Jack Astor’s Bar & Grill

Stopped in here on a Monday afternoon. I’ve wanted to eat here for a while but it’s always packed… today it was quiet enough that I stopped in. I am just getting over the flu so I wasn’t overly hungry. I went with the garlic pan bread and the beer cheese soup. The bread was good but very greasy! The bottom is literally soaked in grease and it’s soggy. I love butter so I’m not going to hate too much ! The soup was good. They leave a shot of beer on the side — you can either drink it or mix it in. I mixed it in and it was good. Some beer cheese soups are too boozy tasting but not this one… it was lukewarm which is a huge pet peeve of mine. Service was «ok»…she never checked back for drink refills so that wasn’t cool. All in all the menu seemed limited, or at least limited for my tastes and on the pricey side. It wasn’t awful but I won’t be in a hurry to come back either.

Got the «tuna poke» the description sounded delicious. Asian flavors. It did no way say it was tuna tar tar. Which is fine but mind you it’s buffalo. Since living in south Florida for 2 years there is no way it was fresh. It tasted fishy and after 2 bites I gave up. My buddy had nachos. Which looked so processed and tasted as fake as it looked. It’s a chain, soooo yea. Point made

Terrible experience and service. Orginally went in with a few friends for drinks. I paid 12 $ for sangria that clearly didn’t have any alcohol in it. They give you half a vile of wine and tell you it will make two drinks. The vile was not even filled half way. How can that make two drinks when it barely makes one ?! When I complained about the beverage, our server came over with a shot glass full of liquor to pour in. And charged us for it. We ended up ordering food. I got the chicken fajita which was absolutely terrible. It was so spicy I could barely breathe. I asked our server for some water and by the time I received it it was 20 minutes later. The worst part about this whole experience is my bill came to 87 $! I will never go here again. And will not recommend it to anyone.

Awful! Just awful. I have not been to the Galleria Mall in years but my niece wanted a Build A Bear and clothes from Justice for her birthday so we ventured out to the Galleria for a night of shopping and dinner.
The hostess was very nice. Greeted us at the door with a smile, was friendly and was able to seat us right away. She was the only plus to our experience.
Our waitress was not rude but absolutely bothered that she had to take on another table. I am guessing she was close to getting cut because she only had one other table and the place was pretty much empty.
I ordered the chicken quesadillas. For the price, I figured I would I would be able to take a piece home and have for lunch today. Each triangle was two bites worth. Every bite was so full of cheese and little to no other ingredients. By the looks of the tortilla, these were not prepared fresh and never touched a grill or flat top. We both wanted the garlic bread with cheese which not only came out cold but it was sitting in so much grease and butter that the bottom was soggy.
No thank you. Never again.

Food: Ok and not very great.
Ambience: Fine
Service: Nice
Price: Over priced
I have visited this place twice. One thing I am sure about is that I am not visiting this place again!

Good vibe with decent food, waitress Jax was a delight ! Worth trying if you haven’t done so already …

Let me be clear. The three stars is for the service, more so than the food. I ordered the garlic pan bread as an appetizer which is just as fabulous as it ever was. I highly recommend that as an appetizer. I ordered the french dip sandwich and it was a total disaster. For a 13.00 sandwich, it was way to small to begin with. Second, the entire sandwich was filled with the chewiest roast beef (if you could call it that), I’ve had.
Kyle (our server) entered to save the day! H let him know what was wrong and he swooped the dish away no questions asked. While I was waiting for my replacement meal, he brought me over a side of delicious fries to nibble on. I received my burger a few minutes later and was more than satisfied with things at that point. Kyle then brought out the bill and informed me that they had taken the original sandwich off the bill and not charged me for my burger. I appreciated this so much so that I left Kyle a 100%+ tip on on the remainder of our check. He was fabulous!

I decided to stop by the mall to look around. I was hungry, so went to Jack Astors! I sat at the bar and was greeted promptly by Sara. She was very cordial, professional and attentive!
I ordered a basic burger and fries and it was very good. I have eaten at Jack Astors many times and it is always very good!

Jack Astors has a cool vibe. You get crayons and paper to color on as your table mats. My boyfriend and I always write the dates we go and draw funny pictures while we are waiting. The menu is okay, I always get the pulled pork burger which is pulled pork on top of a cheeseburger. They come with a small side of fries. This place is yummy, but a bit mediocre. Its located inside the mall which is very convenient.

I was actually surprised after not coming back here for a few years at what a good meal I had and the service was really good. The waitress was really pretty and catered to my every need. Everything was delicious!

Visited this restaurant on Valentines Day for dinner. Was told it would be a 15 minute wait. 5 minutes later we were seated! The waitress was VERY nice & knowledgeable so we were able to choose amazing dishes. The food was brought out to us SUPER quick! Had a wonderful experience & will go again! Only reason why I didn’t give this place 5 stars was because the music was so super loud, it was hard to have a conversation. Other than that, such a great experience!

Came here last night with Brad after doing some shopping. «Meh. I’ve experienced better» perfectly describes the visit.
We had a 10 minute wait for a table I HATE when a restaurant has a wait for tables, yet you can count over 5 empty 4 top tables.
When Brad and I sat down, Ash helped us right away. Looking over the menu, I noticed a lot of different options. Pizza, pasta, burgers and steaks. Even PAD THAI!!! Whaaat?!!
I ordered a turkey burger and Brad ordered a burger that came with onion rings, pulled pork, and BBQ Sauce.
My turkey burger was good, but nothing special. It was $ 10 but tasted like it was clearly frozen and wasn’t made in the kitchen. Almost a step up from High School Cafeteria turkey burger. Oh well. I ate the whole meal which I never do at restaurants. That will tell you how small it was.
Brad said his burger was good too. But again, nothing special.
I probably will go to Cheesecake Factory or Bar Louie before coming back to Jack Astors.

Quick, friendly service. The waitress even brought us a sample of the soup we were debating on trying. Very quick service. Food was brought to us very quickly. All the toppings were fresh and the burgers were delicious. Best of all the prices were very reasonable. We paid $ 18 where, at another restaurant of this type, we’d normally expect to pay up to $ 25 for all we ordered. The waitress checked back with us often enough so that we felt tended to but it did not feel intrusive. Very satisfied. The only complaint we had was all of our food – soup, salad, and burgers – was brought to the table at the same time. We were hungry enough that the food didn’t have time to get cold.

Jack Astor’s has been a great staple for the Galleria over the years that I’ve been coming here. Great bar/​TVs for sports, oh and most importantly, a great staff that even if you haven’t been for a while, still make it feel as if it’s been your regular neighborhood spot! Marty and TJ ran a great bar last time I was in town!

Very middle of the road… but then again what else can be expected from «mall cuisine»? Remember: When the menu has EVERYTHING on it (Mexican food, Asian food, Italian food, and burgers & wings) nothing is really going to be all that great. Edible? Yup. Great? No way!
I just had to escape from my house this past Wednesday night after my plow guy cleared my driveway after the Blizzard of ’14 (aka: Polar Vortex) I called a few friends to see who wanted to DO SOMETHING and finally arranged a meeting for dinner and a movie at the Galleria. And, this was the place that was suggested for dinner.
Upon arriving I was kind of surprised that the place wasn’t more crowded. Wasn’t everybody just as stir-​crazy as I was? Oh well… we didn’t have to wait for a table. The hostess was friendly and so was the waitress. The menu was huge and the place was clean and welcoming.
We started with the «Jack’s Cheese Garlic Pan Bread» (fresh-​baked loaf, topped with a melted three-​cheese blend and served in a pan with garlic dip). It’s usually $ 5.18 (who comes up with these odd prices?), but only $ 2.98 with an entrée. It was warm and tasty, but unless the «garlic dip» was the melty stuff in the pan UNDER the bread, we never received any. Not that is was really needed. The bread was yummy on its own.
For an entrée I chose the «Vodka ‘n Soda Fish ‘n Chips» (A haddock fillet dipped in
vodka soda batter, dusted with Panko crumbs and served with made-​in-​house tartar sauce, lemon and Yukon Gold fries). Not to be (too) picky, but it wasn’t really a haddock fillet. It was really two haddock chunks. Two previously frozen chunks at that. The breading was crisp and not too greasy, but kind of flavorless. A sprinkling of «Frank’s hot sauce» improved the flavor considerably. The tarter sauce (loved the dill) and the fries were mighty tasty.
The best part of my dinner was dessert (no surprise there). I opted for the «Sticky Toffee Pudding». The warm spice cake filled with nuts and raisins and then topped with warm toffee sauce (a bit thin, but still tasty) and then vanilla ice cream and (real, albeit from a can) whipped cream was just the cure for my cabin fever.

Shopping makes you hungry, it just does. Jack Astor’s happened to be staring us in the face once we stepped out of J.C. Penney so not knowing anything about this place, we decided to give it a shot, I had heard through the grapevine they had good bruschetta but that was it. It was 4:58 pm on the dot. We grabbed a menu, took a quick glance and it was similar to your standard Fridays, Applebees, Chilis fare and we gave it a shot. The five of us were sat immediately at a round table and within a matter of minutes our server came over. She was BUBBLY, energetic and knowledgable! We were cranky, tired, hungry and trying to fit in a dinner before catching a flight. We had two hours to spare so we knew we had plenty of time… OR SO WE THOUGHT. She was a little loud and hand gestures were a bit intense. She recommended martinis and appetizers, (your standard corporate spiel to up-​sell) While grateful for her offerings, we declined the booze and appetizers, stuck with waters all around and needed a few extra minutes to put in our entrees.
Few minutes later she came back and asked us which appetizers we had decided on. We, AGAIN passed on the appetizer offer and went about ordering entrees. We had an array of, Soup & Salad Combos, Chicken and Shrimp Fajitas and Chicken Sandwich. Food took an hour to come out. An hour. 60 minutes. Long time. Our waitress was on point with the water refills but never commented on the fact that we were waiting a long time. To make matters worse we were seated right by the kitchen and all I heard was the sous chef yelling at the servers to «SELL» and «PICK UP.» There needed to be a door separating the kitchen from the dining room because there was a lot of commotion back there and it was disruptive. Finally our fajita set ups came out (the cheese, lettuce, sour cream, tortillas and salsa) so we figured the actual food part was on its way. Let’s put it this way, it took a lot for my sister and I NOT to eat the sides before the actual dinners came out because there was such a delay in between the two. Food came out, YAY! Brought out by the hostess who said, «Not sure what this is but it’s like chicken I think, who got this.» Really vivid description of the food, (sarcasm) We all got our appropriate meals and dug in.
The chicken sandwich I got was supposedly on a Sweet Potato Bun and to be honest that’s what sold me. The «Sweet Potato Bun» was hardly sweet potato. It was a potato bun and resembled the one’s from the bag you grab from the supermarket. Needless to say I removed it and decided not to waste my carbs on whatever you want to call it. The chicken sandwich that was supposed to come with the aioli on the side, didn’t and it was PUNY. Probably a 4 ounce portion at best. Very blah and nowhere near the cost which was $ 13. Neither one of the girls who got the beer and cheese soup hated it but they sure didn’t LOVE it. Fajitas were undercooked. The shrimp, onions and peppers needed another 6 – 7 in the skillet. Black beans were hard too.
We finished eating at 6:30 and needed to hit the road. Finally at 6:54 our waitress came around and my Aunt asked for the check. Our waitress responded and said, «Well let me show you what’s for dessert» and left to grab menus. Nooooooo, we didn’t want dessert we needed a check. She returned with menus and my Aunt again asked for the check to which the waitress responded, «Well how about some New York Style Cheesecake to go?» Come on. Upselling is one thing, please, I’m all about it, but know your audience. There’s a passive, polite way to upsell and her approach was overbearing and annoying. That’s just what it came down to.
Overall experience was meh, but FINE. We were in a mall, I didn’t expect gourmet. However, it seems that management may push the issue of up-​selling a little bit more than they should. It’s a turn off when you feel forced to buy more.
I am giving the extra star here because their beer selection kicks ASS.

I was in Buffalo with my wife over night and Jack Astor’s was across the street from the hotel. We stopped in for a quick bite and to get a drink. Well, my wife had something to eat and I just had a drink.
If you like to watch sports, this is a great place to see games. I was able to watch 3 hockey games, 3 college football games, 1 NASCAR race, and a baseball game. However, it is quite noisy, so if you like to hear the game you are watching, this is not the place for you. Not because of the noise so much, but because how is the restaurant going to choose which game to give sound to? ;-)
Anyways, I had a beer and my wife had a cookie stuffed brownie. I’ve had some pretty good cookies in my time. I have also had some pretty good brownies in my time. This cookie-​brownie, brought together the best of both those worlds. It was rich, creamy, and chocolaty delicious. If you are counting calories or don’t have a sweet tooth, this is not the desert /​snack for you. However, if neither of those things are a problem for you, I would recommend it in a heartbeat.

Everything about this place was just meh. It’s very similar to chains like Friday’s and Applebees. We needed a quick meal before heading out of the mall and the drive to Rochester.
Their known for their burgers, but those aren’t anything special. My friend ordered the tortilla burger but said she couldn’t taste any of the toppings. She would have preferred a regular burger for a few bucks less.
I got the fish fry, which I have been craving lately, but it was not the best idea. Save your calories for somewhere that knows how to make one. The fish was too firm and the fry was too fried.
Service was fine, but actually too attentive and intrusive, often interrupting our conversation to suggest we fill out a survey or ask if we needed more water (why not just fill the glasses?).

The hubs and I ate here for the first time last night. Hes been there before for drinks only. We ended up getting two apps; summer rolls and wings. The summer rolls were cut in half – too bad its rice paper and why the heck would you do that? It made it impossible to eat. It wasn’t filled with much of anything and for being 7.75, way overpriced. The wings were about 1.00 each and they were OK. I really liked the crispy texture, but the sauces were definitely lacking.
Overall: This place is fine for if you’re stuck at the mall and want some decent food – just not awesome food. The service was fine (I was actually seated so I can see into the kitchen, that was kind of cool because I do like seeing how restaurants operate), the décor is very pretty.
If there is any wait at all – I would not go here.

I thought I should update my review since I must have been here at least 15 more times since I wrote it last January!
We’ve still only sat in the bar area of the restaurant — hubby enjoys watching sports on the 12+ TVs (especially the gigantic one behind the bar), you get to enjoy specials that don’t apply to the restaurant portion, and it must be a promotion to work this area because we haven’t had a bad experience in months (quite the opposite, we are always super happy with the service!). There was once that my sandwich came with onions when I had asked for it without– and despite my insistence that it was fine, the manager came right over and then took it off the bill!
As for the food — we love it. Hubby almost always orders the jalapeño chicken fajitas (he claims they’re some of the best he’s ever had) and I bounce around between a few of the salads, chicken sandwiches, and the occasional entrée with no complaints. I would suggest avoiding their forays into international cuisine, though — if you’ve had pad thai at a Thai place, you’re not going to like the Jack Astor’s version (but come on, you could have figured that out!).
The wings have some weird batter-​like substance on them and aren’t my favorite, but for $ 5 during NFL games you can get a pound of them, or a whole pizza! They have a lot of other specials that change pretty often, especially during non-​peak hours like 4 – 7 and 10-​close.
Although I would still suggest that you always ask about the special before ordering it — management has either changed or improved and we haven’t had trouble with inconsistency lately — plus if I tell our server that’s what I’m going for, they always make sure it rings up right. The re-​model of the bar area is also great (although I do miss the windows between the 2 spaces) which included new TVs for sharper, brighter pictures.
The actual restaurant portion of the place is more accommodating for kids and attracts more of the mall shoppers as opposed to people just visiting the restaurant. They cover the tables in brown paper and leave cups of crayons around for you — i mean the kids — to draw all over it with. It’s the same menu (including a kids menu on the back) and they have free dumdums on your way out :-)