Tony Traina made his first Cubano sandwich on the fly when someone ordered it at the grand opening of his Fork in the Road food truck two years ago. Since then, the sandwich has become the most sought-after item on his menu, and the small business has expanded from a seasonal food truck to a full-time permanent eatery between Sacred Waters Brewery and Glacier Sun Winery.

“I’ve definitely gotten better,” Traina said about his sandwich-making skills. But it could also be a comment on the evolution of his business. What started as essentially a one-man show in a tiny food truck has grown to include a bustling year-round catering business, private chef services and now a restaurant along U.S. 2. The new eatery is called Fork in the River, the next iteration of Traina’s business.

“It’s always been kind of a crawl, walk, run approach,” Traina reported. But he started running a lot sooner than he initially expected.

“This was the five-year plan,” he said, gesturing to his new home with solid walls and a permanent foundation. “Now I need a new five-year plan.”

Fork in the River eatery opened in the small walkway between Sacred Waters and Glacier Sun on Nov. 2. The new location drew upon the Fork in the Road food truck’s recognized brand and incorporated the new location in between the two watering holes.

“It all just kind of worked really well together,” Traina said.

Fork in the River offers quality sandwiches, soups and salads to patrons of both of its neighboring establishments, and eatery customers can sit and have their meals in either dining room. Traina said the idea came as a natural progression for his business after he parked his food truck in the parking lot many times over the past two seasons.

He said Sacred Waters in particular has been especially interested in the collaboration. “The two businesses really feed off each other,” he said. “We’re able to provide what they’re looking for.”

“It’s just bar food, but it’s good bar food,” Traina insisted. “We’re not trying to make it more than it is; we just make it good.”

In the first few weeks, the Cubano, cheese-steak sandwich and falafel have been the most popular sellers. The key for Traina is the quality ingredients, which he sources from local purveyors as much as he can.

“Using good ingredients is where it all starts,” he stated. These include Ceres Bakery’s bread and Farm to Market Pork products, as well as a wide variety of ingredients Traina said the average lunch patron might be surprised to find around the Flathead Valley.

“Unless you paid attention, you don’t know how much is coming out of the Flathead,” the Flathead Valley native said. “We’re lucky to live where we do.”

The new space is small by most standards, but roomy compared to a food truck. It allows Traina to offer more to his customers — more services and more menu items.

“By and large it was just me,” in the food truck, he recalled. Fork in the Road mostly frequented occasional events throughout the summer and did some catering in the off-season.

Now he employs about 10 people, mostly part-timers, allowing the eatery to stay open seven days a week for lunch and dinner. “It’s been an interesting transition for me. I have to be hands-off to some degree,” he said.

In the new location he has been able to expand the offerings, thanks to new equipment like a separate salad station, a char-broiler and a fryer.

This kitchen’s small, but that kitchen’s really small,” he said, indicating the bright red food truck parked in front of the building.

Instead of dividing his resources, Traina thinks the new eatery actually complements the existing pieces of his business. He expects to be able to use the kitchen and staff to help supply the catering and food-truck side of the enterprise in addition to the customers from the brewery and winery.

“We have a lot of different facets going on,” he acknowledged. “We can cross-utilize not only the ingredients but the manpower it takes to prepare everything.”

He hopes these all of these elements eventually help Fork in the River develop its own identity separate from its more-established neighbors.

“I’d just like to say how fortuitous it is to open up between two already established businesses,” he noted.

But, he added, “People see us as an extension of the two businesses, but I’d like to change that paradigm.”

And the small kitchen is far from the end of the line for Traina, who has big plans to continue expanding his small business. “There’s more opportunity to grow within this space and beyond this space,” he said.

Fork in the River is located at 3250 U.S. 2 East. Hours are 12 to 8 p.m., seven days a week.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at bserbin@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.