Chatterbox Pub

Worst bar in the area. considering Pig and Fiddle, Mozza Mia and Red Cow have all moved into he same neighborhood I would have thought they would have stepped their game up a little. We attempted a visit again after a year away and it still had the same awful menus and drink selection not to mention the smell of vomit.

Mediocre, overpriced bar food in a grungy, dimly lit environment with horrible service. I asked the server what his menu recommendation was and he said their batter was good and offered chicken tenders or fish. I went with chicken and my girlfriend got the fish. The chicken was rubbery and the fish fell apart, you can tell this stuff isn’t anywhere near fresh. I ordered a pop and I thought it was flat because it was really bad, the server explained they only carry Shamrock products and that’s just how it tastes, maybe it was a bad batch or something but it tasted like flat pop with too much syrup. The server sat at the bar on his phone watching the football game and when he did check on us he couldn’t have been more apathetic, made us feel like he would rather we weren’t there. Going here is a waste of time and money, I can’t recommend it for anyone.

I don’t know why everyone hates on this place/​location. Sure the food is mediocre but considering it’s a place you can bring your kids or friends to play games and drink is more than enough reasons to love it. I have yet to find a place I can go and have a glass of wine and play Mario cart or scrabble. Plus every employee I’ve met here has been super friendly.

I enjoyed going to the original location so I was expecting this one to be very similar. Boy was I wrong. I brought my family from out of town and was disappointed with the service and the food. They sold us on the soup and it was unbearably salty. All our food came out and the one person at our table who ordered a sandwich didn’t get her meal until the rest of us were finished. The only reason i didn’t give this place a one-​star is because I love the dive environment.
Overall, I do not recommend.

Nope. Nope. Nope.
We went here on a Sunday afternoon because it sounded like a fun, cheap date. Well… We found out why the happy hour prices are so low. It’s apparently the only way to get anyone to visit.
The «Chatterbox brewed» beers are definitely not worth trying. And not like, not great craft beers. More like, expired Budweiser.
Everything tastes like burnt grease, service staff just generally doesn’t care, place is dim and dirty, and there was a semi-​pornographic sci-​fi movie playing. What? Just no.

Great non-​alcoholic drinks, like ginger ale. The beer drinker in our crowd was not impressed with his choice. Spinach artichoke dip tasted like it had been frozen. It came 2 minutes before entrees, though it was ordered a lot earlier. Wrap was ordinary, a little mushy. Salads were ordinary. Service was quite slow, though friendly. Booth seat was falling apart. Décor is tacky. Bathrooms were messy. Families with kids seemed happy but it does not seem like a place for grownups in atmosphere or food.

Don’t bother trying to call. They don’t answer and don’t call you back from your voicemails. Makes no sense that you can’t talk to a live person. Ever.

The establishment doesn’t have much to offer in terms of atmosphere. Service was cordial and attentive. The air conditioning inside was a bit too cold, so we sat outdoors on uncomfortable patio furniture. The food seemed freshly made in house, with the fries being uniquely crispy and seasoned. Fish as part of the fish and chips was very lightly breaded. The taste was ok, but I was disappointed that only one piece of fish came with the $ 13 entrée, and the tartar sauce was unusually watery. I was much more impressed with the chicken spinach and artichoke dip sandwich. Overall I’d say the place is decent if you’re looking for sandwiches and beer (and have a groupon).

Been here twice in the last month — both times with Groupons. Once for a weekend brunch, once for a weekend dinner.
The food is adequate. I would tell you something exceptional about my meals except I honestly can’t recollect anything that was worth highlighting. On the flip side, nothing stood out as being so terrible either.
If I had to summarize the food in a word it would be «forgettable.» If you’re not there with a Groupon, the prices are IMHO a bit high for the kind of food they’re serving. I wouldn’t have gone without the discount, and absent a similar discount I probably won’t be back. If you’re looking for a place to play some 8-​bit Nintendo while you dine, this is your spot. But if you’re not specifically coming for the kitsch and the ambiance — well, sorry Chatterbox, but there are just so many better places in this neighborhood to dine for $ 15 – 20 a head.

Great neighborhood vibe. The food was fabulous — homemade and fresh. We got the Chatterbox Pub burger — awesome!

Food really isn’t terrible, but it’s great either. Service was pretty bad though. Literally took 15 min for us to get a drink order in and then another 15 before the drinks arrived. Bummer. Really wanted to like this place as we have a little one.

I don’t understand why this place has such bad ratings? If you’re looking for a fun breakfast joint, this is it!
We played jenga and guess who! Plus I had a ridiculously unhealthy breakfast (burning down the house minis the sour cream) and didn’t eat the rest of the day, it was a crazy proportion and I only made a tiny dent.
The second time I went I tried the breakfast burrito, it could have been a whole chicken. Again, massive proportions. I will say there’s not a ton of healthy options but we all need a cheat day here and there. Only downfall is they don’t have a full bar so if you want a breakfast cocktail, they use wine.

We were seated in a booth right away, but twenty minutes later no server had stopped by. We were ready to order as a server approach our booth, but headfake! She decided to take a seat with the party in the booth next to us and just hang out with them. Anyways we left and went to the Convention Grille across the street.

Such a sad little place. Went here for dinner when we first moved to town because I had fond memories of coming here in college.
They basically gutted the menu of anything good and it was just a depressing experience. The food we did get lacked flavor and the atmosphere just isn’t there anymore. Unfortunately we won’t be back and I’m sad to see it fall off as much as it has.

What is with all the Chatterbox haters? I used to frequent Chatterbox a few years ago and then got tired of their menu. We recently returned with my picky father in law for family dinner. We never go to the same place twice because he picks everywhere apart. Well, we are on our fourth family dinner meeting there. The new menu is fabulous and the servers are relaxed but attentive. I have been there without family am additional three times this month because I can’t get enough of the grilled cheese and tomato soup. The beer selection is great. They are strict about checking ID’s so don’t forget yours. Even if you are a senior! Mahle has been my server every time and she is great. Great recommendations if you need some! This is NOT high end dining atmosphere, but the quality is up there.

For being located in a strip mall next to a great clips, you shouldn’t expect much. So if you go in with that attitude, you at least won’t be disappointed.
Great concept for kids with the board games and video games, but the service was so poor that it seemed like the games were there to distract you from noticing it took 30 minutes to get a glass of water.
The night we ate at the Chatterbox there were only 2 people working the front end of the restaurant… Playing all roles of server, host, bartender and bus boy. Felt bad for them as they were trying their best, but definitely understaffed at the detriment of the customer. Food was mediocre and the restaurant had an overall dirty feel to it, so it just added to the disappointment.
This restaurant is constantly on Groupon, so the days must be numbered.

The SWHS Class of 2004 held one of our reunion events here because it’s conveniently close to our former stomping grounds and would be a good place to go for drinks after defeating our opponents at the 2014 homecoming game.
I showed up a bit early when getting someone to wait on us was no problem. I’m glad I ordered when I did, because it became increasingly harder to get the attention of the employees as the night progressed. It didn’t seem particularly busy, but I found myself waiting quite a while to order another drink. Despite the letdown with the slow service, the two people who waited our table were very knowledgeable in their selection and pleasant.
The Pretzel & Beer Cheese Fondue was very tasty. $ 10 seems a bit much for it, but it was filling. I liked it and would eat it again. I thoroughly enjoyed my Alaskan Pumpkin Porter, as well as the Crispin Blackberry Pear Cider. They were also able to recommend a hard cider that my friend enjoyed, and my other friend was happy with the beer they helped him pick out. I would like to have tried a few of the other beers on their list, but they seemed to be out of a number of the ones I picked.
If I return, I’d be interested to try their Mac & Cheese with some of the added extras and hope the weather will be nice enough to get acquainted with their patio.

FUN ATMOSPHERE!
GREAT FOR KIDS!
This place allows you to play games, socialize and eat. Three of the greatest things, right?
I came here with my mom for an early mother’s day and she loved it! We started off by playing yahtzee. she was afraid other’s would look at us funny for the loud dice shaking, but heck no! Others were playing and having a good time too!
As far as dinner, she ordered the «Hawaiian Luau». It was a chicken sandwich with pineapple on top and THE BEST CINNAMON HONEY MUSTARD SAUCE EVER! Order it on the side! It’s super yummy with fries! I ordered the Wild Bleu Burger which had mushrooms and bleu cheese. It was okay. Very salty.
At a previous visit I ordered the lobster gnocchi, and I would absolutely order that again over the bleu burger.
Overall, this place is just a fun and unique restaurant to visit.
The kids can play games while you enjoy conversation, otherwise if you’re like me you’d join in right with them!

We celebrated a pair of birthdays at the Linden Hills Chatterbox this week and had a good time. They were gracious enough to allow a reservation since we had a large group. We had great service as well!
I was disappointed to pay $ 10 for a cake cutting charge but understand that’s pretty standard.
I really liked the happy hour food specials and found the prices really good. My favorite food was the Fish Tacos, which must be popular because they ran out after our second order. I also enjoyed the Scotched Egg, which is wrapped in bacon crumbs.
Since Chatterbox doesn’t have hard liquor I ordered an Italian Greyhound made with Chardonnay and Grapefruit juice. It was refreshing and I’d get it again!

Chatterbox is a very specific experience. Board games, odd house beers, not so good food, and eclectic everything.
Let me start out by saying; every review here complains about the SERVICE. Well guess what, if you are playing a 1.5 hour game of Monopoly, do you really expect your waitress to stop by every 10mins? Frankly I didn’t want her to stop by every 10mins because I was into the game. Just realize that the service here isn’t like a steakhouse attendant and order what you need when the staff does stop by! At any rate, the timeliness of the service did not deter in any way my experience, nor did it cause me to detract any stars.
The draw of this place is board games. They have two random setups of Nintendo/​SuperNintendo/​Other but most of the tables are just regular tables or booths where you can play a board game. The selection of games was good, we found two fun games and played both through. The games themselves were extremely well worn in, which grossed out some of my friends — but didn’t bother me. The pieces were all there and we could play without issues. One thing that is kind of annoying, is that the tables are regular sized. If I am going to eat dinner/​drink/​etc. and also have a full boardgame out — it would be very useful to have an oversized table, but that isn’t the case.
They have some «house» beers like «chit chat beligian white». It was alright, but they have no other tap beers. I didn’t know I was coming to an exclusive club of tap beers (similar to Granite City). They do have some bottled beer, but I like a decent selection of tap beers not some not so great beers I’ve never heard of.
The food, eh. Not so great. Portions were big, but everything was just odd. The chicken strips were deep friend in the same batter as fish would be fried in. I don’t deep fry at home, but just imagine your chicken strips deep fried ala long john silvers. The meat in the chicken strips was also an odd color, not all white meat. I think they take too many shortcuts and likely too cheap of ingredients here. That is the issue.
Overall, if you must play your board games in public — this place is it. It’s fun with a small group of friends. I would recommend eating dinner across the street at either Hello Pizza or the Convention Grill for a MUCH better dinner experience (not even close to the same league), then head over to Chatterbox for bottled beers and board games.