Jake’s Dixie Roadhouse

Worst BBQ I ever ate. Worst Service I ever had. I was shocked to hear this was being filmed for a Food Network special Best Food Ever. I have also heard its closing for good as of May 31 and I hope it does!

Decent food, bad service. This place really needs to work on the service bit, and it would be a much better place.

Jake’s serves OK southern BBQ at Massachusetts prices.
Walk in, and you’ll say, wait, this is a bar, not a restaurant, and believe me, there is a big bar that I imagine gets noisy later on, but there are tables to the left, reasonably well-​partitioned from the bar area. We stopped by about 5:30 on a Saturday night to find it empty, which almost made me nervous enough to turn around and leave. If they sit you at the window you can look wistfully across Moody Street at clean and colorful Margarita’s, and wonder if you made the right choice.
I’d heard through Unilocal that the table service here reeked of neglect and bitchy attitude, but that’s not what we found. Our server was prompt and attentive. They have a small kid’s menu with various permutations of [unhealthy meat] + fries, so you can harden your arteries as a family activity. We ordered a pulled chicken platter, a pulled pork sandwich, and the kid’s hot dog and fries. Oh, and a buffalo shrimp appetizer which turned out to be really tasty — big corn-​battered shrimp slathered in what tasted like Durkee’s Red Hot, with the attendant celery and bleu cheese dip. Those disappeared in about 2 minutes. The kid’s meal is served in a cardboard 50’s convertible car, which I admit is cool, but would not have made up for icky food. Fortunately the fries were downright addictive, and the hot dog was pronounced good on arrival. My pulled chicken platter came with slaw, cornbread, watermelon slice, beans, and cornbread. Everything was cooked right, with huge portions of meat. The sauce was a bit anemic compared to what you’d get at Blue Ribbon. My daughter and I traded conspiratorial looks, words were spoken, and soon we were tearing into the signature dessert of fried twinkie with blueberry sauce. It was incredibly good. The check for three people, including one beer, an appetizer, and the aforementioned dessert, was over $ 50. Not a good value.

The phantom gourmet and a few of my acquaintances have raved about this place, so when I moved to Waltham I decided to check it out.
I actually tried this place twice due to the fanfare that it received. Both times, the restaurant was essentially empty, and no one was really attentive to our table. I am not an attention snob when it comes to restaurants by any means. I know it is sometimes tough to be extra-​attentive to anyone, so I cut people slack. However, both times, the waitstaff was pretty much non-​existent.
Both times, I tried the ribs since it was a BBQ place. Both times, the portions were scant and the ribs were dry. The only upside to my experience was that they served 16oz PBR cans. This can hardly be considered a saving-​grace, though, since the hipster movement is essentially making PBR lame.
For my money, I am going to Bison County every time.

Great atmosphere for a group of friends! Blues playing through the high ceilings, colorful paint selection, and friendly servers!
*Gumbo — YUMBO! Slurp up this spicy dish!
*Hand-​cut fries are the BEST!
*My boyfriend got the PPP (pulled pork platter) and said that it was delicious with both the Hot and the House Mild sauces (though he leaned more towards the House Mild — like a No. Carolina sauce). Large serving of tender pork («the bark was VERY good»), though the baked beans weren’t as good as Grandma’s.
*Waitress suggested the Fried Twinkies for dessert (which I had to take to-go)…but it wasn’t what I was looking for in a sweet treat.
*I know that it’s petty — — - but I hate a wobbly table! Had to shove some napkins under in attempt to stabilize.
*Good prices — huge servings («the Phantom» agrees). AMAZING service!!!
Certainly a good choice for a fun night out (great food and a full bar).

I’m rating this place a 4.5 and rounding up for a good reason. Moody street lacks a good beer bar, and this is a GREAT beer bar. The food has been scrumptious, and to the people who say they’ve received cold food, i have not and would not hesitate to send it back
The bar staff is always attentive, funny, and can be quite foul mouthed, always a plus. It’s a great location, prices aren’t bad, and the bar seats are comfortable even thoughthy may be full of holes with stuffing poking out (class).
Come and try for yourself. And try a beer you haven’t had before,

Even though we had a nice dinner out last night, our daughter treated us to a meal at Jake & Earl’s Dixie Roadhouse to pay us back for helping them assemble a wall unit (crazy directions and we’re not done). We ordered three different types of beer, pulled chicken, beef brisket, pork baby back ribs, and a burger.
My burger was a little too well done but everyone else, especially Mr. K (ribs), loved his/​her meal. Sides were a slice of watermelon, baked beans, corned bread, and coleslaw. The cornbread was a little dry and the fries weren’t as crispy as we would have liked.
Even tho it was only 8:30 and the place closes at midnight on Sunday, we felt a «here’s your coat, what’s your hurry» attitude. The guy came by three times to see if we were done and was ready to remove my plate even tho I wasn’t finished. He did the same to Mr. K.
Except for the fact that we felt rushed and had to ask for lemons three times, everything was better than average. We’ll probably return… just not the day after a luscious meal at Capital Grille.
Three stars. I originally posted four, but changed my mind.
ADDENDUM: On the menu. Jake: I think you meant to say «mashed sweet potatoes» and not «sweet mashed potatoes.»

We ate at Jake’s Dixie Roadhouse for the first and last time last night.
While we were seated in a timely fashion, that’s about the last time anything was done quickly. We waited a few minutes to give our drink order. Then we waited a few more minutes for our «waiter» (if you can call him that) to come and tell my husband that they were out of that beer. He chose his second pick. We waited a few MORE minutes for our «waiter» to come back and say they were also out of his second pick.
I’m sorry, but if you already had us waiting on the first round, you should have damn well been sure to try to get us our beers quickly and to give us good (or adequate) service for the rest of our meal.
I know servers have an «off» day sometimes, but he was terrible. Even if the service had been stellar, the food was off putting enough to make me never return. Save your bbq hankerings for red bones in davis sq!

ok, first one in a long time, but i cant blame myself.
i cant even remember the last star count, but this time, its a solid 4.5, but not for the reasons you might think.
so the sister in law came down to visit and we wanted to go out, on a friday night, at 730… so down moody we went, 3 adults and one stroller full of screamer (ok, he wasnt at that moment, but could blow at any given moment) first we tried ponzu, they saw us come in and i could tell with their packed house, they wanted nothing to do with us (we do take up a lot of space)
so down the street we went to jakes. mer though it was acceptable in her veggie-​minded way, and i lovez me the bbq, so in we went. the host saw us and knew exactly where to put us, in the empty quiet corner away from humiliation, just right! sure i couldnt see the sox game, but they were already down 7 – 0, were they really coming back from that?
anyway, we got the burnt ends sandie, tower of rings grit cakes pulled pork and catfish bites. the bites were awesome, the ends, meh, i liked em, but not as burnt as i thought, the pork looked alright and the rings were rings. we also got some of the house beers, they were pretty effective
the service was great and the little guy didnt explode until right as we left. i will say though, jakes like to promote themselves quite extensively inside their own Establishment. what gives, dont tell us about how everyone likes you (in 2006) let me find out for myself. again remeber that this was a great meal out cause no one wanted to really be in there, so keep that in mind, worked for us, maybe not so much for someone looking for the next hot thing.
word

I hate writing bad reviews.
We walked in and we were the only customers.
We ordered, all seemed well. The food was fine.
We wanted to order more drinks, our waiter was at the bar hanging with the other staff. We wanted to order more food, the kitchen closed and we were not alerted.
I gave the server my criticism, away from his coworkers, and the reception was not great. No «sorries» or otherwise acknowledging that he could have done better. Anyways, I’ll never go back. And, I wouldn’t have written this if the server had just apologized. I work with clients and in these hard times, be as nice as you can be, every penny counts.

Update, had to knock it down a star because ofh te horrible service I got the last time I was there. It seemed they are going out of their way to go out of business. BBQ was tasty but they had 3 – 4 of their draft beers not available, were very stingy on the BBQ sauce, and barely knew we were there even though the place was almost empty.
Also they charged quite a bit for their draft beers, the place is not in downtown Boston so they shouldn’t charge for drinks lie they are.

First Unilocal review… Everyone’s been helpful so far, and I figured I’d start posting myself.
I went on a Thursday for dinner around 7 with a friend and sat at the bar. Dogfish Head 60 & 90 on draught… bonus points there. They were out of the Buffalo Shrimp, so we got some hot wings and catfish bites. The apps came out fairly quickly, but catfish was sub-​par and the wings weren’t exactly «hot» for hot wings. A nice smoky flavor, but not what I was expecting.
I ordered the Memphis Pork Ribs ½ Rack, which was plenty of food for myself after the wings (with enough to take home for lunch). The ribs were tasty, but were slightly overcooked and chewy. Good flavor, and I’m sure if they got the cooking time right, they would have been delicious. The cornbread was solid, but not as good as Blue Ribbon’s. The best part of the meal had to be the baked beans. Absolutely incredible. I’ll be getting a second portion of them next time I’m there for dinner.
Overall, the service was good, the crowd was there to drink more than eat dinner, but everyone was very friendly. The prices were not exactly cheap, but for the portions they serve, I won’t complain. I’ll be back to try some of the other dishes… despite the mouse we saw hanging out near the bar.

i suppose that places like Jake’s (Jake & Earl’s, whatever they want to call it these days) are a good indication of when your standards wind up getting raised, despite your best efforts to have no taste whatsoever. It had been a while since i’d been there, so i’d forgotten about it (should’ve taken that as a sign).
You see, there’s nothing really wrong with it, and my third-​grade palate enjoyed the pulled-​chicken sandwich, french fries, and barbecue plenty, the truth of the matter was, i’d had half a dozen better pulled-​meat products in recent months, including a snack bar at Kennedy Space Center (surprising) and the cafeteria at my office (more surprising). Particularly for $ 10 ($ 2 extra for french fries), i should have had more meat than i could recursively shovel back onto the roll (the roll is actually pretty good), and enough barbecue sauce (decent) that i needed more than one napkin, and didn’t need to be scraping up the last drops with my french fries.
In the end, i think even the eight-​year-​old me in charge of dining decisions was unimpressed.

I could write a book about my career as a chef. My first job was at Jake’s, I was there when it opened. I guess I’m going to skip all the amazing stories I have from when I worked there and say one thing: The Texas Reuben is amazing. Yum.
Nah, two things: Thank Christ Tyler Goff isn’t there anymore. He was possibly the most abusive manager I have ever had. And when you’re a cook that’s saying something.
Maybe I will write that book.

Never had the food, so my review is strictly of the atmosphere. I think it’s a great place to grab a brew and hear some blues! The bartender we had was very nice and the music was quite good. There was one guy in the band who played the accordion AND the harmonica AND the keyboards. It wasn’t very crowded and the vibe was pretty relaxed.
I’d definitely go back. I’m not sure if I’d try the food after reading some of these reviews, but I’d go for a drink.

I need to be totally honest with you and start out this review by saying I am a vegetarian. I do not eat meat of any kind, and yes, I went to a restaurant called Jake’s Dixie Roadhouse! I know it sound’s weird but my boyfriend is a meat eater and wanted to go. I love BBQ sauce and after viewing the menu on line, happily saw that they had a vegetarian plate!
My boyfriend ordered a big plate of cow and pig… I think it was a rib/​pork combo… I ordered my Veggie plate (and felt lame doing it), and we both had a few beers. We also ordered the buffalo fries as an appetizer.
The fries were smothered in blue cheese and very tasty, however I was hoping they would have more of a flare to them with some buffalo wing flavor. Then our dinners arrived and they were HUGE. My veggie platter probably weighed 3 lbs and was filled with veggies, mashed potato’s, and sweet potato mashed potatoes. This might seem odd, but very exciting to me. Everything tasted pretty good but I barely made a dent in the serving. My boyfriend enjoyed his ribs and we both agreed, the food was alright.
We went to Jake’s on a weekend night, it was pretty quiet, and the service was good. I probably wouldn’t rush back just for the veggie platter but I would recommend it for meat eaters in the mood for some casual BBQ.

Great food, especially their barbecued baby back ribs which are delicious. They serve them up with a few sides like beans and watermelon. Their sauce is great too. They provide lots of it! They know what they are doing too apparently, judging by the number of awards and citings in newspapers that they have collected over the years.
The place itself isn’t upscale and from the moment you sit down in your chair and order you’ll fell right at home. The staff is really friendly too which helps.
Great place, great food, great atmosphere. Love it…

This joint definitely embodies the roadhouse feel. On the occasion of my visit (celebratory work dinner), our party of three was greeted by the twinkle of Christmas lights strewn above the bar, which was hung with stockings. We actually had reservations at Eastern Standard in Boston, but the traffic was so horrendous from Rt. 128 that we decided to backtrack and have dinner in town.
I kept my expectations pretty low as I stifled my disappointment at missing out on some prime surf ‘n’ turf, but I was pleasantly surprised by the large trucker-​size portions and overall tastiness. My fried chicken entrée was flanked with heaping mounds of mashed potatoes and cole slaw. It was like 3 meals in one! The chicken itself could’ve used a bit more seasoning, but I think this place is more about quantity than quality. My managers ordered a slab of ribs and the steak tips, and we also shared an app of crawfish poppers. All three of us chowed down heartily, swigging beer. I hear they also have live entertainment on certain nights. Good times.
Verdict: Entirely serviceable food. Our waiter brought out the wrong dish for my manager, but they promptly replaced it. Jake’s is like a filling station for your grumbly tumbly. It may not be gourmet, but it’s sure to be fried, reasonably tasty, and you certainly won’t leave hungry.

It’s got a good name, a nice atmosphere and plays some badass blues tunes on the stereo, but that’s about all Jake’s has going for it.
The food ranges from merely mediocre to actively disgusting. On more than one occasion I’ve been served barbecued meat so vinegary that I couldn’t choke down more than a bite or two. I’m perfectly fine with South Carolina-​style vinegar sauce, but you have to know when to draw the line.
The sides are also pretty nasty. I’m willing to forgive the under ripe, flavorless watermelon since this is New England, but the collard greens are another matter. They’re actively crunchy and full of pieces of bacon that could have come with your eggs at breakfast.
So please, do yourself a favor. If you want barbecue on Moody Street, go to Bison County instead. If you’re willing to venture farther afield, try Blue Ribbon in West Newton or Arlington. Avoid this place at all costs.

I have been here 5 times. 3 were good 2 were bad.
I will start off with the disclaimer that I was a non meat eater all 5 times.
I got the BBQ Salmon all 4 times because it was one of the few things I could have possibly ordered. There are very few things to no vegetarian options here. I know it’s a BBQ joint but still, there should be SOMETHING!
The BBQ Salmon was good 4 out of the 5 times. (REALLY good twice).
3 out of 5 times the sides were NASTY.
2 out of 5 times the service was bad.
3 out if 5 times the place was dirty and sticky, even before eating.
My meat eating partners had equally good and bad food.
Nice atmosphere and always good music. Can get a little too sportsy for me at night though.