Reopening Swan Valley Café five years later

SWAN VALLEY - Hailey Loudon and her husband Jesse Arno are bringing back Swan Valley Café for the first time since it closed in 2016. They are excited to bring in another active restaurant to the Condon area.

"I always just wanted to own my own business and ... it seemed like a good opportunity," Loudon said. "It's been for sale forever and I would try to convince him to do this for about 10 years now. He finally just gave in."

Loudon is originally from Aurora, Oregon but she graduated from Seeley-Swan High School in 2007 and moved to Condon in 2008.

Arno has lived in Condon his whole life. After graduating from Seeley-Swan High School in 2003 he went to school in Wyoming where he became a certified diesel mechanic. After that he worked in Alaska for a couple years before coming home to Condon and starting Arno LLC, a logging, "dirt work" and land management business.

Before taking over the restaurant, Loudon helped manage Arno's accounts.

She said the Café operated for three months in the summers of both 2010 and 2011 before initially closing down until 2016 when it only reopened for another short period. 

The couple purchased the Cafe June 1. Loudon said they did not have to do too much construction work on the building. Much of the place had been "well maintained" since it closed down. Everything was up to code, so much of the work revolved around cleaning to make the space look nice.

This is Loudon's first time operating a restaurant although she has worked for several in the past. The aspect she is most looking forward to is being around people again.

"I've been a stay-at-home mom for six years ... so I'm just excited to be around adults again," she said.

The biggest challenge she expects to face is competing with the other local restaurants in the area.

"There's already two other amazing restaurants [here]," she said. "They have great food so just trying to compete with [them and] to live up to what they have to offer is going to be my biggest challenge."

Loudon said she is considering changing the name to Condon Diner in the future but for now they are keeping the Café's current name since it is so established in the community.

For the future she is looking toward installing a barbecue area in the back to encourage more outdoor seating. Outside of that, however, she is not looking to make many radical changes to how the restaurant used to operate.

The restaurant held a soft opening Monday, June 14 and a grand opening buffet Friday, June 18. Loudon said the Café will host a buffet on Fridays.

The Swan Valley Café, located at 6798 Highway 83 across from the Swan Valley Centre, serves a variety of American foods. It will be open every day of the week from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. except for Fridays where it will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Updates about the restaurant can be found on the "Swan Valley Cafe" Facebook page.