First off let me say that this particular location has been through many changes before settling on what it is now. It started out as a Ground Round when the mall first opened way back when, eventually becoming a Dingbats briefly and now we settle on Jake's.
I have been to this mall on several occasions and would always walk past this location. You see, where it is located is kind of a dead zone in this mall. No stores particularly around this spot and Italian Oven right across the way from it always seem to draw me there making me forget about Jake's. Also it is basically a through way to the exit, so you kind of are either on your way out or rushing in. Also this mall is not known for it dazzling food court/food offerings, I was just there the other day and there are only three food places in the food court (four if you count Auntie Anne's hovering near the escalators).
Anyway, it was a family outing day and the decision to come here for food was basically made for me, I wasn't going to argue because this would be a new place for me to try and you have to be open to those chances that come your way. Let us get the bad part about this out of the way right now, and this is the only reason I am dinging them, The wait time to be seated. There are two entrances for Jake's, one from the mall concourse and one from outside. We chose to come in the mall concourse entrance, but upon entry there is no sign to let you know whether to wait to be seated or seat your self. When we found out it was a seat yourself type of day that is when we ran into a little bit of turbulence if you will. At this time there was not a table available to accommodate us, so we had to wait until some were cleaned and rearranged. We also almost made the mistake of going into the adjacent room. Here is where it is weird. The adjacent room, for a majority of the time, sits unused. It is basically their banquet/party room. I have seen birthday parties and painting parties in there, but never just someone casually dining. To me this is a waste of usable space, if you are busy this should be used as an overflow area to seat your hungry guests. I know you rent the space out, but for a one-year-old birthday party you do not need the whole room. OK, end that rant and let's move on.
When we were finally seated and menus in hand everything went smoothly. Our server, Candice (sorry if I am misspelling your name), was amazing. In our chit chat she had mentioned that she was a nurse and you could see that coming through by here taking very good care of us and remembering everything we asked for, she was delightful and made for a very good experience here.
When I say that the portion size here is generous, I am not being generous by using the word generous. The portion size here is outrageous, but in a good way. I opted for a Southwest Burger meal and got a mojito to indulge myself. The mojito was spot on and I enjoyed it. But the star of the meal was the burger. A huge beef patty topped with cheddar, bacon, onion straws and barbecue sauce. The patty was juicy and seasoned perfectly, cheese melted over it nicely and the bacon cooked just right. The onion straws were like onion rings that didn't want to be connected, because they were thicker than your average onion straw, but obviously not round like an onion ring, it was more like an onion petal. Every bite was like having a southwestern party in my mouth. It was perfect bun to patty ratio, no excess bread here. I had asked for my fries to have a dusting of ranch on them, but I could not tell either way if they were actually seasoned or not.
The other picture I have here is of the "kid's menu" grilled cheese. That thing was huge enough to make me full let alone a small child. Great options for them to pick from as well.
Great experience here and we had not trouble splitting the check at the end. Definitely will be back here. read more