Jake’s Public House

We were originally going to Laclede’s Landing for a Saturday night dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and decided to support this newer (empty) establishment. By far, it was the worst dining experience we have ever shared as a family!
First of all, the waiter was really sweet but very dingy. He had no idea what he was doing and tried to give both my small children knives lol. My husband and I ordered for the kids first, while we browsed the menu. While waiting for the kids’ food, we noticed that the smoker sitting near us wasn’t an inconsiderate patron, but rather an employee!
The waiter finally brought out charred «sliders» served on stale, white sandwich bread. He told me they were out of buns but that the kids should like the stale bread because it would remind them of PB&J. What? The kids refused to eat. I’m not sure if it was the bread or the black things purporting to be burger patties.
I attempted to order 4 things but they seemed to be out of everything. Instead of leaving, we asked what they weren’t out of. By default, my husband and I both ordered some sort of warm chicken sandwiches. The waiter promptly brought us soggy salad that we hardly touched. But the chicken sandwiches took the cake. They were disgusting! We each took one bite and immediately realized the chicken was bad. Not as in the taste wasn’t for us, but as in the chicken had been prepared days before and had gone bad in the refrigerator only to be microwaved when we ordered. We almost threw up.
At that point I had had enough and asked to speak with the owner, who happened to be there. I’ve never done that before. She was immediately defensive. She didn’t see anything wrong with the «sliders» and offered no alternative for my hungry children. To be clear, we wouldn’t have ordered anything else because a) we weren’t trying to poison our kids and b) they were apparently out of food anyway. But it seems that if a party finds all of the food in their orders to be inedible, a business owner would have the common courtesy and decency to at least offer the children something else. Not this one.
When we asked her about the chicken, she eventually admitted it had not been prepared that day. But the disturbing part was that when my husband tried to pin her down on when it was prepared, she couldn’t answer. She got very angry and told us it was very common for restaurants to serve left-​overs. She was very rude and unapologetic. Her attitude was absolutely incredulous. I’m shocked this place is still in business.

Mid afternoon lunch with the family. Ordered spinach dip for appetizer; it was good about average. I had the burger with Bleu cheese. It had a very good chargrilled flavor and was juicy with just enough blue cheese. My wife had a mushroom swiss burger and enjoyed it as well. Son’s chicken sandwich was very good and daughter said her turkey club was really good. Overall very good lunch.

They haven’t even served my meal and I’ve started this review. If I wasn’t so tired and hungry I’d leave, but right now almost anything will have to do. Well, that might not be true when the food arrives…
So far they have no ribs (sign outside says they serve the best ribs in STL); they have one steak out of five that are on the menu; the only wine is rose. No wonder I’m the only customer at 7.30 PM.
And never got any better. The burger’s flavor was mediocre and overwhelmed by the stale bread it was served on. The service was friendly and prompt, but then I was the only person in the place. I suspect there will be another restaurant in the space in the near future.

I ordered chicken kebabs. Super tasty and perfect amount for lunch as it was served with salad and mac and cheese. Service was fast and friendly, food was tasty, price was reasonable. Great pub!

Took the kids there opening-​night, and they’re off to a great start. Kids love the burgers, and I enjoyed the St. Louis style ribs.
I’m from out of town; are there no other local beers than those made by Anheuser-​Busch? Would’ve like some variety there.
Service was enthusiastic and friendly, but obviously still working out some kinks. No worries there. I’m sure they’ll figure it out.