J & M Cafe

Seattle, United States

3.4

Open now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 206-402-6654
Website:
www.jandmcafe.com
Address:
201 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA, 98104
b/t Main St & Washington St
Pioneer Square
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
270 ft1st Ave S & Yesler Way
530 ft1st Ave & Yesler Way
660 ftOccidental Mall
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
Yes
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Lunch
Parking
Garage, Street
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
No
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Music
Live
Good For Dancing
Yes
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
Yes
Best Nights
Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check
No
Smoking
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Waiter Service
Yes
Drive-Thru
No
Caters
No
Has Pool Table
No

Today

Today 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Open now
Local time (Seattle) 11:20 Wednesday, 23 April 2025

Business hours

Monday 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Tuesday 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Wednesday 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Thursday 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Friday 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Saturday 10:00 am – 2:00 am
Sunday 10:00 am – 2:00 am

Description

Specialties

The J&M Café is better than ever! Happy Hour every day 3−7PM Half-​price Appetizers, $ 1off select Drafts, Well Drinks and Wine

Great Food, $ 5 Lunch Specials

Full Bar, Draft Beer

Live blues and rock nightly, and DJ on weekends.

The J&M Café is a historic Seattle institution — fully renovated with a new menu and chef. Come see us before «The Game» and after for live music every night at 9:00 PM. We also have 7 flat screen TVs and 1 HD big screen to watch your favorites.

History

Established in 2010.

The J & M Café is located in historic Pioneer Square. Originally built in 1889 we are considered the first bar in Seattle.

We are a full service restaurant and bar, with live entertainment nightly. Classically trained Chef Carlton features house made food utilizing local purveyors.

The J & M Café has been a Seattle favorite nightlife and dining destination for over a century. We recently fully renovated and revitalized the restaurant, updating the feel of The J & M while retaining the old charm that we are famous for.

The J & M welcomes all to come and enjoy the atmosphere and traditions of being the local bar that you can dine, dance or watch your favorite sporting event.

Meet the Manager

Carlton G.

Manager

Chef Carlton is a classically trained chef with over 20 years experience whose simple yet modern approach to pub cuisine brings a new level to the J & M. Specializing in local ingredients and handmade food, featuring items from Seattle favorite producers such as Grand Central Bakery, Beecher’s Cheese, Painted Hills Beef and Uli’s Sausage, among others. His favorite appetizer is the Maple Braised Slab Bacon. He also enjoys the wide variety of sandwiches and burgers — including the Knuckle Sandwich, guaranteed to ‘kick your pork butt’. Retro specialties include dishes such as Hangtown Fry and Liver & Onions. He also offers a dessert menu, featuring house-​baked choices such as the Washington Street Apple Crisp and decadent Chocolate Bacon Cake.

Please stop by and say you saw it on YELP

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20 reviews of J & M Cafe

No registration required
Place rating: 1
Federal Way, WA
Very disappointed.
A group of friends and myself headed here for post baseball food and drinks.
I will say one of us in the group did have a few more drinks than others at the game. But what happened just didn’t set right with me.
We came in and the place was actually really cool! I love how open it was and the atmosphere was chill and lay back.
I’m huge on customer service and well what happened is the following. Our server came to our table and took our drink order. She was a female. Then a male server came to bring us our drinks, some ordered alcoholic beverages and others ordered soda pop. From there he had asked what we would like to eat. We wanting a pizza and fries. The server than said oh we are out of fries but then says he’s gonna check on it. He then walked over to the bartender and made a motion that our table was cut off alcohol wise. He comes back and says they’re out of pizza dough.
So I’m confused 6pm on a Sunday and everything in your kitchen is 86’d including good or even reasonable service. Oh and the whole table cannot order any drinks? I understand the alcohol reason but come on at this point you didn’t want to serve us ANYTHING.
Oh and then our server left with a backpack and never mentioned he was leaving for the evening and anyone was taking over.
Sadly I won’t be tasting the food cause they seem to be out of everything and I wouldn’t want to risk having a bad situation like this to happen again.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
This place has one of the best happy hours in the entire Seattle Area. I have not tried any food here although it looked great. A few of us stopped by on the late night after Sounders game to find live music with a really good band. Definitely recommend this bar for anyone who is looking for a few drinks and good time with good people. See you again soon J & M.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Chris wow what a great addition. Been coming here forever. work in the area. Handled issues with creepers tonight for me without batting an eye. Owners… good job! Keep this guy!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
This is a great spot to go in Pioneer Square on the weekend or before and after a sports game. I was there before the Mariner game yesterday. The food is very basic and was either a hamburger or chicken sandwich. Fully stocked bar.
I have never had a problem finding a table there on a Sunday morning. No joke, that’s when I go to baseball games.
The bar was jam packed during SantaCon a couple years ago.
Place rating: 1
Bainbridge Island, WA
Service was horrible!!! Waitress MIA 99% of the time, then out of no where appears on the dance floor to dance with what looked like her boyfriend. Band tonight was awesome!!! Will be looking them up for future venues. J&M work on your customer service. Won’t return!
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
This is a daytime review only, I don’t go here at night.
Recent change in management made a huge difference here. It’s very relaxed, but service is prompt and super friendly. The servers and bartenders are all great and I will miss their welcoming smiles and conversation when I move out of state soon. The music here used to be awful but since management changed, it’s usually quite good. Comfortable, historic atmosphere, good food, standard beer selection with 3 local IPAs, huge liquor supply. Try the BLT wedge salad, it’s fantastic.
Place rating: 5
Maple Valley, WA
We stopped in for a quick bit and drink when walking around downtown. Sat at the bar, great service, cool old building and the best chili xheese fries you will ever have.
Place rating: 1
San Francisco, CA
Worst food ever. The chicken is nasty and when I asked why the waitress said I should have gotten it fried. Then she told me to «go walk up a hill». I’m actually in shape and she was far from it. Chili is cold. Beer is only thing they do descent.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
This place is AWESOME, especially before a Seahawks home game! I went here during the last Seahawks home game to grab some brunch before heading to CLink — awesome! We came here pretty early (10am) so luckily there were still enough tables available for us to pick. One thing they do (I’m not sure if this is just weekends only or during game days) but they do brunch buffets for only $ 12/​person! The buffet ends at 11am so FYI make sure you arrive early enough to get enough food! While the selection is limited, they have all the standard breakfast items: eggs, biscuits and gravy, bacon, sausages, quiche, pancakes. It is definitely worth it to pig out on breakfast food! We also ordered quite a few Bloody Mary’s — they are AWESOME! They have 3 kinds you can choose from — regular, spicy, or bacon. I only ordered the spicy and it was deeeeelicious! There was the right amount of spice in it as well. As more fans came in to the café, it of course became much louder and rowdier. They have many different TVs and projector screens and each one of them was showing a different NFL game. Of course there were also the random SEA-​HAWKS chants. :) Awesome environment, especially before Seahawks home games!
Place rating: 2
Austin, TX
I’m a bit mixed in my feelings towards this place. To be sure, J & M Café has some things going for it.
In the experiences I’ve had here, the staff is typically quite friendly. The room itself is spacious and really does provide a cool atmosphere. Nice stage with good music.
One of the main things that holds this place back for me is the food — specifically the burgers. I’ve tried burgers here maybe two or three times and was always somewhat disappointed. I’m not expecting to be blown away or anything, but the beef patties themselves have always been overcooked, dry, and they frankly just don’t taste that good. I’m not sure if it’s that their using cheap beef, or if the kitchen doesn’t really know how to cook burgers or what. Whatever the oversight is, it really does show. I’ts evident to me that there’s a lack of passion in the kitchen when it comes to their burgers at least. I should note that their french fries, on the other hand, are actually pretty tasty.
Additionally, I think most every time I’ve been there, either the bar top or table I’m sat at is sticky, which is a bummer. Never ideal to sit down for a meal or drink and the first thing you notice is your forearms sticking to the table.
The J & M Café is a great room in a good spot — I hope the other stuff gets fixed to really do it justice! For now, J & M is the place I’d stop for a beer or something if I was in the area and had nowhere else to go.
Place rating: 5
Seattle, WA
Typical pub food & drinks, but with great staff. Awesome live music every Thursday after 9:30pm, by «The True Romans,» who are the BEST cover band, made up of members of local Seattle bands.
They play your requests and don’t disappoint!
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
Great spot to come grab some food and watch some sports. I had a burger and fries with a side of artichoke dip and looking back I may have done the sliders my friend got.
Beer tower is a must here it’s awesome.
Place rating: 3
Tampa, FL
Since Pioneer Square has had its ups and downs (someone earlier that day said it’s a shooting gallery down there), we still went. We were looking for live music. Somehow, it’s been harder to find these days… a decade ago and prior it was in your face no matter where you went. You couldn’t get away from live music if you wanted to.
So, off we went, searching for live music and our ears took us here. We had already eaten, it was already starting to get late.
The (what seemed like the) house band was really good. Playing some funky and some disco-​ish tunes, we knew most of the songs and enjoyed how they played.
Had a couple beers, our server was really sweet, and then we headed back up town since it was starting to get closer to when everything closes down. Since when does Seattle close down?
Place rating: 3
San Diego, CA
Old and original — love those two things together. This place is one of the first bars in Seattle. The bar is huge, especially for how old the place is. We just hung out with friends and had a few drinks. The service was great.
Place rating: 2
Bellevue, WA
Meh. I’ve experienced better pretty much sums up J&M Café for me. Nothing really stands out on a positive front, though shooting pool in the back is fun (however, the tables themselves aren’t in the best playing shape).
One thing I’d pass along to the bar manager (s) here, when your waitstaff asks someone if they’d like their drink to be a double, they aren’t expecting to pay double the price of a single. Explain to me how there’s any value in that for the customer whatsoever. The point of offering a double has to be beneficial for both the bar and the customer. Bar makes one drink instead of two which increases production and eases the burden on the bartenders. The customer gets what amounts to a second drink at a discounted rate (usually 1.5x the cost of a single drink; $ 10 for a single, $ 15 for a double). Just something to consider…
Place rating: 3
Seattle, WA
Who puts Bud Light in a Moscow Mule instead of ginger beer? J & M Café.
What’s even more surprising is the server noticed this mistake, still served the drinks to us, and then when we complained she admitted that she saw the bartender pour the Bud Light in. What the whatttt.
Anyway, J & M Café serves fried food and has karaōke. For that, I give 3 stars.
Total dive bar feel, but one of the larger bars in the area so seating is always available.
Place rating: 4
Seattle, WA
A very liberal HH makes this a good spot to stop by on the way home after work. Bartenders and servers make the rounds frequently, refilling glasses, taking orders, and delivers what looks to be better-​than-​bar food.
There’s a huge back area that works for office HH, but the crowd stays in the front.
Recommend.
Place rating: 5
Marysville, WA
A much better experience tonight. The guy at the bar makes a bom mojito. I saw him muddle the lime and mint and maybe it was just a few juicy limes but it was sooo good. I also got a Washington Apple but I think it didn’t have any cranberry juice. I like crown royal so I wasn’t going to complain.
He made me a keylime pie drink last. It was super sweet but with the lime garnish added in it was great. Took the sweet edge off and added the sour from the lime.
James? Jason? Jessy? I donno… Long-​ish wavy brown hair. Great bartender
Place rating: 3
Seattle, WA
My BF’s boss invited everyone and their +1’s to a Mariners game. They decided to eat at J&M Café before the game. Since I was late, I ended up sharing with my BF, who had ordered the portobello burger with an added hamburger patty. Not sure why he wanted to order it like that, but he did. The burger was juicy and flavorful on a wonderfully toasted bun. It was really good, but there was no portobello! Oh well. The fries that it came with were crispy and addicting.
Not a bad place for burgers and beer when you’re in the area.
Place rating: 3
Washington, DC
My partner and I were visiting the area and we wanted to have a feel of a bar full of Seattle Seahawks fans. This definitely met the criteria. The ambiance was nice; however they do keep the door open so sitting by the bar was a bit chilly. Our bartender, Mimia, was super friendly and amazing. We ordered a mushroom and Swiss burger to share and we were impressed with it. It did come with a plethora of French fries, and it was delicious. This restaurant does offer beer towers so if you’re into that, they have a pretty good deal for it. They do have numerous TVs, and the Seahawks game started playing, the place is deafening. The sound system was way loud for my liking.
I was craving something sweet so I asked if they had any desserts. At first, Mimia stated that they didn’t have dessert then came back and said they had an apple pie. I should’ve been skeptical, but I love apple pies. It was the worst thing I’ve ever put in my mouth when it comes to apple pies. It was disgusting. The ice cream that came with it was good, and I tried to finish the pie, but oh my gosh, for the first time ever, I couldn’t finish something. It was that bad. The appearance of the apple pie should’ve warned me; it looked like it was processed or bought somewhere that doesn’t normally specialize or sell apple pies. Because of that experience, I wanted to give this a 1 star, but Mimia was awesome.
Tip: do NOT order the apple pie. Keep your money and go somewhere else for dessert.