Jack’s Restaurant and Bar

A surprising Mediterranean flare to their menu along with American food. The pricing is average, but the portions are small. For example the mussels appetizer runs about $ 10 and you literally get 12 small mussels – if that… We had a few other apps along with some desserts that all fell along the same lines as the mussels. The level and overall quality of this place in regards to food and ambience is similar to a Cheesecake Factory, but definitely not the portion size nor the food choices – CF has larger portions and a much more extensive menu.
Service is very hot and cold. We sat at the bar for 20 min before a bar back even acknowledged us AND he did not communicate that he was not the bartender and proceeded to make our drinks – Long Island ice teas – which after watching him struggle for 10 min and consulting with another waiter + both of them taste testing numerous times our drinks we were finally presented with our drinks which were undrinkable and not looking or tasting like what we ordered. In the midst of the bar back making our drinks – both bartenders returned – but oddly enough did not offer to assist the struggling bar back.
I kindly inquired with one of the bartenders to confirm the the possibility of our undrinkable beverages was possibly due to the fact that he was new – to which he stated «oh no, he’s the bar back»…, seriously?! I can see if it was beer or wine – no brainier drinks – but really… He did remake our drinks and service did improve – but ONLY after I made the request. This does not excuse the fact we were on a holding pattern for 30 min for drinks and no apology for service that is just wrong.
In the end, I see no reason to go back when BJ’s is more conveniently located and easier to get to (this place has a weird side parking lot entrance) and more importantly consistent service.
It is too bad because I was really wanting to try other items on their menu like the Mac n cheese. Since then I have consulted with a few friends about this place and they all gave it a meh or thumbs down – so even if I would provide them another opportunity – I would have no one that would be willing to accompany me!

4:30 pm to 6:30 pm Early Bird Special deal was great.
I got the Petite NY Steak was not that small. It was 9 oz grilled steak, and I’ll say very decent size steak and it was so good. $ 17.95
I was with my gf, she got the Fried Chicken. $ 15.95 It was Very juicy!
Both orders were including soup and coffee.
The soup was beef barley, I really liked it.
It is not a high-​end restaurant, it’s kind of like a Lawrence Welk sports bar so you may run into a low-​life idiot often, but most people are family members trying to have a decent weekend dinner together. It’s a family affair, so we all have, at least one idiot in the family.
Service was very good.
Glad we came for an early dinner here.

Monday morning 8 am, restaurant empty. We were a group of about 20 wanting to get breakfast. The hostess insisted that everyone had to be there in order for us to be seated. We are a bunch of nurses who had just worked the night shift. We were tired and hungry but this damn hostess wouldn’t let us sit down because 4 people were still on their way. They didn’t even let us get coffee while we were waiting. So we waited 20 min. I would understand if the restaurant was really busy and they needed their tables cleared. But this was not the case. No common sense. Annoying.

We visited last Saturday. The atmosphere was nice the only that sucks was the waiting area was small. We had to wait outside in our car plus it was a windy night. The actual parking area is small but they do have a back up area one the sideish. it’s a dark area so be careful leaving you personal items out.
There was six of us who all order pasta. I think if i can remember i order the Italian pasta. I also liked the garlic pasta with clams, if you are a garlic lover it will be your dish.

Wanted to update my review for two reasons: We’ve visited many times and the experience and food has slowly deteriorated, and I hope they turn it around because they can’t go much further south.
My husband and I have visited Jack’s at least 20 times since our original ⁴⁄₂₀₁₂ posting. We arrived on a Saturday around 11:30am, expecting a very long wait to be seated. We were told 20 minutes, and given a buzzer — and were seated within 15 mins. Good start. My husband ordered the Southern Comfort with his eggs over medium. I ordered the Greek Scramble (my standard). We both had coffee and water. Our food came out very quickly; however, my husband’s eggs were barely cooked (very snotty and not medium). He almost sent it back, but he was happy about the rest of his meal and very hungry. I gave him half my hash browns, as they gave me a very large portion; however, my Greek Scramble was really bad. It was if the egg whites weren’t scrambled at all. It looked and tasted like they were just thrown on the grill at the last second, with the gyro meat & feta cheese not having time to warm through… for when I ate my meal, there were noticeable areas of warm and barely warm. This variance in temps made for my meal not as enjoyable as usual. Thus my review.
Our service was very good, and even through our waitress was very busy, she filled our waters & coffee consistently. Please turn around the quality of the food… for we enjoy this restaurant and want it to shine like it should.

The atmosphere was nice. It seemed like it was in a good location and easy to get to. However, the parking lot is small. If you do not get a spot in the lot, then jack’s has a dirt lot. The dirt lot is not that great when it is wet. Walking through mud and puddles are not fun.
The most prices are in reasonable price. Some items are more then what it should be. I ordered biscuits and gravy. It came with hash browns that were plain and two smaller biscuits with gravy. The biscuits tasted freshly baked and the gravy was very good. However, this was not my first choice in a breakfast. My first choice was there classic burrito, but come to find out, they don’t serve burritos on weekends. That was a bummer.
The customer serve was ok. Our waiter was nice and information. But when it came to drinks and refills, we didn’t get that great of service.
As for going back, probably not. It is a trip to get here for me and if I go back in the area I may want to try something new!

Good was great and our waitress Holly made our dinner amazing, she has a great attitude and was always close by if we needed something !
We will be coming back

This was a great place for breakfast. The bloody Mary was good and the food was good. The food is kind of heavy, but like good to eat when you’re hung over kind of heavy.
They had a bunch of families there and it was pretty loud. They had a hefty wait when we got there but the bar is open seating. Overall it was a good experience and I would go back.

I’m a fan coz I’m here at least once a week to visit family and friends in San Bruno. Good local spot that will never disappoint. I sit at the bar most of the time to watch the games and their bartenders know how to make a stiff one.
Keep it up guys! Would definitely recommend any day of the week!

I’m glad I finally get a chance to write a review for good old Jack’s! I used to come here every weekend for brunch a few years ago when I lived in the apartment complex right across the street. Although the food at Jack’s isn’t exceptional, I find that it is consistently decent. Today, I ordered a bowl of the avgolemono, a traditional greek soup with chicken, egg, lemon, cream, and rice, and the code bleu burger with garlic-​oregano fries. The avgolemono had a nice balance of flavors and its warmth was very satisfying on a chilly day. The code bleu burger was juicy and the bacon was nice and crispy. The first few bites of the garlic-​oregano fries were really fantastic. However, the fries were way too drenched with oil, which made me feel a bit sick after eating all of them. Regardless, Jack’s provided an enjoyable foodie experience overall for me.

Did we hit this place on a bad day or is it always this bad?
My best friend and I waited 20 minutes for a table on New Year’s Day (we were happy about that wait).
We both ordered Moscow mules and they came out quickly and were decent.
We ordered an eggs Benedict and grilled pioneer sandwich.
The eggs came out over done and were so soggy they soaked the English muffin. The roast beef on the sandwich was over cooked and tough. The cheese wasn’t even melted and the bacon has a weird color.
We headed up to café Grillades and had a great New Years breakfast.

Happy hour wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Usually happy hour food is a rip off because of the small portions and gross food. But here, the nachos had more toppings than chips. The sweet potato fries, calamari, and Mediterranean platter were all worth getting.
As for the drinks, I can only speak about the Moscow Mule made with Russian Standard vodka. It tasted sweet and not very strong initially but my body felt it later. Maybe the good stuff does sneak up on you. It was about $ 10 before tax and tip.
At 3pm, the restaurant was pretty empty but quickly filled up by 4:30pm. Service was good and friendly. Food came out fast.

A nice place for breakfast, lunch or dinner, near Tanforan shopping Center. Pretty standard offerings and well prepared food. The noise level is fairly high. I will say the service was good and efficient, the food came within a reasonable time and the servers were attentive to our needs. I found the menu selections adequate but not that extensive. We ordered corn tortilla soup, grilled pork chop, spinach salad with grilled salmon, fried calamari and mac’n cheese. All were delicious! Overall, the food quality was good and the prices most reasonable. This is the perfect place to grab some food before a movie, or when on a date.

This menu looked really promising but the food fell short. The Chinese chicken salad was water logged, limp iceberg DRENCHED in a cloyingly sweet sugary dressing. Honestly, thinking of it makes my stomach churn. Would never order that again.
If I were a dairy eating man I would order the mac and cheese, they all sounded good.
This place has to be the sister of Boulevard in Daly City, right?

Parking can be terrible when it’s the peak dining hours. It’s best to get all your party present as most receptionists at the front won’t seat you until everybody is with you.
When you do get seated the service is pretty decent and the selection is variable and plenty.
From breakfast to dinner most of the dishes seem a little expensive, but the portions are huge! I’d definitely recommend coming here w/​a empty stomach unless you’re coming here for the yogurt and appetizers. Best choice for breakfast would be the omelettes since it comes w/​a generous helping of hashbrowns done right where it’s not too soft but just enough top crisp to it.
For lunch and dinner there’s just too much to name, but the burgers, mac and cheese, sandwiches, and pasta are my go to’s when breakfast isn’t offered anymore after 2pm.
2 TVs are at the bar and 1 in the back room and it usually gets loud and crowded during big local sport games.
It’s definitely a place I frequently visit because they serve the food nice, fast, and hot.

OMG… I’m so full.
Just polished off their Rueben sandwich with fries.
It was great – the meat was moist and tasty.
Service is so friendly.
This is a very busy location – we waited for a table with our beeper in hand for a late lunch – it was after 2pm. There were 4 parties in front of us.
Busy!

Enjoyed having brunch at Jack’s for the first time… They offer some nice unique combos like the Southern Comfort: chicken fried steak on a waffle with two fried eggs and country gravy (hearty)… Down to basics like eggs benedict. One of us ordered the lamb burger with a side of garlic fries and was quite happy with the flavors. Swedish pancakes were a bit meh compared to Millbrae Pancake House, but everything else was
tasty.
Overall, good atmosphere for larger parties. Friendly and fast service. Will be back for brunch again…

I came here with my friend for lunch on a Saturday. We were seated quickly and served bread. I had the Grilled Double Breast Chicken. It was good and very filling for the price. The mashed potatoes were buttery and garlicky. The chicken wasn’t the most moist, but it wasn’t dry either. My friend had the California Mac & Cheese. She said it was a bit watery. I recommend going to Homeroom in Oakland if you want amazing mac and cheese.
Overall, this place is decent and reasonably priced with good portions. Service was friendly and quick. It reminds me of chain restaurants like TGIFs and Applebee’s, so don’t expect to be blown away, but it was good.
Food: Decent
Price Range: $ 10-​$ 20 (my dish was around $ 13)
Service: Friendly and quick
Ambiance: Casual
Décor: Modern

If you had a choice between
A: food that looked better than it tasted
B: food that tasted better than it looked
Which would you choose?
If I only ordered the items I enjoyed the most, this would have been a 5 star review. However, as is the case with Unilocal,the entire meal you eat and pay for is reviewed.
The Thai Steak Salad was perfection on a plate. The house made salad dressing, crisp, icy cold vegetables, lovely rice noodles, and delicious strips of steak that were actually cooked MEDIUM pretty much deserves 5 stars and raves all day.
The Zucchini cake appetizer was also delicious.
The rest of the food I ordered — BAD. Clearly my photos illustrate how delicious everything looked. Looks are deceiving. Yes, they are. The pot roast entrees I ordered for my daughters tasted old and the sauce was sugary. It was really awful to pay for 2 entrees that neither person wanted so they ate my food and I was stuck with… well, their food that I couldn’t eat. I ordered a fried chicken entrée as well. It was bland. It was really bland. The spanikopita was greasy as hell.
I ordered 3 drinks, 2 appetizers and 4 entrees.
I only enjoyed 1 appetizer and 1 entrée.
I basically paid a lot of money to look at food I didn’t want to eat.
Is it the end of the world? No.
Will I come again? Maybe.
Look, that salad really deserved 5 stars. That salad was everything. Seriously.

Reminds of the chain restaurants on the lines of: TGIFs, Applebee’s, OG.
Not that there’s anything wrong with them. Love me some good chain restaurant food. But, when you live in the bigger cities, and in the Bay Area, hard to go to these because of diversity of authentic choices around.
Went here with the fam. Good spot because of they have quite a variety on the menu, such as burgers/​pastas/​pot roast/​meatloaf/​seafood. Something for everyone hopefully.
Décor is unimaginative, but what else do you expect for a place like this.
Foodwise: pork chop, shrimp scampi, calamari appetizer, pot roast, mac&cheese.
I’m going to comment on my dish: the Porkchop. Saw some Unilocal pics with some nice searing action. Had to try it. And I was disappointed. It’s double cut, and so it’s thick. You would think that would mean juicy, but Jack’s overdid this one a bit too long. It’s dry. When you pay for one of the more expensive dishes on the menu, that sucks dude.
Calamari has that crispsy outside, and not overbattered. The aioli is great dipping.
My fam kinda enjoyed their dishes, but weren’t blown out of the water. Jack’s is a good spot if you have an eclectic group who can’t decide on a genre of food. Otherwise, I have another reason to go choosing more legit places.