You know, this place is a sweet and sour experience... when Tina is working tables and Denise is behind the bar, service is great and friendly. When Sonya or Misty are working, the demeanor and service drop dramatically... if you're not part of the right clique, you're screwed. Appetizers are mostly overpriced for what is marginally a neighborhood dive. This isn't Tilted Kilt, but it is priced like it was. The food is usually good, as long as you steer clear of the cheese crisps - Taco Bell across the parking lot does better. If you're into beer, this isn't the place to go - about the best beer they have in rack is Fat Tire. Mass-market domestic swill rules here. For liquor, Makers Mark is the best bourbon & forget about single malt Scotch whisky - they don't have any. In other words, you're not going to impress anyone with your taste in spirits coming here. This is the kind of place where they think Jack & Crown Royal are premium selections - and they charge premium prices for the privilege of drinking the stuff of alcoholics... I've begged them to bring in some Four Roses or Macallan - nope... mostly rotgut bottles. I guess if I wanted better booze, I could go to a classier place like Buffalo Wild Wings or Native New Yorker (this place is that far down the list.) I think the Hambone might have a better selection of things to imbibe in and that is sad. A far better experience for karaoke fans or hungry folk would be Old Chicago (Alma School & US60) on Sunday evenings with their $2.50 pints of anything in the rack. Depending on who is behind the bar, you might have to wait an hour for your tab because the servers aren't supposed to be back there tallying up checks and the bartender might have her sights set on some old fart at the bar. Begging to pay your tab isn't fun, if you know what I mean. By the way - if you pay with plastic, this place charges a surcharge - something that if people complain about will cost them their ability to take plastic - surcharges & service charges are an express no-no with Visa, MasterCard & Amex credit cards. Complain to your card issuer. Sometimes I wonder why I go back - but the karaoke is fun (Maestro is the only staff member who usually sings - he is a crowd favorite & you'll love him) and some of the people in there are great - customers & staff. Again, not all the staff is competent and, typical of any karaoke bar, some of the singers think they will be discovered any day now. By the way - some of the five star reviews are from Simpleton's staff - they think the place rocks, or something like that. If Denise & Tina leave, I'll find somewhere else to hang out - there are much better options in Mesa & elsewhere. read more

They charge for you to be there for karaoke as if you're paying to see a band!! Hellloooo nobody cares about karaoke!! Service was ok... Except maybe the relieving bartender should lay off the drugs before coming to work read more

LIL MISTY is a fantastic bartender with a fun attitude! We enjoyed some karaoke and killer all you can eat tacos!

Despite the fact that it's almost literally a hole in the wall, and I'm consistently younger than everyone by 40 years, it has pretty good food. Also, if you happen to luck out and get Melisa (Meh-Lisa) as your waitress, then you'll be set. She kicks ass! However, there is a blond waitress (Missy?) who is absolutely terrible and pays no attention. If you get her you should probably just walk out. Tasty otherwise! read more

I am in town for a gig happening tomorrow night and I searched a place that had karaoke and food. This place popped and I am happy it did, the staff were warm and friendly and it wasn't overly crowded. I had their clam chowder and hippie salad (chicken salad with a twist) and everything was delightful. read more

I have been sitting in this establishment for 30 minutes. I used to work in the same plaza and have never had service like this, well im getting no service so maybe I shouldnt compare. I came here a year ago with a friend with crazy tattoos and was treated horribly too. I saw both bartenders talk about me and then go to every table but mine. Maybe I need an oxygen tank or handlebar mustache to get a menu here. This is ridiculous, no wonder this shit hole has 3 tables full and thats even a surprise to me. Too bad I have a party of 10 coming that im now telling to go down the street to jj Madisons for karaoke. read more

I have been supporting this bar and the owners other bars for many years...when I come here I am relieved to see Tina and Summer they are two kick ass workers that get the job done, unfortunately their hands are tied when it comes to getting your drinks or tabbing you out because they have to wait on the bartender and if it is Misty then you will be waiting a while when she decides to do it on her time. I have never known a bar to charge for karaoke especially when the group you are with are spending money on alcohol...unfortunately the patrons will see this become disgusted and take it off what would be the waitress tip (which is NOT FAIR) to the waitresses who do bust their asses and live off their tips...no patron should have to contribute to helping the bar pay for entertainment that is supposedly bringing in patrons to spend money in the bar!!!! I think "Maestro" is awesome very personable and does an excellent job also is a crowd pleaser with his personality and participation in karaoke...Thank you Matt, Tina and Summer you 3 are AWESOME... I truly miss Sheila running karaoke!! She sincerely cared about the sound and each singer. Karaoke at Simpletons now is way to loud and earpiercing and the host does not take the time to adjust each singer to make them sound better and doesn't do anything to prevent microphone feedback it is OBNOXIOUS!!! read more

This place is fun! It has a very welcoming environment, from karaoke nights, to football on Sundays! It's easy to find with a lot of parking. Food is delicious and waitress are all nice! read more

The food is mediocre. Three out of five stars. The service is horrible. I strongly suggest you avoid this place when there is karaoke - which is minimally four nights per week. While the staff is quick to take initial orders, if you need another drink, would like to order more food or even get your check, you will be ignored. I wanted another soft drink, the server ignored me. I had to track down the server more than once to get the check. I told the server the second time I needed to leave. Although I paid CASH, it still took over 15 minutes to get the change, and I had to track down the server for that. From the time I first requested a check until the time I finally received my change was over 35 minutes. read more

it is a dive, in the best possible way. I don't. want to hear kareoke all the time, but after a couple frosty brews some poeple aren't half bad. Sometimes its crowded. And sometimes you own the bar, I like it either way.I keep coming back and I have yet to leave unsatisfied read more

This used to be my favorite little neighborhood place,but not anymore. My friend and I stop in for happy hour occasionally. We were2 of maybe 5 customers in the whole place. Service was awful! Then when I went to pay, my friend said pay with cash, last time I was here they ran my card twice. So I gave her a$50,all I had. She brought me back 5 ones from a $14 tab. There is a reason no one goes there anymore. Terrible service and thieves! read more

The BEST all-you-can-eat fish fry. Every order came out freshly cooked unlike other restaurants that cook ahead. Some of the other people at our table ordered other meals and they were delicious, filling, and worth the price. The waitress, Misty, was awesome. We never went without a drink refill or more fish and she even laughed at our horrible jokes. Come early because there was a line outside the door and for good reason. read more

Had a good time and Tina was an excellent waitress. Very friendly place and food is good. Will be going there again. Karaoke was fun and D.J. accomodating. read more

When the bartender knows the name of all their customers and what they drink the minute they walk in the door you know you're in one of those good neighborhood bars. We found the wait staff very friendly to us although we were not regulars , the cheese burgers were very good and the beer was cold what more can you ask for. read more

Great dive bar. Spacious. Lots of locals. Our waitress was slow and not knowledgeable but she was nice. I am actually closer to a 4.5 on this one. Food was good, hearty. read more

Decent place.service could be better.will give it another try sometime.my husband really liked his chz burger

I've been going to simpletons for years. I see the same employees practically every time.They most likely will be at our table with our drinks before we get to a table. The prices r low, happy hours 7 days a week. I must say they have the best Karaokee in the area. yo7 should go on Tues pm. its called "sing a lot night" show starts at 7 pm so u don't have to stay up all night on a work day. wow! are there good singers. Tues pm 3 or 4 valley singles groups show up for their karaoke activity. These folks can sing. Talking to the owner and the servers, I see that this has been a pro karaoke hot spot for over 15 years. They have good specials and everything is made from scratch. You won't find any out if the box frozen stuff here. You can see the cooks hand beer battering the cod, chicken, and Vegi platters. try the home made giant pork tenderloin or cod beer batter is yummy. This week we got a big surprise. The whole place is being remodeled. A much more cozy, warm and up scaled environment. Big flat screens every where and cozy private booths. read more

Worst food and worst service I've had here in 4 years. Cold Fries, no mayo, had to wait for beer until food was half gone. Used to love this place, now it will be a long time till we return. Waitress sent Mgr over to talk to us. Mgr said she would have comped both meals if we hadn't posted negative reviews on social media. She did comp us one meal. read more

Staff very friendly but locals not at all..my group was booed after singing karaoke by people that frequent there ..

Ok, I stopped in with 2 friends last night. I went up to the bar and ordered a pitcher of Shock Top beer. I didn't get the bartender's name - she was thin and looked to be in late 40s or early 50s. She wasn't real friendly but that wasn't a big deal. I handed her a 20 and figured the pitcher of beer would be about $9-12. This is a small bar in a strip mall in mesa, what most would consider a dive bar. Anyway, she give me back $4.5 in change. I tipped an additional $2 and did not get a thank you....so my pitcher of beer cost $15.5 in a dive bar in Mesa. I finally went back up to the bar and asked if the price was correct. She said that, yes, it is a premium pitcher and cost $15.50. Needless to say, this is outrageous pricing and we will not be returning. read more

I went to Simpleton's last night and had a great experience! The girls waiting tables were friendly, efficient and a joy to talk to! I am a karaoke host in my home state of Washington and I really enjoyed the karaoke at this place. The sound system was awesome, the host was friendly and the singers were quite good. read more

This is a poorly managed restaurant with no obvious person in charge. We arrived at 5pm on a Saturday and the cook refused to cook us the daily steak special until after 6pm. Nothing in their menu or published promotions cited a time limit. We settled for hamburgers which the cook deemed was a worthy order. The cook seems to set the rules and the servers are at his mercy. Eccentric. Not sure why anybody would ever return to this place. read more

so mis manage 45 min for a club sandwich bacon old and tasted burnt I go there a lot wantend to give them a chance with food but no excuse when cook on the phone they need a manager there then out of house wine want to charge me for premium really not my fault read more

Went there for the first time with a group of twelve, I explained to our waitress that I had a prior engagement and needed to served quickly. Tina said they could do it, I was surprized our order came on time the burger was first class the beer was cold the place was clean our bill came fast I was happy and will be back with our group next monday, Hope tina is the waitress she friendly and efficent even if there are no free beers Dan. read more

Me and my boyfriend go there almost every friday for karaoke and we love it because we get to sing a lot the people are nice and the food is GREAT! It is never overcrowded so u can put in 4 or 5 songs for karaoke and get to sing them all and the food there is soooo good all of it! read more

Simpletons is a great place to go for a nice evening. We go for the Karaoke, the food and the service. It is a nice little neighborhood place and we have always been treated well there. Sheila who hosts Karaoke is so fun and Tina our server is excellent. We have not had any complaints or problems there and recommend it. read more

The wait staff was top notch and very polite, our drink server was very friendly. However, we went solely for the karaoke, and that is an entirely different story. We put in two songs when we first got there and only one other customer was singing. Both songs were from the same singer in our group, and were played back to back; but another member of our group did background vocals on the first song, and apparently because of that, the KJ decided she wouldn't let her sing again for a full TWO hours, because she'd "already had her turn." When it came time for me to sing(around 11pm), even with an extremely positive reaction from the crowd, I, also, did not sing again until around last call. She was very rude to me when I asked her when our other singer(the one who did backing vocals on the first song) was going to get a turn, and even after tipping her $5 twice to try to sweeten her up a little and not be so rude to me(and the other singer who eventually also went up to ask her an hour after me). There were a total of about 6 or 7 people singing that night, and my group happened to be 3 of them and sang 5 songs TOTAL between us. Thank you, but we will find somewhere else to karaoke and spend our money on drinking there and not having to unsuccessfully bribe the KJ to let us sing. read more

This is a followup to my 1/2 post. We have been going here for a couple of years for Monday burger night (3 times in last 6 weeks). This night of 1/2 was not really out of the ordinary. Waitress seemed to favor bigger table and not overly friendly. Happy hour ends at 6pm and we were there (2 of us) at 5:30 and the other 2 at 5:45pm. Ordered food on split ticket at 5:50pm and got it at 6:40. Had to flag waitress down to get another round of drinks, since she was preoccupied by bigger groups. They charge for anything extra on the burger. OK, bacon and cheese I understand - no problem. They charge extra for mayonnaise of $.50. I have been there 3 times in past month or so and EVERYtime the bill is wrong. Sometimes in your favor, sometimes not. This time I don't know. The drink specials weren't posted, so I don't know what I really paid. Food was undercharged. Last time the drinks were overcharged. 3 of 4 ordered burgers medium. All were well done !! NOT pink at all, not even close. Too bad. The food is ok, but burgers are always well done. Service is suspect at best and look at your bill. We have always had a wrong amount. Wait staff usually blame the owner. Oh well. We swore this is our last time there. 50 minutes to get a burger is ridiculous. Maybe they need more staff? It's a bar, we usually tip well if we are served quickly and correctly. 15% is my minimum and usually 20+%, even on alcohol. read more