I have an addiction. It is one I acquired here. Do they have Cribbage anonymous meetings? Just thinking about is making the urge ever present, my hands are shaking... I need to add things up to 15 right now! Breathe, breathe... you're fine, Anna. It was a slow Friday (day after Thanksgiving) and we were in bewteen picking up friends at the airport. We strolled in, got cozy, and were treated very well by the bartender. He gave me a few samples of wine to help me find one that didn't make me go "pleh!" I wound up getting a glass that was $8, but wasn't worth it. Once I really settled in, the Chatterbox Speakeasy became my drink of choice. 22oz beers are $3 during Happy Hour- now that's what I like to see when I go on vacation. And then, I was tought Cribbage. Oh Cribbage, my Cribbage. read more

This place is most definitely a hidden gem! With two locations in Midtown Minneapolis and Linden Hills Minneapolis, I went to the one in Midtown which is located on a corner via a south Minneapolis neighborhood. I came in on a cloudy Thursday afternoon around 12:30pm with my coworkers for an off-site team outing. When we entered we weren't greeted right away as there wasn't anyone around. A super chill, pub-y vibe. Vintage-style interior decorated with mirrors on the wall and records/vinyl disco covers. Also, the music was absolutely on point. The lighting was a tad bit dim which I wasn't a fan of however. Thank goodness they had wide windows! The building has two sides that are split. One side is just the bar area with booths and the other side is a dining area with tables and booths as well as two "lounge" areas with couches and tvs where you can play classic games on Nintendo and Sega! It also has a tv that plays cartoon shows as well! As we found seating, we were then greeted right away by a staff; friendly and smiley and came to take of drink orders right away. The menu has a great variety of options to choose from, good selection of drinks and even have a kids menu. I went with a Ranchero Pie - which had a chili soup kinda base, topped with garlic roasted mashed potatoes, cheese and sour cream. It was perfect on a cloudy day and it tasted amazing but I kinda wish I had gotten something else because I was soooo hungry and didn't feel quite satisfied. Three of my coworkers shared a Hawaiian pizza and they a mentioned that it's probably one the best pizzas they have ever ate! The co-owner came by to clear our table and they asked what it was that they put in there....the co-owner explained how they cook/make the pizza and mentioned a few of the ingredients they use. I really enjoyed hearing the history as well as how passionate he was about their food and pizzas. He recommended trying the Mac Attack pizza next time we're in. Also, they do Bite squad as well!! I am definitely looking forward to trying the two pizzas out next time. Another great thing about this place is that they have a big hutch filled with boards games such as Jenga, Scattergories, Candyland, Scrabble, Checkers, Chess, would you Rather, etc. to name a few so you can play while waiting for the food to come out or after your done chowing down and still want to hangout. If I could give them all five stars, I would but I didn't because the service was just so terribly slow as we waited about nearly an hour for our food to come out. My team (which was a group of 11) were the only customers at that time besides this other family of 4 who were just finishing up their Lunch. I'm not sure what took so long but It's possible that they could of have only had one chef at the time. Despite the long wait, I definitely am going back to try out some of their food especially the pizzas. It is also great place to hangout with friends and grab a few drinks! read more

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Neither my boy or I drink booze, so it can be hard to find a place to go at night that is fun and where our waiters don't suddenly disregard us when we order Coke or water. But thankfully, just a few blocks from our house is The Chatterbox Pub. Where the root beer flows and we can battle to the death in Connect Four. I love scurrying in here when it's below zero and the windows are all foggy. The grilled cheese is super-original, and quite unlike anything I've tried elsewhere. I don't think I have had a bad thing to eat here at all actually. And that chocolate fondue is pretty sweet, even though our cookies were a little hard. Yum yum. read more

I had a difficult time deciding how many stars to give this place. I appreciate it for the close proximity to my house. It has a sort of cozy feel to it...but also sort of an icky, dumpy feel to it (think sticky menus, overly crowded tables, horribly outdated decor, board games missing pieces). They don't serve liquor and I don't like beer or sake, but they do have several kinds of cider and wine, and that's good enough for me. The food is...food. Hit or miss, for sure. Most recently I tried their mac & cheese, and added broccoli & bacon, and I liked it enough to finish the huge bowl it came in. The bowl itself was weird though, it was WAY too big, which resulted in the cheese sauce getting kind of lost/stuck to the vast surface of the bowl, but I'm a mac & cheese fanatic and I liked the creaminess of it and the fact that there's toasted bread crumbs on top. My boyfriend ordered an ahi tuna sandwich, and didn't really care for it; he said the combo of ingredients just didn't work. Previously we've had chicken strips (pretty dry and they don't carry buffalo sauce, what's up with that?!) and seasoned fries (tasty), and pizza (meh). If it wasn't for our Groupons and the fact that we're poor, we probably wouldn't eat there. My main issue with this place is the SMELL. The overwhelming stench of grease is so bad, and I don't understand why--there must be some major ventilation issues. It's just very stuffy. You will most definitely need to wash your hair and clothing after you leave. We said we could see ourselves spending more time here during the winter, cozying up over some drinks and board games. But then we realized we can do the exact same thing at home, with better food and no stench. So there's that. read more

I'll preface this review by stating that the Highland Park Chatterbox was the first restaurant I visited in the MSP area, and a major factor in convincing me that a move to Minnesota was a great idea. I'll concede that service there can be slow but the food is awesome. It was on the strength of my experience at the Highland Park location, and its proximity to other places we'd be while up in the cities, that I chose to bring a group of friends to the Midtown Chatterbox Pub for dinner on my big bachelor party day in the city. The experience started out rough, we came in through the side door and didn't see any staff anywhere, or if we did they were masterful at blending in to the crowd. I wandered over to the bar and waited a minute to be acknowledged, before getting the 'sit anywhere you'd like.' It seemed like the bartender and one server were the only front-of-house staff on what was clearly a busy Saturday night, so we ended up having to bus our own table to find a place that would seat the five of us. To his credit the server came out soon after we were seated to clear away the bouquet of used glasses from the last diners and get our drink orders, and those drinks came out again in a reasonable amount of time. What didn't happen, however, was our server later asking anyone if they wanted refills or waters to replace our empty glasses. This becomes important later. After a while the server came back around to take our order, we asked for a Pretzel and Beer Cheese fondue as an appetizer for the table and various burgers, sandwiches, and mac&cheese for our meal, and were then left to our own devices again. When the appetizer came out the server failed to bring out any sort of small plates, which made eating it a complicated dance of hand contortion to desperately prevent dripping cheese all over the table or ourselves. After varying levels of success or cheesy embarrassment, and a mostly-consumed pretzel loaf, the meal came out. First, the simple goof: I was given fries instead of the roasted red pepper mashed potatoes I ordered, but the server was able to correct that. No biggie. Next, the Very Bad Thing: I had asked for my Hellcat Inferno (the spicy burger) to be served rare because I appreciate a burger that isn't an overcooked, desiccated husk. I'm guessing it was the first thing onto the griddle and then off again, and by the temperature of my plate spent more time than it ought to under a heat lamp while everyone else's dishes were finished. This means that instead of a warm inside, as rare should be, the burger was literally (and I am using the word correctly) bursting with scalding hot juices. I took my first bite and my upper-lip was sprayed with a concoction of flash-burn-temperature juices and spicy sauce. Let me be very clear: I suffered a second-degree partial thickness burn on my upper lip from the scalding juices of a burger left sitting under a heat lamp for too long. Of course the initial pain was made worse by the fact that this was the spicy burger and all of those Scoville units had open access to raw skin. As soon as I felt pain I wiped off the juices as best I can with my already-used-up napkin that had suffered the brunt of my aforementioned cheesy clumsiness, but as pointed out above the server failed to offer any sort of water or drink refills so I had nothing, no cold liquids at all, with which to cool the burn. I'd like to say I'm proud of myself for not unleashing a stream of profanities that would have silenced the restaurant, but in hindsight doing so may have made the situation more emergent to the staff. As it was I had to get up and hunt down the server on the other side of the restaurant to explain to him that I had just been burned, and that I expected that when I got back to the table from cleaning my wound in the restroom there'd best be a glass of ice water waiting. After washing off my face in the restroom (which seemed a bit dingy, if we're writing a review) I got back to the table, but that glass of ice water didn't come out for a few more painful minutes. The server didn't give any indication of believing that something was wrong until I stopped him, turned on my phone's light so he could see in the surprisingly-dark restaurant, and showed him the red, raw blister already forming on my upper-lip. Now I know there's nothing he can do to reverse the situation at that point, but I would have expected something more sincere than a surprised "huh" and no further mention of or apology for the temporary facial disfiguration I suffered because this location's cook doesn't know how to time a table's dishes so they're all ready to be plated and go out within a few minutes of each other. I'll go back to other Chatterbox Pubs, but absolutely won't visit this location again. read more

I'm being generous and going with four stars. That's only because I read reviews first and knew I'd be walking out stinking like my teenage years working at Wendy's. Oh god this smell is killing me. There isn't enough Febreeze in the world. However, apart from that, our visit to Chatterbox was actually pretty awesome. We were happy with the house brew beers, we were really happy with the Cinco de Mayo dip (aka black beans with tons of yum on top), and most of all the Jerk pizza, which was non-Minnesota-hot as promised. The thin crust was a great vehicle for all that burnination. I was also in a position to watch people playing Super Mario 3, and I had to try really hard not to jump in and grab the controller away. YOU MISSED THAT MUSHROOM. DUDE, GO DOWN THE QUICKSAND, THERE IS A SECRET ROOM THERE. Sigh. We're nowhere near the neighborhood and I don't know if we'll end up going back, but the food was definitely great and if I ever have a reason I'll be more than happy to stink like a fryer yet again. I think. read more

Personally I adore this bar. We have a love/hate relationship... I haven't had a meal here, but the beer is great in my opinion. I might be just a sucker for places that have brewed beer that is not a normal tap you'd receive at a mainstream bar. I love that atmosphere of the games that you can play. The location that is on 35th is a little more cozy with furniture and Nintendo. This location has a good selection of games (but where the hate comes in - pieces tend to be missing). If you are looking for a place to bring friends for a beer and easy entertaining without the hosting - Chatterbox is the place. No one will get upset on the volume when playing a competitive board game, and you can blame the lack of winning on the missing pieces (even if they are all accounted for). There is a parking lot for this location, which is a nice change. Don't forget the open mic night - That alone sometimes needs another beer! read more

Maybe I'm an 87 year old woman trapped in a 23 year old girl's body, but my idea of an excellent evening includes boardgames at home with a few close friends. Maybe an alcoholic beverage or two, and definitely great food. The thing is, you can only stay in on a Friday night so many times before you're officially a hermit. Chatterbox to the rescue. Very low key atmosphere - similar to that of your best friend from high school's basement. Board games are free, beverages are strong AND tasty. The menu has lots of variety, and the roasted red pepper mashed potatoes are worth writing home about. Couches available for the nintendo and atari games (which I think are $2-$3), but I was never any good at Frogger. All around, a cozy and fun experience. A word of caution: Febreeze may be necessary when you get home, unless you enjoy the eau d' onion ring scent. read more

Old school, a bit dimly lit, and has a local feel. Awesome for drinks with the guys or a game night. Not awesome for younger kids. (But the St.Paul Chatterbox is great for younger kids.) Unique food, unique beer. Good stuff. Check it out. read more

I went here once before with three of my classmates and had a great time (until karaoke started randomly and we had to shout at each other while battling in Sorry). Playing the games is great (I realized I didn't know how to beat the original Super Mario). So, that experience was probably a 4 star experience. However, I wanted to go here again with one of my other friends. My friend is 17, so I called ahead and asked if you needed to be 21. They told me that you didn't have to be 21 until 9pm. So we went, and were promptly kicked out because you have to be 19 to go in. Yes, I know it's a pub, and that's why I called ahead. But seriously... I probably won't go again unless my classmates invite me again. read more

I hardly ever eat meat anymore, but sometimes when I'm super stressed out and it's the end of the day all I want is the satisfaction of a hamburger and beer. Since this indulgence is so rare (no pun intended), I try to make it good and have had a lot of really wonderful burgers around Minneapolis as a result. I had heard second-hand that the burgers at Chatterbox were really good so I decided to give it a shot. My information could not have been more wrong. I ordered the Inferno burger, but right before I did I had a second thought. I wanted to know if the beef was going to be "happy beef" (i.e. maybe local, preferably grass fed) and so in spite of feeling like those yuppies in Portlandia who want to know the name of the chicken they are about to eat before they order it, I asked our server. She said she didn't know where the meat comes from, but that she'd ask. At that point in time, a guy who I thought was there for a D&D tournament walked past and since I was mistaken and he actually worked there she asked him where the meat for the burgers comes from, to which he replied (in a rather surly manner), "Cisco". Surely he meant a town in Wisconsin, right? Maybe South Dakota? No. He meant the food supply company. So I asked for another minute while I weighed my options. I decided that my information about Chatterbox having really good burgers was probably correct and that it would probably outweigh any concerns I have over eating factory farmed beef. Here's the thing -- factory farmed beef would have been fine, but what appeared in front of me bore no resemblance to meat at all. Do you remember those articles in the news that were getting a lot of play a few months ago about meat slime, and how you asked yourself who in their right mind would eat meat slime. Well, I have news for you: you will be eating meat slime if you order a burger at the Chatterbox. Which I did. Unfortunately. Feeling ill took a couple hours to set in, which is fortunate since my trip to the bathroom on the way out revealed that they were keeping what appeared to be buckets of urine in the ladies room. It would have been really unfortunate to barf in a toilet so close to a bucket of urine. Here's the thing about the Chatterbox: nothing I have to say here will stop the legions of eHarmony/Match.com/OKCupid first dates from the Chatterbox being their go-to place. And that's just fine. After all, what better way to learn about your date/potential first spouse than a rousing round of the game of Life? Probably none. Just please don't eat the burgers. read more

The service is spotty (the 'team' service is disorienting and counter to every other place I frequent). The worst thing is they serve their beer ice cold. That's fine if you're drinking crap, but decent beer shouldn't be frozen out like that. On the plus side the atmosphere is pretty good. Free (old) Golden Tee machine! read more

(Minneapolis Chatterbox) Oh Chatterbox how I luv thee.... How I dream of sitting in your well used couches again bringing me back to memories of my friends basement and playing ATARI. But wait!! Someone is bringing me a Sangria! Always great to be the adults playing Atari, drinking Sangria chillin' with the girls in this stellar neighborhood bar. Did I mention the Smitten Kitten is next door? Meeooow* ********Cue chimes of passing time*********: (St Paul Chatterbox) So.... The Chatterbox has changed and not for the good. Folks, this used to be a place of delightful dare I say plate lickin' good food and great atmosphere, well then I went to visit again this last October while in town. I let out a big Minnesota Oooofta when what was supposed to be the craved after beer battered chicken strips appeared from the kitchens. On my plate was what looked like Dairy Queen chicken strips. Ya know the kind that come pre made and frozen. Now because I am Minnesota nice I nearly let it slide and ate in sulkiness as a good Minnesotan usually does BUT I did not as I was paying $10 for Dairy Queen. Shortened version, the waitress let me know the menu had changed, No more was anything home-ade as in olden days. My sad sad eyes prompted her to give us a free dessert. Even worse however was the dessert! COSTCO tasting brownie bites, COSTCO tasting chocolate chip cookies, dipped in Hershey like chocolate sauce not even close to fudge. Lame-O disappoint me-O. The atmosphere was still fun lovin' Atari playing good times but wow, I do not recommend in any way recommend any of the food anymore. Also, There is a possibility that the Minneapolis restaurant is still serving the delicious food of yore which is the location I used to go to back when living in MPLS. This review is from the newer St Paul location. I am so sorry MN for your delicious food loss. Chatterbox I am so sorry for your menu/chef loss. read more

Forgot to tell you about their amazing bloody mary. I am on a hunt to find the best bloody mary places in the cities, so I try to order them as much as I can. Isn't chatterbox a wine and beer only bar? you may ask... yes. But this is the best bloody I have had yet. Made with sake instead of vodka. yup. you may think it wouldn't be as strong, but it is, and it comes with a tower of veggies including: pickle olive roasted red pepper pepperchini mushroom cherry tomato This bloody is perfect for a hangover, and comes with an amazing chaser. Chatterbox's own home lager. (though you can choose what you want from the tap) Sundays are great right when they open because there isn't a soul in sight. they open at 11. I'll see you there. read more

I'm always torn when it comes to the Chatterbox Pub. Yes, they have some surprisingly well-done brews for a fair price. Their menu is ambitious and even inventive, yet tragically stuck back in the late-90's with honey mustard and sun-dried tomatoes in everything. The ambiance is comfy and welcoming and the patio is a gem. Board and video games are also available while you wait for your drinks and food. Chatterbox is one of those places that I desperately want to love - the service is so friendly and I feel like I could just wander on down for a pint any time. However, the food is underwhelming and I always feel like they just barely missed the mark. You should go and try for yourself, since the Chatterbox has an exceptionally dedicated corp of devotees. read more

I want so badly to love or even like the Chatterbox. It's so close to my house, and it has the Garrison Keillor name. There are even board games- my jam! But no matter how many tries I give it, I'm disappointed. We went last fall after the menu "revamp." I was so wishing for an improvement. We ordered the artichoke dip to start. Imagine if you will, a bowl of sludge mixed with oil. It promised red pepper- I found one pea-sized cube at the bottom. It looked lonely. We didn't even finish it. That's saying something for me and artichoke dip. Our entrees were more of the same. When promised fresh, innovative food, we got gross and weird. And so so far from fresh. Everything has a bizarre sauce that doesn't work. Everything is over cooked. Everything seems overthought on the menu, but presented as sad Applebee's. The two stars come from the beer. Pretty good beer and you can play board games. If you aren't interested in food, this could be a viable option. read more

I liked sitting outside, the staff were kind, but not trained properly. Food needs improvement.

Be warned-- THIS PLACE IS KNOWN FOR FOOD POISONING. I didn't listen to my coworker when she suggested I stop going to the Chatterbox that's just around the corner from my house (perfect location AND beer? awesome). She told me that she has gotten food poisoning after eating here, her brother and sister-in-law have, and a few other of her friends. Although I initially didn't listen, she can now add me to that list. I ate there last Tuesday, but I couldn't finish my burger because there was just something off about it. Then the next day, something else just wasn't right. I had OBSCENE stomach cramps, a slight fever, and diaria. It was terrible, and it lasted for 5 days. This, my friends, is called salmonella poisoning. If it were just me who got sick, I would say it was a fluke, but that's not the case. This place is just really that dirty. Steer clear if you would like to keep your insides happy. read more

Came here with a group of friends just to check it out. It's a pretty small place, thankfully it was dead so I didn't have to worry about getting claustrophobic. Had a few microbrews (from a bottle), tried the sweet potato fries (never again). Also, if you're a germ freak you're going to want to bring some sanitizer for the games, because they are grimy. Pro's: Staff was friendly, and our server was quick to bring food and drink Con's: Just not that cool/really dive-y read more

I like the concept and come here a few times a year. Kids we were with loved the "retro" video games. Literally "what's duck hunt?" . Anyway, the service is a little spotty but always friendly. I do like the fact that they have a growing beer list which includes some sour beers. My hamburger was so-so but I did like the pretzel and cheese. We will be back. read more

I love this bar. I don't drink alcohol, but I love this bar.The decor and atmosphere are pleasant and friendly, and the karaoke is AWESOME. You can order classic and new board and card games just like you order anything else there (they're listed in the menu! Hello Apples to Apples!). I've peeked into the wood-paneled restaurant part (very someone's basement) and seen folks playing Atari games and classic Mario (!). I bet it's hard to get your hands on one of those, but it's worth a shot if you'll be there awhile. They've got everything you need for a great night out with friends if you don't want to hang at anyone's house. So why not five stars? Two reasons: the food and the drink. WARNING TO SODA POP DRINKERS! They make their own soda. They said my drink was their version of Mountain Dew, and calling it that instead of weak weak lemonadey soda-like beverage was evil. The food is snooty and expensive, two things you wouldn't expect from a fun place like this. If you go for the games or the karaoke, you should really order something so you're not a mooch. I'll try the ginger ale next time, and maybe help the friends eat a basket of fries. Definitely eat before you go. But go. P.S. The Saint Paul location, try as it may to be as cool as the original, used to be a Perkins and really really looks like it. Also the heater was on the fritz one cold winter night I went to that one with my friends. Bleah. Better stick with the Minneapolis location. read more

Remember when they used to allow smoking in bars and you'd get home from a night out and have to throw your clothes in the laundry and take a shower to get the stank out of your hair before going to bed? Now you can relive the magic of yesteryear at Chatterbox, though instead of reeking of smoke when you get home you will reek of grease. If you have a suspicious lover at home you should definitely not come here as they will certainly accuse you of hooking up with a fry cook. The beer is good, the food is just okay, but man, it really really stinks. Seriously, when is the last time they changed the fryer grease? I love a good dive bar as much as the next person, but this doesn't cut it. Maybe if they had a liquor license instead of just wine/beer a person could get drunk enough to not realize how terrible it is, but without that, I'll pass. read more

The best type of incarnation of the neighborhood bar with a ton of fun things to do. Bring your own friends or make some new ones while you're there. It's a great place. read more

This place is not the best choice. They have a nice environment with board games and old fashion video games, but the food is awful. The burgers didn't seem as if they were cooked at all, and they made me want to puke. On top of that, the fish and chips were squishy. The fish felt like it melted in your mouth. That's not the feeling you expect when you are eating fish. Conclusion: if you go here, go for a drink and the games but leave out the food. read more

Old-school Nintendo - need I say more? But I will. I really enjoy Chatterbox. It seems to never disappoint. The crowd is eclectic, as well as the décor. I can't help but be upbeat and in a good mood when I am here. I have had no problems with the service and the games I want are usually available. It's a great concept. The menu is solid comfort food with a heavy dose of Midwestern, but sometimes, all a girl wants is a nice piece of meatloaf. I often run into friends and I've met some very unique and fun people. Plus, I get to show off my mad Mario skills. read more

How can you not love this place? Good brews, Atari, trivia, and connect four. Sounds like a good night to me. The food is not bad, and the menu is pretty sizable. Hanging out at the front bar area is nice, but I prefer the sofas in back so I can play Atari and NES as well. The staff is always friendly, and really laid back. The only strike is they painted over the comic-strip themed bathroom... Still one of my all-time favorite MPLS spots. read more

I've been to the Chatterbox many times so I feel qualified to give my 2c. It will never be known for the decor which I rate below average. It looks like college freshman eye to design and dingy and dirty to boot. What will strike you is the book they call a menu that they set in front of you. The food is above average - I remember enjoying their Mac and Cheese on a few occasions. I also like their home brew root beer. I give the place four stars though only barely thanks to the annoyingly vapid waitress who always seems to be working when I go. read more

Had the deep dish pizza and not a fan of crust. It had a really weird taste. The service was fantastic.

Chatterbox is the perfect neighborhood bar joint. Super chill, good music, awesome staff, food and overall vibe. You can play old school video games and they also have lots of board games to choose from if that's your jam. Becoming a regular here is inadvertently easy to do. The customizable mac n cheese is bomb.com. Shawn and Cindy cater to customers in all the best ways. Also they have mead. Bitches (like me) love mead. read more

The food didn't win me over, and the wait staff could have been more attentive. What did win me over was the retro-gaming smashed together with the after-school board games program. It was cool to have all the options of things to do! They hosted Music bingo, and anyone could play, and not have to worry about breaking the conversation they are in. Retro gaming and drinking, does it get much better than that? read more

In my opinion, a fun dive bar that is a break from the ordinary. We all sat down at a table. While others ordered wraps and apps for dinner, I went with a liquid dinner. Quite honestly, the homemade brew was very tasty and I would come back for it. The food was decent, but wouldn't be a reason to come back. read more

I love the Chatterbox, but do have ONE major negative - the smell of my clothes when I leave. Maybe some people are different, but I'm really not a fan of the smell of deepfried clothes. Ewwwww! That said, I really do love the Chatterbox - the atmosphere, the games, their mac and cheese (mmmmm!); even their bloody marys weren't so bad! My favorite by far is the Mac and Cheese though - I love how you can personalize it by choosing your ingredients. So yummy! read more

I would love to give this place 5 stars, but with the HORRIBLE service we had I can only give it 2. We were meeting some friends from out of town a week or so ago. They arrived first and were told 'They must have meant somewhere else. There's no one here to meet you.' When we finally did arrive to, of course, meet them, our server graciously pointed at the menu silently when we asked about drinks and food. We ordered snakebites (not sure if that's what they called them, Guinness and cider), and an appetizer, and she again walked away silently. It was 10pm on a Friday, their advertised hours I believe are until 12 or 1, so we were nowhere near closing time. We did rent a couple Nintendo games and had a blast. What a great concept- food, drinks, and a piece of your childhood? I like it. We went old-school and rented original Super Mario with Duck Hunt; unfortunately there were no guns for Duck Hunt, which I do understand can happen at a place where people drink and use such items, no harm done. The drinks we ordered were good, along with the food. Only downfall? We had to hunt our server down each time we needed something. The furniture reminded me of my grandma's basement, which ironically is where most people our age probably played Nintendo, great job on that one Chatterbox. Just work on your customer service and we'll be happy to come back! read more

It could be that our ravenous hunger made us oblivious, but we didn't notice a smell of grease. We stopped at the Chatterbox yesterday for dinner with a Groupon. I purchased that Groupon without doing a shred of research because I've been to this location several times, and have always been satisfied. Our certificate was only for $20, so we decided to keep it cheap; none of Chatterbox's delicious apps, which I usually love. Also, we went strictly non-alcoholic. I think this says something about the place: we still really enjoyed ourselves. Of course the big draw of the Chatterbox Pub is the opportunity to play board games at your table, or vintage Nintendo or Atari games in the back room. We selected Battleship, and I'm reluctant to tell you how that turned out. It still boggles my mind that despite my excellent methodical guessing, my husband still whooped my ass in 2 out of 3 games. Wah-wah. We both had burgers: mine was the Mushroom Bleu, and he went with a plain bacon cheeseburger. We agreed that the ciabatta bread (which stands in for a bun) was excellent. It tasted like it had been baked only a few hours earlier, which was probably true. The burgers, however, were lackluster. I think next time we'll pick one of their sandwiches, as long as it still comes on that delicious bread. Oh, and the service! Groupons are notorious for inspiring less-than-enthusiastic service: not here. We were greeted cheerfully when we came in the door, the staff checked on us often, and our drinks were kept full. The service yesterday could not have been better. read more

I have been to the other two Chatterbox Pub locations, so I figured I would give this one a try! We walked in, and walked right back out. I literally felt gross in here. I understand the vintage look they are going for. The other locations portray this perfectly. However, this place just feels nasty. We couldn't find anyone to serve us, we walked to the other side of the joint to find someone and ended up having to walk through a little hallway that I'm not even sure the public is allowed to walk through. It showed right into the kitchen areas and it grossed me out. We ended up finding someone, and she said to seat ourselves and she'll find us. She was very nice, but we just decided nevermind. We walked out onto their side patio (which was cute) and escaped through the fence. I would say try the other two locations before even considering this one. :( read more

No joke, 2 different Chatterboxes in a week, the only 2 that aren't near my neighborhood. Many years ago, I used to go to this location all the time, but with life and work, I've not visited this location as much. Yet, I personally love the old-school nature of the original Chatterbox, and plan on returning when the cold winters resume their place here in MN. This time around I was in the porch area, and despite the nice waiter, it was a challenge to want to stay out there due to how dark it got and the band of mosquitos hanging out in the porch area. Ultimately I prefer the indoor area of this location vs. the outside tables. It may be due to my unhappiness of getting bitten by approx 10 mosquitos in a period of 45 minutes. However, the food and drink = good, so all is well. read more

I'm basing this review solely on my time spent on their patio...we'll see how I feel come winter! I've never eaten an actual meal here, but I do come here for drinks and appetizers fairly often now that I live reasonably close. They only have wine or beer but I love their Bloody which is made with Sake and I love their Strawberry Lemonade Mimosa which has chunks of strawberry floating in it. Drinks come in regular or tall and I almost exclusively go for the tall...which means I wind up spending hours on that patio! It's not super sunny but it's relaxing and - in true Chatterbox tradition - you can choose from their collection of board games if conversation begins to decline! Service is alright and the food is average bar food...huge portions of deep fried appetizers - and the hummus is good but it comes with cheese and cheesy-pita bread which reduces the health factor significantly. All-in-all, I like coming here for the basics: tall drinks, patio, and friend time. read more

This place is just plain fun. The BF and I came here with a friend and played Candyland and Scrabble. The couches are comfy and made to spend a little time playing games on (and not worry about spills). I also got to kick some butt at Sonic the Hedgehog. This was the game of choice for me and my cousins when we were kids, and I'm pretty boss at it. It's great to get to use that completely useless skill set you spent hours honing in your childhood.... Aside from the gaming awesomeness of this place, the drinks are reasonably priced. The food is a little on the expensive side, but it is tasty, so I can deal. I definitely plan on hitting this place up for their happy hour sometime very soon. read more

I've been here a couple of times, both for their Tuesday night open mic. The Chatterbox is really like two places in one. The right side (the one with the front door) is built like a diner, with booths along one side and the bar along the other. On the left side is the lounge, with tables, couches, tons of board games, and TVs with old school Nintendo and Super Nintendo. They have a really nice beer selection, and the food is good. The Irish potatoes are worth mentioning as being particularly good. The open mic is run by a guy named Will, who likes to fill in the time between performers with Irish folk songs. He's a great guy who makes new performers feel very welcome. The only downside is that there's a good chance you'll leave the place smelling a bit like cooking grease. The smell can get a bit much towards the end of the night. But that's a small price to pay for a fun night at a really cool pub. read more

Go with a Groupon. I really want to love this place. I've gone with friends probably around 10 times. The atmosphere is fun and the games are enjoyable. All that to me feels like a rather successful distraction from the food that falls short of keeping the promise that the restaurant seems to make. The beer tastes like it's made from kits designed to reflect already exiting options. They are fine, just lacking in character somewhat considering the growing standards to microbrew in the TC. The root beer is actually really nice but it doesn't qualify for the happy hour so I have a hard time dropping what, if I remember right, is about $6. Do not under any circumstances eat the apple crisp in the desert menu. read more