What's Up Missoula What's Up Missoula
WUM Recommends

Local businesses we'd send a friend to.

Missoula runs on its local businesses. These are the ones we know, use, and happily vouch for.

How this list works

WUM Recommends is an opinionated list — our honest take on businesses we've dealt with and genuinely like. Nobody pays to be here, and we only say nice things: if a business isn't listed, it just means we haven't written about them yet, never that we're against them. This list doesn't punch down.

IT & Cybersecurity

Fractional IT

Managed IT and cybersecurity for small and mid-sized businesses — 24/7 monitoring and help desk, cloud services, backups, and security training. A whole IT department for a fraction of the cost of hiring one.

Why we recommend them

Full disclosure: Fractional IT is run by the same folks who bring you What's Up Missoula — so yes, we're biased, and yes, we'd still hire them. Enterprise-grade support with Montana roots, zero hidden fees, and a real human when you need help.

Plumbing & Drains

Everything Drains, LLC

Drain cleaning and repair experts serving Missoula and the surrounding area, available 24/7 — drain, sewer, and gutter cleaning, hydro-jetting, and trenchless spot repair (CIPP).

Why we recommend them

We've used them ourselves and they did a great job — clean, professional, and best of all, a reasonable price. When a drain backs up you want someone who shows up and does it right; this is that guy.

Landscape Materials

Little Dumps

Bulk landscape material delivered — garden soil, compost, mulch, bark, rock, gravel, and sand. Everything is web-based: schedule online 24/7 (they even have a yardage calculator) and the truck shows up. Serves Missoula, the Bitterroot, and the Flathead.

Why we recommend them

Just the best customer experience you can ask for. Schedule your delivery online and bam — truck shows up and you're set. One hot tip: put down a tarp for the driver. Makes cleanup a breeze.

Health & Medical

Montana Imaging Center

Independent outpatient medical imaging in Missoula and Kalispell — MRI (including breast MRI), CT, coronary calcium scans, low-dose lung cancer screening, and full-body screening, read by board-certified, fellowship-trained radiologists.

Why we recommend them

WUM staff have been patients here ourselves, and we can attest: genuinely affordable prices (around half of what the hospital charges), great staff who actually care, and top-notch facilities. Medical imaging without the hospital price tag — or the hospital experience.

Local News

Montana Free Press — Missoula This Week

A free weekly newsletter from Montana Free Press, Montana's independent nonprofit newsroom. Reporter Katie Fairbanks covers Missoula city government, public school meetings, business news, and local events — the stuff that actually shapes life here.

Why we recommend them

Real local journalism, free, from a nonprofit newsroom that answers to Montanans instead of advertisers. If you want to know what city council actually decided — not just what people are yelling about online — this is the newsletter to read. Full disclosure: the WUM team is a proud donor to Montana Free Press — we put our money where our news is.

Farms & Food

Harlequin Organic Produce

Certified-organic farm growing distinctly colorful, seasonally flavored produce for the Missoula and Jocko valleys since 2010. Buy through a customizable CSA farm share, their online market, seasonal pop-up sales, or on the shelves of local grocery stores.

Why we recommend them

A CSA share from Harlequin makes eating your vegetables the best part of the week — genuinely beautiful, flavorful produce grown right here, and because the share is customizable you get what you'll actually cook, not a mystery box.

Farms & Food

Oxbow Cattle Company

Grass-raised, grass-finished beef from a locally owned Missoula ranch practicing regenerative agriculture. Individual cuts at their Farm-2-Market store and online shop, plus custom beef orders (they sell out — email to join the waitlist).

Why we recommend them

Beef with a return address. Oxbow's aim is to leave the land better tomorrow than they found it today, and the beef that comes off that kind of ranching speaks for itself. The custom orders selling out every year tells you what Missoula already knows.

www.oxbowcattleco.com (406) 529-3881 6225 Haugan Drive, Missoula Instagram
Health & Medical

Endurance Physio

One-on-one sports and orthopedic physical therapy in downtown Missoula since 2015 — running injury rehab, bike fitting, pelvic health, vestibular and balance therapy, and strength classes, with a team of eight licensed DPTs.

Why we recommend them

Missoula is lucky to have some of the best PTs out there, and Endurance is the best of the best. Patient-centered, one-on-one care from people who understand athletes because they are athletes.

Arts & Entertainment

The Roxy Theater

Nonprofit, community-owned movie theater on the Hip Strip — a diverse slate of new releases and classics, plus festivals like the International Wildlife Film Festival and the Montana Film Festival, and the Roxy Film Academy.

Why we recommend them

Love movies? This is your place. Premium popcorn and a lineup that mixes fresh releases with the classics — it's the place to go for movies in Missoula. Pro tip: What's Up Missoula lists the coming week's Roxy showings on our events page — link below.

Restaurants

Miller Creek Cafe

Neighborhood cafe in the Miller Creek area, open daily from breakfast hours through dinner. Burgers and classic cafe fare, with eight fresh draft beers from Bitter Root Brewing on tap and plenty of non-alcoholic options.

Why we recommend them

A great local small business serving the Miller Creek community — the kind of spot every neighborhood wishes it had. Big win for families, too: the kids menu is genuinely good, not an afterthought.

millercreekcafe.com (406) 251-3656 4915 Lower Miller Creek Road