Landmark M&M to reopen
Walkers bring back heart of Uptown Butte
By Erin Nicholes of The Montana Standard - 03/14/2005
Bud Walker is eager to finish the restaurant remodeling and start serving meals from the M&M's familiar menu.
Every morning for 40 years, Kevin Shannon ate a breakfast of cereal and boiled eggs at the M&M Cigar Store at 9 N. Main St.
"They had gambling, and they kept the meals reasonable; it was nourishing food," said Shannon, an 80-year-old Butte native and M&M loyalist.
The M&M went out of business two years ago. The locked doors marked the end of 113 years of continual business and a new chapter in Butte's history, a time of boarded-up windows, sadness and deep concern for Butte's economy.
"It was almost like the feeling you get when the president was shot," said Mike Gordon, who owns Old Butte Antiques. "It meant that much to the Uptown." But good fortune will arrive in Butte this week, just in time for St. Patrick's Day.
The M&M's doors will re-open Tuesday. The bar opens that afternoon and the restaurant, famous for its stick-to-your-ribs food, will follow next month. It will be the same old M&M with the dust blown off, said County Commissioner Bud Walker, who co-owns the business with his son, Marty Walker.
"This is for Butte," Bud said last week, leaning against the counter where people will soon enjoy M&M staples such as short stacks, rib steaks and five-egg omelets. "It's for the Uptown, for the Butte people who want to come back here." A gamble The Walkers took a gamble when they bought the M&M in 2004, a year after former owner Charles Bugni closed after filing for bankruptcy. But the risk is not just about business, Marty said, it is about culture.
"It was the name and the history," he said. "It was time to do something good for home." The Walkers are carrying forward the legacy started by Samuel Martin and William Mosby, who built the M&M in 1890. The M&M's appearance has evolved over the years, but its heart has always encapsulated Butte's calloused but warm spirit, melting-pot history and economic diversity.
"Everybody knew of the M&M; anybody who knows of Butte knows of the M&M," Gordon said. "We used to send people down there to show them what Butte's about. They'd sit there and have a drunk and a lawyer on either side of them." In preparing to reopen, the Walkers focused on protecting the M&M's character.
They replaced wiring, plumbing and kitchen equipment to satisfy health and building codes. They installed a new floor, sanded down the bar, bought a few art pieces and added new lighting. About $100,000 later "we got it back to where it was way back when," Bud said. "The last time any work was done was in the early 1960s." The only structural change is a mezzanine between the gaming room and bar that was added when the movie "Don't Come Knocking" was filmed here last summer.
Otherwise, the M&M feels as comfortable and familiar as always.
Customers are still greeted by the "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" sign written in blue marker on white paper, attached to the wall with duct tape. Even some familiar faces will return to fill the 25 to 30 jobs the Walkers are offering. And at least a few regulars will return to their old seats.
"A lot of the old retirees, that's how they'd get their food," Shannon said. "I'm sure I'm going to have some meals there." The future The Walkers have plenty of their own memories of the M&M.
"My mom used to work late on Thursdays so we came up here as a family" for dinner, Marty said.
"I had the sausage and eggs with the short stack" for breakfast often on Saturdays and Sundays, Bud said.
Those memories have shaped their vision for the M&M.
People can expect the same food at affordable, albeit slightly higher prices than in the past. People can still congregate at the bar daily, and sports-bar attributes will be added to draw people in for games. People can buy cigars, gamble or just sit around and talk.
It's a revival eagerly awaited by many Butte people.
"All business creates more business," said Charlie Nutter, bartender at Maloney's Bar at 112 N. Main St. "And I need a place to eat at 4 in the morning when I'm done stocking this place."
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- anonymous 5-27-2003 12:45 am
Landmark M&M to reopen
Walkers bring back heart of Uptown Butte
By Erin Nicholes of The Montana Standard - 03/14/2005
Bud Walker is eager to finish the restaurant remodeling and start serving meals from the M&M's familiar menu.
Every morning for 40 years, Kevin Shannon ate a breakfast of cereal and boiled eggs at the M&M Cigar Store at 9 N. Main St.
"They had gambling, and they kept the meals reasonable; it was nourishing food," said Shannon, an 80-year-old Butte native and M&M loyalist.
The M&M went out of business two years ago. The locked doors marked the end of 113 years of continual business and a new chapter in Butte's history, a time of boarded-up windows, sadness and deep concern for Butte's economy.
"It was almost like the feeling you get when the president was shot," said Mike Gordon, who owns Old Butte Antiques. "It meant that much to the Uptown." But good fortune will arrive in Butte this week, just in time for St. Patrick's Day.
The M&M's doors will re-open Tuesday. The bar opens that afternoon and the restaurant, famous for its stick-to-your-ribs food, will follow next month. It will be the same old M&M with the dust blown off, said County Commissioner Bud Walker, who co-owns the business with his son, Marty Walker.
"This is for Butte," Bud said last week, leaning against the counter where people will soon enjoy M&M staples such as short stacks, rib steaks and five-egg omelets. "It's for the Uptown, for the Butte people who want to come back here." A gamble The Walkers took a gamble when they bought the M&M in 2004, a year after former owner Charles Bugni closed after filing for bankruptcy. But the risk is not just about business, Marty said, it is about culture.
"It was the name and the history," he said. "It was time to do something good for home." The Walkers are carrying forward the legacy started by Samuel Martin and William Mosby, who built the M&M in 1890. The M&M's appearance has evolved over the years, but its heart has always encapsulated Butte's calloused but warm spirit, melting-pot history and economic diversity.
"Everybody knew of the M&M; anybody who knows of Butte knows of the M&M," Gordon said. "We used to send people down there to show them what Butte's about. They'd sit there and have a drunk and a lawyer on either side of them." In preparing to reopen, the Walkers focused on protecting the M&M's character.
They replaced wiring, plumbing and kitchen equipment to satisfy health and building codes. They installed a new floor, sanded down the bar, bought a few art pieces and added new lighting. About $100,000 later "we got it back to where it was way back when," Bud said. "The last time any work was done was in the early 1960s." The only structural change is a mezzanine between the gaming room and bar that was added when the movie "Don't Come Knocking" was filmed here last summer.
Otherwise, the M&M feels as comfortable and familiar as always.
Customers are still greeted by the "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service" sign written in blue marker on white paper, attached to the wall with duct tape. Even some familiar faces will return to fill the 25 to 30 jobs the Walkers are offering. And at least a few regulars will return to their old seats.
"A lot of the old retirees, that's how they'd get their food," Shannon said. "I'm sure I'm going to have some meals there." The future The Walkers have plenty of their own memories of the M&M.
"My mom used to work late on Thursdays so we came up here as a family" for dinner, Marty said.
"I had the sausage and eggs with the short stack" for breakfast often on Saturdays and Sundays, Bud said.
Those memories have shaped their vision for the M&M.
People can expect the same food at affordable, albeit slightly higher prices than in the past. People can still congregate at the bar daily, and sports-bar attributes will be added to draw people in for games. People can buy cigars, gamble or just sit around and talk.
It's a revival eagerly awaited by many Butte people.
"All business creates more business," said Charlie Nutter, bartender at Maloney's Bar at 112 N. Main St. "And I need a place to eat at 4 in the morning when I'm done stocking this place."
- SER from Butte (guest) 3-15-2005 12:21 am [add a comment]