JJ Bootleggers

Well… the first time my friend and I went the FOOD was good… the second time we went EVERYTHING SUCKED! The macaroni was nuthin but a bowl of melted cheese and the wings had no flavor… as well as being little preemies in their size… I mean an ant could’ve eaten them and still would not have been satisfied. Annnnd to top it off the first waitress we had seemed as though she was a SPOILED RACIST… Did NOT feel the love… she was switched out for a more pleasant waitress but too little to late… I and my friend WILL NOT BE GOING BACK!!!

I bought a groupon for the purpose of getting some food to take home. The fine print DID NOT say it couldn’t be used for takeout. The blond woman at the bar said she would get in trouble if she allowed me to use it for takeout, so I said I could eat in and just take the rest home. She said «I can’t just let you take 2 bites and then have to box up whole meals to go.» I said my only other option was to get a refund and she just shrugged her shoulders and repeated that she’d get in trouble. Horrible customer service and they lost not only that order but a potential future customer. I ordered a refund.

Great atmosphere ,
Apps were delicious and the bartenders are great!
Definitely recommend this place, nice selection of whisky

Horrible horrible service. Went in the establishment 2 times in the same night and both horrible experiences at the bar, she really didn’t wanna serve us made our drinks with an attitude the whole time just disrespectful and nasty. I wouldn’t take my dog back here All the reviews are right this place is horrible and management needs to train their bartenders on customer service

cool place. great environment. TERRIBLE DRINKS. I ordered a «shine specialty» drink called the electric lemonade. I watched my bartender make it and it was 1 shot of alcohol and all soda. I was at bootleggers with a group of friends and everyone who ordered a cocktail or moonshine was disappointed. If you come here. get a beer. w

I went here for dinner on a Friday night and was pleasantly surprised, we’ll almost. The staff was cordial and the atmosphere was laid back. I enjoyed the actual barrels that lined the walls, as if they were actually barrels of moonshine.
For an appetizer, the cheesesteak eggroll was pretty good. It was served with a spicy ketchup & cheese sauce. Enjoyed the ketchup, but the cheese sauce was too bland. For my entrée I had the ribs. The ribs melted in my mouth. The portion sizes was huge. The menu said the ribs came with coleslaw buy it had to ask the server to bring my coleslaw out as it wasn’t served on the plate.
The coleslaw tasted like cabbage mixed straight with mayonnaise & nothing else. The coleslaw was disappointing to say the least. The fries were good and served plentiful. This was a cool place to try, yet I don’t see myself returning here.

Was not super impressed with this place. My boyfriend and I went around 3pm on a Sunday so hopefully the nighttime vibe is better. We didn’t try any of the moonshine so this review is based on food alone.
The tatertots were good but not what I was expecting. They’re basically fried balls of potato with some stuff inside. Ryan got the wings which he said were good and I got a quesadilla. I wasn’t too impressed with mine but maybe it’s because I wasn’t that hungry. Not sure I’d come back for food, maybe for drinks as the inside was pretty big!

This is a nice bar in a prime Old City location. The décor looks much better than it did back when it was a Red Zone. The décor matches the bootlegger theme. There are nice Happy Hour drink discounts. I started off with a good cocktail called a Corn & Coke. The food is good, but left room for improvement. Started off with the cheesesteak eggrolls, which are served with a spicy ketchup and a cheese sauce. It’s a good take on one of my favorite appetizers, but they were overcooked. For entrees, my girlfriend had the full rack of ribs with fries. The ribs were tasty and it’s enough for a 2^nd meal at home the next day. I had the meatloaf and mashed potatoes. The meatloaf was a good, seemingly homemade meatloaf, but it was overcooked. The place wasn’t crowded, so I don’t know what the chef’s excuse could be for overcooking two items of our meal.
I might give JJ Bootleggers another try during happy hour, since it’s possible the chef simply had a bad day and my food would be cooked perfectly next time. And the service is very good. The potential is there for a very successful bar addition to my Old City neighborhood.

$ 4 phillys, $ 2 beer, awesome drinks, and an amazing bartender named Susie who will kick your a$$ in connect 4 (I let her win)

Food wasn’t very warm. There was dust and dirt in my water and the staff attempted to blame it on me. Not a fun night for my friends and I. Not to mention the drink prices are very overpriced. Would not visit again.

Tried this place two days in a row… In Philly for the sweet sixteen tournament and a concert… Drinks are ridiculously overpriced, $ 23 for two HOUSE vodka red bull… Zero vodka… will not be back, which is a shame. Great place to watch ball.

Unlimited tacos were great. You get what you pay for, nothing fancy. Other food was fine, nothing to write home about. Fun atmosphere to watch the basketball games.
Big issues with our drinks.
Moonshine cocktail tasted like straight up Ginger Ale. All three Crispin ciders ordered at the table were completely flat. $ 2.00 for club soda. $ 4 for regular sodas… with no free refills. That would have been fine if we were told. Instead, we ended up up spending more on soda than booze. Unbelievable.

Most important: Friday night is karaōke night.
This bar is pretty nice. It’s right in Old City, so there is always a good crowd. There are a lot of drink selections but pretty overpriced for what I’m used to. They have board games and giant jenga that scares the shit out of everyone when it topples over. I came here for an event and there was food, which was amazing. Apparently they have $ 4 Cheesesteaks late at night.

This was our second stop of the night and probably the most lively place that we visited. The vibe was excellent. Music was 90s to today hip hop and we had a great time. Everyone was dancing and having fun. It was little bit of a challenge to get drinks but the place was packed and they had three bartenders behind the bar. I saw some chicken strips that looked awful but I didn’t have em.

I don’t know how I keep ending up at this place.
I went to lunch there on a Sunday a few months ago with three friends. There was only one server for the whole restaurant and she was rude, inattentive, and unapologetic. We all ordered food and drinks at the same time and after about 35 minutes all of us got our food except for one. He kept waiting as we ended up finishing our meals without him. When we were finally able to flag down our server we told her that she had never brought our friend his drink OR his food. She stared at us like she didn’t understand why this was a problem and then rolled her eyes and asked him what he wanted. She then charged us full price for the meal after not even apologizing.
The second time I went for lunch was also on a Sunday this past weekend. Assuming that we had just experienced an off day, I gave it another try. Our food eventually arrived but the service was terrible. Again there was only one server for the whole place and she somehow seemed bored and frazzled at the same time. Our food and drinks took such a long time and she forgot part of the order but still charged us for it. We all asked for water and she brought us a pitcher with a few cups but not enough for everyone. When we told her there weren’t enough cups she looked at us and said «well, I didn’t know» which doesn’t even make sense.
The food is not worth the horrible service.
I am giving this place 2 stars instead of 1 because it’s in a really good location and the nightlife scene there is pretty good. They have decent drinks and board games/​giant Jenga.

Drinks are pricey and not that strong… Food could be better also. However the free karaōke was the best! The set up in non-​intimidating and theirs plenty of room in the venue. As long as you stick to $ 2 draft beer special on Fridays you can have a good time without breaking the bank. No blended drinks either (my preference). I’m sure I’ll go back for the karaōke though.

Was taken here during a haunted Philadelphia beer tour on a Saturday night and while I thought the guide was perfectly competent, this stop turned out to be a complete disaster.
JJ’s had arranged to take us in and so they expected a large group, which ended up being about 20 people. We were seated at five or six tables near the back of the restaurant. The rest of the seating areas and bar were fairly busy, so I knew service wouldn’t be as speedy as say a weeknight… but I didn’t expect an hour wait for our table’s order, which was basically a few sides and a couple burgers split between six people.
During that hour we had two rounds of drinks and were served complimentary shots of Olé Smoky Moonshine, the brand seemingly responsible for the bar’s existence. Every drink on the menu with exception of the beer was marked Olé Smoky. I believe we had the peach or the punch moonshine, but honestly I couldn’t tell which one because it was awful – overly sweet and full of artificial flavor to cover the low-​quality liquor. It is the «shine» equivalent of Burnett’s flavored vodka (see novelties such as sweet tea and pumpkin), packaged in jars with trendy labeling. I avoided the moonshine list and had a seasonal draft beer.
My friend and I ordered sides of macaroni and cheese, Brussels sprouts and fries of the McDonald’s shoestring variety. Again – this took an hour. The fries actually came out last. Our server had not thought to dole out silverware, so even after we got our food we waited a few minutes for clean table settings. The mac and cheese was nothing special, the Brussels sprouts were cooked right but too sweet, and the fries were just normal frozen fries. Looking back, I’m glad I didn’t order any of the $ 14 burgers… just overpriced for the quality of the food. It’s the same as what you would get at an Applebee’s or TGI Friday’s or whatever.
I’ve gotta say it: there is not a single authentic thing about this establishment. It’s a loud, 20-​television bar with a fake Nashville saloon feel that plays top 40 country (pop) and serves pricey and mediocre food. I can see college chicks in their Daisy Dukes pounding sugar liquor here with their braindead boyfriends who actually think this is what moonshine tastes like.
The only redeeming aspect of our visit was the experience with the manager, who overheard my conversation with our waitress and intervened. I had requested to have one item on our check comped on account of the wait, and even though I did not intend to make a big deal out of it – I’ve worked in the service industry, I understand every restaurant has their bad nights – the manager insisted that everyone at our table forego payment and please come back another night, when he assured the service would be better. So we left a nice tip for our waitress, who I believe was inexperienced but was of course unable to make the cooks cook faster.
All things considered, we were grateful to have the manager jump in and take responsibility for the service. The place just ain’t my style, so I won’t be back, but the genuine apology was appreciated.

The food and drinks we’re awesome, and I love the vibe of the place, but the service was subpar at best. Took us forever to get our food and drinks, but when my burger and our apps came out it really was good. Not sure if they’re understaffed or have a completely incompetent waitstaff, though. Also extremely expensive. Probably won’t go back.
If you do go, though, grab a moonshine milkshake. Might take forever, but when it comes, it’s worth it.

Really cool looking place with wood cask as decorative pieces and mason jars as a bar backdrop to fit the moonshine theme here. Clean place and not dark and dingy as other place on the block.
Their signature wings are a must. Hint of moonshine!!!
Taylor and all the bartenders are awesome and very friendly.

It was a nice place to meet up with friends.
They have a lot of moonshine drinks.
Nothing struck me as special.