Cuisine : American, Steak, Chops, Ribs, Fish & Seafood
Restaurant Features: Sports Bar, Patio, On-Site Parking, Happy Hour
Locations: Brooklyn Park & Vadnais Heights, MN
Addresses & Maps:
Brooklyn Park- 8078 Brooklyn Blvd. Brooklyn Park, MN 55445 ( 763) 424.9919
Vadnais Heights- 953 County Road E Vadnais Heights, MN 55127 (651) 287.3900
Link: Mad Jack's Website
Atmosphere: The Vadnais Heights location is just off 35E and Co. Rd E in a large building outside a long strip mall, Festival Foods and Target complex. The restaurant is divided into two main area, the dining room and the bar area. There is a nice double-sided fireplace and lounge area between the two dining areas. The kitchen is also open so you can watch the cooks work their magic.
Here is a peak at the mini lounge area between the main dining room and the bar area. The bar area is very large and has several tall tables in addition to ample seating at the bar.
One thing that is easy to notice about Mad Jack's is that there are a LOT of TVs throughout the restaurant. Each high-backed booth in the dining room also has its own personal TV.
Menu: Appetizers include Sirloin Tips, Coconut Shrimp, Crab Cakes, Jacked Up Nachos, Hash Browns, Filet Tips, ** Spinach Artichoke Dip, **Bruschetta, **Calamari, **Jackadilla, **Szechuan Green Beans, **Wings, **Cornbread, **Chicken Tenders, **Garlic Cheese Bread, **Potato Skins, **Onion Rings, **Cheese Curds, **Chili Cheese Fries, **Sweet Potato Fries, **Homemade Potato Chips, and **Chips and Salsa, and **Flatbread (choice of Margherita, Caprese, Rotisserie Chicken, Sun Dried Pesto, and BBQ Chicken). Appetizers with ** are 1/2 price daily from 3:30-6:30pm and Sun-Thurs 10pm-12am.
Soups include Chicken Wild Rice and Chili. Salads offered are Jack's House Salad, Chopped, Buffalo Chicken, Taco, Caesar, Strawberry Feta, Greek, and Thai Chicken Peanut.
Sandwiches offered at Mad Jacks include Philly Beef, Old Fashioned Club, Meatball Sub, BBQ Chicken, Pork Loin, Cuban, Artichoke Chicken, Fish, Veggie, Hawaiian Chicken, Reuben/Rachel, Turkey Melt, and Grilled Ham and Cheese. Wraps include Asian, Chicken Caesar, Club, or Southwestern. There are also several specialty burgers.
Handmade Pizzas can be made-to-order, or choose from Garbage Pizza, BBQ Chicken, White Delight, or Mad Meat.
Pastas include Spaghetti & Meatballs, Baked Ziti, Fettuccine Alfredo, Sausage Tortellini, and Tilapia Farfalli.
Entrees offered are Lumberjack Salmon, Chicken Marsala, Shrimp Scampi, Walleye Fillet, Grilled Pork Loin, Fish & Chips, Filet Mignon, New York Strip, Jack Kebabs, Open Faced Chicken, Rack of Lamb, Rotisserie Chicken, Rack of Ribs, and Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry.
Desserts include Creme Brulee, Cheesecake, Apple Crsip A'La Mode, Vanilla Ice Cream, Milkyway Mousse Cake, and Bread Pudding.
There are also a couple of weekly specials: 1/2 price Spaghetti & Meatballs with garlic bread on Wednesdays! ($4.50 for a huge helping!)
Price guide: Appetizers $7-12 Salads $4-10 Burgers & Sandwiches $8-11 Pasta $9-15 Pizza $9+ Entrees $12-22 Desserts $3-8
What we ordered: Since it was Happy Hour, we started with a couple of half-prized appetizers, Calamari and Hot Wings. The Calamari was a combination of rings and tiny squids, both cooked perfectly so that the breading was crispy with calamari cooked perfectly tender. Served on the side was a chunky sweet marinara sauce and also spicy mayo, both very good.
The Hot Wings were huge and seemed to be just a little more spicy than other buffalo wings (I like that!), with a fair amount of sauce. Bleu cheese and celery on the side for dipping.
I had the meatball sub for my entree, which came with homemade potato chips. The meatball had tender but firm texture, seasoned with pepper, fennel, rosemary, onion. Very good! The meatballs had a light amount of marinara and then provolone baked over the top, served on a somewhat soft French roll. It was too huge and messy to eat with my hands, so I cut it into smaller bites and dipped it in a side of marinara. The potato chips were crispy but I wasn't very interested in them.
One of my companions ordered the Flatbread Caprese Pizza, which consisted of a very thin, flat crust with melted gorgonzola cheese, fresh basil, roma tomato slices, and balsalmic vinegar. The crust was nice and crispy and the flavor of the ingredients blended together rather well.
Another companion ordered a Mushroom Swiss Burger with French Fries. The burger patty was quite big, and the bun it came on was thick and substantial. Fresh mushrooms were sauteed and then swiss melted on top. The giant portion of homemade fries were fresh-cut of varying sizes and fried to a crispy golden brown.
I chose to go back to Mad Jack's later the same week as my first visit and ordered The Reuben Sandwich. The first two bites were awful! The corned beef was very tough and I couldn't even bite through it. The server offered another sandwich, but the rest of it was actually pretty good. I think those first couple of bites of corned beef should have been removed by the cook before it was served, but the rest of it was tender and flavorful. The sauerkraut was mixed with the 1000 Island dressing and on the mild side.
Service: The service at Mad Jacks was exceptional. The servers were very attentive and when our food was ready, it was the cook himself who served it to the table, wanting to know if there was anything else he could do. The responsibility of serving staff seemed to be somewhat shared, as we seemed well taken care of.
Overall Impression: Thought it was great! The Happy Hour specials are a great deal, the food was quite good, and the service was exceptional. I'll be back soon
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