Jake’s Western Grill

I am a lover of great food and great service. This place has both of those qualities, and they have it in spades. If you travel up north, make sure that you do yourself a favor and stop by. My recommendation for you: Tennessee Tea and some baby back ribs… Or anything else on their amazing menu. You’ll do yourself a disservice if you are in Lynden and you don’t check this place out.

My husband and I love Jakes! The appetizers are great we always have to order them, some of our favorites are the hog wild tater skins and mozzarella sticks. I also love their chicken fritter salad and my husband loves making his own combo. The staff is so friendly and overall the service is pretty fast. If you sign up for their rewards program you can get a free appetizer!

My absolute favourite place for pulled pork. The food is amazing and I am also addicted to their cornbread. It’s not a trip to the states without going here ! The service is always wonderful as well and they have a loyalty program now where you can get a free appetizer !

Great food but service was not the best. They weren’t that busy either. We’ve heard so many rave reviews though… so since the food was so yummy we are thinking of returning to see if it was just an «off» night.

When we asked Jake’s Western Grill how long they had been in business, we were surprised that the answer was eight years! How could I have missed such a tasty food option in my own back yard? The BBQ is well prepared, the sides are delicious, and the pulled pork nachos that we had on our last visit have burrowed their way into my food consciousness. Oh, and did I mention the tasty cornbread that they kept bringing out until I had to say no more? Throw in craft beer on tap and this is a restaurant that I will likely go out of my way to patronize, as it’s truly worth the trip. Oh, and a quick tip, if you sign up for their texting club they give you a free appetizer on the spot!

Their pulled pork is to die for! Sweet, tangy, & juicy– easily the best dish they serve. The pulled pork nachos come pre-​stacked, which I thought was a nice touch. Servers were prompt, knowledge, and friendly throughout the night.
The rest of the food was all right. Hamburger was a little dry and the ribs were a little too heavy on the sauce for my liking, but would definitely come back for that pulled pork sandwich! Absolutely worth a visit.
Side note– they also have a rewards program that’s easy to join on your phone. Check that out whether you’re an out-​of-​tower or a local. We got a nice discount from the rewards program on our very first visit!

Highlights:
–Superb customer service — From the moment I walked in the door until I left, I felt like I was a priority.
–Sweetened iced tea — I had just sat down and had not even looked at the menu yet, when the waitress offered to bring me some sweet tea. That southern hospitality really shone through at that moment.
–Meat and potatoes — You will not leave here hungry! Matter of fact, I speculate you might gain a pound or two. The chicken fried steak (protein) came with baked beans (more protein) and mashed potatoes (carbs) drenched in creamy white, peppered gravy (fats and oils, i.e. love handle group on the food pyramid). I subtituted my beans for fried okra (veggie) just so I would have something green on my plate.
Cons
–Having to painstakingly decide what to order knowing that my tastebuds would be robbed of not trying something else on the menu. Wait, you have both chicken fried steak and chicken fried chicken? I want both! Too bad my skinny jeans don’t agree.
–The drive to Lynden is not on my way to anything; but at least I know it will lead to a solid meal.
–Usually when an establishment takes AMEX, you know you will be dropping some bank. My single meal set me back $ 20+. I would love to go here more frequently, but my beer budget won’t allow it.

People rating this place 4 – 5 stars need to raise your standards. My wife and I ate there at about 2:30 in the afternoon to avoid crowds. The service was still pretty slow even though there were only two other couples in the store.
I had ribs and my wife ordered pulled pork. The frozen pulled pork from Costco was better and a whole lot cheaper. The ribs were okay but very little smoke flavor.
Jake’s is «okay» but hardly worth the price or the drive. Well… it is a lot better than it’s BBQ competitor 2 blocks away but that’s not a ringing endorsement.
Unless you’re really lazy, you’d be better off to download some BBQ recipes from the internet and make your own at home.

Food was very good. Had the Hog Wild Potato skins and they were excellent!
The BBQ sauce is sweet and tangy with a little vinegar bite to it. It was great! The sweet potato fries were cooked perfectly; nice and crunchy.
The pulled pork was excellent but the ribs were a little dry with no smoke ring. My husbands makes better one’s on his smoker at home. Brisket was a little dry but good with the BBQ sauce. Would come back if we were ever in Lyndon again!

I love that they offer you a yummy treat in the cornbread. Then I always get the andouille sausage. It’s so good. It has onions and BBQ sauce. I have had other food here & it is all good. The wings, chicken fried steak, beans, potatoes, salads, pulled pork. All is good. Servers are always around & make a good effort to keep your drinks full. And, the major part for me. They have never made me wait for a long period of time. There food comes out of the kitchen at a good pace, not rushed.

Love the food. Great environment. But way too pricey.

The restaurant was clean and service was attentive and lovely from the moment we stepped in the door!
Oh my word the made-​to-​order cornbread was a heavenly treat I asked for some to go!
The pulled pork nachos were individual bites of perfection. I like the sweet BBQ sauce too. I can’t wait to go back! And the rewards program is a plus. Highly recommended.

We have been searching for our new go-​to restaurant sense Billy’s has closed and NYP has become a crap hole, and we may have found it. We got the sampler platter and shared cheese sticks, and got the combo, the ribs where the best I’ve had sense Billy’s closed, the onion rings where super amazing. The broccoli was seasoned and cooked to perfection! It was def the best side item we ordered! We really enjoyed our visit, our server/​bartender was excellent she was always checking on us & refilling our drinks. When she wasn’t serving a table she was in the back making more corn bread, or doing stuff in the back. My favorite thing was that you have other options for non-​alcoholic drinks besides soda, I had a blackberry iced tea which was delish, will try a flavored lemonade next time!
The only complaint I have is the French fries where soggy & soft which was a bummer, but didn’t ruin our visit, I also wish there where a few more cocktail choices and that the happy hour included a few cocktail drinks to chose from weren’t beer, well drinks or wine.
I forgot to add the points from my receipt to the new rewards program but I’m excited to go back and try that out.

Jake’s is always great. It is worth the drive to Lynden. I have been there many times, and I have always been very happy with the service and the quality of food.
The BBQ Sampler is a great meal, usually more than one person can eat, the leftovers are always great the next day. Their onion rings are amazing.
Happy hour offers half price appetizers, and $ 3.00 beer.

I LOVE Jake’s. The food is amazing The fried okra, the pork slider trio (yum!), the ribs, the corn bread, and EVERYTHING else. The portion sizes are very filling.
The restaurant itself is very well designed and clean. The waiters are pleasant and I highly recommend!

After moving from the South over the summer, the family and I were hoping to find a decent BBQ place. After having no luck for months, we were so happy to find this place! Good food, huge portions — and the best BBQ brisket I have ever had, hands down. Loved the cornbread too. Try the chips appetizer — delicious! My only regret is that I wasn’t hungrier so I could have eaten more LOL. Will definitely be back!!!

Don’t let the fact that this place is hiding in a shopping plaza fool you. It’s good BBQ!
Came here for lunch with a co-​worker on a quest to find a place that takes AMEX — which they do!
I had BBQ pork sandwich w no buns and he had country fried steak. He kept raving about how good his peach tea was. When we got a side of cornbread it looked different but OMG was it good! My bunless sandwich was huge and tasty! Tons of pork on a bead of coleslaw. I had a big side of sweet potato fries with that. Co-​worker said he really liked his country fried steak with baked beans and mashed potatoes. We were both stuffed.
It was maybe a 5 star experience for a BBQ lunch joint except our server skipped out on us mid service with out so much as a smell you later or here is your new server. Kind of odd.
Either way, I am far more concerned with the tastiness of the food and for that reason, I’ll be back!

Unilocaling due to hunger and discovering Jake’s 4 star rating was my respite from another fast food meal to take care of the seemingly never ending «empty spot».
Jake’s is a full service restaurant and bar that appears to cater to an older crowd. After looking at the menu, I opted for the lower priced and smaller portioned Blazing saddles on the «Pony express lunch» as I didn’t have time into working a nap into my afternoon. My lunch arrived fast! I had not even consumed my first piece of delicious warm corn bread with sweet butter.
The fresh bun was piled high with pulled pork, jalapenos and a slice of pepper jack cheese with a pickle spear and a single side, I wanted to order the baked beans but I am trying after-​all to be healthy! (I chose cole slaw which was a tasty alternative choice).
I lived 20+ years of my life in Texas so I can’t say this was the greatest pulled pork sandwich I ever had however in Lynden, Washington this was pretty darn good!

Updated review, April 2014: I’ve visited Jake’s many times since my original 4-​star review in 2010. A consistently good experience.
Recently, I chose Jake’s for a lunch when I knew we were in a hurry and they offer the guaranteed 15-​min or free «Pony Express Lunch.» All 3 of us made sure to order from that menu, which I’ve done successfully several times, but this time the food took just under 20 mins. After I asked, they said, «you’re right, your food is all taken care of today.» Props to Jake’s for their integrity. And great food. And great staff.

Great BBQ! I had the sampler and the ribs were delicious and the brisket was so tender and not dry at all! I got sweet potato fries with it and they were just average.
The service was great! The server was very friendly and prompt. I would definitely return.