Jak's Grill

Claim
marker

4548 California Ave SW
Seattle, WA 98116

marker
(206) 937-7809
Incorrect info? Correct your listing
Photos
Jak's Grill - Seattle, WA
Reviews
( 54 )
( 35 )
( 5 )
( 8 )
( 7 )

Best

WOW! I checked on the review on this place. And its great. huge portions, small feel, good service. I went for our anniversary it was lovely, we sat in a nice booth. I had the shi...

Worst

I had high hopes after reading all the reviews which were generally positive. I ordered the porterhouse steak at $28 the priciest cut. The steak arrived less than adequately charr...

We will NEVER go back 8/29/2007

My wife and I have been going to Jak's for several years now. In the past the service has always been great - we were greeted with a smile, most everyone knew our name and/or order, and the food was not just a great value but always cooked to perfection. In the past year or so this place has gone down hill quickly. Not only has the old familiar staff been replaced by a group that is rude and incompetent, but the food is inconsistent and the prices have all but doubled. We recently decided to give Jak's one last chance and went in a few days ago for our anniversary. Granted we arrived a bit later in the evening, but we still had to wait and we were completely ignored by the bartender. When we finally were seated our server seemed to be rushing us to order and we barely got a chance to review the menu or specials for all the recent changes. Our food then came out so quickly we were not done with our salads when the steaks arrived at the table. We quickly discovered that our steaks were severely undercooked, but were told the kitchen was closed for the evening when we asked that they be sent back and cooked as we asked. In disgust we decided to box our food and take it home to try and fix it ourselves. When I went to get the car, I came back to discover the door had been locked with my wife still inside! I knocked for several minutes until the manager finally came and let me in. She apologized profusely but the apology was clouded over by the fact that she had clearly been drinking and really was nothing more than obnoxious. I have no idea what happened to this once quaint neighborhood staple! After a recent dining experience to another local steak house, we have decided it's worth the drive and money to get the quality and service that we USED to get at Jak's. Cons: Poor Service, Bad Management more

GREAT NIGHT RUINED BY RUDE SERVER 8/14/2007

My wife and I have been to Jak's before, but I am not sure we will ever go again. We went last weekend and had the worst, most inattentive, service ever. Our server Christina kept disappearing and we had to go downstairs to locate her TWICE! The first time the bartender helped us and the second time the hostess found our check, and get this our server WAS SITTING DOWN TALKING THE WHOLE TIME! The food was great, and the service is usally good here, but not this night. After all this she was pretty rude ABOUT THE FACT WE ASKED THE HOSTESS FOR OUR CHECK! WE won't be going back for awhile. Pros: GREAT STEAKS! Cons: BAD SERVICE(CHRISTINA) more

Full Dinner at a Steakhouse...Are you kidding me! 6/13/2007

JaKs in West Seattle is a great spot for a great steak. I had the 15 oz Top Sirloin which was cooked to perfection and had incredible flavor. Our table also had the Fillet and Rib Eye, both of which were melt in your mouth. The service was excellent and the place was hopping even on a Tuesday night. Pros: Full meal at a Steakhouse, excellent value, great service Cons: boring salad, no reservations more

fun night, ruined by bad service 5/31/2007

It seems sad that such a highly recommended restaurant can disregard customer service the way Jak's did. The manager, Nick Scott, not only avoided the fact that they took the wrong order, but he did not show he wanted to correct the problem. He was condescending in his remarks stating ""you would know the difference between a 21oz and 40oz steak"" continuing with ""the 40oz is as big as your head!"" His remark was appalling. How can the restaurant give the customer the responsibility of measuring the size of their portions? If we ordered steak and got seafood, and didn't report this until after the fact, then we would be at fault. But not knowing that we were cheated until after receiving the bill was an honest ignorance of measurement. The manager, with his rude attitude, obviously lacked the skills needed to professionally deal with the situation, thus gave a bad image for the restaurant. Perhaps it was just the manager who does not value customer service, but isn't any one employee at Jak's representative of the whole restaurant? Although the steak was good, the whole experience was not worth the money or bad treatment. Basically, we ended up paying for the restaurant's mistake. I have never walked out of any restaurant feeling so disappointed and unfairly treated. As long as Jak's continues to disvalue their customers, I will not go back. Cons: poor management, bad service, unprofessional, deceptive more

favorite spot, but recently disappointed 5/27/2007

Jak's is my favorite steak restaurant, and last night my boyfriend and I met some friends for dinner there. The food was good, as usual, but we noticed that the 40 oz. porterhouse which our friends had ordered to share looked fairly small. We commented on it to each other a couple of times, and our friends were still a little hungry afterward, but overall we were happy with our food, as usual. When the bill came, it confirmed that they had indeed given them the smaller porterhouse, even though they had ordered the larger portion. It must have been a very simple mistake made by our server. We mentioned it to the server, because they were disappointed to not have gotten what they ordered (and the price was a much better deal for the 40 oz than the 20 oz, only a $10 difference). She went away to talk to the manager who came over to our table and basically scoffed at us for not having identified the problem at the beginning of the meal. He was defensive and condescending, acting like we were running some kind of scam, which was so surprising given that it was not a very big problem. Unfortunately he made it a bigger problem by declaring ""well, you pay for what you get"" and walking away. Really he could have just said a sincere ""I'm sorry"" and offered a dessert or maybe a coupon for next time, instead he and our server totally ignored our table after that, we couldn't even get anyone to come over to take the bill to run our cards. It is so sad that one ineffective manager (lacking the most basic customer service skills) could leave such a bad taste in our mouths, when Jak's is such a great restaurant. In the past I have worked as a server at several restaurants in Seattle, and neither I nor my managers would ever have treated customers that way, I was truly shocked. Hopefully the restaurant will realize their mistake in hiring him, he will not be good for their business. more

Moo! 4/14/2007

After reading several reviews, I was looking forward to my first experience at Jaks. It was a dissapointment. Contrary to some reviews the service was good, they called me on my phone when the table was ready and the server was friendly. It was the food that didn't meet the expectations. The bread was ok, the salad was just ice berg lettuce, the mashed potatoes were bland, the wine was overpriced and the steak was undercooked. I ordered the Jaks cut filet cooked medium. When I got it, it was a large cut and looked great. When I cut into it, it was half raw, cooked rare at best. It was like they seared it and forgot to cook it over lower heat. I asked the server if they could put it back on the grill and when it came back it made its way up to maybe medium rare. I obviously don't want my steak over cooked, but I also don't want it cooked like Ahi. My $6 burrito at Chipotle was a more satisfying experience. They may have had an off night, but next time if I want to get a good steak at a value I'll go to Outback, if I want a quality steak dinner, I'll go to Ruths Chris. more

Best steak for the money, great service! 4/9/2007

I was on a first date and was honestly a little skeptical we wouldn't be waiting more than a half hour as the place was hopping on a Friday night. But, we were seated promptly and my first night at Jak's began! Our server was great. She was knowledgeable without being pretentious and had a great sense of humor. I had the petite filet which was perfectly cooked med-rae. The mashed potatoes were great too. I definitely didn't need a doggie bag! All in all, for the price and the quality, it's hands down that Jak's is the winner! Ilove the atmosphere too! Chill for such good food! Pros: Everything! more

I?m not going back. 1/16/2007

Jak?s doesn?t seem to care about customer service or satisfaction. They do like their policies though. more

My favorite restaurant in West Seattle! 1/15/2007

Jak's is my favorite restaurant in West Seattle. My husband and I love going there for special occasions. I always order the prawns, while he always orders a steak. Excellent service, great wine selection and drinks. I wish they took reservations. Pros: Great atmosphere, service Cons: No reservations taken, sometimes a long wait on the weekends more

No problem Monday night! 11/14/2006

Four of us went to West Seattle's JaK Restaurant Monday night 11/13/2006. Cold and rainy outside, warm and friendly inside. We were seated immediately in a booth by the hostess, Annie, and greeted by a nice server named Anya. After hearing the evenings specials, the guys ordered JaK's burgers, my Mom ordered the steak sandwich, and I had the Ribeye. Everything was prepared exactly as requested and was just delicious! My Mom is very hard to please when it comes to steaks and she loved hers. The servings were huge and included bread, salad, veggies, and several choices of potato to accompany the entree(not all came with the burgers). Delicious! Followed by one killer piece of chocolate cake that all four of us just had a few bites apiece. The only minor problem was too much salt on the veggies for my taste. The place is a little noisy(it is all bare wood) but don't let that stop you from enjoying one good steak or burger. My baked potato had Pros: nice service, intimate, great beef Cons: no lunch service, tight parking more

The Best Steak in Seattle 10/2/2006

I have been to many steaks joints in this city with everyone offering their opinion on which one is the best. After my extensive research, I have come to the conclusion that Jak's Grill is the best Seattle has to offer. Not only are the steaks so tender they practically melt in your mouth they are seasoned to perfection. Don't even think of asking for A-1 steak sauce! In fact you will find nothing of the sort on your table. Your beautiful, thick, perfectly prepared steak comes accompanied with the most delicious potato pancakes ever made. With all this perfectuon going on, there has to be at least a couple of flaws, right? While Jak's makes the aboslute best steak, hands down, you will get a salad that is so plain it is almost vile. Some chopped up iceberg lettuce and watering dressing on top. That's it. No, onion, no sliced carrot, no nothing. Just lettuce and dressing. Then they will set on your table ice cold sourdough and a cold pat of butter. That was depressing to see as for a place of this sort you would expect everything to be as top notched as their steaks, but this is not the case. The service is great although some of the servers tend to rush you a bit. But all in all, a great place that I would go to often. more

Great value, fun restaurant 9/27/2006

Food is great, service is great but they don't take reservations so count on a wait Thursday through Sunday. The value of the meal which includes salad/soup is wonderful and I have always been pleased with the filet - perfectly done each of my 4 times at this restaurant. Pros: Great steaks, great value, good for groups Cons: Don't take reservations - usual long wait but they will take your cell number and call you when your table is ready. more

Best Steak in Town, better than the Met 7/9/2006

Anytime a good friend comes to town there's always an excuse to go to Jak's, great service great ambience and great food. If you are hanging with us and we take you there... you know you are well regarded. Doesn't matter if you get the full steak meal or the steak sandwhich you can count on it to be top drawer!! My favorite is the salmon with garlic potatoes, get in my tummy yummy!! more

Good steak, bad reservation rule 6/23/2006

Jak's is a great steakhouse but their no-reservation rule has definitely kept me from going in as much as I normally would, especially when I have a party of 6 people or more (which is fairly often for me with business dinners, and recently for a family birthday celebration). If they accepted reservations for large parties I'd be a regular! Pros: steak, ambience Cons: no-reservation policy for large parties, long wait more

No better value to be found 5/28/2006

I had dinner here with my girlfriend two months ago, and Jak's Grill lived up to all the review on this site. They had, hands-down, some of the best steak I had ever had, matching some of the more well-known classy places around. To be fair, I judge a steakhouse more on the quality of its beef than anything else, but service was polite and prompt and was overall a great experience. Highly recommended! Pros: Classy, Delicious, Value Cons: Hidden more

Popular For A Reason 3/17/2006

More than one person has complained about trouble getting a table. It's simple. Get there early and get on the list. There is no preferential treatment for local regulars. I am one and get no such treatment. It's very popular and there is a reason why. The food and service are always outstanding. The steaks stand up to anyone's except maybe the Met. The salmon is out of this world. The fish specials are always great too. Go to JaK's, get on the list, go across the street or next door and get a cocktail. They will gladly call your cell phone when your table is available. That is what the locals have learned and that is what we do. We wait patiently. If that's not for you, then I guess it's a pleasure you'll have to do without. more

By far the best service, price, and quality 11/25/2005

Where can you get a full steak dinner that is prepared as it was intended to be, with an excellent selection of microbrew's, extremely nice service, fast service, and park for free? At JaK's Pros: Less Eastsider snobs, Food, Price Cons: You'll eat too much more

If you don't have the time don't go 11/3/2005

If you are looking for a place to eat dinner in less than 2 hours this is not the right place to go. On a weeknight, 9pm at night, the wait was still 1 hour to get a table. The hostess advised it would only be 30 minutes, we had to wait about 20 just to get a seat at the tiny bar and then continued to wait another 40 minutes. I personally don't think the wait for a table was worth it for the food. Yes, it was a good steak but we could have driven a couple more miles and been seated and received better service for the same quality of steak and comparable price. Once we were seated the service was prompt but getting the table was the tricky part. They don't take reservations so it's just up to who is in line before you. Pros: good food Cons: long wait time, unfriendly service, no reservations more

Great restaurant 10/25/2005

A wonderful place! Superb steaks and burgers, and the wait isn't a problem. Had to laugh at the person who said that they had to wait a couple of hours to be seated for a ""family dinner""--and that they had a two-week-old baby with them. I'm never quite sure why people seem to think that other diners will be delighted to listen to their screaming children. Hopefully, the management at Jak's agrees... Kudos to a great restaurant! more

Best steak ever! Better than the Met by far! 6/16/2005

Sure it might be a little inconvient to get a table but whenever I need to sink my teeth into a juicey steak, JaK's is the only option. I just give them my phone number and head over to West 5 for apps & a cocktail. I would wait days for my table if I had to just to have one of JaK's filets. more
< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 Next >
Menu for Jak's Grill


Summer SALE!!!:
15% OFF all yearly plans
Use year15 at checkout. Expires 1/1/2021
Editorial
  • In Short
    The aroma of grilled meat from the open kitchen tantalizes the waiting crowd that spills onto the sidewalk. Once inside, low lighting illuminates the mahogany furnishings,...

  • 5/17/2006 Provided by Citysearch
Additional information
  • Hours: Sunday From 04:00 PM To 09:00 PM Monday From 05:00 PM To 09:00 PM Tuesday To Thursday From 11:00 AM To 02:00 PM Tuesday To Thursday From 05:00 PM To 10:00 PM Friday From 11:00 AM To 02:00 PM Friday From 04:30 PM To 11:00 PM
  • Payments: Discover, Diner's Club, Visa, American Express, Master Card
  • Neighborhoods: Junction, West Seattle
badge