I’m going to go get a spider roll—you want anything?” my husband hollered down the hall of our little house on South Rouse one day. I knew exactly where he was going, and no, I did not. Besides, what was a spider roll? Sushi made of tarantulas? As a Montanan born in the 70s and a former vegetarian, I didn’t go for sushi. At least not back in 2010, when I was still trying to accept the fact that there was more to food life than Thai and Italian cuisines.

Fortunately that has changed; writing about food has forced my palate to grow and my mind to open. I did eventually join my husband at Seven Sushi, which first opened near our Rouse House on Kagy Boulevard. From 2010 to 2016, Seven operated in the space that now holds Feast, until a change of building ownership forced it to move to a bigger space. I had the pleasure of visiting with Seven owner Colten Croske and General Manager and Executive Chef Josh Browne to get the full story.

Katie Thomas: How was Seven conceptualized?

Colten Croske: Well, it’s a long story that doesn’t actually involve either of us. Seven was brought here by two brothers from Minnesota 15 or 16 years ago, and it used to be up on campus. Both Josh and I were employees there. So Seven was kind of the new sushi place on the block, and they were doing some fun stuff and had a lot of great people working there.

Josh Browne: I had worked with Colten at a couple of other restaurants around town, and when he started working at Seven at the original location, he called me and was like, ‘Hey, you should come work here too.’ And I said; ‘Alright, I’ll give that a try’ and, as they say, the rest is history.

CC: And if you look at the back wall of Feast, where they put the subway tile, that’s a backward seven. That used to be the sushi bar. We’re very good friends with Steve, the owner of Feast. He helped us with our transition over here when we left that space; we owe him a lot. He had some great advice, and helped with the shift. Also, best chicken wings in town! Feast is one of my favorite restaurants.

KT: I agree—I love Steve. He does a great job. That space is quite a bit smaller though; what’s the capacity here in your new space?

JB: With the patio up and running, we can go just about 300 people. We went from around 40 seats to 300 seats, and to being open all day instead of just at night.

KT: What would you like people to experience when they walk through your doors?

JB: I’d say we’re going for that niche, comfy vibe, where you can come in in ski gear, shorts and a T-shirt, or all dressed up—we want people to feel welcomed and ‘come as you are.’ Come experience good food, cheap beers!

CC: Yes, a happy hour that we all can afford. And Josh has done a great job creating a menu that’s consistent. You know what you’re going to get when you come in, and it’s great every time.

KT: How would you describe the food offered at Seven?

JB: It’s definitely going to be a mix of Japanese and American, with some classical French techniques. That’s how I was trained to cook in culinary school (La Cordon Bleu in Portland), and I wanted to bring some of what I learned here. My first restaurant job was at the Hot Spot Thai Cafe in Polson, and I went on to work at a handful of restaurants here in Bozeman. At Seven, we do a lot of teaching in our kitchen; we hire a lot of first-time sushi rolling jobs. When it comes to food, it has to be something that’s approachable, for not only the people eating it, but also the people making it. So we really try and do something here for everyone, because raw fish may not be your forte. That’s why we offer local Montana Wagyu beef. Our longtime beef partner Rick, over at Montana Wagyu Cattle Company out of Belgrade, has been selling us beef ever since our old location. He’s the ranch owner, and he still comes in and drops the beef off personally and chats with us for a while. So just having different options of food has always been our style—we like to have a burger on the menu, but you can also get a nice nigiri sashimi platter, and fish that you’re not going to be able to get in most any other places.

CC: And on that note, we try to keep sustainability in mind. We try to do our part by being a responsible company. We get fish from all over the world, and we make an effort to source from the most sustainable places we can find. We’ve changed vendors multiple times in the pursuit of not just better quality, but also more sustainable. I like to sleep at night. We’re getting bluefin from Japan, Mexico, Spain; we get stuff from Croatia. We want to keep it exciting, but we also look to our local sources, like the beef Josh mentioned. We do local sprouts; we have a local micro green greenhouse that delivers sprouts every week.

KT: Any other local purveyors you’d like to shout out?

JB: For sure. Two big dessert partners we’ve been working with for a long time are Gluten-Free Prairie and Cupcake Mountain Cupcakery. They’ve both been amazing.

KT: What beverages do you have besides beer/wine/sake?

JB: We have Coke products, hot tea options (green, Jasmine, lemon, ginger), and mocktails. We have a great bar manager who has helped curate those for us.

CC: Also, we carry some of the big beer brands, and I think our local beer scene is amazing. We have partnerships with a couple breweries… Map and Outlaw especially are awesome, and we just picked up Mountains Walking.

JB: We do our own huckleberry infusion for a huckleberry sake; we have a huckleberry mule, and a few other things that are good fun if you enjoy huckleberries.

KT: What would you say makes Seven unique in the Bozeman food scene?

CC: Honestly, it’s our staff. They’ve opened the door for menu changes of things they want to see. They’re passionate about it and love being able to play around with options.

JB: Yes, and I would add that we’ve always tried to keep our prices as low as we can to encourage more people to come here. We’ve seen a return in that with a great local following. Having that affordability and consistency is something that sets us apart and makes us a desirable location. Also, most of our menu is gluten-free.


KT: What menu item do regulars keep coming back for?

CC: The jaw dropper, hands down. That’s always been our number one. It’s a deep-fried roll with cream cheese, crawfish, avocado and mango, topped with sauces and toasted coconut. It’s absolutely delicious, and people love it.

JB: Yep, at one point it made up 19% of our total business. Another crowd-pleaser is the Ishiaki, which is thin slices of raw beef; you get a hot lava stone and cook your beef at your table. It’s fun to watch one table get it, and you see it spread through the restaurant. Someone will say, ‘what’s that? I’ll get that,’ and then the next table, and the next table. 

CC: Also, our sweet fries are pretty unique, because we do hand-cut sweet fries that basically come out like giant Lincoln logs. The kitchen can make them crispy and yet comically large.

KT: Do you each personally have a favorite menu item? 

CC: Mine’s the Yellowtail Jalapeño, which is a five-piece, yellowtail sashimi with jalapeño rounds, cilantro, sriracha, Montana Mex picante seasoning, and ponzu sauce. It has a kick to it. I’ll have it at least once a week; I can’t help it.

JB: The one thing I order every time is the Grilled Hamachi Collar. That’s the neck of the fish. It’s sesame-grilled and served with rice, nori, avocado, wasabi sprouts, and ponzu sauce.

KT: What do you enjoy most about being part of the Bozeman community?

JB: The fact that I know I can call any restaurant in this town, ask for help with something, and they’ll do it. It doesn’t matter if it’s another sushi restaurant, or Plaza Azteca next door, or whoever. If we couldn’t get avocados, for example, I know I could call someone and buy a case of avocados from them. I love the sense of community. We want to see everyone succeed, and the more businesses that open, the more people it draws to Bozeman, and the more everyone is successful.

CC: I feel the exact same way. I’m from Bozeman—my family’s farmhouse was about a mile down the road from the Gourmet Gas station, where I started working when I was 14. It’s been fun to see the growth and the elevation of standards in restaurants since then. The variety is awesome. We also opened Bitterroot Bistro downtown, and working together as a community makes Bozeman a great place to be.

KT: Do you have any special events coming up?

CC: Pre-COVID, we were doing a lot of things that we had to pause during that time. But just last year, we revitalized our catering unit, and were back out in farmers markets. Hopefully, we can be at Music on Main this year. We do a lot of private events, including what we call “in-home,” where we send a chef to your house and they’ll do a full dinner in your residence—sake pairings, rolls, desserts, everything.

JB: We do a lot of community outreach, too. Every month, fifty percent of the sales go to a nonprofit. This month, our recipient is Bridgercare.

KT: What’s the best way for people to follow your events?

JB: Through Instagram and Facebook, plus the good old classic: we hang up flyers around the restaurant, so if you’re in here, you’re going to know about events.

KT: Anything else you’d like readers to know about Seven Sushi?

JB: I want to acknowledge our managers by name: Jebb Mammen is our Assistant General Manager, Tee Beler is the Floor Manager, Conor Bianchi is our Back of House Manager, Lisa Ellison is our Operations Manager, Tegan Schaper is our Bar Supervisor, and Michaella Croskey is our Media and Marketing Manager. All of these people have helped shape Seven into the Bozeman staple it is today, and this place would not run without them!

CC: Exactly—we wouldn’t be who we are without our staff. They put their heart and soul into this place, and I think that’s why the food tastes so good.

I couldn’t agree more. If I ever need to return to waitressing, Seven is the first place I’m applying. I left this conversation with Croske and Browne wanting to keep chatting away, because of how friendly and welcoming they were. Instead, I gave them a fond farewell and ordered my go-to roll. While I’m still a Naked Ninja kind of gal (no raw fish involved), I now appreciate that Bozeman has an excellent sushi-plus restaurant. I always get happy when someone suggests we meet at Seven. I liked the food, atmosphere, and service before this; now, I love it.