A most unpleasant experience. We sat for over an hour after placing our order to get the food. People at the next table were cussing loudly. When the food came, it was pretty poor. The fried shrimp was hard and the onion rings were soggy and greasy. The baked potato had some kind of a fungus. The service was fine, but I went to eat, not to hear apologies.. read more

The only way to describe it is that some of the food is good quality and some is subpar. Being On the water, you'd expect their Signature Crab Cakes to be lump crab meat, instead of the cheapest tin of crab from a supermarket. However their jacked up chicken sandwich was great. So was the fried pickles. The salad was sadly wilted with moldy greens included. So if the community doesn't normally order it, don't get it here. Go with the standards: chicken, steak or onion rings. read more

Ate there a few weeks ago and really enjoyed sitting outdoor on the deck. Wife enjoyed her crab cakes and I split shrimp and nachos with my kid. Good shrimp too. Nachos had good flavor but needed more meat or a nice drizzle of BBQ across the top so you got more BBQ flavor in each bite. read more

I've been going to Jakes now for the past three or four years. The food is very mediocre, the music is usually too hard for my taste,but the view is beautiful. I keep thinking the food will get better, but I've been disappointed every time. Last time I went, I tried a cheeseburger thinking they couldn't possibly serve a bad one. I ordered it medium, and it was well done and dry. I've talked to others, and everyone I talked to said the same thing: the food tastes like it's been microwaved. PLEASE GET A NEW CHEF! read more

Food was ok. Too many flies in dining room. Found an odd looking piece of plastic in my crab dip . Waitress said sorry. No comp drinks or offer to reduce the check. Really poor on part of management. read more

Food was very average, wife's meal was cold. Notified the waitress she took it back and returned after microwaving the meal. Pot roast was fatty! Poor experience Manager didn't even bother to come to our table he stood and watched the waitress apologize. Manager spoke to us as we left and had the nerve to say come back soon. Yeah right! read more

The service is great. We love sitting on the porch watching the boats pull in. We've been coming here for years and I alway get their steamed shrimp. Not anymore. They seem to have changed the process that they use to cook them. The shrimp now have what the Chinese refer to as a crunchy texture. They remain translucent and have a very different texture. I understand this is a desirable way to cook shrimp but I won't order them again. I'm so disappointed because they were my favorite item on the menu. read more

I came out to SML to meet my boyfriend's family and they chose Jake's. I was really disappointed in their lack of vegan options (hello, it's 2014-- people have dietary restrictions, wake up!) and the million or so bees that were haunting the outdoor patio. Mixed drinks were horribly watered down. The service wasn't terrible but not remarkable either. Tried to speak with the owner (I think his name was Mike) regarding his lack of plant-based menu options and found him dismissive and arrogant. Definitely won't return. read more

Great boating to/ dining in restaurant. Menu for lunch very limited only 3 salad options for the lighter fare diners. Kids meals served in frisbees ( which my kids loved). I had the chicken salad panini which I enjoyed ( although a little heavy on dijon mustard) it was decent. Kids pizza was big. My husband ordered a garden salad with chicken . Good but a little pricier for lunch. Dinner menu looks good but haven't done dinner here yet. Great patio or inside dining and drive up boating. Nice view of lake! read more

Been here a couple times. Lunch was pretty good, but dinner... We had a sizable party so I got to see many different entrees. A $20 seafood platter that 2 small girls planned to share and it was hardly suitable for one person.. They had to order extra food. the burger was the only thing that was worth the money paid but it's a shame to have to eat a burger for dinner. A poor overall experience, we won't be back unless for a lunch stop read more

I struggle to believe the group that owns the Blackwater Cafe is associated with this establishment. Jake's has taken average their mission. Nothing is good, everything is average. Breakfast is pathetic and limited. Thank goodness they serve alcohol. read more

The three of us had 4th of July dinner at Jakes, and we all (because I had to share) agreed: the half-rack of ribs was AWSOME! Perfectly-cooked, meaty, and delicious. The fish & chips were good -- large pieces, expertly cooked. We only had one gripe -- Jake's Home-made margaritas were underwhelming. Watery, rather than fruit-juicy. They could do better. We will be back for the ribs, and hope they will have improved on the margaritas by then. read more

Food was pretty good and considering there aren't many place even open on a Tuesday evening we were fortunate to have found it. There was indoor or outdoor patio seating and both, while fairly plain, appeared to be decent. Indoor lighting was a little dim, presumably to cover up what appeared to be some stain spots on their carpeting. Altogether it was a pleasant experience, food met expectations and fairly good place with a little water view. read more

Everything has meat and/or cheese no other options. Food used to be better not so great anymore.

Enjoyed our visit very much. All of the servers and hostess were very kind. Food was excellent. My sister and I shared the coconut shrimp and the grilled shrimp & avocado salad. They were delicious. We had a party of 10 and they took care of all of us. read more

Our party of 12 enjoyed brisket nachos, oysters, crab cakes, crab panini, and fish n chips. Everything was wonderful, including the service from Ashley, our server. They always offer an interesting list of craft beers on tap. Smith Mountain Lake is the gorgeous backdrop for this restaurant, where you can eat inside with views of the lake or enjoy the deck outside. read more

Always a good place to go, whether it's with the family or with friends to watch a game, every time I've gone to jakes I've been happy with my food and drinks. I do like that they have a good selection of drinks with sailor jerry. Cheesesteaks are pretty good, shots are good, prices are good in my opinion, all around it's just a good place to be. Especially being right on the lake read more

Dog Friendly, even brought out a dog bowl for water. Waitress Britney was very nice and attentive even though she was really busy. Food was good. We had bbq and Caesar salad. It was a great surprise based on the reviews. Totally enjoyed. read more

This place sucks. There were at least 20+ open tables and they said we had to wait 30 min. because they had "reservations". Plus, the lady was a dick. We even offered to just sit at a table, and just order drinks but they were not accommodating. Just don't come here. read more

Below is a copy of an email I sent to the VA ABC enforcement group. I had an interesting experience at a local restaurant last night and wanted to know if VA ABC had any laws or controls over such actions? I requested a 16 ounce draft beer for dinner. The waitress brought me a glass of beer that I perceived to be 12 ounces. I questioned the waitress who informed me that several customers had asked the same question. To confirm my suspicions, I asked for a bottled 12 ounce beer. I proceeded to fill the same glass with the bottled beer. Low and behold the 12 ounce beer came to the same level as the "16 ounce" beer. I showed the waitress the comparison and she agreed with my analysis as did my three companion diners. The waitress brought me the check for payment. I asked if I was being charged for a 12 ounce or 16 ounce beer? She indicated she could not change the bill but would call the manager/owner. The owner introduced himself as Mike Warden. I told Mike that I was receiving 12 ounces of beer that he was selling as "16 ounce" beers. He disagreed and asked if I wanted to do a measuring test. I responded in the affirmative. Mike returned from the kitchen with 16 ounces of measured water that the waitress and the three folks at my table witnessed. I proceeded to pour the water into the glass. When it reached the brim, I still had about 2 ounces remaining in the measuring cup which I continued pouring and overflowing the water onto the table. At that point the owner became somewhat rude and indignant explaining he purchased the glasses as "16 ounces" from a local vendor. I then asked if he was only going to charge me for a 12 ounce beer? He said he could not "discount" alcohol. I said he was cheating every customer who came in and ordered a 16 ounce draft beer. At that point, he became arrogant and walked off leaving me with the bill. My questions is, "Are restaurants allowed to sell 12 ounces of beer as 16 ounces and is that allowed by law?" If this is an acceptable practice in Virginia, I will only order 12 ounce bottled beer in the future. And of course, I will not return to Jake's Place. Just let me know. The restaurant in question is: Jake's Place Restaurant Route 122 South 1041 Harbour Inn Lane Moneta, VA 24121 Ph: 540-297-4732 http://www.jakesplacesml.com/ read more

Took my mother here Saturday night for dinner The waitress staff was very attentive and seated us inside at a nice table We ordered glasses of wine and the seafood dip as an appetizer The dip was OK but certainly not worth the 15 1/2 dollars that they charged We ordered New York strip steak medium and medium rare along with loaded baked potatoes sautéed mushrooms and zucchini vegetable The medium steak was completely rare on the inside the loaded baked potato had only bacon and cheese on it and had been microwave so many times you could cut it in slices The medium rare steak was also raw on the inside cold with the baked potato the same way the mushrooms were only slightly sautéed Considering the price of these meals they were not worth it at all plus the potatoes had an additional à la cart charge It's a shame that a restaurant with such a nice interior and sitting directly on the lake doesn't have a better offering It will be a long time before we return to this restaurant read more

My girlfriends and I went to Jake's Place on a beautiful late June evening. We sat outside on their deck overlooking a quiet cove on the lake. We should have known that something was amiss when the first two mixed drinks I ordered couldn't be made for lack of ingredients. I them decided on a Bud Light Lime, which when it was brought to me was a Bud Light with a lime stuck in the top of it. When i asked about it, the waitress inquired to the bartender who replied, "oh yeah, they make those now!" Well we all had a good laugh at that one and i happily drank my "Bud Light Lime", wishing the waitress new what beer they did and did not carry. Oh well, we were really hungry so lets get on with the food! We were really looking forward to some of their tasty menu items when we were told that since it was Monday they only had salads and pizza. Well that kind of turned our mood from fun to funk, but we quickly adapted and decided on a couple of different pizzas and salads. After waiting quite a while for our order, the waitress finally came out and said they had run out of pizza dough and could she bring us chicken fingers and fries instead. Well we again were not happy with this change of events, most of the ladies in my group having small children and eating their fair share of chicken fingers and fries throughout the week with their own children. I will say the the salads were nice and fresh and huge portions, the chicken tenders were tasty with white meat chicken and the fries were perfectly cooked. Once we were about finished with our meal, and almost all of the patrons had left, the waitress came out and asked if we wanted a leftover pizza because someone had gotten an order wrong and they had an extra. Sure, we said! Why not? At this point of the night it became hilarious! They brought us out a cold pizza with hard crust that tasted like a boxed chef boyardee pizza. Thanks but no thanks! Needless to say we have crossed Jake's Place off of our girl's night out list of restaurants. It's sad too, because it's right on the lake, has beautiful decor, and could be an amazing place to sit have drinks and dinner on a summer night. But the poor service and disorganization will keep me away for awhile until I hear that things have changed. read more

Tried this place again after having not gone for a year or so due to yet another bad experience. Right away spotted management and she looked SO familiar but I couldn't place her. I remembered later that I had seen her on a local arrest page recently for DUI, Jennifer Haino, great example of a manager and jakes should probably rethink that hiring choice because she was quite rude and completely inattentive to staff and other guests. Being a server myself you can spot these things. But I digress. If you've got a hankering for a hockey puck, order the cheeseburger. Man they used to be SO good! But you can tell they are cutting corners with the food. The chef attempted to have me charged for a SINGLE slice of tomato! Thankfully my waitress snuck it out to me. In fact the poor girl was probably the only good thing about the experience. Kid nuggets are simply those nasty cheap Tyson nuggets you get for less than $4 at Walmart, and even my two year old pushed them away. So basically I paid $5 for a cheap frisbee that they use as plates for kids meals. My dog promptly are the frisbee when I got home, so alas I am left with no memorabilia of our awful dining visit. To my server, who I will not name because I know how the owner (Mike) is, GET OUT OF THERE! You are a good server, very attentive, and very sweet and you do NOT deserve to work in a dump like Jakes! read more

I love the ambience of Jake's but the food is very unreliable. The manager though is very very rude as is the cook. Most of the wait staff is completely inexperienced. I ordered the fried catfish. it came out raw in areas and undercooked and watery. I asked if it could be cooked a bit longer. I had this dish before and it was not this bad. the cook refused and said if I wanted another catfish I would have to pay for it. The manager backed up the cook and was rude too. I don't mind mistakes since they will happen but the way the the manager and cook behaved was inexcusable. They took it off our bill on their own initiative but this did not matter to us. we simply did not like their abrasive nature. BTW this was my birthday dinner. read more

The food is average at best. Not a very exciting menu, and the prices are on the high side. The manager has no personality and seems indifferent as to whether customers get good service or not. The potential is there, the customer service & wow is not. On the plus side, nice water view! read more

Horrible service AND we found a bolt in our daughters meal. Not only was there no apology or manager response to the bolt, they tried to charge us for the metal treat in her Cobb salad. We were there at three in the afternoon and it took 2 hours for us to get our food. Will never go back. read more

Nice place to come by boat - good marina parking. Food is good, I felt the prices were in line. Atmosphere is nice - not fancy but lots of windows for boat watching. I'd go again. read more

Food is good but overpriced. Many items on the menu are not available. One time we had to wait 30 minutes due to a lack of silverware. Wait staff is very rude and managers are non-apologetic. It seems that the wait staff and managers could use a lesson in professional courtesy to the customers. We have witnessed staff yelling at each other disturbing anyone within earshot. Spend your money elsewhere!!!!! read more

I'm giving it a three because the food was good, but outside of our waitress who really was great, the manager and two other girls at the wait stand in plain view and ear shot were horribly unprofessional and rude. They were rolling their eyes, making dismissive gestures and talking about us openly. We met friends there and we had 11 kids between the bunch of us with 5 tables, but the kids' behavior wasn't outrageous or anything outside the norm of that many kids together with their parents present. From the get-go when we got there, our friends who were there and had already eaten warned us that the manager was curt and unwelcoming to them. Within 20 minutes, our friends and their kids left so it was just us four kids and four adults, but that didn't stop the high school behavior. One example is one child in our group was stung by a bee. After he stopped crying, our kind waitress got him some ice and that is when our friends vacated the three closer tables and left. We asked if we could move the four kids to one of those tables to be closer to us. The first response in a derisive tone I got was, "well, um I'm going to have to ask a manager because there's been TOO MUCH MOVEMENT here." An adult in our party said,"it will be easier for both of us to have the children closer and there are bees flying around the table" and another random waitress who had already addressed us previously right when we got there in a very rude tone about moving out of the way, said, in full earshot to me in a nasty tone, "well, if there are bees they are going to get stung no matter where they sit!" There were a number of other comments while I was literally standing right there and I was so taken aback and frankly pissed at the tone, dismissive body language and derision that I simple went and sat back down before I said something unacceptable myself. I'm clearly not expecting some 5 star service at a restaurant on the water, but I also don't like feeling unwelcome and uncomfortable during my meal and almost the entire time I'm in a restaurant as I watch and listen to high school-aged (or at least girls with high school maturity) girls who are supposed to be in the hospitality business act like they did. We will probably give it another try at some point, but my hope is those girls (manager included) get some coaching from the owner or general manager in the meantime. read more

Food was good but overpriced. Son did not like puzza and we sent it back. The manager refused to remove it from bill and threatened to call sheriff if we did not pay. Waitress paid for it herself. What a nasty attitude there. Do not recommend!! Owner was even called and sided with manager. Really, over a cheese pizza?? Don't they know customer is always right. We will never return and will share our experience far and wide. read more

My family of 5, along with another family of 5, started our vacation at SML by eating at Jake's. We chose it because we were renting boats from the adjacent marina. After eating, we walked down to the marina to start the rental process. Our kids (ages 8-15) walked up to the car to get our stuff. While up there, they were twice approached by the owner of Jake's and harassed about parking there for the marina. They felt uncomfortable, and ran down to tell us. Shortly after the same man came down to confront us personally. We had planned on moving our cars from the (large and empty) parking lot after completing the rental process, and found his aggressive behavior totally inappropriate, especially towards our children, and given the fact that we had just eaten there. The food was decent, but I would not recommend Jake's because of the rudeness of the owner. read more

My girlfriend and I went to Jake's Place a couple weeks ago for the first time! First of all the location was amazing, and the environment screamed "This is the summer location to be at". We had to wait alittle while for good service, but when the waitress got there she was beyond helpful. She even gave me half price beer even though the happy hour had ended just before we arrived. After having my "cheap" beer our food came! It looked like it had fallen out of a magazine! It looked terrific! We dug in and it was just as good as it looked! This place will be a summertime must for us. Love it. Jake's Place your the place to be when the day gets hot and the nights get even hotter. read more

Worst ribs I've ever had. If you like steamed meat slathered in tasteless bbq sauce, then this is your place. Par for the course here.....so so food, but a great waterfront setting and decent beer selection. Service always suffers due to the turnover (which occurs because the GM is an arrogant butthead). Hadn't been here in 2 years.....didn't take long to remember why. read more

We took a large group and the service was awesome. We had fish, tuna, crab cakes, scrimp, wings and a banana cream pie. Everyone liked everything we ate. Prices are a little high but it's lake front and real-estate it expensive. We will be back. Crab cakes were especially good. read more

Staff was not friendly or attentive, we waited over a half hour for our server to come after food was delivered and then waited again for our checks, food was OK but over priced compared to other much better options on SML. read more

We come to SML several times a year. We stay very close to Jake's place but have never tried it. Because we got in late Friday evening and it was raining, we decided to check it out. We ordered some cocktails and a meat lovers pizza. The pizza was so good. They did not skimp on toppings. Even reheated later, it was still delicious. If I had written the review on Friday night, it would have been 5 stars. We went back Saturday because we enjoyed the pizza so much. This time I ordered the chicken wings based on our server's recommendation. What a disappointment. Although the Thai Chili sauce was really flavorful, the chicken wings were way over cooked and extremely dried out. It was as if they were left over from the night before, microwaved and then the sauce poured over. They were terrible. We will probably go here again if we want pizza, but not if we want something else. I do want to add that both nights the service was excellent. Our servers were friendly and attentive. read more

The food was really good, but honestly it was the terrible service that didn't make this a great experience. Our waiter was extremely rude. When it was time to order he said "What do you want?" From that point on it went down hill. He brought us our food, but no silverware. By the time he circled around again, our food was cold. He just lacked common decency. He did come by at some point to ask if we needed more water and before we could give him an answer he had already walked away. Paying the bill was an interesting task too. He never kept track of what everyone got, and we told him before we started ordering anything that we were all going to pay on separate checks. He did confirm everyone's order before we got our final bills, so he didn't mess that part up. But he just plopped all of the bills down at the end of the table like he could care less. The food was really though. I had a steakhouse sandwich that was divine, my friends had a crab and avocado panini that was heavenly, and the fries were awesome. Wish I could give this place a better rating because the food was that good, but the service really ruined the experience. read more

Great food, great view, great service, great beer, what more can you ask for. My first experience at Jakes Place was when the restaurant first opened and it was only so so, but I must say they have worked out all the kinks. The Cuban was out of this world, the onion rings were beer battered and delicious and they have a nice selection of craft beers. The other dishes ordered were the tropical salad, Cobb salad, and catfish. Everyone was quite pleased with what they ordered. We had a great mean and a great time. read more

worst service ever!!!!! i've never been treated that way before... my advice don't go instead go to bridgewater plaza! way better service and food! read more

BEST PIZZA ON THE LAKE and the jerk marinated pulled pork nachos and burgers are right behind it!! And that's with the best view! I was visiting smith mountain lake with my family for the weekend. We had looked on here at previous comments and done some other research as well and decided Jakes Place was where we would be spending the majority of our dining experience.. EVERYTHING was awesome!! Disregard any negative comments about this restaurant. The food was incredible and their menu was broad, as you had many options (burgers, pizza, pasta, ribs, chicken, sandwiches, salads, steaks, seafood and more) all the staff we had the pleasure of meeting were so sweet and attentive, the bar has an awesome set up and great craft beer options and yummy cocktails to help with the heat as well! We noticed a man walking around speaking with tables and he later came to us introduced himself and made sure our dining experience was going good. It turned out to be the manager and he was just as friendly as rest of the staff and even chatted with us for a while about our options of what we could do around the lake while we were there. I recommend Jakes Place to anyone! read more