MJaye’s Pub & Eatery takes over former Groves Bar & Grill south of downtown Gilbert

MJaye’s Pub & Eatery, a family-owned restaurant focusing on made-from-scratch comfort foods, opened this week in the former Groves Bar & Grill space in Gilbert.

First-time restaurateur Melanie Sartain says she fell in love with the country-themed JD’s Homestead center on Gilbert Road about halfway between Elliot and Warner.

“Gilbert has a nice neighborhood feel,” she says. “Our biggest challenge is telling people it’s no longer The Groves.”

Once a local favorite, The Groves struggled after it was sold by original owners Dennis Petty and Diana Blewer, who had opened JC’s Steakhouse a mile-and-a-half down Gilbert Road last December.

The restaurant deteriorated so badly Sartain closed it for three weeks to hire new staff and develop a new menu. She renamed it MJaye’s, a combination of her first initial and Jay(e), a popular name in her family.

Unlike The Groves, Mjaye’s doesn’t serve breakfast, although it will launch a weekend brunch menu soon.

The lunch menu offers creative appetizers like The Montana, Tony-Style (mini Cuban sliders) and Meet the Greek (meatballs seasoned with Greek spices and served with tzatziki sauce).

Topping the burgers and sandwiches is the Sonoran Burger, dressed with house-made guacamole, ancho chiles, pepperjack cheese, and bacon. With a side of fries, it’s just $7.99. (A basic cheeseburger burger and fries is $6.99).

Dinner brings a few entrees, such as Jay’s Choice, a marinated ribeye with Jack Daniels au jus (her father, one of the Jays, liked JD) for $12.99, and the Sea Cow, an ever-changing surf-and-turf pairing, also $12.99.

The kitchen, headed by chef Gabe Rodriguez, makes almost all its dressings and sauces from scratch. “The only things we buy are ketchup, mustard, and mayo,” Sartain says.

The menu, Sartain says, will grow in the months to come. Besides brunch, she’d eventually like to offer beer flights (she currently has 12 beers on tap, eight of them craft beers), paint nights, trivia, and live music.

Perhaps the eatery’s biggest attraction is a secluded back patio along the center’s landscaped north side (pictured). To date, it’s gotten little use, partly because of the hot weather and partly because diners don’t know it’s available.

MJaye’s is open 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday, 8 a.m.-midnight Saturday, and 8 a.m.-10 p.m. Sunday.

Happy hour, which runs 3-6 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. daily, features $2.50 domestic drafts, $3 craft drafts, $3 house wine, $3 well drinks, and $1 off all appetizers.