What is a pork chop sandwich? In Montana, it’s the best road meal to stop for.
media alike. This regional nonpareil was invented in the 1920s by a former fireman named John Burklund who moved to the U.S. from Sweden. Today it’s an essential road lunch for anyone passing through Butte en route to nearby national parks, every bite like a stick-to-the-ribs rendering of Montana’s past and present.
“We’re still using the same recipes that basically came with the store,” says Pork Chop John’s owner Ed Orizotti. Orizotti’s late dad John bought the original location in 1969—becoming just the second family to own Pork Chop John’s after Semmens retired. When nudged, Orizotti reminds me that the batter recipe and breading technique remain, as ever, top secret.
“We get a lot of people coming back and forth between the parks, stopping in and saying, ‘I want to try the best sandwich in the state!’” Orizotti says.review of Pork Chop John’s in August. “Been there forever and has the charm and character to match.” They add that the pork chop sandwich is “culinary nostalgia nirvana.”
By the time the second outpost of Pork Chop John’s arrived in the early ’70s, the Freeway Tavern had established itself as another favorite among tourists and locals, including the late, Butte-born stuntman Evel Knievel, who was best friends with Freeway Tavern co-founder Harry “Muzzy” Faroni. The man—who passed away in 2015—opened the bar with his brother-in-law George “Stan” Stanisich in 1962, the same year his daughter Kathi Faroni was born.