Mary Jane bourbon + smokehouse — Restaurant in Cape Girardeau

TL;DR: Great burgers/sandwiches, home made ketchup, delicious fries, and great craft beer on tap!

Yet another update: The menu here seems different every time I come and yet I still find something delicious on each visit. The Hoisin Skewers are absolutely delightful. A tangy sweet sauce on three chicken skewers with some awesome bacon green beans.

Update: on another visit I had the Chicken & Waffles from the brunch menu. Breading was delicious, but the waffle and chicken disappointed me. I felt regret at not ordering something else. My wife had "The Gargantuan" a massive double smash burger smothered in pork and queso. I tried a bite and it's amazing 😍.

I had high expectations, and they were exceeded. Food was great, and Nick W. (our server) was on point the entire time. Drinks rarely got low, and food was quick to arrive.

I had the Smoked Cheese Steak Sammy. This is a cheese steak served on a pretzel bun. It's absolutely drenched in queso. So much so it was difficult to eat and I loved it. The fries at the bottom were coated in queso and I wish I'd have dipped them all in it.

My wife had the Brisket Sammy and she powered through it. It has onions, and she normally does not eat onions. Halfway through that sandwich she was complimenting them and how well they went with it.

My daughter had a cheeseburger and fries. She doesn't always finish her meals, but she had half a fry left when she finally decided she was done.

The fries need special mention. They are battered and served with a home made ketchup that tastes like the IPA of ketchups. It's good, but no match for the queso. I will be trying the Pueblo Fries (queso fries with pulled pork) on a future visit.

The interior and food remind me of a few other places I've been, but $10-$15 per person made this cheaper than expected.

Aside from the food, the bathroom is pretty cool. It's dark and yet fairly clean considering how difficult it would be to clean

They have 4Hands on tap along with other delicious craft beers. I tried their beer of the month and it was a solid 4/5.

Their Apple Pie French Toast is wonderful without being too sweet. While I prefer sourdough french toast, this one is made with brioche, topped with "apple topping" that is deliciously spiced and soft. The candied walnuts are an OK addition, but get drowned out easily by the apple. It is served with a whipped butter that is just sweet enough. Id easily order this again, but it would probably taste better with peaches.

My wife tried the Caesar Salmon Salad. The salmon was beautifully smoked to flakey perfection. The Caesar dressing was well balanced but the dish overall is outshined easily by other entries on the menu.

We had an appetizer order of the Pueblo Fried that were so good they were devoured before I remembered to take a picture. It's a massive mound of fries, pulled pork, and a deluge of queso.

My in-laws had the Trinity, but they ran out of pulled pork (apparently it's so good they run out of it quickly) and they instead got brisket (which is $5 extra). Come early if you intend to get this.

I've also tried the Pesto Chicken Sammy. It was delicious with panko encrusted chicken that was severely oversized for the sandwich. The pesto and chicken paired perfectly.

Their Mac and Cheese is massive in a bow that looks to be 10-12 inches in diameter. Everyone who tried it said it was amazing.

This is easily one of my favorite places to...

Two stars is really stretching it and I hate to give poor reviews. We came to town from out of state for a family vacation. My birthday happened to fall during this week. Based on reviews, I chose to come here for my birthday dinner and I 100% regret it. Even if it wasn't my birthday meal, it was a huge dissappointment for myself/husband, total of 5 of us and a waste of $110. We started off at one table and were waiting for our drinks when we moved to another table that was more toddler friendly. At the new table we immediately noticed the velvet back of seat benches were covered in what looked like lots of food finger prints and food/drink splatters dried and crusted all over it. We needed that type seating for little one so we stayed. We didn't dare lean back on it, it was disgusting and looked like years of food left behind on it. Next we had three glasses of water which one had lipstick stains, one with food crusted on inside and another with some funk inside. When the waitress brought to go cups of water at our request, she didn't remove the gross glasses from the table. When the remaining guests arrived she did at least bring their glasses in to go cups without asking. The waitresses (two different ones) didn't bring us any plates with our two seperately ordered appetizers (to share among 3 people and you needed plates for these type of appetizers) as we waited on other guests to arrive, we had to ask for them. When the food came it was not good at all. In fact the "meat" in my brisket mac n cheese was completly chared and hockey pucks, inedible. I should have said something and sent it back but we had been there a while and I was hungry so I ate the mac n cheese. The corn fritter side I ordered came after with all of center batter uncooked. I opened them and all were that way. My husband went to find the waitress since we hadn't seen her in a while to show them to her and she apologized and asked to take it back to chef to show it. My husband's brisket sandwich wasn't good either. The other three entrees were just ok but not finished. We asked that the replacement fritters come in a to go container since we were almost done with dinner and they hadn't come yet. We should have checked them but we did not since waitress seemed on top of it and showed chef. We got back to the rental and I was going to have a fritter and could not, they were completely chared, hard as a rock and inedible. Wish I had taken pics of the other items but we did snap this of fritters when I opened container to eat one. They even smelled burnt like charcoal. Seems like someone was upset we sent back uncooked fritter batter. Not professional what so ever. Maybe we went on a bad night but there were very few patrons there when we arrived at 4pm and left an hour or so later. There were too many issues with this outing that make me think it was not just an off night for this place. What a waste of money and a bday dinner! That was my "nice" meal out for...

I am highly in disagreement with 1-2 reviews written by people, indicating , reviews for Mary Jane are forced or made up. There is no way that can hold true. Irrespective, this one is a personal experience post 8 months of visiting the restaurant, probably more often than any restaurant I have visited in my life so far. Mary Jane for some reason has always felt like home away from home. Home to me is New Delhi, India and I have rarely found places in the United States (last 5 years) with the same chill vibe , I would experience in my city as a true Delhiite! Carisa and Danny are two of the best hosts I have personally known and interacted with. Carisa has been very generous to offer students (at SEMO) field tours of the restaurant and guide them through her journey, vision and inspirations behind the making of this fantastic facility (while sharing confidential details at utmost ease). She has been a great resource for us and very inviting at all times. Danny, on the other hand has never had us (me and other colleagues) disappointed! We have been taken care of with extended professionalism via him at all occasions. I have never had a poor experience at Mary Jane, considering all servers do a very good job and are hospitable.

If I was to sum it up, Mary Jane is a place I recommend to ALL! Having a bad day? this is your place. Arranging a get together? this is your place. Wanna enjoy the best bourbon in town? this is your place! Wanna enjoy the best coffee, bottomless mimosas on weekends? THIS IS YOUR PLACE.

I CAN'T THANK THE STAFF ENOUGH, CODY, DANNY AND CARISA BEING THREE PEOPLE I HAVE HAD MY BEST EXPERIENCES WITH! I value professionalism and herez a SHOUT OUT to MJ for being d best place in Cape. Keep doing the good work! Home away from home is a big statement to make but you guys deserve it all!...