Southside Johnny’s

Southside Johnny’s is alright. I like the atmosphere. They have an abundance of beers on tap and, when the bartender could see I was having trouble deciding, he enthusiastically offered to let me sample a couple of different ones.
I’ve eaten here four or five times but I’ve never had anything I would ever order again. But I keep trying. (Well,…as long as I have a buy-​one-​get-​one-​free coupon.)
This morning I took my teenager there because I had a buy one, get one free brunch. We finally decided on the breakfast burritos. They were huge! When the waitress brought them, I immediately said good naturedly, «We’ll need two take-​out boxes, please!» But as soon as I tasted mine, I knew I wouldn’t be needing that box after all. I guess I’m too picky. My daughter said, «You can’t expect it to taste as good as yours, Mom.» Well, actually, when I go out to eat, I do expect it to taste better than what I cook at home. Maybe I should start a restaurant.

I witnessed the server «go chuck yourself» talking about padding the bill of a large group of Lacrosse Fans from Virginia. Hey Chuck you should not trash talk customers unless you know who your audience is. You are not a nice person and should seriously reconsider your career choice. The food was over cooked and saturated with oil it sat on the counter for 7 minutes until we asked for it. My server was off his game, he took my water and dumped it, he took my full plate of food to the trash can and never once questioned why I did not eat it. Hey Southside Johnnys you guys are the losers with your subpar service and low grade food.

Although it appears to be more bar than restaurant, SSJs has some great food! It’s a fun place to hear local bands and party on the weekend. Has a dog friendly patio in the summer. It can be a good place to avoid the super young crowd, and hang with 40−50+ folks. Lots of dancing, good service, great munchies.

I go here all the time. Their menu is big enough to satisfy all tastes and so is their liquor and beer selections. Great friendly staff and live music on the regular and a quieter martini room in the back called the Paradox. Have some great rooms for big parties and events and you always see Johnny, the owner, running around helping and being all around friendly! Must must must try the bruja chicken; and if you want something to drink you can’t beat the pb&j a pabst and a shot of jmo for 5 $

A homey but spacious bar. Plenty if room to bring friends with a pool table, golf simulator, and a wonderful staff. It has a huge bar and so much to choose from when it comes to drinks. It has such a charm to it I really loved getting to spend some time here. I can’t wait to come with a crowd!

Would have received 5 stars but they lost one for having awful bartenders in the «middle» room. These guys look sloppy and are rude! Which is why I always go to the very back room and wait for Molly to make my drink.
They lost the second star for the music choice. There is one dj that seems to only play old school music. Come on, mix it up!

I regularly frequent Southside Johnny’s for lunch because it is close to my work. Southside Johnny’s offers large portions of good food for a reasonable price. I particularly like their BBQ ribs and fish and chips. The staff is very efficient and attentive, it’s the only place I know of in that part of town that you can get a high quality hot meal in a very short period of time.

One of my favorite places in my new town! Great live music Thursday thru Saturday! And the captain crunch chicken strips are freaking amazing! Fast service and good deals! I have yet to make it past the first bar to the other two huge rooms with their own music and style!

Great food, tons o’ beer and drinks, top notch owner and staff. This is my go-​to bar/​restaurant without a doubt. Live music is always great. Johnny Nolan is a huge supporter of our local military and has been for years. If you’re looking for a casual hip crowd with great food, tunes, multiple tv screens, and a candy machine by the bathroom that is always full of Hot Tamales, look no further, Johnnys is your place. You won’t be disappointed, guaranteed.

I’ve been popping in Johnny’s since it opened and I’m sad to report that the fun factor of this once great hangout for the older crowd has taken a dive over the years. I’ve visited on several Sundays this summer/​fall 2015 on my Harley or with friends and the once packed biker bar is now devoid of any bikers. The servers are good enough but not like the fun bartenders Johnny’s was famous for. On a recent visit the girl behind the bar was like a cloud on a sunny day, a shadow fell over my group when she checked on us. The food is ok but my beloved Kobe Sliders on pretzel buns have been removed from the menu. Sorry Johnny maybe I’m not your target market anymore and that’s fine, but I’m not much of a fan anymore.

Was here 17 months ago. Glad I came back. Best food and atmosphere in COS. Friendly service, everyone super competent.

The staff is amazing… hands down best in town. Food is always fresh and delicious. Enjoy the fact always new daily specials and they change the menus up pretty often.

Good experience, they let me and my date site with our dogs in the patio area.

Very impressed with Southside Johnny’s! All of the ingredients were fresh; we ordered the chips & guacamole which had freshly diced tomatoes on top and the guac had a great consistency. The chips were also freshly fried with good crisp.
The menu had variety for any taste. Ordered the rise n’ shine burger which they nailed the fried egg on top — lots of food! Went on an off night but can see this place hoping on the weekends with all the booths filled jamming to the oldies music.
A downside is their location near the bottom of Tejon, a little walk on the weekends to get up Tejon to the bulk of the other restaurants and bars if bar hopping is in the plans.

Seem to do a pretty good job here. I do like that the booths are really large, so when the five of us show up there is plenty of room. Usually we are crowded together anywhere else.
Staff was attentive and kept checking on us as we waited for the last of our party to show up.
Food was acceptable, some of it much better than what I ordered – a tuna taco.
Not my first time here, so obviously I go back and will continue to do so.

Not sure what it was about this place. It just did not make me WANT to come back. Wait, I know what it was.. . it was pretty blah. yeah that’s it. This seems like more of a place to go to for just a drink. Maybe not the food.
Service was OK. I don’t get bent out of shape if the server is slow (unless it’s heinously slow) or if they bring me the wrong thing. However, the service was kinda slow for as slow as the bar was that night. Not that many people in attendance. Speaking of people, it was mainly middle aged people (like myself) and older. There was a smattering of younger, mainly, male patrons as well.
When I stopped in to SJ’s it was taco.. .Wednesday. Not taco Tuesday mind you, but taco Wednesday. Taco’s are on special Wednesdays $ 1/​ea. They were ok. On par with Taco Bell ok. The crunchy shell contained ground meat, cheese and lettuce. I also got a beer.. . I think I got some sort of wheat beer, from New Belgium? We were there during happy hour so our beers were discounted. They were beers and so we were happy.…happy dancing beers.
My dining companion, who also happened to be my significant other, selected a Rueben which he was not too thrilled about. I took a few bites and felt that it was a satisfactory replication of a Rueben.
There was a ton and one quarter of stuff hanging from the walls and the rafters. This is the type of place were all that kitschy, odd ball stuff fits the scene.
In summary, more than likely not gonna hit Southside Johnny’s unless someone else is paying.

Spent New Year’s Eve there. Dance music was too loud in the back, ‘80s music in the front not bad or good, getting a drink was near impossible, and the topper was getting the wrong credit card to close a tab. This is a huge concern being the holidays and identity fraud running rampant.
Found the bar staff indifferent about helping you place an but where happy to hold tables for regional customers.
Won’t be going back any time soon.

I drove down to the Springs to see the Moses Jones band. And Southside Johnny’s has a nice stage. An outside area if you are a smoker. And another club through the back or has an entrance around the back.
Drinks are nicely priced. I also seen bread pudding on the menu and had to go for it and it was delicious.
When the band starts playing its great, and the sound guy knows what he is doing. The only drawback is you can hear the music coming thru from the other venue in the back. And i would say it detracts from the experience especially when people walk back and forth to that bar.
I think they should shut it down when they have Live Music.

Shame on me for not reviewing sooner. I’m here without fail almost every Friday night with my husband and his band of merry makers from work. Also came here for my birthday.
Service: I’m staring with service because it’s what keeps us coming back. We’re on a first name basis with a few of the waitresses who take care of us. Sometimes, when we have someone new, it can be difficult to get a drink. But 99% of the time, service is so good, which is rare on a Friday night during happy hour with a huge group. Normally though, my drink is never dry. And hey, they even remember what I drink. I love the people here. It’s really a hometown bar. There have been a few times where there were large reservations, so the waitresses made sure to reserve a table for our group knowing we’d be there. Seriously, love the people here.
Food: Well, this is awkward. Despite the «I’m on a first name basis with my waitress» bit, I’ve only ever eating their steak tenders — which are fantastic — and their wings. Their happy hour is really good. And if you download their app (I can do it through the Android store), you get a buy 1 get 1 free app and a 10% off your meal coupon. I haven’t ever heard any complaints about their food. But like I said, I don’t do a lot of eating when I’m here.
Drinks: So, since this is kind of my thing here. They have good beers on tap. They have wine, if I need something different but I’m not usually drinking for quality. And their bartenders are kind of bad ass, when I’m feeling the need for something funner. Ask for a pineapple upside down cake shot. Delicious. Or they make this vodka drink with tank that is hilarious. Just reminds me of being a kid.
Ambiance: So, this is where they take the cake. I love this place because it’s really a jack of all trades. You can come here for dinner and watch a game. You can stay a little later and wait for the live music. And you can dance like a fool up front (guilty). Or sometimes, if they’re not having a private party you can go to the mid section (past the bathrooms/​TVs on the back wall) and party. I’m not sure if the times I’ve done this it was a private party or not, but no one stopped me and my friend, and we had a ton of fun. And further back (keep walking) is Paradox, a lounge. I’ve never been back there except to check it out, and it was early so it was empty. It was too dark for me to really check out décor, but Johnny’s is just a mish-​mash of stuff. Totally casual place. Huge bar that nearly spans the entire length of the restaurant. Lots of TVs if you’re looking for a game.
Some of my best memories are from this bar. It has a great service. A great cross section of people. And always has a good time.

Me and my friends decided to try out SSJ for our lady’s night out.
We quickly realized that the restaurant was much understaffed, for the amount of patrons. Our waitress was very inattentive. It took over 45 minutes to get our food (we are talking about sandwiches here, it’s not like they cook ‘real’ food that takes a long time to prepare). When our food finally arrived, two orders were wrong. A person that had ordered potato chips got potato salad instead, while my other friend (who had ordered potato salad) got fries instead. When tried to point out the mistake the waitress, and the waiter, hinted that we could trade the sides ourselves! O_​o Are you kidding? Despite the fact that it was an unprofessional suggestion, the two sides were NOT what ordered. No one had ordered french fries! They took the plates back to the kitchen and came back, 5 minutes later, with the correct order.
I myself ordered a sweet tea, which is sweetened with a simple syrup. I am not sure what was in it, but it tasted like skunk. So much so, that i only took a sip and just left the whole thing on the table. The waitress never asked me why I was not drinking it… she never even tried to refill it… when she came to the table for water refills she never even mentioned or asked about the sitting glass of tea.
We had to flag her down twice to put in additional side orders and to get drinks refills.
A friend had to leave early in the night, so she requested a to-​go-​box for her ½ sandwich and fries. Needless to say she never got a box, and had to leave her food on the table and leave! About 30 minutes later, the waitress came to pick up our plates. She was not phased by the half full plate (of our long gone friend), and never even hinted at the fact that she had not brought a box for it! Anyone can forget about things. She could have just apologized for her mishap, boxed the food and asked us to please take it home to our friend… but that never happened. She just left the half full plate on the table and completely ignored it! So all our plates are gone now, with the exception of the one you didn’t box up. How can you ignore it? It’s sticking out like a sore thumb!
Around 10 pm the waitress was still nowhere to be found, so I flagged her down AGAIN and asked her for the bill, since I had to leave. I watched her for the following 10 minutes going around to take orders, bring checks to other patrons and going about her business. At this point i got up, went to her station and told her we REALLY needed the check so we could leave, she finally brought us the bill, we paid and left.
Needless to say we won’t be back. The service was so poor we didn’t even leave a tip. The food was nothing special. The band not that great either. So a one star review is actually generous.
PS: The prices are higher at the restaurant than what you see online or here on Unilocal.Also my Chicken Bacon Avocado sandwich did not come with Dijon mayo, it came with an OVERWHELMING amount of horseradish.