BILLINGS — In the past year, downtown Billings has lost several restaurants, including Bin 119, the Sassy Biscuit Company, Wild Ginger, and Uberbrew.
On Monday, the owners of the Buffalo Block Prime Steakhouse at the Rex Hotel announced the restaurant will be closing its doors on Aug. 30.
Nevertheless, the Downtown Billings Association is positive the area is thriving and attracting new businesses.
Learn more about why the Buffalo Block Prime Steakhouse is closing below:
Rick and Nicki Larson, whose family also owns The Granary on Poly Drive, renovated and opened the Buffalo Block at the iconic Rex Hotel in downtown Billings in 2019.
According to Rick Larson, the family wanted to open a higher-end steakhouse in Montana. He said they were inspired by the atmosphere and aesthetic of the Rex, which had operated downtown for decades.
"I always thought it would be nice to have a good, really top-end steakhouse in Billings," Larson said Thursday. "It was a little bit bigger of a project than we thought. When we did it, we did it first class."
According to Larson, the family is closing the restaurant due to financial reasons. Larson said after the pandemic, the restaurant was losing money.
"Just one thing kind of after another," he said.
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Regardless of the recent closures, Katy Schreiner, the CEO of the Downtown Billings Association, said downtown is actually adding businesses.
"We know when people see a business closing, which is always an unfortunate story to hear, it might raise some concerns. But, we have no concerns from our point of view down here. Business is thriving," said Schreiner.
According to Schreiner, since the pandemic, downtown Billings has gained 25 to 30 new businesses each year on average. She said this year alone, downtown Billings has already gained 12 new businesses, including stores and restaurants.
"I expect right on the tails-end of this disappointing news, we're going to have good news about new businesses and restaurants opening up soon," she said Wednesday.
As far as what will replace the Buffalo Block, whether it be a new restaurant, hotel or something else, that is still undetermined.
"We haven't really decided what we're going to do yet, whether we'll try to lease it out, another restaurant come in, want to lease it, or if we want to put it into offices. We just, we just don't know yet," said Larson.
Schreiner believes that finding a replacement for Buffalo Block will be relatively easy because of the location.
"I fully anticipate that somebody else is going to see the beauty of that historic building, and see an opportunity to open up something else," she said.
To learn more about the business climate in downtown Billings, visit the Downtown Billings Association's website at this link.
