Owners Vicky and Seamus Hammond,
whose family name has been synonymous with Missoula business since the 1870s - along with Executive Chef Noel Mills, a graduate of the Western Culinary Institute in Portland - opened James Bar in 2007 as an idea that the culture of bars and bar food could stand to be elevated in Missoula, Montana. James Bar opened to a local and loyal following and over the years we've evolved our menus, giving certain popular weekly specials a permanent home. As an organization we have always been committed to learning from the past, and we strive to continue expanding our offerings in the future.
As a bar, we are a people that enjoy cold beer, fine whiskey, and tequila spirits with no umbrellas; music played at a volume that fills our hearts; and wine pours that are far from bashful. Our food we enjoy full-flavored and local (when we can get it that way) and prepared at a high level while keeping things approachable and unique. We like good stories, friends, laughter, and giving and receiving "pleases" and "thank you's" because, as George Costanza would say, "we are trying to have a society here."
