04/14/2026
MAJOR CHANGE COMING TO THE ROADHOUSE. PLEASE READ!
It has officially been one year since Janelle and I have had the wonderful experience of running the Roadhouse.
Our goal has been, and will always be, to make home cooked food, keep it affordable, and most important to us, customer service.
We used to dream about having our own place, and for many years, we never knew if we could make the dream happen. It has been the one thing we have always wanted to do, run a great local restaurant, and find a home on this planet.
This valley has given us more than we could have ever hoped for, and we always like to start these long announcements with saying thank you everyone for their support.
That said. We also need to thank the people that brought the building to its current state. We did not build the Roadhouse; we are just carrying the torch until it is time for us to pass it on.
Joy and Jeff were first doing a wonderful job. I still look around at all the great woodwork Jeff did, and Joys soft touches and decisions are still felt around the building. Back then, it was called The Saddle Sore. A name we still chuckle at to this day, and a few old regulars still let me know, it is not the Roadhouse, but the Sore. I wish I could go back in time and attend one of the band and dance nights at Jeff and Joys place in the old dance hall.
Then, the Saddle Sore became the Roadhouse. What Kate did for the restaurant can not be understated. The attention to detail in the new build of the building was perfection. She kept the touch of the old woodwork with the big running wood beams. All old barn wood was the wall choices. Every first-time guests reaction is the same stepping into the bar as they are blown away by the rustic charm. A great patio, and a firepit to keep warm watching a fading late summer sunset.
We are very grateful that everything Kate built and added was done right, and with the thought of what the local community wants and needs at every decision.
8 years ago, Janelle and I were floating down the south fork. Like every river we have ever fished, we spent the whole day in the Side Channels. Every fisherman or woman on the south fork knows, you must get off the main channel, and fish the Side Channels, for a trip to remember. From section one, into the canyon, and the farmland below. Side Channels are a key part, and to us, the biggest draw of the south fork.
It was in one of these many miles of Side Channels, that Janelle made a quick joke, as she said, “Wouldn’t it be great to own a restaurant called The Side Channel” She went on to explain, and I quickly jumped in with excitement. Yes, if we ever somehow could
pull off having our own place, we were going to call it The Side Channel.
We started to day dream about the name and our imaginary place. We loved the name, because like a side channel on a river, we knew we would never want to own a restaurant in a big city, or on a main road in a town like Jackson. In our day dreams we always wanted to own a place in the countryside. A place we could work our butts off at and raise a family near a river. That just like a great river, if you are driving around on the main roads, you need to get off the beaten trail, and find the side roads, the back roads, and in that place, you will find a small place that will lead
to wonderful memories.
Taking over the Roadhouse, we really struggled with changing the name. We thought it would be so easy, find our dream place, get our dream place, make it our own dream and try not to go bankrupt like so many restaurants do.
The problem was we love the Roadhouse name also. It fits who Janelle and I are. A local watering hole, big hot meals, and service that makes you feel at home. There are over 4,000 places named after the Roadhouse theme in America. There is a Roadhouse in Idaho Falls, there is a Roadhouse in Jackson. There are national chains named after a Roadhouse.
We want to be a family dining place that is unique, serving Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner 7 days a week. We always wanted to tie into the river and a fly fishing theme.
So we are excited to announce to you, that going forward, the Roadhouse name after many years of wonderful service, is going to go hang out with the Saddle Sore name in the retirement home. And The Snake River Side Channel will carry the torch into the
future.
From the owners of “The Side Channel” we look forward to doing everything we can to keep the standard so many before us have built.
Trent, Janelle, Laverne
