Jenkins

This was my favorite restaurant when I was in college. I loved their soup and sandwiches. I haven’t been years, but I am sure their food is still great. If you like chicken salad sandwiches, you have to try their chicken salad sandwich!

This place is great! If you are in Cleveland Tennessee, this is the place to eat! Classic American-​style food with a great atmosphere.

I wanted to like this place more. I enjoyed the busy décor. It is obvious that this is more a hometown favorite and I can see how some people would really like it. But there were some misses in experience.
First miss. Not sure this is always there, or just when they are busy, but there is a sign in sheet. You sign in yourself. But that is not obvious to a first timer. I saw someone else come in and wait and not know this also. Then because you sign in your own name, the greeter had real trouble reading some of the names. I don’t understand the labor savings in having the dinner guests fill this in.
Second miss. When it was our turn, the same greeting dude called out our name. And looked around. See… if he had taken our name, he would have known it was us and that would be more efficient. But that is not my point. He handed two menus to a cute girl who just turned around and walked away. Umm… are we following her? There was no hand off, or «Suzy here will take you to your table…» or «Hi… I am Cindy… follow me.» Nothing. We did end up following her.
Third miss. We ask to see a beer list. Server says we don’t have one… but I know them all. OK then… what is on tap? She names off a few then says she will have to check to see what is available. Nothing sounded good, so we asked what is available in a bottle. She said she would have to go and check and come back.
Fourth miss. Very limited beer selection. At least they had Sweetwater, but not much else in the craft beer selection. Well, at least according to our server.
Now none of this is horrible, which is why I still rate it 3 stars. Just not as enjoyable an experience as I had hoped.
The positives were the salad bar was decent. Small minor negative point… there was like 8 – 10 dressings available but no names on any of it.
The vegetarian burger was very good and I appreciate they had a vegetarian option. I really enjoyed the toasted bun, shredded lettuce. The fries were good. We also ordered onion rings and they seemed more the frozen type… I did not care much for them.
If I was in charge… and I know I am not. :) … I would have the greeter take the names as people came in. Like most places do. And when being seated, instruct the hostess to make eye contact and greet the people. There should be a list of beers somewhere… either printed or on a chalkboard. The dressings at the salad bar should be labeled. Small things… don’t cost the business much… but would make for a better dining experience.

I liked Jenkins. Wow glad not to have Unilocaled it before we went. It met a need — of an all family post graduation meal. And has a lovely patio w/​fireplace and wine. Yes the train is cheesy but who cares. They were out of prime rib, the chick salad is good, the servers were sweeter than southern sweet tea and we likely won’t return to the area unless another niece chooses Lee university and I hope they do. Awesome school producing good kids! Thanks Jenkins. We had a good time thanks to ya’ll :-)

Every time I come, I’m ready to let Jenkin’s change my mind, but every time am extremely disappointed by the low food quality here yet again. Servers are always friendly, but all 4 items I have tried off their menu have been bland, dry, and unimpressive.

I have lived in Cleveland for a long time but have never tried this place. It was a really nice day and I wanted to sit outside and eat so my boyfriend and I stopped here. It was happy hour so we got $ 1.50 beers and the fried cheese squares that were half off. I thought the portion was small for a $ 6+ appetizer but luckily it was half off during this time.
Our server was very friendly and attentive and helped with the happy hour selections. Our food came out in a timely manner and it was good. But I think the food prices are very high. I paid 8.99 for a burger with another .60 cents for cheese. It was a good sized burger with all the fixins’ but I can go to Steak-​n-​Shake and get the same thing for $ 4 that’s also very tasty.
My boyfriend had the buffalo chicken sandwich and it also came with all the burger toppings, but another extra charge for cheese on an 8.99 sandwich. He seemed to like it but I didn’t try it myself.
I will probably be back when I want a nice place to have a cheap drink but I’ll probably order something cheaper next time or see if they have a lunch menu. Great place to sit outside and enjoy the day!

I understand that it’s a «Cleveland classic,» but at some point tradition should only take you so far. Every time I’ve been here it’s never been anything special. Always just took it as a «cheap, easy meal» to grab on occasion. However, this last trip has left me so disappointed in the entire establishment.
BAR: Sat at the bar with a new bartender (no big deal that he made some mistakes he’s learning). The problem was that more seats at the bar were taken up by employees complaining about «poor tips» and «this place is bullsh*t» and other complaints that somebody who doesn’t work there shouldn’t really hear. As someone with serving experience I was dumbfounded. I would have never taken up so many seats on a Saturday night (only to complain and socialize); had a couple come in to sit they would have no room to enjoy a meal at the bar.
FOOD: I ordered the Butcher’s Choice which advertises «the chefs best beef cut.» If this is considered the best beef cut I feel sorry for my tastebuds and any other poor customers. The sandwich was made up of beef that basically consisted of 60% non-​rendered fat that had eating the sandwich nearly impossible. I enjoy chewing, but I don’t really want to have to work 7 minutes on each bite and look like a cave man tearing into my sandwich. A simple rendering of the fat or even an actual decent cut of beef would easily solve this problem. However, the sweet potato waffle fries were delicious and the cinnamon butter was spot on.
OVERALL: «Eh» is the best I’d describe. I can’t say it’s «cheap and easy» anymore considering that my very subpar dinner was upwards of $ 50. Best advice: sure go there but don’t go with any expectations.

I’ve eaten here a handful of times, and hopefully this most recent visit was my last. I didn’t grow up in Cleveland, but have lived here for the last decade or so, and I’ve never understood the local following.
The food is generously rated as «meh,» the service is always worse, and who cares about a choo-​choo train? I know I’m being harsh, but someone has to warn people from out of town,…don’t be fooled by the overall rating.
Trust me, skip this place and head to Deli-​Boys (for lunch) or Five Point (for dinner) if you’re visiting our lovely little town.

This place use to be great… until they moved. Food prices have went up, food has always been better, and DO NOT place a to go order without checking your bag before you leave. I recently put in an order for 25 people and they didn’t give any condiments we requested (which we faxed the day before) or plastic ware. I emailed them to give them a chance to redeem themselves but to no surprise, their email is not longer valid. If I ever feel like going to Jenkins, I’ll go to Willies off North Lee Highway. Better quality and better service!

A Cleveland institution and if you happen to be in the area, definitely stop in for a visit! The Buffalo steak is out of this world! Also, make sure to try the iconic Chicken & Rice soup and fried broccoli & cheese bites. SO yummy! Beautiful patio area and always busy for lunch. You never know who you are gonna see. My daughter ran into a hometown celebrity, Clark Beckham (runner up on this season’s American Idol). Awesome place!

The cheesecake and burgers areto die for!!! Omg i have never tastes such yummyness when it comes to a dessert in this town!!! Now I know better to not buy cheesecake anywhere else… mmmmm

Finally a relatively decent restaurant in Athens TN. Word of mouth brought me here and I did my best to get a big picture view. The pluses are the atmosphere and décor. Country cool and laid back. The staff of young cute friendly people remind you that Athens is a wholesome town. location, outside the string of empty business and on a rural twisty road and a big parking lot.
The menu has a bid of diversity and country standards. They aim to please in the kitchen and its were more hit than miss.
I ordered the salmon and asked that it be as rare as possible it came just as I ordered.
The spicy cheese cubes were really good with the ranch dressing and must order and perfect to share even Better with a cold beer. The only «also ran» was the side of Mac n cheese. I southern staple this one wasn’t worth eating even after it was sent back to be heated since it arrived to the table soupy and cold.
This is the go to place in Athens for decent food and fun surrounding. A place that I will return to if I get another project at my local customer site.
FoodDude, tells it like he sees it!

I can’t say enough good things about this place. It has been in Cleveland for years and I love the new location, so big and open. The bar area is nice as well. I almost always get the chicken and rice soup… delish. The french dip is really good as well. I have heard great things about the chicken salad but have yet to try it. The staff is always nice and very helpful.

Never had a bad meal here. Love the potato skins and the salad bar is delish! Service can be pretty slow, but that’s because the place is usually packed! And it’s packed for a good reason. We have only lived in Cleveland for almost a year, but we make sure to frequent this restaurant.

Overall fantastic place. I eat there regularly and its always good and the employees are polite and attentive.

Each time we visit, which is about every other month, the service goes down a notch. The food is nothing more than glorified «bar» food, although the salad bar is good. If you want to eat at an iconic restaurant and don’t mind so-​so food, then give it a try.

Ordered lunch here. Had the buffalo chicken sandwich and fried pickle chips. Additionally tried the chicken chili. All were great! Service was good to.o. I would return if I’m ever in town again.

A new building for our long time favorite really moves them into the big-​time.
This place has everything. Fun atmosphere, large with plenty of seating, salad bar, drink bar and great food.
This is a new location, but no worries with the service since the core group came over from the previous location. This will be a hot lunch spot.
Love the look inside with a feel if Cleveland over the years around the place

The new location is very nice. Very nice décor and finally plenty of space! I Ordered the chicken and rice soup to go. They have a cool market area which makes it easy to order to go. The soup was just as good as ever. I will be visiting a lot!

Wow this is Cleveland’s newest restaurant. Excellent clean restaurant in a brand new building. Excellent fast service with some of the best food you can order. I started eating here about twelve years ago in the old location and it was great and it still is. I would always order the French Dip. Now I’m getting the chicken salad with chicken and rice soup. It is bigger now with more people to wait on you. My waitress was friendly with great superb customer service as she took care of me. I will be more of a regular here now. I was and still impressed.
They now have a train going around the edge of the ceiling all around the restaurant that says welcome to Jenkins lit up. Kids might like this.
If you ask me, this is as close to perfect restaurant to go to as you can achieve anytime for anyone and everybody.
My recommendation is for your side is to get the salad bar for a $ 2 extra charge.