Found this great place on the Yelp while visiting Missoula. Â Excellent food/beverages and selection. Â Elk, bison, lobster, and lamb sliders rocked. Â Salad with lime-cumin dressing was very good. Â As noted by other reviewers, the sweet potato tots are a must have. Â Good atmosphere and service. Give it a try.
Review Source:Awesome atmosphere and one of the best places in Missoula for dinner and drinks. Extensive bar, good Montana beer selection, and Bison, Lamb, Idaho catfish and more on the menu. Food has been perfect every time, although the cole slaw with my fish and chips was way to vinegary - the waitress said she would notify the kitchen staff immediately.
This is a great place to take a date for dinner!
This is one of my favorite places in Missoula to dine. Great ambience, servers all seem to be funny, interesting people, and the food/drinks are always good. Bison stew, burgers, sweet potato "tots", sliders of a variety of meat. All awesome. Try the Moscow Mules! They come in a wide variety, each carefully crafted to taste good and not skimp on the booze. Tip - Arrive a little early as the place is very popular and don't be afraid to sidle in to Al and Vics bar next door after you eat. Same drinks more room!
Review Source:Definitely one of my favorites. Feels like a big city bar/lounge. Absolutely Beautiful decor and ambiance, super friendly and competent staff, AMAZING food for a bar.. more like a high priced bistro but without the high price. The drinks are great, bartenders super friendly and have no problem recommending something after asking a few questions to get a feel for your preferred flavor profile. Since it's a little spendier, it's definitely more of a late 20's and up professional crowd. A HUGE draw for me. There are plenty of divey college bars in Missoula. This one is high class. One of my go-to fav's!
Review Source:Yelpsop's Fables
"The lithesome lizard"
Two professors, one musician, and a photographer walk into a bar. After surveying the landscape, they seat themselves at a table next to an elegant gas-lit fireplace, above which is hung an antlered stag's head, and upon whose mantlepiece rests a women's soccer team trophy awarded in 2010 to the James Bar Beavers. The lithesome lizard, perched as he was high above them on the wall, halfway between the oversized portraits of a still-living Janis Joplin and an as-yet-unwrinkled Keith Richards, remained silent and undetected in the hip yet casual stillness of a slow Tuesday drinking night at this most ultrachic of watering holes in downtown Missoula.
The lizard watched, as he so often did, as the new arrivals scanned the menus placed before them by an attractively blond and attentively tuned hostess. He smiled knowingly when three of them ordered Moscow Mules, a double order of sweet potato tots, and an elk slider.
"Those ones," he thought to himself, "have been here before. They know what they want."
The fourth member of the party, the lizard noticed, seemed less familiar with his surroundings. He stared wide-eyed at the row upon row of bottles behind the mirrored bar, he inspected the women's soccer trophy, he gazed at the pictures and read the menus carefully. For a brief moment, the lizard even felt the man's eyes fall upon him - or perhaps not - for it was dark and almost 10 pm and the kitchen was about to close so ordering food took priority. The lizard leaned a little into the open space to listen as the man ordered sunchoke chips from the specials menu and a Scottish Mule, which came with Hendrick's gin and tasted of ginger beer, mint, and cucumber, and was served in clear, thick-cut glass, not the gleaming copper mugs in which the Moscow Mules duly arrived. Â
"Hmmm .... " mused the lizard, "this is interesting: a variation on the same old, same old. Cucumber gin, sunchokes, and not even a bison slider to go alongside. I have not seen this here before."
For the lithesome lizard, the continuous change of pace at the James Bar was inherently interesting; the endless parade of people who came and went kept him alert and animated, even during the dark hours of a cold autumn's night. As he warmed himself by the rising column of heat from the fireplace, the lizard smiled, silently, and stayed as motionless as only reptiles like him know how to do, while the humans below talked, laughed, ate, drank, and gesticulated incessantly, as is their wont - here, at the James Bar, and in the wider world beyond.
Moral: You can learn a lot from a lizard.
James bar is doing a lot of things right. The decor is rad, the drink list is the best downtown, the prices are just right, and the servers are friendly.
went to lunch there recently however and was sorely disappointed with my lamb burger. The patty itself was luke warm, the bun was soggy and there were more sprouts than meat.
I will def. go back again and try different menu items (my wife liked her sliders a lot). As of right now however I am impartial.
*look for future updates
After years of getting into town late after a long day of fishing and looking for a casual, comfortable place for a light dinner and a few cocktails, we've found a new favorite. The James is fun, hip without being in your face trendy, and a great place to sit at the bar for  a good local brew and some interesting menu items. The bartenders are friendly and the lamb and Stan's sliders are a good recommendation.  Should have taken the  bartender's advice on our order....the lamb and Stan's sliders are much better than the elk and next time we'll go with the Greek fries instead of the Cajun rings
Review Source:One of the best places in Missoula for a classy and intimate drink. Â The food is delicious whether you're ordering appetizers or an entree. Â The drinks can be a little more expensive but the atmosphere is worth it. Â Patrons gather for a good time and I have yet to encounter a gaggle of just-turned-21 students looking to get drunk, which I find too often at the other bars. Â Yes bars are for drinking but sometimes its nice to have a drink in a setting with a more refined patron base. Â After grabbing dinner downtown I love to head over here for drink, usually a rum & coke. Â I really like that the staff makes an effort to use the exact brand of liquor you want in your drink, instead of charging you an arm and leg for something made with a cheap brand.
Review Source:I wouldn't call this a tapas bar at all. I could barely finish my ridiculously wrong pulled pork/mac'n'cheese sandwich with sweet potato tots, and I have a prodigious appetite. The last few bites of my wife's lamb slider were excellent as well. I was not looking forward to my drive back to Helena, but I'll definitely be back to James Bar.
Review Source:James Bar is arguably my favorite bar in town. It's classy and slightly expensive so it attracts more of the older, working crowd in there and it is not overrun by college kids. Another bonus is that the food is amazing here. Everything from the sliders to the burgers. You cannot go wrong. Try ordering a Mac N' Q sandwich, which is pulled pork with Mac & Cheese! They also have a 2 for 1 Grey Goose drinks special on Thursday for $5 which is a steal!!
Review Source:Order the sweet potato tots and a margarita on the rocks...YUM. Best margarita and fried snack food in town...no contest.
There isn't a ton of seating, so if you go at a busy time you have to either watch like a hawk for a table to open or go to Al and Vics next door (which serves the same margaritas and food as they share a kitchen and liquor license).
James Bar is a must stop for late afternoon cocktails with your girlfriends or after dinner drinks with your significant other.
Delicious!! You must try the sweet potato tots..no matter what. They were so great, I couldn't stop popping those lil guys into my mouth!
The decor is adorable, and it's definitely one of the nicest spots I found in Missoula. I sat at the bar to enjoy my dinner and the two bartenders were super friendly and helpful.
The bartender told me of lots of great weekday specials - mostly including meat though, so not my cup of tea. (Luckily for me they had a delicious veggie sandwich!)
If you're in town, I'd highly recommend grabbing a bite or a bevvy here ;]
I think it's funny to note that nearly all of the reviews for this place are by people from out of state- it says a lot about this bar's place in the Missoula bar scene. Â Not exactly what most of us consider a typical hangout. Â It does bring some class and sass to the 'hood, with higher prices to go with. Â The fries are tasty, the drinks, while spendy, are excellent if consumed on the back patio, and the decor is pretty darn great. Â Retro light bulbs, poured concrete bar, giant Janis poster on the wall, Jimmy Buffett quote outside, inlaid wood tables....good stuff. Â It definitely gets to be a bit too much of a "scene" late weekend nights, but it's not bad for an early evening cocktail. Â If things get to be too much, you can always slink across the hall to Als and Vics and feel right at home. Â Even better? Â You can get some of Chef Noel's yummy grub (the Aidenator is on my top 5 list of best burgers ever) over on the Als side if you ask real nice.
Review Source:Probably among the pricier places I went to in Montana, and among the least vegetarian-friendly, but for the cheesy Montana-themed food and drink items they offered, it was a little awesome. Â Where else could I get an Elk slider? Â (or a lamb one for that matter?) Â And of course a beer called Moose Drool (which was really quite nice!). Â Perhaps these aren't specific to James Bar, but that I had them all at the same place amused me. Â So did the tree-trunk shaped tables. Â Like I said, kind of cheesy, but a little awesome.
Just watch: the Slider may be made from Elk, but it's still pretty teeny. (also a bit dry...the lamb one was WAY better...)
We just went for drinks, but this place has a great atmosphere. Very cool seating and decor and was fun for a night out with the girls. Very easy to just sit back, relax, and have a drink. They are a bit spendier than other bars but if you want to celebrate an event or are there just to enjoy a drink or two, it's worth it. This is not a place where you go and act like an idiot and get wasted. If you go here, try to be respectful and mature.
I don't know how the food was, but it looked really good from what I saw from other people's orders.
I really like the atmosphere here, but I am always a fan of a dark bar with a fireplace! Â I had been hungry for a good brat & they had it ( with really yummy sides of kraut & braised cabbage although sadly enough the mashed potatoes were below average). Â Margaritas were the happy hour special @ 3 bucks a pop and they hit the spot for sure. Â The husband had a big burger with lots of stuff ( I think it was called the aidenator...) and he finished every last bite with a smile on his face. Â We added the garlic fries to his meal b/c that was what I was originally wanting... I was a little underwhelmed on those. Â Not enough garlic and they were mushy and fatter than I was hoping for. Â I was craving pomme frite style so my expectations may have been a little off. Â Overall, with the nice decor & fireplace & both main dishes on the money I would say I will want to return often. Â Price is a little high... But I liked it all enough not to mind it.
Review Source:I've heard they have great food--what is it, $5 for a beer and a burger if you go at the right time? Â I've never gone. Â Shame on me.
Great atmosphere for little ol' Missoula. Â Pay particular attention to the spot-on decor details (Velocity deer head over the fireplace $400 +).
Funny thing is that this place is literally right next door (Trying to find the bathroom? Be careful!) to Al and Vic's--mostly a dive bar that makes up for everything the James Bar lacks. Â Oh yeah, that would be a strong drink for under $7.
And sometimes it sucks when you're having cocktails with friends in heels when you're ambushed by frats there for the $2 PBR tall-boys.
James Bar definitely had a cool atmosphere, but it lacked in quality. Â The drinks were amazing though even if they were on the pricier side. Â We got the special of the day which was a vodka and basil infused drink. Â Very tasty. Â And a friend recommended that I get the huckleberry vodka (44 degrees north brand) drink and it was rockin'. Â We got the sweet potato tater tots that after a month my friend is still talking about and some of the sliders. Â I got an elk and the house speciality and the elk was all but charbroiled but the house one was good. Â And we got some fries which were enough to feed 4 people perfectly. Â All in all, it was good and if and when I'm back in Missoula I'd definitely give it another try.
Review Source:James bar has a good atmosphere. Â But the drinks are over priced. Â I don't want to go too in detail about the food, but I'll give you an example. Â My last time in, I had their famous sliders. Â Nevermind the fact I'm paying $4 for a 'slider'. Â Or the fact the food service is slow (which I don't believe the wait staff is at fault for). Â The Elk and beef sliders were way over cooked (black on the outside, dry in the middle). Â The bison was charcol on the outside and almost raw in the middle, and the lamb was actually close to a medium well but still had a layer of charcol on the outside. Â
So I won't go there again. Â Nor will I suggest it to friends. Â Again, the only good aspect of this restraunt/bar is the atmosphere.
Very good food, and the vibe is really great. Â Cool black and white rock photos on the wall, and a modern design fireplace. Â Nice low lit atmosphere if you're considering it for a date. Â We had an assortment of sliders, including the duck, bison, ostrich, and elk. Â All were very good and distinct in flavor. Â I particularly enjoyed the duck prepared with Maker's Mark sauce. Â We also enjoyed the spicy garlic fries and tater tots, neither being over-flavored or too salty. Â I believe we may try it again tomorrow night!
Review Source:Bummer, this place has a very nice spot, great theme, but just doesn't follow through with the food. Â I ordered three items; home made french fries, seared ahi and a chicken dish over polenta. Â The fries were cooked well, but covered with entirely too much salt, the tuna was ok, but nothing special and the chicken was over cooked, very dry. Â The polenta was drenched in the sauce that the chicken was cooked in so kinda gross. Â The place is attached to a long time staple of Missoula, Al and Vics (stiffest drinks in town). Â Seemed like a burger cook was cooking food over his head. Â Ostrich meat sliders and lobster corn dogs. Â Newly opened. Â Hope they can make some changes and find the niche. Â I wont be back until they do.
Review Source:
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