New Seafood Restaurant and Sports Bar Opening Soon in Downtown Billings

Downtown Billings has several new developments, including a higher-end hotel under construction next to the Burger Dive, a new Thai restaurant in the spot next to Daisy Dukes, an Indian restaurant in the former Bin 119, and a new Asian restaurant coming soon to the former Downtown Soup-n-Such location.

Another exciting development recently caught my eye... renovation activity is well underway at the former Wild Ginger spot, on the corner of Montana Avenue and N 27th Street.

Surf Sport is bringing a unique concept to Billings.

I first saw activity at this location a couple of months ago, when a plumbing company was doing some repairs. A few weeks later, the "coming soon" banners appeared in the windows, followed by new exterior signage.

When I swung by today to peek in the windows, I was fortunate to encounter one of the owners, Stephen Leary, who provided a bit of insight into the new restaurant and sports bar.

Surf Sport is shooting for a mid-June opening date.

Rumors fly in Billings, and we'll clear this one up right away. Surf Sport is not affiliated with Wild Ginger's Chien "Howard" Hwa Shen or his family in any way. You may recall that Howard was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2024 for six convictions related to the sexual abuse of women.

36 TVs and a unique menu.

The establishment's interior has been opened up substantially, and sports fans will be able to catch the action on three dozen TVs around the bar. Kitchen and server stations have been updated to make things more efficient for staff, along with other remodeling.

Stephen is originally from Florida and is bringing coastal favorites to Billings, with crab boils and seafood positioned prominently on the menu. The restaurant will also serve a variety of classic bar foods. We can assume they'll have some beach-inspired specialty cocktails, too.

According to a recent Facebook post, Surf Sport is now hiring for all positions, including:

• Servers
• Bartenders
• Cooks
• Barbacks
• Bussers
• Hostess
• Shift Leaders
• Expos
• Cashiers
• Greeters
• Dishwashers

Opinion: I love seafood, so I'm quite excited to try this place out. Our current options in Billings are, honestly, somewhat lacking. Only a handful of places regularly have crab on the menu, and even fewer restaurants offer fish, unless we're talking deep-fried cod chunks.