Sport Bar & Grill - Livingston MT- new ownership again - no longer roadfood?

After our thread about the best burger lists last week. I noted my favorite of all time was at the Sport Bar and Grill in Livingston MT back when Chuck Tanner was at the helm in the Summer of 2009.
http://www.roadfood.com/Restaurant/Overview/3110/sport-bar
 
They didn't have a website at the time and curiousity got the best of me.
It appears they have a website now   http://thesportbarandgrill.com/ and it seems its under new ownership.
The menu is quite different than I remember and based on what I see it's now "montana style yuppie haute cuisine" which sadly is becoming the trend and is no longer Roadfood
 
Although the Sport Burger is still on the menu it doesn't appear to be what was served to me.
Oh well.....................

Oh, my. It is totally different. Nothing like Cajun Montana cuisine...:-(

What a shame. The old place sounded terrific-the new one, based on the website, wouldnt interest me.

Sheesh! A sports bar with rack of lamb? Give me a break. Congratulations, Dale, on getting there before the abortion.

It is a shame. I call it Californication.
Ironically the previous owner, Chuck Tanner was from California but kept the local nuances to the restaurant, however The Sport seems to be typical of the trend in this part of the the country of restaurants going "upscale/yuppie/haute cuisine" so they can "be like everyone else" in the big sophisticated cosmopolitan cities in the rest of the country" 

The new menu offers "spicy chili with New York." Does that mean something or is it a misprint?

Michael Stern


The new menu offers "spicy chili with New York." Does that mean something or is it a misprint?

Michael
 
It's probably not a misprint- Just Chili with some "urban sophisticaton"
However I'm sure that it won't match up to this delighhtful bowl of Buffalo Chili that is now engrained in my memory from my visit over the Summer of 2009 

We've been experiencing the same phenomonon(sp) here in Austin for some time. There was a great New York style deli called Manny Hattan's (quaint) and it was pretty good. Coming from my youth in Chicago, I know a good deli when I eat there. The pastrami sandwich could rival Katz's. Sadly they have yuppified it. Now the sandwiches are named for local non-celebs and their ilk. So now I just stick to bbq joints.

Sorry to hear about that, Dale.  I remember that chili from your Big Skies & Rocky Mountain Highs report!  When the Tony Luke's in NYC changed from a sandwich shop to a sports bar with ladies' night, 80s night and wing specials, it was like seeing a dead canary in a mineshaft.  I went back a few more times, but with the focus no longer on the sandwiches and a hike in prices I knew it had "jumped the shark".

Speaking of prices, that's the first sign of ypiification is when the have a website with a menu but no prices. Right next door to where I work was a Joe's Crab Shack which has morphed into a BrickHouse Tavern and Tap. I went to there website and there was a flashy array of a vast assortment of beers foreign and domestic, all kinds of menu items and no prices. Not to mention four large screen tvs and that just on the patio. I may just be getting old and crotchety but I like quiet when I'm eating.

First, you remind how great that burger was.  Then you tell us we can't get it anymore.  Is that any way to treat your friends?
 
Cousin Johnny and I ate at The Sport over a decade ago and that was a terrific burger!