Helena · Eat
The Parrot Confectionery
Downtown Helena candy shop and soda fountain on Last Chance Gulch since 1922, still hand-dipping chocolates and serving chili at the counter.
At a glance
Food and drink in Helena, Montana, established 1922. Open.
- Status
- Open
- Address
- 42 N. Last Chance Gulch, Helena, MT, 59601
- Town
- Helena
- Region
- Central Montana
- Established
- 1922
- Phone
- 406-442-1470
- Locally owned
- Yes
- Why it's still old school
- Same storefront since the 1920s, the original soda fountain, a hand-cranked freight elevator, and names carved in the booths decades ago.
- Page updated
The Parrot has been on Last Chance Gulch since 1922. Its own site says it still makes about 130 kinds of candy from recipes worked out by the original owners, and the old soda fountain still pours cherry phosphates. Lunch people come for the chili, which the shop calls a secret recipe.
Cowboy State Daily visited in late 2025 and found the details people mention first: names carved into the booths in the 1940s and ’50s, a hand-cranked elevator that brings supplies up from the basement, 1920s equipment, and a caramel recipe cooked in an old copper pot. The original owners, William and Iantha Post, named the place the Parrot because, as the slogan goes, “It talks for itself.”
Karlee Kleinschmidt started as a candy apprentice in 2018, became head confectioner, and bought the shop in May 2025. “People love it the way that it is,” she told the paper. KTVH lists hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and tours are offered.
If you’re nearby, stop in and keep them busy.
Know this place? Send a correction.
What do you say?
Related memories
Old School Montana If…
You still call it Main Street even though it has been a walking mall since the '70s
Old School Montana If…
Somebody in your family has their initials carved in a booth at the candy shop downtown
Old School Montana If…
You bought one bolt at a time from a hardware counter that knew your last name
Related stories
Still Old School
Still Old School: The Parrot in Helena
Since 1922 the Parrot has made candy by hand on Last Chance Gulch. In 2025 the candy apprentice from 2018 bought the place.
Then & Now
Then & Now: Last Chance Gulch and the Walking Mall
Between 1973 and 1977 Helena closed Main Street to cars and turned it into a pedestrian mall with a fake stream. Most towns that tried it tore theirs out.
Remember This?
Remember This? Frontier Town on MacDonald Pass
John Quigley spent more than 30 years building a log-and-stone town just below the summit west of Helena. The 50-foot bar came from a single Douglas fir.
Nearby
Stay · Still Old School
Spa Hot Springs Motel
Pools drained every night, open 7 to 10 every day of the year, and run by the same owner since 1988.
See · Still Old School
Judith Cinema
In use since 1914, with the name carved under the cornice and a plain 1960s-looking marquee out front.
Drink · Still Old School
Montana Tavern
Main Street tavern in a 1911 building, pouring since 1977 over Spring Creek. Central Montana last call.