform and be as we would be at home.”
“We love being that family place where people feel welcome. We thank the community for welcoming us, everyone is so helpful and kind,” replied Frankie. As they move forward, they hope to continue to grow and be a continual asset to the community for visitors and locals.
For more information you can visit the website at https://www.lazybbarcafe.com or call 406-562-3397.