J&M Cafe And Cardroom

This place is blatantly RACIST. If you are African-​American or Latino you are not welcome. I went here after work with my co workers for happy hours. I being the only African American 1 Mexican and 5 whites. When we arrived there was a white woman having a drink at the bar. She nicely moved down a chair so that our party could sit together. A female bartender with long dark hair told me that I couldn’t sit there because it was to close to the bar walk up. I instantly thought to myself why was it ok for the woman to sit there but not me but no problem I moved down. Our Mexican friend asked for a menu and the female bartender
totally ignored him and went on to ask our white co workers what were they having. When she got to me I was asked for I.D. I am 47yrs old and some of my co workers are in their 20’s but wasn’t I.D.ed but again no problem. I handed her my drivers license and was told my license had a crack in it and she couldn’t except it. My coworkers became very upset and asked for the management. He came out and our Mexican friend told him that she totally ignored him and they told him about her attitude towards us. He looked at me and said she had the right to refuse service to whomever she wanted. We all walked out and even the woman who was there when we arrived was like wow and stated she was offended herself and also walked out. I seemed to be the only one not upset, heck I didn’t care to spend my hard earned money in this place anyhow.

This place was OK at best. The service was hit/​miss the whole time and food was just… boring. It seemed like the atmosphere with the customers really carried this place and made it tolerable but other than that, the service/food…forget it.

I ate lunch here today. Everything was consistent but priced high so make sure to come during happy hour. Check it out Unilocal

Friendly and neat place

My roomie and I went wandering around the area looking for a pool hall to crash and came upon this place first. They just got 2 pool tables (not full size) in the back room and we played a couple of games for $ 1/​game.
The atmosphere was really good! Not too shabby for a Wednesday night, but it definitely felt a bit empty since the place is so big. The drinks were priced well ($ 5/​glass), our server was very friendly and attentive, and the people are friendly and happy!
The best part? ROCKARAOKE! A live band behind you for karaōke? YES PLEASE.

It’s open again. As I write this I have been waiting for lunch 45 minutes. For a grilled cheese?
Totally unprepared to serve customers. Looks nice inside. Certainly had plenty of time to look at it…

Went in as we heard it was open again.
The place was fairly empty but looked great after the recent remodel.
We had burgers and a grilled cheese with avocado. Of course cocktails were had as well.
Our cocktails were poured quite strong and our server was amazingly attentive. When the food arrived there was a mix-​up in ordering that they fixed right away. The owner (?) or manager (?) got involved at this time just to make sure we were okay. He was such a nice gentleman.
The food was awesome and the prices were amazing. Was very happy and will definitely go back!

Yes, it’s open again.
I had never been before it closed, so I was eager to try a new place in town. A couple of us arrived early (around 5:30) and the place was virtually empty, but we assumed it was because the reopening hadn’t been well advertised.
We were disappointed there was no happy hour menu, especially at a bar as old as this one, especially at any bar in the Pioneer Square area. Really?
We ordered a pair of martinis and the ½ & ½ plate (½ fries, ½ onion rings). While well-​seasoned, both were very lightly cooked, almost to the point of being under-​cooked. Our martinis were well poured the first round, but then a shift change happened and the drinks seemed to significantly drop in size and strength.
A friend later ordered the pork sandwich– that, at least, was as good as we were hoping.
The thing that bothered me most was when we got our tab. The food was priced on-​menu, and seemed reasonable. Then we saw our drink tab — $ 13 for a martini. This isn’t even a downtown hotel, and even then, the most I’ve ever been charged is $ 12! We were absolutely horrified. I’m just glad we didn’t get fancy with our orders.
A $ 70 tab later, we left disappointed. I really wanted to like this place, but it feels like just another tourist trap. It will be interesting to hear how the place changes after more people start arriving.

Woah … closed?
First let me comment on the review below — HILARIOUS! haha. But harsh maybe.
I’ve been to the J&M a bunch of times. I’ll admit the reason was because I knew a bartender … had I not known him, I’d have never bothered. It’s pretty divey but in a freat boy, dirty bathroom kind of way. Not the cool kind of divey I love.
Once I saw a drunk woman instigate a fight between two men and then the Police came and there was a brawl. Even one of the bouncers got arrested!
It’s one of those places that’s so dimly lit that once you have booze in your belly you’re forgiving. Had you seen the place sober with the lights on… totally different story. Maybe it’s not a bad thing that this place is gone.

Decent music, but no one was dancing. No toilet paper in the bathroom. Lame.

J and M! Meh. I guess we can all meet up there…
For a historical building, this place is a true dump. What people have said about the restrooms are very true. They have an endless weird funk that no amount of cleaning could get rid of. The crowd is pretty trashy sometimes. The bartenders are completely unattentive.
But, plusses include:
They do have a decent club mix here on the weekends, and sometimes, they serve jello shooters, which, although they are kind of weak, i still love that they make them here. And they open the windows in the summertime.
Not intolerable, but after a couple times, you will be wondering what other bars you can get into with the club stamp.

Wednesday burgers are a good lunch deal if you can stand the smell. Think the walls are full of dead rats and the place smells so bad I would rather drop a few bucks elsewhere and enjoy my meal. Service is not the worst, but pretty bad.

I’ve only been to J&M for lunch on Wednesdays, when they have the $ 6 burger entrée specials. My favorite is the swiss/​mushroom, but they’re all tasty. The homemade rosemary potato chips are heaped on, or if you prefer to have a true heart attack (and not a weak one), get the fries — super-​crunchy and 100% yum.
And yes, the tables feel sticky… but that’s what plates are for! ;-)
Service on weekdays during the lunch rush is sporadic… if you don’t want to wait too long, go before 11 or after 12:30 for a good table and quicker attention from the waitstaff. One hurrah for the service: if you have four people with four credit cards, they are more than happy to have four different tabs.
Recommended if you’re into good burgers that won’t break the bank.

The farthest from classy you can get (and not in any sort of good way).
Just thinking about this place makes me cringe.
You might disagree if you like STDs and humping trashy girls on the dance floor. Whatever floats your boat.

I wound up at the J & M on Friday night and it managed to totally gross me out, dude. The bathroom honestly smelled like someone pooped in the corner and the flies swarming everywhere in the loo did nothing to contradict the smell’s intimations. A woman had all of her makeup spread out around the sinks and it was all I could do to keep myself from asking her what the hell she was thinking putting anything on her eyes that had been exposed to the germy air in that room.
Oh, and I made the mistake of ordering a beer here and was charged $ 5 for the pint of PBR I ordered on a whim.

Stopped by the J&M to whet my whistle this weekend and I’m glad that we only stopped for one beer at $ 5 each. Ouch! That price is way out of line for a place like this. That being said… I love the little details of the space itself. The massive (hand carved?) bar, the stained glass, the ancient looking ceiling and walls, it’s a living, breathing piece of Seattle history. I imagine this place hasn’t changed much since the turn of the century and I can only imagine the tales those walls could tell!
I don’t think I’ll be going back to the J&M, unless I have friends coming from out of town and then only during happy hour.

It’s a good spot for Lunch.
Well Monday’s apparently has $ 2.00 off any entrée. That makes pizza’s around $ 4. They’re not bad. The Burger’s are really good though. I had the western burger which had some bbq sauce on it along with onion rings.
The best part about the meal were the fries. I don’t know how they were made, but they’re really crunchy and I would have to say that they might have been the best fries I’ve ever had. Well, maybe not that good, but they are pretty tasty.
The kitchen looks to be putting out some pretty good food and you really can’t be the deals on Monday’s. Worth a peek.

I work relatively nearby and know this place primarily as a lunch destination, because of the deals that are offered on some weekdays. In particular, entrees are $ 2 off on Mondays (at least at lunch time), which brings the cost of a lunch (including tax and tip, minus anything other than water to drink) to around $ 7, which is respectable for a sit-​down place. The food itself is good. Much better than you’d expect based on the look and that distant odor that a century of dampness and years of beer-​soaked floors creates.
While their food may offer a respectable value, their prices on beer during non-​happy hours do not. A pint of anything other than domestic swill is $ 5 – and maybe even the domestic swill, too, as I saw some poor sap get taken for $ 10 for two bottles of Coors Light, which – extrapolated into a cost of just over $ 53 per gallon – makes even today’s inflated gasoline prices look downright appealing. He objected – fruitlessly, of course, but justifiably, in my opinion. That’s just unreasonable.
Most of the staff I’ve encountered is quite personable, although one fellow in particular continued to walk back and forth past my poor empty pint glass before I finally flagged him down and asked him if I could have another. Personally, I think that if you’re going to tend bar, one of your duties is to keep a mindful eye on your customers – especially when there are only a handful over which to watch. Then again, perhaps he realizes that the pints are overpriced and is thus hesitant to push them. But I doubt it.

Crappy bar food + stiff drinks + friendly bartenders + open before noon = alcoholic’s paradise!
Met some friends here for an early lunch and we were surprised to see about half a dozen people at the bar ordering shots. Come on, don’t you know the noon rule?

No matter how many times I leave the J and M cursing the heavens or kicking over some bums shopping cart I can’t help getting home and realizing what a great time I had while there.
The J and M is not your typical Pioneer Square club, it has a disgusting meat market feel with hardly 21 year old boys and girls slobbering drunk, dancing on the bar, showing the ass-​ets and just having a great time in general.
The bar has been there over a hundred years and I find it hard to believe that the original founders Jameson and Moffet really ever thought that it would be like it is today. Then again if they were truly fun loving guys, maybe they did!
The J and M is a great place to find a date, get cheap drinks, meet great staff, and just have fun. Highly recommended and well worth it. Sometimes I actually think attending the J and M is part of the UW indoctrination!
Oh and by the way, during the day the J and M is a full fledged restaurant with an amazing menu featuring everything from Smoked Salmon Pizza to Mango Stuffed Duck Pockets. Prices are great and the food is top of the line. Don’t miss happy hour either with cheap wells, $ 2 drafts and GREAT happy hour food. Including those Mini-​Burgers that are more addicting than a crack habit!