J&M Bar

In a word: Worthy of a Belle-hop.

The specs: #00918   
127 W. Main St., Belleville, 53508
Details at Yelp,

Latest J&M Bar news and reviews

JM ate the chicken sandwich with a lemonade.
Nichole ate the bacon burger with a cranberry juice.
We split some curly fries and a basket of complementary pretzel sticks.
The bill was about $20, or $10/person, plus tip.
JM and Nichole gave J&M Bar a B+ (see our grading rubric).

Belleville is a lovely spot to bike to. The Badger State Trail is a good place to hit on a summer's day, the terrain is mostly flat, and it passes through town near the main drag.  We'd probably stop in Belleville more often, but we hadn't yet found a good place to eat (though Borland's has a decent fish fry; the convenience store on the north side of town, while nice, is not worthy of a bike ride). J&M seems to fill the bill nicely.

The first thing that J&M has going for it are nice people. Really nice. They offered us free pretzel sticks with a good mustard. And while the service was laid back and not rushed, every single staff person in the place (about 6) stopped at our table to see if we needed anything. 

JM's chicken sandwich was pretty standard but even in that there is a great deal of comfort. The bun was toasted, but ample sauce was to hand so that the moistness of the dish was not threatened.  Each bite was good, meaning that the fry medium was definitely top notch.

Curly fries = standard.

Nichole got a burger, so let's see how it does on Accidental Hedonist's burger rubric:

• Bun: untoasted white sesame bakery roll. Airy but with structural integrity.
• Meat: thick patty, juicy.
• Bun/meat ratio: good.
• Cheese: Skipped this time. Bacon was crispy.
• Misc.: The home-grown (by the owners) tomato slice on this burger made the sandwich - it was more like a BLT plus beef. A 9.5 of 10, with the acknowledgement that it's dependent on tomato season.

The best part of the burger, and J&M itself, was that it was so unassuming. J&M will never make the paper for growing their own tomato, or put up a billboard touting their farm freshness. Ever since we finished the List and started the Wheel, we've been making the rounds of lots of corner taverns. These kinds of family-run places can be hit or miss in the wild, but once in a while there's a place like J&M, so genuine that we'll gladly add it to the "try again" list.

Comments

[Marissa M.]

Is that upside down cheese on the chicken sandwich? What kind of sauce? That looks delicious!

Did JM give it a half point bump for "really awesome name"?