Jack's Grill - City of Ithaca

Having previously worked in food service, I usually try to be patient with slow order times, even when the staff is slightly understaffed. However, waiting over an hour for what should be a quick 5-minute order is simply unacceptable. The staff appeared to be hiding in the kitchen, only emerging to yell out completed orders in a frustrated manner. When customers inquired about their order times, they were met with dismissive responses like, “We’re short-staffed; it will take however long it takes,” often delivered with a passive-aggressive tone. This made it clear that the staff lacked a sense of urgency and didn’t respect customer service. The store could benefit from a complete staff overhaul, and it would be wise for the hiring managers to start enforcing drug screenings to improve employee quality.

I visited Jack's Grill for the first time while in Ithaca, and unfortunately, it was a disappointing experience. Every one of my friends who joined me was feeling unwell the next morning, experiencing symptoms like nausea, sweating, and gastrointestinal issues. To make matters worse, my friend waited over an hour for her food, and they never called her name to pick it up. While the food itself was decent, the risk of feeling terrible the next day overshadowed that. The service was also very slow. I would definitely recommend avoiding this place.

I visited this restaurant during homecoming for a quick meal and ended up trying the grilled chicken sandwich. It was priced at $10 and was so small that I could have finished it in just four bites if I'd wanted to. Although it was small, the quality was mediocre—a plain piece of chicken with some lettuce and tomato. I won't be returning, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to anyone. There are much better dining options in Collegetown than Jack's.

It seems like most of the terrible reviews stem from delivery orders. I dined in today and it wasn't bad at all. I was super hungry, and I decided to build my own burger. This is a dangerous option because they offer a lot of toppings. By the time I was done I had selected two cheeses, one aioli, fried onions, grilled mushrooms, peppers, avocado, bacon, and maybe a few other things. I also had a half order of poutine. THE GOOD The toppings were all excellent. The avocado was nice and ripe, the bacon was nice and crispy, and the onions were nice and fried. The burger was really well assembled. Somehow this monstrous tower wasn't a mushy collapsing mess. The brioche bun was delectable. The food came out much faster than I expected. When I went to leave the guy working there asked me how I liked everything in a way that made me think he actually cared. THE MEH The burger patty itself was a little on the dry side and lacking in seasoning. It wasn't quite as juicy as five guys. Poutine wasn't the greatest. I liked the fries, but it could have used another curd or two. The big problem, though, was the gravy, which was too salty for my taste. The portion size also was a little lacking in relation to the price. THE BAD It was a fairly massive meal, but it was still more expensive than I would have expected. With a modest tip, the bill came to just over $30. I was surprised by that. Overall, this was pretty good. I'd like to think I'll show more restraint next time, but I probably won't.

Jack 's has been around for as long as I can remember a staple in Ithaca 's Collegetown it 's been around since 2008, apparently). While it 's been quite a while since I 've ordered from Jack 's, I 've recently discovered that they 're one of the few restaurants that delivers to where I 'm staying during the current Covid 19 pandemic. Given current conditions and economic struggles of many in the hospitality restaurant industry, I 'm 100% understanding of how Jack 's might not have the typical inventory of ingredients. From my order today, they were out of ginger beer... and previously, they 've been out of sliced pickles and thus, not able to add pickles to burgers... or account for the fried pickles on a previous order). Definitely not going to hold this against them... just hoping it 's not a normal issue for them to experience. In terms of ordering and delivery, everything was timely. I did specifically ask for items to be packaged in certain ways so as to minimize fries or sandwiches getting soggy i.e. place sauces on the side). The Sticky Chicken Tacos in one of my recent orders arrived and, unfortunately, the tortillas were stale. Since that hasn 't been the case with tacos included on other deliveries, I was surprised. I ended up only picking a bit at those tacos and they were ultimately just disappointing. Given my recent orders, the Dinosaur BBQ Tacos would instead be the item I stick to ordering I 'm not sure what the difference is and why some tacos were stale vs others have not been... but whatever). I 've included food for others on my orders, like burgers. A housemate of mine enjoyed the burger included in a recent order, but noted it 's basically a greasy burger like what you 'd get at a place like Five Guys... there wasn 't anything special. It 's been noted that their burger included in a previous order had an odd aftertaste... char grill paired with an almost chemical y taste. I can 't speak for service since my experiences have been limited to phone call follow ups when they 're out of items and wanting to know what to replace it with OR contactless delivery. Ultimately, Jack 's has just never been a WOW experience... it 's greasy takeout food, fitting for a collegetown. Perhaps it 's the location in a collegetown that contributes to the fact that the prices tend to be on the higher side as well, but hey... in these times, I 'm just going to write off the prices as just re investing in the local economy. ¯ ツ) ¯ TL;DR Would I be ordering from here if I was on campus or if there were more delivery options to where I am? No. They do deliver outside of typical distance limits though, and the food is generally okay.