Jake’s Restaurant

I would like to shake the chef’s hand! Well, everyone’s hand, actually. The service was prompt, the staff, courteous and friendly. But, let’s talk about the food. I had a most delightful butternut squash soup over mushrooms and pumpkin seeds (it could have been twice the size and I wouldn’t have complained) followed by a ribeye, creamed spinach, and baked potato. Every bite a joy. It’s safe to say I have now found a favorite place and will certainly be returning.

Good food, but there is a small selection of you don’t eat steak. The Monday steak special is truly fantastic, and the happy hour deals are always great.
We typically go on Monday’s and the staff is typically the same on Monday’s and they are really nice. They are knowledgable about the drinks and food.
If they had more of a selection of seafood or vegetarian food (something other than red meat), they would have received a higher rating.

Requested a table by the fireplace. Although a table was open, we were seated tables away and told it was ‘near’ the fireplace as requested. Would have been ok, if not for the fact three different people insisted on telling us we couldn’t sit there.
The food is good, but over priced given the portion size, presentation, atmosphere, and ‘slinging hash’ style waitstaff! And, there always seems to be some reason why you can’t use their points/​coupons. Plus, happy hour drinks can’t be ordered in the restaurant — only in the bar. Really???

Absolutely fantastic. Best steaks in the Milwaukee area. Service is phenomenal. Great menu.

Great peppercorn crusted filet mignon! Bar service was great, sampled 3 wines before selecting my glass.

Pretentious, very disappointed, Jackie the waitress, Ben the manager, tried hard to make our experience great. In spite of there efforts, the quality of the cocktails are below average and the food was disappointing. The twists and distinctive changes to food and beverage screwed the process. Pretentious seems to be the only adjective. Less cute and more practical basics would have saved the day.

Disappointed with bar service. No eye contact, no conversation and it seemed like we were putting the bartenders off by requesting drinks. Everyone seemed stressed out and it wasn’t that busy. I dont like panning establishments like Jakes but this was a customer service D-. :(

Jake’s brings back such good memories from the North Avenue location of years gone by. We went here and were underwhelmed. Basically, food was really tasty as was my glass of Malbec. But the wine pour was the chintziest I have ever seen, and I don’t even drink that much. Steaks were good but everything seemed miserly. Very sweet server in the lounge. Advice. For the prices, err on the side of generosity and you will be beloved by us again.

Had a great evening with our friends whom we joined for dinner. Atmosphere and food are great. We shared the porterhouse for two, ordered medium rare, came out medium if not a little more-​but was still really good. The other couple we were with ordered the same– medium. I think the kitchen just cooked them the same. The sides were great. Some of them have an up charge, the Mac and cheese was pretty small in my opinion for the up charge tagged to it (I think $ 3 – 4 if I recall correctly). The double baked potato was amazing. Will definitely return, but order steak at a lower temp so that it comes out correct.

Nice spot, I had dinner at the bar. 2 of the 3 bartenders were very nice the other was a bit brusque and seemed more interested in banging away at the POS to make sure each drink was rung up rather than engage with his customers. It was crowded on a Monday due to the specials. Dining room seemed packed. Filet was ok, but nothing special, but the onion strings were great. Caesar salad was big enough for 2+ people — not sure what was going on there but it was way too much for one person. The cheese spread and crackers on the bar were classic Wisconsin supper club staples — that was nice. It’s a bit spendy, I’d go back depending on the special deals that night.

Went there 12÷6÷14. The food was fair but pricey. Two in our party ordered the 6 oz. filet, and one person ordered the 8 oz. filet. One of the 6 oz, filets was definitely smaller than the other. It was approximately 3 oz., and looked horrible on the very large white plate, withour even a garnish. A saucer would have been sufficient. And both of the 6 oz, ??? filets were suppsed to be medium, and were served well done. We had 2 caesar salads, and the lettuce was wilted, not cripsy and fresh. But the thing that put me over the edge was a drink that cost $ 17.00. It was Johnny Walker Black normally $ 8 –12 depending on the class of the restaurant/​bar. This price was absurd and on top of it all, it was a short pour. The four of us are never going back, and we will definitely tell everyone we know about our bad experience. The only positive part of our dinner was our waitress,

Love this place. great food and great prices. Seriously, the service is warm and friendly and the food is really consistent. I have never been disappointed. You can bring anyone there. They have traditional steaks and roasted duck, but they always have more modern specials like the Market Fish. Always impressed also by their craft cocktails. I had the Pear Martini… delish.

I went with a large party of twelve people. We had our own room which was great. The food was fabulous. The meat was cooked perfectly, scallops were tender and flavorful. I loved the sides. I had brussel sprouts and creamed spinach. Our party also ordered quite a few appetizers so I was able to try quite a few differerent ones. Onion rings, oysters on the half shell (two different kinds), duck wings, bacon wrapped chestnuts… all were really wonderful.
The wait staff was excellent. We had a main server and a helper, I guess, as well. Super nice, knowledgeable and friendly. Attentive but not too much so.
My complaints… 1. It’s really expensive for what you get. It was an impressive meal, but I could probably get the same quality and satisfaction for a much more reasonable price. 2. I think it’s just weird that, with your main entrée, you get either a salad or two sides. Huh? The salads were just a choice of two regular style salads. Not really a big deal. You can’t get a salad and one side. Just a weird rule.

Long time Jakes patron so we were looking forward to another wonderful dinner. Unfortunately it was not quite that. The bar staff was attentive and great, drinks were wonderful. We were seated promptly for our reservation. Our waitress was to our table promptly to take drink orders and ask about apps. This is when we first noticed things were a bit rushed. Apps were brought out quickly and before we had finished app the main course came out. The presentation of my dinner was under whelming, meat and potato on a plate. I must say that the food as usual was wonderful, but the pace was too fast for a place that was not packed. We did linger over coffee when I believe the manager came over to ask us to move to bar where he had drinks available for us on him, it was appreciated but again we had been at the table for about an slighly less than a hour in a unpacked restaurant. I was just overall disappointed in the experience as we have been Jake regulars for over 30 years. It will be a long time before our group returns

We decided on date night and wanted to go to a nice steakhouse but not drive downtown, so on a recommendation we came here.
The ambiance is nice. The restaurant is in an old renovated barn. You have to walk through the bar area get to the dining room which was bustling. We got seated to a two top and was engaged with our waiter Bill right away. He was perfect in his attentiveness and recommendations. We ordered our appetizers and drinks and they came pretty quickly. Everything tasted pretty good and we were pleased with what we had so far. When the steaks came out they were served on oversized plates which made the steaks look really small. It was such a weird presentation but wasn’t so distracting that it prevented us from eating our food. I had the three filet plate and really enjoyed my steaks. My wife hers was fine but not anything exceptional, which I agree with. The sides were pretty awesome. So overall, the food was good but we didn’t have anything that just wowed us.
We had a great time and was talking about coming back until I looked up and at the table in front of me this guy had taken off his shoes and put his feet up on the chair across from him. The wait staff had seen this and was aware but no one made mention of it. It really brought down the level of class we experienced there.
With that being said, chances are we won’t be coming back. We aren’t rich and can’t do special nights often, but when you drop $ 125 on dinner I would expect the patrons would have a little more class. Maybe we need to go back to Downtown Milwaukee to get that.

Last night was our first trip to Jake’s and I expect we will be back again. The location is a bit out of the way. Even though it is just off of a main drag like Capital, it is in a location a bit off the beaten path.
The atmosphere does have that steakhouse/​supper club feel that makes you want to channel your inner ‘retired white male on the lake’ and order an Old Fashioned. The actual steak review I will have to save for another time as we ordered salad and fish, but everything we did try was delightful. As it was also my mother’s birthday, our waitress was kind enough to bring out what looks to be Jake’s signature sundae. She and my father both enjoyed. We did not order alcohol, so I cannot speak to a mixed drink or wine critique.
Our server, Tina, was fabulous. She was attentive, knowledgeable, personable and professional. My mental note was on any return visit I would ask to be sat in her area (and still will), but as I watched other staff, they greeted many patrons with the same warmth and caring, acknowledging many by name and with hugs. Clearly there is a regular customer base which is always a good sign.

This has been a night of so much awkwardness.
So. Much. Awkwardness.
I’ve experienced Jake’s more than a few times, and tonight we did it again after a long hiatus because we had gift certificates to use up. Three. We had three gift certificates, each worth $ 25. Before we arrived, I told my wife my overall opinion of my previous Jake’s experiences in one sentence: «Jake’s is a ‘fancy’ restaurant for people who don’t know what a great restaurant really is.» This turned out to be less of an opinion than an ominous prediction.
First we checked in with the hostess and made our way to the bar, where we sat next to what appeared to be an eHarmony couple on their first date. She looked like her online photo was far too flattering, he was telling her about the nuances of the single malts he enjoys, she was desperate, he was desperate, and it just felt like it made sense that this awkwardness would occur at Jake’s. Yeah, it’s the perfect place for an awkward first date for people who don’t often patronize excellent restaurants.
We took our «New Fashioned“s to our table (spoiler alert: it’s an Old Fashioned with one giant ice cube) where we were awkwardly greeted by a nameless waitress who made no mention of the specials and asked if we were ready to order 16 seconds after we sat down.
After a few minutes to decide, I stuck with my MO and ordered the duck. The wife ordered stone crab claws which were a special tonight.
The duck was the same as always. The stone crab claws were cold, served on a bed of ice with a small cup of what tasted like not much more than mayonnaise.
This made me angry for two reasons.
1.) Cold seafood is an appetizer, not an entrée.
2.) If you intend to serve crab cold, you shouldn’t keep it a secret. PS — you’re lazy. Cook it and serve it properly or don’t bother.
When our meal was over, our server asked us how everything was. We told her we wouldn’t have ordered cold crab but whatever. She asked if we would like dessert, I said maybe.
She brought out a dessert tray.
First of all, dessert trays are tacky. Any trays are tacky. Don’t show me my meat before you cook it, don’t show me your desserts. A menu will suffice. Don’t be tacky.
On the dessert tray were some typical-​at-​best-​kinda-​boring choices, starting with «Jake’s Signature» ice cream sundae featuring Blue Bunny ice cream.
…
No I’m dead effing serious she actually said Blue Bunny ice cream.
At that moment I decided we ought to cut our losses and call it a night, so we handed her our three gift certificates and credit card.
The next person who visited our table was not our server, but the restaurant manager (Jason? I think?) to inform us that we could only use TWO of the three gift certificates at a time, per the owner’s instructions. We asked him to pardon our oversight as we hadn’t seen this rule printed on the certificates, and he in turn explained that we hadn’t missed anything because it is not, in fact, printed on the certificates.
This was the moment it all hit the fan. We took this opportunity to fully explain each detail of our completely ridiculous experience, from the totally underwhelming asparagus (which was an up charge) to the lame, cold crab to the server who didn’t bother mentioning the specials of the night to the Blue Bunny ice cream. I gotta say, this guy was a class act, and he is the ONLY reason (THE ONLY REASON) this isn’t a one-​star review. He was very genuine in his apology for the whole experience, he took all three gift certificates off the bill, and he even told us that it was actually Sassy Cow ice cream, not Blue Bunny. Did I mention he was the only reason this isn’t a one-​star review? Honestly, I feel bad for him because his jackhole boss put him in the position where he has to tell customers there are unwritten restrictions on their gift certificates.
We felt better after getting that off our chests. That is, until Ms. Awkward returned to our table and, with a pressure cooker of awkwardness, blurted out these seven words: «I’m sorry I gave you bad service…» Ok. I get it. Your manager had a few words with you. Slap on some lipstick, you’ll be fine, you’re still getting a tip, we’re not classless slobs. DON’T EVER SAY THOSE SEVEN WORDS TO YOUR TABLE, NOT EVER. NEVER. NOT EVER. AWWWWWWKKKKWWWWAAAARRRRRRRDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD.
Suffice it to say that we will certainly never darken the door of any Jake’s establishment for the following reasons:
1.) The food is unremarkable at best
2.) The service is hit or miss
3.) The menu is seriously boring and uncreative
4.) The prices are astronomical for what you receive
5.) I’m not convinced the ice cream wasn’t Blue Bunny. I mean, come on, if she hadn’t seen a carton of BB why would she say it?

First off, I have to say the food is very good, prices are what you would expect from a steakhouse, but the wait is just not worth it. We ate here for the second time last night. Every table was full, but that is to be expected on a Friday night.
The waiter came and we ordered drinks. It took 15 minutes to get the drinks. We then ordered dinner. I ordered the 6oz filet and my husband had the special Rib Eye. We also ordered the onion soup to start.
Every entrée except the Fried Walleye comes with either a salad or two sides. We decided I would get the Caesar salad (it is a small salad) and my husband would get the two sides (the spinach and the baked potato) and we would share.
The salad and the soup came out very quickly along with the bread. Both were very good. So far we were on a roll. Now, we let the waiting begin.
We were told that our food would be out shortly. As we were waiting, I asked for the wine list. That showed up 20 minutes later. By this time, we had been there for 45 minutes. We waited and hour and a half for our main courses to show up.
We knew we had a problem when the table next to us got their meals for free because it took so long. They were just finishing placing their order when we sat down. An hour later, the manager went over and apologized and said the restaurant would be picking up their dinners due to the long wait.
Again, the food was prepared wonderfully, but I just have an issue waiting an hour and a half for the main course especially when the seats are very uncomfortable.
If you want good food and don’t mind inconsistency in the service, then I would highly recommend this restaurant.

We walked in without a reservation on Monday nite, about 6:20 PM. Wow… it was busy! Didn’t expect that, but were able to get immediately seated by way of taking a small, two-​top cocktail table in the bar.
Cocktail order: Grey Goose and Sapphire. The pour was definitely minimalistic for steakhouses, or cocktail lounges we go to. ($ 12.00 each). [Had a second Sapphire, too].
Food:
Started with the «Haystack,» (fried/​shredded onions)($ 7.50). Room temperature, but OK, nevertheless.
Caesar salad. ($ 7.00) Chopped and tossed. Good croutons and very good dressing.
Filet Trio ($ 34.00): Three very small, filet medallions with three different toppings, your choice out of several. We chose the «Oscar style» for one of them and were up charged an additional $ 8.00 for that one. Wow. Really? We weren’t told about that one. Certainly wasn’t more than a half teaspoon of crab meat… $ 8.00? On that order, one of the two sides we requested was asparagus (the other, baked potato). Server failed to tell us that the dish actually already came with asparagus. When we asked her about that, she said she thought we knew, but then came back to the table with a side order of creamed spinach, which was nice, but, really, shouldn’t she have offered to get us another side of our choice, instead of bringing out something on her own? (Neither of us eat creamed spinach).
Kansas City strip ($ 38.00). Sides: Baked potato and brussel sprouts. Both of our baked potatoes were small but OK. The brussel sprouts were grilled and al dente; good.
Rating the steaks: OK/​Good. Not a wow, though, which was a bit disappointing.
They had several wine specials «by the glass» tonight. I had a glass of Petite Petit. ($ 10.00).
Our server, who ID’d herself as a «newer» employee, was a bit overloaded with tables she was servicing… probably one or two, too many. She was a bit manic and nervous, too. We actually felt bad for her. She tried real hard and really wanted to please. She probably just needs a bit more supervision and training; i.e., she really wasn’t able to answer my two questions regarding cuts/​variety of the steak offerings. Also, when I asked for a «twist» in my drink, she asked, «A lemon twist?» Not to worry. I just smiled and my Sapphires both came to the table with nice lemon twists.
The damage: The check total was $ 145.67. I felt obliged to leave our server a nice tip, so our meal for two was $ 175.
We’ll have to re-​think this a bit before we go back.

Supper club atmosphere. 70’s décor. Nice people. Great service.
I thought the food was average but good. Excellent by the glass wine prices.
Good spot for a business dinner. I would visit Jakes again.
Average price/​value relationship