is the crystal pistol closed for good?

Yes.

is paco packers done as well?

No. They are still producing pacos and cowpies. Their hours of operation are approximately 5:30 a.m. to about 1:00 p.m Tuesday through Thursday. If you would like to purchase the frozen or pre-baked product outside of these times, they are distributed at Quality Meats of Montana. The finished product (fried pacos only I believe) can be purchased at the Tavern. I believe that Gallaghers may be taking the pacos at some point to help fill the void. Pre-baked pacos can be purchased at several bars in town. I know that I am probably forgetting someplace.

as for the pistol, it seemed to be going pretty well,what happened?

[This message has been edited by guylong (1/29/2010)]

This is bad news....I just bought a case of pacos the last time I was in Miles City, in October....and they were delicious!

as stated above, they are availabe at quality meats gunnar. although unfortunately,they do not deliver fresh, hot pacos,w/fries. i will miss that.

[This message has been edited by guylong (1/29/2010)]

You can still get fresh, hot pacos at the Tavern, and hopefully soon Gallagher's. Quality Meats will have the frozen pacos and cowpies, and you could still pick some up at Paco Packers (right beside the Crystal Pistol) as long as it is within the operating hours of PP.

As to what happened, it was simply a matter of time and money. The manager started out with the best of intentions, staffing it with herself, her daughter and three employees. However, over time, the demand did not support the additional employees, and when you are only making $2.00 per meal, it takes a whole lot of meals just to pay the rent and utilities, let alone additional staff and hope to make any money. The only set-up that the Crystal Pistol could support was the owner and her daughter. This became difficult because on the busy days, two people are not enough to cook, wait tables, answer phones and deliver food. However, there were many slow days which could not justify hiring extra people to just sit around. Since there is no way to gauge what days are going to be busy and what days are going to be slow (and there was absolutely no rhyme or reason), you end up making people mad when it is busy and service is slow. Thought was given to raising prices, but seeing as how there were complaints when prices were raised $0.50 per meal, they knew that was not an option.

Besides, the whole situation proved less than ideal as the owner already has another business and was working from 5:30 a.m. to after 10:00 each night, with no chance to attend any family functions. When a function was important enough to attend, the place had to be shut down, which further angered clientele.

Bottom line, to basically have any sort of life, they decided that it was not worth working 18 hour days to make no money.

When you are out eating at other restaurants, mention that you would like them to carry the products (although this will obviously not work with the corporate chains). Paco Packers would love to sell them to anyone interested.

You can buy a box of pacos or cowpies at Reynolds too and the deli usually has pacos cooked.

thanks for the input,i appreciate it,and i will still enjoy a paco from time to time from other local businesses. i am truly sad to see the pistol go.

Thanks Sarah. That's right. I know I am forgetting other places as well.

The restaurant business is an incredibly difficult one. Long hours. Little returns. Glad to know I can still get my occasional Paco fix at Reynold's!

This might be a dumb question, but just to be sure...
Since the restaurant is closed, does that also mean no more take-and-bake pizzas? Crystal Pistol is some of my favorite pizza in town and I know there's other who'd say the same.

Its unfortunate they were unable to make a go of it, but family time cannot be sacrificed for the business either. Best of luck to those folks!

How many pacos are in a case and about how much are they?

The pacos come in 4 oz. and 8 oz. sizes, and there are different amounts per case depending on the case you purchase. Call Marte at Quality Meats, 232-0689, for more info.

Under the current management, there will be no take-n-bake pizza, however, I cannot speak for the owner of the building, who may or may not wish to do something with it down the line.

And ideally, family time should never be sacrificed, however, it's especially pointless to work those kinds of hours without the profit to justify it.

tell us what a paco and a cowpie are.........do you bake them, fry them....what???

They are pockets of bread dough, stuffed with taco ingredients in the case of a paco, and cheeseburger ingredients in the case of a cowpie. You can either bake them or deep-fry them. You can also order pre-baked pacos that you can just put in the microwave.

I think I once said something in the "You know you're from Miles City when..." thread about having eaten a paco at the Crystal Pistol. I'm not having a massive craving for one right now, but will just say that I do associate them with my younger days growing up and quite enjoyed them the few times I had one. That's all.

A couple years ago our first visit back to MC after 5 years' absence had our family in the hotel with all the usual options for dinner... McDonalds, room service, etc. Whatever was nearby and quick was the order of the day.

However, I'm happy to say our family made its first meal back home worth the wait when we got Pacos and Crystal Pistol pizza delivered to our room. Shame they had to shut down. It was a fixture of MC since before I can remember.