‘Beyond Recognition': Beloved MT Chain is Changing For Better

BUTTE, MT - Where's your favorite spot to get breakfast?

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No matter where you live in Montana, let's face it: you're spoiled. We are lucky enough to be blessed with plenty of incredible and iconic breakfast joints, anywhere from the usually-underrated mom-and-pop restaurants all the way over to the massive, tried-and-true large American chains. We don't want to name any names, but we all know you have your favorite spot—and we both know why. (The pancakes.)

But Butte and Billings in particular boast a certain chain that not many other cities around our beautiful state can offer.

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Perkins Restaurant and Bakery, a cozy diner chain that's been around since the 1950s and serves delicious, beloved dishes (though the breakfast is known to be the most popular), is having a bit of an identity crisis. Since the pandemic four years ago (wait, FOUR years ago?!), Perkins has—like most diner-based restaurant chains—been experiencing the slight woes of a changing market.

Competitors like Denny's and IHOP, being in the same market, have seen year-after-year losses, with sales dropping as much as 2% and stock pricing down 35%. Perkins hasn't been doing much better.

However, Perkins is planning something big. Like most intelligent businesses, Perkins, instead of laying down in the dirt and accepting their fate, is about to pivot and undergo a rebranding that includes changing their name from "Perkins Restaurant and Bakery" to "Perkins American Food Co." and completely revamping their menu. Locations will also undertake a large-scale remodel and tout a new logo to represent its attractive new vibe.

Though that may not seem like a lot, we've watched enough Shark Tank to know that a business that pivots is a business that lasts—usually. It appears that whoever is running Perkins' creative decisions knows what they're doing and we're quite excited to see what comes with the rebranding.

And don't worry: the pies and the pancakes aren't going anywhere.