Ranchers at Heart Flip to Burgers and Shakes @jacksondrug
The Gill Family Brings their Farm to Your Table at Jackson Drug
From beef 4-H to the Jackson Hole Hereford Ranch Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program to opening the Jackson Drug restaurant, the Gill girls have a passion for selling their family’s beef locally.
"We are the first and only true farm to table restaurant in Jackson where the same family who raises the cattle serves the meat," says Nikki Gill.
Siblings and Jackson Drug owners, Nikki, Patrick and Jessica helped out on their family’s nearly 100-year old ranch during the summer hay seasons since they were knee high. They all drove the 1950 Farmall tractor up and down the fields raking the hay into rows. And at 12-years-old, both girls learned to drive a stick shift on a 2-ton stock truck.
In 2010 their dad, Robert Gill, bought the historic Jackson Drug building that his grandfather Bruce Porter built in 1937. In 2016, Jessica, Nikki, and Patrick had the opportunity to bring back the iconic Jackson Drug. Some of their fondest memories of their childhood were sipping milkshakes while swiveling on stools at the counter of their great-grandfather’s pharmacy.
“We grew up at the counter,” Nikki says. “Like most kids in town, we had a charge account and would get our after school snacks at the Jackson Drug.There was never a grand goal of owning a restaurant,” she says. But somehow the three siblings found themselves turning the pharmacy into one of the best places to go for burgers in Jackson Hole. Ranching in Jackson is not the most lucrative, so we decided to diversify by selling our beef locally.”
They are grateful to Rammells, a mom and pop beef processor that only handles 5-10 animals a week, for making it all possible. The Rammells have been working with the Gill kids since 2015, when they took advantage of the popularity of the eat local movement and added a new revenue stream to the business by selling cuts to locals through their CSA program and at the Farmer’s Market on the Town Square in Jackson Hole.
Jessica and Nikki kept the original Jackson Drug dishes – egg salad, tuna salad, chicken salad and cheese pretzels and expanded the menu by adding burgers, salads, grilled cheeses and many more delicious dishes. Most of the menu is dairy and gluten free. And because of the girls’ allergies, Jackson Drug boasts a true gluten free fryer.
Jessica Gill says it’s great to be back on town square, where the two patriarchs of her family did business. Her great grandfathers Bruce Porter (a pharmacist who started Jackson Drug) and Lew Gill, who owned the Log Cabin bar on the other side of the elk antler arches where Lee’s T’s is today were staples on the town square.
“Tradition is very much alive, she says. “We even make all the ice cream like we did back in the day using the same brand of ice cream machine.”
Bruce Porter circa 1956 - Original Drugstore Owner
Stop by the Jackson Drug today for a taste of the Wild West.....
Jackson Drug - 15 East Deloney Avenue Jackson, WY 307.201.1275
