Chatterbox Pub

Although I only came here once,
the chef didn’t seem a dunce.
It was comfort food from wall to wall,
but alas, last week this place did fall.
There are still 2 Chatterboxes you can go,
so to the Chatterbox you need not say no.

This place is awesome! It has lots of board games and retro video games. You can play board games while you eat. There is a great selections choice of food. The pizza is really good.
I would definitely recommend this place if your looking for a game night or date night. The staff is super nice and the vibe is super chill.

Do not bother. The food is as bad as the service now.
We hadn’t been here in a couple years because the service is notoriously terrible, but some friends wanted to go. We threw caution to the wind and tried again, as their pizza was always good.
The $ 10 cheese curds were a rip off and it’s possible that they were actually brewing each individual beer before it was brought to the table. We then waited over an hour to get a pizza and two burgers. The pizza ($ 19 for a 12″) was so sad– pathetic, soggy, thin crust and subpar toppings. This was disappointing because it used to be quite good. The burgers looked fine, but by the time they arrived we would’ve eaten a napkin and it would have tasted great.
This experience confirmed that the service has not improved and their food is boring and far too expensive for what you get. If you have screaming children and like crappy service with no apologies, definitely come here.

Have you ever been on The Wild Thing at Valley Fair? It takes you up really really high and then sits at the peak for a few seconds before taking a very fast nosedive downhill.
That’s basically what my experience with Chatterbox has been.
I loved coming here, and I loved the food. That was until I talked it up so much to a friend and when I finally brought her here it was complete disappointment for the entire table. Almost every dish had to be sent back for various reason, the service was lackluster, the drinks were mediocre, and the section we were put in might as well have been a day care center.
It hasn’t gotten any better since. The food, that I once raved about, has more issues than a Donald Trump supporter. That’s a hard task to take but if we’re being honest, and are definitely are being honest, whoever is dishing out the Purina style meats needs to take a basic cooking class.
Granted, I haven’t been back in a few months, and the lobster grilled cheese is calling my name so I might revisit soon.
On a side note — why the fuck is my previous review for this so damn long? TLDR — Don’t blame ya!

Cool atmosphere, nostalgic waiting period (who doesn’t love board games?!), fun signature drinks, and amazingly unique food.

Server wasn’t the most friendly. Forgot one of the four food orders. Great idea to have games but games are old and missing pieces. Food was just ok.

Consistently great service by waitresses that seem to enjoy their job.
For breakfast, do yourself and get the massive french toast! I didn’t need to eat the rest of the day. The mimosas are good too.
Lots of old school video and board games but the ones we picked out felt… dirty. I’m a bit of a germ freak though and didn’t like the filmy feel of some of the games. If that kind of thing doesn’t bother you, you’ll love it!

Went here after helping some friends move and we were hungry. Everyone but me got some type of burger. I got the Mac and cheese. This thing was giant. I got to choose my toppings and did chicken, mushrooms and broccoli. The cheese sauce was creamy but light enough where it didn’t overpower the noodles and toppings. All of the burgers were great and our server was very helpful getting everything we needed.
If you’re in the area and need food or just want to play some Nintendo, chatterbox is your spot.

Eating at a restaurant on the 4^th has always felt a bit strange to me, but here we were!
To start, our group was 10 people large, and we were sat at two separated half booth/​table set-​ups. It was a little weird since we were one of the only 3 tables sitting indoors. There was plenty of space and it was very quiet.
Me and my date had gotten there a little late, and everyone had already gotten their drinks so we ordered ours: Water, and an Orange Juice mimosa. Our waitress then reappeared to take our food order some time later still with no sight of the mimosa. When it did arrive, it was a Pink Lemonade Mimosa. I’ll drink anything, I thought, so I didn’t complain. The waitress did notice at some point she had brought the wrong one and comped it. That was very nice of her!
Meanwhile, our orders had been taken. A few guests at the table had ordered appetizers, including my date. While everyone else got their appetizer, he had to wait for his yogurt parfait. And he continued to wait until after we had gotten our entrees. Despite that, it did arrive after we got our food. It was a decent size, but with fruit I wouldn’t think to put in a parfait: Melon, Pineapple, Grape, etc.
The food was good! I ordered eggs benedict and was OK with what I received, even if it was a little on the dry side– and the eggs were totally cooked through. Not normal for an eggs benedict.
Another guest at the table mentioned her grilled cheese was supposed to have an almost sweet pesto spread on it, but was instead swapped for regular pesto without any notice and said it didn’t taste right– Her words exactly were «I wish they would have told me it didn’t come out like the menu says.» — And I’d say its a valid complaint.
4 Star rating because the food is, indeed, good. If the eggs had been cooked properly and a little more hollendaise sauce added, it would have been great. I was very happy with the way it tasted, but I suspect because it was a holiday and it was slow, the cooks and wait staff may have just been feeling a little lazy that day. I have a hard time believing Chatterbox would have such a great reputation if their food and service was consistently subpar.
Also, this particular location has a parking lot. We found on-​street parking no problem, but if it were busy it’s nice to know that a parking lot is available too.

I used to come here a lot in college, and was pleasantly surprised to find it hadn’t changed much from what I remembered from 6 years ago.
I came here with my fiancé to kill some time before dinner, and it was a great choice. They have good root beer and ginger ale made from scratch, and the pretzel fondue was amazing! But better than the really good food is the atmosphere; it’s a great place to chill with friends and play board/​card games, old school arcade games, and even SNES, if it’s not already taken by someone else.

We decided to try the Chatterbox Pub after advice from multiple friends that this place was not very good. We went on Father’s Day anyway and decided to see what it was like. We had read that there were games and video games and it would be a fun place for children and we have two kids.
For starters, the menu items are way overpriced for what they are. We ordered cheese curds which were decent however were so oily/​greasy that they were hard to even stomach. My husband ordered a Philly steak sandwich and got a pizza instead. Our waiter did not even offer to correct the error. The pizza was decent however the meat was not flavorful and the crust was very dry. My daughter ordered the macaroni and cheese kids meal which was like plastic.
The dining room looks like my great grandmothers living room. Everything was very dusty and old and the tables were not clean. There were flies EVERYWHERE to the point where we could not even enjoy just sitting there as a family.
We will never return to this restaurant!

I took my family here last night. The service was fine, but the quality of food was atrocious.
The last time I visited this establishment the menu was higher-​quality. In the past, they had options for grass fed beef and locally sourced ingredients.
I was shocked when I saw that the menu has been rolled back to something from a few years ago. We ordered a pizza, a burger, and the burger sliders off the kids menu.
When the food was delivered, it was obvious that only the cheapest ingredients were used to make the food. The pizza is no longer served on real pizza crust, but is now a flatbread. Also, the cheese used on the burger is a cheap plastic like American white cheese.
Our entire family felt sick after leaving. It is especially a bummer when you have spent $ 65 on a meal, only to have everyone feel sick as the takeaway from the experience.
I wish that I could return everything we ate for a full refund. For $ 65, I could’ve taken my family to Smash Burger twice and gotten much better quality food.

I tend to stick to the same things I like over and over again, so I can’t speak for everything on the menu, but the things I normally eat here are SO GOOD! My favorites are the Perfect Grilled Cheese & Tomato Bisque and the Mac&Cheese with sage sausage, roasted exotic mushrooms, and peppers & onions. Recently I tried the Lager Battered Onion Rings, which I thought were good, but my boyfriend the onion ring connoisseur said they were the best he had eaten in a long time.
*Note that the phone number listed on Unilocal doesn’t work. The number to reach them is 612−729−1800.

Highland location is much, much better than Longfellow. More video game stations, larger restaurant, friendlier staff.
We made reservations on a Saturday night. It so happened that it wasn’t needed because it was actually pretty quiet for a weekend. Got a game station right away (the games are free here!) and ordered drinks. Our hostess was awesome!
Beer was good (I had the Chit Chat).
I would give another star but I always make the mistake of getting the food. I don’t know why but I just do not like their food. It seems cheap, poorly done and just not satisfying. My partner likes the mac and cheese but I have a hard time paying $ 14 for that. I ordered the fish and couldn’t even finish half of it. The fries are seasoned much like curly fries from Wendy’s (for some people that’s great but not for me). I will say that the artichoke dip was great! I guess I need to just go here, play games, drink beer and get apps.

This place fills a nice little niche with their tacky décor, large stock of video and board games, and decent food.
This visit we had the Cinco De Mayo dip and the chocolate fondue. All of it was pretty good. The dip was mildly spicy with a good assortment of typical Mexican toppings (including avocados) and the fondue was served with a variety of tasty treats to dip in the chocolate.
We had a good time with friends playing some classic board games. It is a nice difference from the usual going out to eat affair.
Slightly expensive, but they have groupons and such most of the time that can be used. Just be prepared to spend a little bit more time here than at other places, that’s ok though because the atmosphere is more laid back and casual to enjoy time with people and play some games!

This place has some really interesting menu items and great groupon deals so I keep going back hoping I’ll have a better experience and I never do.
I go here late at night as its one of the only places in St Paul open past 9:00. Overall my visits have been very slow service wise. Slow getting drinks, food usually takes 25 – 35 minutes to come out even when the restaurant is empty and it takes time getting servers attention.
My most recent visit I was there for nearly 2 hours. We were seated right away in a half full restaurant. The host was fabulous and he was really sweet all around and made me excited that maybe it’d be our lucky night and we’d get great service. After 15 minutes the host brought us some waters saying the server was busy. When she finally sauntered out to talk to us, each question was answered with an eye roll. They were out of the 3 happy hour appetisers I was eying as well as the burger I was interested in. I thought this was very unusual, why didn’t they have menu items ready?
We put in our food and drink orders and after about 45 more minutes we asked the host, as he was the only employee actually on the floor, if he could check on our food. He checked in back and told us it was nearly ready! It came out 5 minutes later, my soup was bone cold and crusted over on the top. Just gross. At this point I didn’t want to wait longer, so I sent it back and just ate my sandwich — which was also pretty cold. When we finished eating we waited even longer with no sign of our server — again. The host noticed us looking around and brought us our check. This guy deserves a promotion!
Overall one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had service wise. The host ended up getting my meal comped which was very sweet of him. We tipped him handsomely in cash instead of our server. Even with the amazing groupon deals I don’t think I’ll ever be back.

This place used to be so much better, which is a shame. With the vintage game consoles and board games and retro basement décor, it’s a really fun place to hang out.
Unfortunately, when it comes to the food, they’re totally just phoning it in. I ordered a breakfast burrito, which was laughable for $ 12. I could have made something much more inventive and tasty at home with eggs and potatoes and a burrito shell. The burrito was just thrown on the plate with some aioli glopped on haphazardly. No garnish or other sign that anyone cared if this dish was any good.
My friend’s lobster club was also disappointing. The lobster filling itself was kind of tasty. But the sandwich is served on three large, thick pieces of toast, so the ratio of the sandwich is totally off and it’s very hard to eat. I did like the tomato bisque that came on the side.
At the least the server was friendly, which was not the case when we went to the Linden Hills location. I really hope this place gets their act together! The place was almost empty at noon on a Sunday, which speaks volumes.

I had been to the location in Minneapolis several times in the past. I had always found it to be a fun place to get together with folks and play some old vintage board games.
I went to this location on a Sunday with my mom and my niece and nephew (ages 3 and 6). While there was a cute Brite-​Lite sign indicating «wait to be seated», we waited for a while and no one showed up. A few people who I think worked there walked right past us without acknowledging us. When we were finally shown to the table, my nephew asked if there was a kid’s menu. The response was, «Oh I suppose I could get you one of those.» Well, how about 2 since I have 2 children with me. He seemed genuinely shocked that the children would want to order off of the children’s menu.
The service was very slow. We tried to keep the kids together with a game. Once the food arrived, I was satisfied with that piece. I had a California Burger with a side of rosemary garlic mashed potatoes. It was evident that the mash potatoes had been plated long before the burger was ready. They were cold and developed that «cold film» over the top. The burger was cooked as requested — medium well. It was juicy. The kids seems to like the mac and cheese and pizza.
We asked for the dessert menu. Pretty disappointed that they would not make a little sundae for my niece. We were told they did not have ice cream, yet the apple crisp came with ice cream. The portion of the apple crisp was ridiculous, and not in a good way. It could have fed 4 people. Big quantity does not necessarily mean good quality. My mom ordered dessert but had to order again since our server did not hear it. The server completely ignored me and didn’t ask if I wanted to order anything.
Generally, the place was very clean and it seems like things were well kept. I was happy with my burger, but very disappointed with the serving experience. The games are always fun and the drink menu was pretty extensive (I don’t drink, but if I did, I would have had a lot of interesting options). So, if you decide to go here, definitely make sure you have a lot of time and some patience.

We made a return trip to the Chatterbox. This time, I ordered better. Hubby got the lobster mac and cheese again so I opted for the duck confit gnocchi, which were absolutely delicious.
But despite being pretty much dead, our service was totally horrendous. We were seated and then not acknowledged for a very long time. Upon her arrival at our table, our waitress had pretty much zero enthusiasm and it was clear that she really didn’t care to offer us a good dining experience. When she brought our drinks to the table after another huge delay, she popped my can for me but didn’t open it well. The tab was still kind of stuck in the can’s mouth and I didn’t notice before I started pouring. The end result was that I spilled a bunch of my drink all over the table because it didn’t pour cleanly out of the can. Honestly, if you can’t be bothered to properly open a canned beverage, you might as well just quit. It only went downhill from there. Big delay. Food arrived. We had to flag her down for a water refill. And big delay, we had to flag her down again for the bill. We were not asked about dessert at all but I didn’t want to spend another 40 minutes sitting there and would not have ordered it anyway. Given that we were literally the only table in the entire bar area, I have no idea how the service was so bad. It was also a real slap in the face to have several people including the person I think was the manager standing at the bar talking with each other, on their phones, etc. but not paying any attention to guests.
So, on our first visit, service was passable and food was OK. Second visit, food was better, but service was miserable. Overall, I’m moving down a star just because it’s no good to be so annoyed and frustrated — even if you have five-​star food (which Chatterbox does not), a bad experience ruins the overall visit. It’s pretty rare for me to give a restaurant a third chance. We’ll see. No wonder this place is perpetually offering a Groupon.

If you’d have asked me a few months ago how many stars I’d rate this place, I’d have easily given it a 4. My biggest complaint –used– to be that I felt the chef/​menu was a little vinegar-​eccentric (vinegary coleslaw, vinegary brussels sprouts, vinegary short ribs, vinegary sauces… etc) but I’m afraid that my adventure last night was far more sour an affair.
I’ll preface my onslaught by saying that I love the tacky velvet paintings, gaudy 70’s lamps, vintage video games and Triassic period TVs.
It’s a fun place (theoretically) with a delicious sounding menu (also theoretically).
There have been a few hiccups in the past (steak cooked to wrong temp… that sort of stuff) but our most recent experience was so laughably horrible that I found myself looking around for hidden cameras midway through.
— No liquor. None. Do you know what this means? It means that their ‘mixed drinks’ are a bunch of juice/​dairy with champagne and crap. I was dying for a Kentucky Cream or a White Russian and my dreams were mercilessly crushed. I never really indulged myself in a drink here before so I’d never paid attention… and I guess I never will.
— Flaccid. Ass. Frickles. As if that weren’t heinous enough, the ‘curry mustard’ tasted like tonguing someone’s dirty sour asshole after a night at an Indian buffet.
And truthfully, who serves mustard (curried or not) with fried pickles?
«Lawdy, these salty little chunks of solidified brine aint tart and abrasive enough. WHARS MUH MUSTARD!» — said no one ever.
— Rubbery. Ass. Wings. These were supposed to be ‘smoked’ wings but lacked any smokiness whatsoever and were dry as fuck. I initially ordered them with the Hellcat Diablo sauce and was unimpressed; the waitress promised a second ‘crispy’ order with their Hellcat Inferno sauce and they came out equally as bad. I’ve never had shittier wings with shittier sauces. Man, they have some shitty sauces.
— Salty. Ass. Sliders. The first couple bites of the pork sliders weren’t terrible – in fact, they were the tastiest couple of bites up until that point – but the meat quickly began to taste as though it had been over-​brined. Some of the pork had the texture and grace of canned tuna which was also off-​putting.
— Pukey. Ass. Soup. The tomato soup had the exact consistency of warm cat vomit. It wasn’t chunky, per se, but it also wasn’t smooth; that’s a grey area that a soup should never, ever explore.
— Cumin. Ass. Ranch. After the horrible curried mustard debacle, Dita asked for a side of ranch because ranch is typically a very safe bet, amirite? NOFUCKYOU. It tasted like room temperature creamed cumin. This shit is exactly why people have trust issues.
— Sucky. Ass. Tacos. Their steak tacos were truly facepalm worthy. Not a single one of them stayed together due to both being overstuffed and under-​wrapped (there was only one thin corn tortilla per taco). The meat sucked. The sauce sucked.
Suck, suck, suck.
— Inaccurate. Ass. Menu. I tried to order their beer battered scotch egg, but apparently they haven’t served it in quite some time. TAKE IT OFF YOUR MENU, PLZ. That’s definitely one of my major pet peeves.
It will be a long, long time before I’ll ever be able to think about giving this place another shot even with the allure of Mario games on their side. I don’t know if their kitchen staff has drastically been altered or if they’re just in the middle of a catastrophic slump, but damn. Aint nobody got time or money fo dat.

Lobster Grill cheese and sweet potato fries will KILL your taste buds with lust and satisfaction.