M&M Bar and Cafe celebrates grand reopening at new location

BUTTE, Mont. - With St. Patrick’s Day on Friday, Selina Pankovich says she is finally ready to celebrate the reopening of the M&M Bar and Café in uptown Butte. 

At 4:30 on Thursday afternoon, M&M will have a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the long process of rebuilding the iconic Butte bar.  

The new establishment is next door to where the original burned down in May 2021. They held a soft opening for Super Saturday in February, where they started off only serving drinks then slowly added the food menu to the rotation, too. 

Pankovich, the bar’s owner, said while they have been open for a while, she finally feels ready to celebrate after a month of smooth, successful business. 

The bar and café has been incredibly busy since it reopened, she said. They regularly have days where there are constant customers and it can be stressful, but she says she is grateful people have embraced the new location. 

And now customers who used to frequent the original establishment several times a week are already rebuilding that same habit. 

“It’s something that really speaks to your business and the quality of food that you’re putting out and the service that we’re giving people and the atmosphere and people really enjoy coming here and I think that’s a testament to that,”Pankovich said. 

When she first bought the business in 2017 and entertained the idea of a ribbon cutting or grand reopening, but that idea felt unearned, she said. Now that feeling has changed. 

“This time around I do feel confident, and I do feel like we’ve proven ourselves. And I think you know, just the support I’ve received has shown that,” she said. 

Now, she said she is excited to be able to celebrate the success of the reopened M&M, after such a warm welcome back from the Butte community 

“The older generation of people that I was really concerned about whether or not they would embrace the new M&M – well they did, and I really feel like that was a win for me, and I feel like it is time to celebrate the grand opening of the new M&M,” she said.“The ribbon is a well-earned honor.” 

The M&M will be open all weekend, however, the food menu will not be available on St. Patrick’s Day, only drinks will be served. Instead, food vendors will be available outside.