You sit here and think that Guy Fieri might just roll in and say "Dude, you're rockin' it" (or another Guy cliche that he's trademarked). Â We've been to Butte a few times in the past 20 years but the place was either being renovated or was so deeply divey and dicey that we passed it by. Â Butte native Sam Jankovich Jr (his dad was once CEO of the New England Patriots) has poured in some $ to Butte's oldest bar (113 years young), and you can have a beer and burger or fried chicken, plus any one of some other classics. Â
The burger is cooked right in front of you on the flat top. Â The cook's need to press that piece of meat down with a weighted flatiron leaves it too dry and well done for my taste, but the beef flavor so still there. Â Fries are made from real potatoes. Â You can play keno or bet on the ponies if you want. Â
Watch the 2004 movie "Don't Come Knocking", pick up Dashiell Hammet's classic "Red Harvest" (set in Butte in the late 1920's), and sit in the M&m for an hour or two. Â Good times.
Went here for breakfast on a Friday around 930 am. Â The cook was handling raw fish...cutting it up. Â The fish juice was running everywhere. Â As the waitress took our order (omelettes), we watched the cook take a dingy, gray rag and wiped the fish juice to the floor from the cutting board, fish juice running down over the counter and onto the floor. Â My only hope was there was some bleach on the rag. Â Next we watched here dry her hands of fish juice on another rag.... a rag that clearly was required by law not to be washed... Â Then proceed to the refrigerator and grab our ingredients... Â Surely she was going to wash her hands...wait for it...wait for it...and that's a negative. Â Cheese came out of the fridge and to our delight was set down right in the remaining fish juice...Awesome, this can't get any better...WRONG apparently the cheese needed to be moved to the adjacent oven and sit on the edge with all the crustyness of of mysterious bits and pieces of what looked like yesterday special. Â Finally the cheese found its way into our omelettes....
At this point it became a challenge of who was going to stay and eat after what we just witnessed sitting at the counter...well we all did. Â I figured, what the hell the grill is hot and killed whatever was now taking up residence in my cheese. Â I ate the whole thing. Â Fear kicked in a few hours later, with a couple tummy gurgles, but turned out to be a false alarm thank God. Â Would I drink a beer here? ABSOLUTELY! Â Would I order food here again? Â Only if you put a gun to a babies head.
M & M Cigar Store is NOT CLOSED. Â They re-opened early this summer and the places is great! Â The owner is from Butte and moved back from Atlanta to re-open the infamous M & M. Â They have a bar on one wall and a grill serving food on the other. (just like in the old days when the mine was operating) Â Lots of TVS for the games, the bar help is lively and doesn't mind answering a few questions! Members of my group couldn't get enough and went back throughout our stay in Butte. Â They have fliers at the bar for a underground tour of Butte, take the tour. Â That too, is worth the time and money.
Review Source:Butte, Montana: this place was a Butte institution! Unfortunately, it's out-of-business. Â Make sure to touch the wall of this place for historical purposes .... Just like I touched the outside wall of Yankee Stadium before they tore it down!
WHOA ... check out Robert R's comments that the M&M has been reopened!
This is the new M&M.  Despite the historic mining era having long ended, it is still the same legendary place that Jack Kerouac  wrote about, where everyday working stiffs can park at a bar stool next to a businessman, a home keeper, a priest, a drunk, a traveler, a poet, and of course one of the town's many characters.  I think this is why Kerouac called it the ideal bar.
The recent renovation was sensitive enough to retain the historic character, and the addition of new front seating combined with booths as seen in Vim Venders movie "Don't Come Knocking" make eating inviting.
The historic fare on the menu was also largely retained with such classics as liver & onions, T-bone steaks, burgers, and omelets served from early morning to wee morning. Â Presentation of the food was upgraded with ingredients purchased locally and prepared with emphasis on quality and good prices. Â The ground round burger was good, but in my opinion a really, really good burger needs a little bit of grease to have just the right amount of juiciness. Â I'm looking forward to trying other items. Â Being from the west coast, I also wish the bar handles included a killer crafted IPA. Â Beer snobbery in Butte is just barely making inroads at the time of this writing.
If you are passing through the Butte, and I don't mean on the Interstate 90, but rather taking the loop through the amazing historic district, the M&M is well worth a food stop. Â It beats the hell out of the national fast food joints as well as any other restaurant whose product comes out of the back of a Food Services of America truck.
As a stand alone joint this place merits 4 stars, as historic as it is it gets five.
We went here based on its appearance in the "Road Foods" book ... it was ok. I understand that it's under new ownership (he was there), but while we visited for lunch, they sold more $$ in merchandise than in actual food, so I hope he's able to turn that around.
Our burgers were fine ... not sure why they cooked on the grill for more than 10 min. each, but maybe the grill isn't heated very high.
Defiintely worth visiting and grabbing a draft beer as a stop along I-70, but I'd have to believe there are other nice places in Butte at which to grab lunch.
Back in the day, this place was the "usual" for me. Â I ate here 2 - 3 times per week for a couple of years. Â I have come back since it reopened and been bitterly disappointed. Â "The cook" Pete, is no longer there. Â Most of the standard dishes are made differently with different ingredients than they used to be.
The staff has always been colorful. Â Elsie, god bless her, always took care of us despite our chenanigans. Â She has since turned her nose up to slinging hash at the M & M and has moved on to the prerelease center. Â The cook the last time we were there was obviously working his way back into society and pulled moves like popping the yolks of eggs with his hand. Â I know this is Butte, but are you kidding me.
I used to love her but she ain't the same.
The M&M no longer lives up to its reputation of being a rough and tumble miners bar but it is still worth the trip to say you've been. The beer is cheaper at other places only blocks away and the last time I was in there, the jukebox was broken. Unfortunately the place was empty and I sat for a few hours and only a handful of people had stopped by to eat. When I ordered food, the kitchen was out of my first two dinner choices and I had to settle for a grilled cheese and french fries. I'm not really liking the new ownership and the not very bar-like atmosphere. I'll probably be back for St. Patrick's Day though...
Review Source:8 years ago i would have given this place five stars. Â It was classic americana, a bar and cafe with out a lock on the door and rough and tumble counter ladies standing hard for the even rougher line cooks. Â No matter what type of attitude they would sling yourway, it was always with a nice side of hashbrowns and perfectly fried eggs. Â Then new ownership and short-order became sold-short. Â Not a good place. Â But, as i understand it, this place is under new ownership which might bode well for my next foray with a ground round burger or a pasty with a side of gravy.
Review Source:The sign inside says it was voted best greasy spoon in the area. Â It has a diner on one side and if you turn around there is a bar. Â The cook said the place opened in 1890 and it is still full of character. Â
We stopped in for breakfast, the sign caught our eye. Â The pancakes or hot cakes as they called them were delicious. Â It is cheap, friendly, and you can see the locals drinking a beer at 10am while you eat your breakfast. Â Definitely a must for anyone interested in history and local favorites. Â The best part though- no smoking.
i still dream of the spudnik burger i had at the m and m.
and it has been *years*..... i have managed to stop twice in my lifetime as i was passing through butte.
if ever you find yourself traveling across the country on I-90... a meal stop at the m and m would be definitely worth your time...
everything you want it to be... kitschy western greasy spoon with an atmosphere you won't find anywhere else.
grab some good gut bomb grub and get back on your way... east or west.
Probably my favorite food in Butte, this place has it all. Â A diner, some pool tables, a bar in the back, and a lone slot machine next to the door. Â The food is cheap and good and you sit at the counter and talk directly to the cook. Â I am pretty sure you could get whatever you wanted as long as they had the stuff to make it, Â my special was great and I wasn't able to finish it. Â The highlight was watching an 80+ year old man strike it rich at the slot machine, a $600 jackpot at 9am, way to go! Â So weird coming from the Midwest where gambling is a little more regulated to see someone hitting the slots while enjoying my eggs.
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