Bozeman's Cafe Zydeco opens shop in Helena

Louisiana native Kevin Carloss just brought a taste of the bayou to Helena -- by way of Bozeman.

Carloss, 46, opened the first Cafe Zydeco in Bozeman in 1999. His second restaurant, which has the same name, opened here about two weeks ago, on North Last Chance Gulch in the former home of Mom's Famous Soup & Salad.

The building is pretty small -- there's room for 15 to eat inside and around 25 more seats on the patio -- but that's fine with Carloss.

"I've always been drawn to those little restaurant shacks where I grew up along the bayou that serve really good food cheap," he said. "I've always wanted my restaurants to be like that."

So, Helenans can stop in for a dish of gumbo, jambalaya, etouffee or red beans and rice, in addition to a selection of po-boy sandwiches.

Carloss considered a handful of other cities for his second restaurant, but settled on Helena for personal reasons as much as business ones.

"We spend a lot of time at (Canyon Ferry Lake) and a lot of time in Helena, and I've grown attached," he said.

He began looking for a suitable location last year, and came across the former Mom's early this year. At first he thought the building was too small, but the more he considered it, adequate parking and a large population of workers nearby made it a good choice.

"What I like about here is all the government buildings and government employees, plus they're putting the State Fund building right here," he said. "I've got 20 parking spots, and we're real close to downtown."

And having a small place keeps overhead low -- low staff costs, lower utility costs. And Carloss said more than half of the business is takeout, so a low number of eat-in seats isn't a problem.

Keep on growin': Three area businesses were among those receiving funding from the Montana Agriculture Development Council's quarterly Growth Through Agriculture program, which provides financial assistance to people hoping to pursue new products and innovative ideas in the field of agriculture. Among this quarter's 12 grant or loan recipients are:

- B.D. Organics of Helena, a $2,500 grant for travel to California for horticulture classes.

- The Milford Colony of Wolf Creek, a $9,400 loan for the purchase of a cooler, stainless-steel tables and a vegetable washer for the remodel of a vegetable processing facility.

- The Montana Hereford Association, headquartered in Townsend, a grant of $5,612.50 for the establishment of a Hereford calf sale.

E-mail your Open for Business ideas to john.harrington@

helenair.com.