Editor's note: Burgermeisters! Here's another excerpt from George Motz's book Hamburger America. George and his publisher were kind enough to allow us to run them here, along with George's beautiful photos. We'll be running one every other week. Eat up!
If you were expecting a cozy, dark, pub you’ll be shocked by the Missoula Club’s first impression. During the day the Mo Club (as it’s affectionately known) looks like any well-worn watering hole, but at night the daylight seems to linger. Thanks to super-bright bluish overhead fluorescent lighting, the place is lit up like an operating room in the midst of a triple bypass surgery.
The first time I visited the famous burger and beer destination, I walked in with a friend and we were greeted with a boisterous, "Hello, LADIES!" It’s a rowdy, drinker’s bar that serves great burgers. You have been warned.
The burger at the Mo Club is legendary. "The hamburger is the best thing on the menu!” employee Jim Kelly told me. Of course, the joke is that the hamburger is the only thing on the menu, aside from chips and milkshakes.
"Our burgers are over a third of a pound each," owner Mark Laslovich said of the large, juicy patties. Mark also revealed that the amazing tasting burger has chopped onions mixed into the raw meat before they are pattied. Mark has owned the century-old bar since 2000, but has worked there at some capacity for over 40 years. One of the recent changes Mark made at the Mo Club was installing a larger griddle. Well, not too much larger. "This one’s a burger wider than the old one," Mark said of the tiny 2 foot-wide griddle.
As bars go, the Mo Club is a clean one. "It wasn’t always this clean," Mark told me. "When I took over, this place was a mess." I asked Mark why the lighting was more conducive to a well-lit truck stop than a cozy Irish pub and he explained, "I believe it keeps people honest and the fights to a minimum." Mark told me that a group of women who frequent the bar once asked him to install a dimmer because they were getting older. His advice: "Have another beer."
Missoula Club
139 West Main Street, Missoula MT 59802
406-728-3740 Hours: 7 days a week, 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Hamburger America is available at Amazon and comes with a DVD of George's movie of the same title.
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If you were expecting a cozy, dark, pub you’ll be shocked by the Missoula Club’s first impression. During the day the Mo Club (as it’s affectionately known) looks like any well-worn watering hole, but at night the daylight seems to linger. Thanks to super-bright bluish overhead fluorescent lighting, the place is lit up like an operating room in the midst of a triple bypass surgery.
2 Comments:
Yeaaah! Only a couple hours away from me. I'll have to swing by a grab a cheeseburger. Next time try stopping at the York Bar & Grill in York, MT.
Montana Eats at 12:49PM on 08/20/08
Heh, I always do a double-take when I see my hometown mentioned *anywhere* outside of local sites. :)
I also may be the only person who has lived in Missoula but not eaten at the Mo' Club. Oops.
pieninja at 4:12PM on 08/20/08