Jack Ruby

I’ve been to Jack Ruby on 3 occasions. The first two occasions were fantastic. Best chicken wings and one of my favourites, the popcorn crocodile. I’ve always talked up the food and atmosphere to my friends.
On Friday I visited the establishment only to find the menu had changed with most of the signature dishes missing. Their website still showed the old menu mind you.
The replacement popcorn chicken on the menu is about ¹⁄₃ of the previous dishes size and not as good. The ribs were mediocre, however my pulled beef roll was good.
I’d have left a higher rating if they hadn’t run out of corn beef rolls, 3 ontap beers and Dr Pepper.
Bit poor for a Friday night, someone forgot to order I guess.
I’ll have to look elsewhere, as I believe my beloved Jack Ruby is no more.

I was looking forward to a great night to celebrate my daughters graduation, a little disappointing to have booked in and when we went to order there was 3 types of burgers off the menu plus a few other meals.
It was more upsetting at the way the waiter told us, it was like a joke to him, very unprofessional, no apologises and the waiter then stated to my guests down the table that if we weren’t so late they would of had everything on the menu. I had actually placed a booking over a week ago and they were the ones that booked us in at 8pm as the initial booking I wanted at 7.30pm was booked out, if they cannot serve what’s on the menu until 8pm they shouldn’t take bookings.
Also one of my guest went to order a red wine and was told at the bar there are no wine glasses clean so can they have a beer instead, when he said no they said come back later to get a wine. I not sure if my expectations are high but when there were a whole lot of dirty glasses sitting there wouldn’t you think that the waiter would wash a glass out and get the customer what they wanted.
I must say after being disappointed we did not try and let it spoil our night, most of us enjoyed what we ordered and I’m sure it probably isn’t a normal occurrence, well I hope so for their sake.

(Mostly just rambling, skip to the end if you want to know a fun Jack Ruby fact!)
Doing our semi-​regular Friday strut at lunchtime to grab a decent bite to eat, sit-​down style, with a beer to prepare the stomach for what is inevitably coming on the weekend, my friend remarked that it is always super cool to walk into Jack Ruby (JR); the descending stairwell entrance behind the street-​front wall, an air of mystery and intrigue as to what is about to come, the anticipation of walking into an olde-​timey speakeasy from the 20’s, without the waft of cigar smoke and crazy broads (cue the James Cagney impression).
The hype for the JR burgers was out of control prior to us booking. The anticipation can really kill a good meal if it isn’t great — I call it ‘expectation theory’ (Trademarked DMT, 2k16) — the higher the expectation of an event/​venue/​occasion, the lower the actual enjoyment of the experience. Of course there are always outliers to this theory, as with all theories*. Thankfully JR was as good as the anticipated experience.
A solid effort all round from the wait/​bar staff and the chefs in the kitchen too. For a Friday lunch, it was top notch. Sitting in a booth, smashing a beer and a burger and having a good ol’ fashioned chinwag with the boys before the weekend is bang on for a good lunch for me.
The room has wood floors so it can get a bit noisy in there, but the young mums with babies didn’t seem to mind, so neither did I (babies can get a bit sensitive to loud noises in my experience)
The only thing, the ONLY thing that I had a minor issue with was paying the bill. The lunch menu states that one can order a «beer» or house wine for $ 5 with the purchase of a burger at lunch time. What the menu does not do is provide any conditions as to the type of beer. Anywhere. No asterisks, no qualifiers. Just «beer». So we didn’t hesitate when the waiter said ‘what do you want to drink?‘
In fact, he didn’t even tell us when I asked for a lager, that in order to get the $ 5 offer, you can only buy «Australian craft beers on tap» (FYI that was the interesting fact).
So, you can imagine my surprise after factoring in all of that when the bartender taking our money at the end of our meal took issue with us asking for the bill to be adjusted according to the lunch drink offer. In fact, he was happy to advise us that WE had a communication issue because we hadn’t explicitly asked what the terms and conditions of their lunchtime offer were. I made a mental note that this was, in fact, a good example of when you should actually take your customers views into consideration. Not to say the customer is always right, but maybe just listen to them a little.
Anyway, rant over. He gave us the discount anyway and on we went, sauntering back up the now ascending stairwell and back to reality. Thanks JR, we will be back again, and in greater numbers.
Tl;DR Lunchtime menu $ 5 beer offer is for Aussie craft beers on tap only.
*In actual fact, quite a lot of what I expect is going to be awesome, is still just that — awesome. That’s why it’s only a theory!

For as long as I can remember this was the Bull and Bear, sort of like a traditional English Pub, however it seems that after I left the place decided to completely rebrand itself and out of the ashes of the former basement pub has arisen Jack Ruby — what is effectively a craft beer bar. I used to come to the old pub every so often, namely because it was a pretty cool basement bar, and I have to say that it’s rebranding has added some new life to the place. However I have to say that this place isn’t cheap, but then again craft beer isn’t the cheapest of beers out there. It’s not bad, and I’d probably come back, but it isn’t one of my all time favourite pubs.

Great place to meet up with friends on a Friday night the burgers are really good and the atmosphere is great trendy crowd night we went had a jazz band playing which added to an already great atmosphere. The Tex Walker burger the best (my opinion) out of all the selected burgers

Located near the top of King William, next to the Goodlife Athletic Club, Jack Ruby is conveniently located and easily accessible from every are of Adelaide proper. The interior is dimly lit and quite large with beautiful tile floors and dark wood accents. If feels as though you have stepped back in time to the speakeasy era. Be sure to make a booking for parties larger than 4 to ensure seating.
This evening we tried two appetisers (alligator bites at $ 12 and mac’n cheese balls at $ 9). Both were very tasty, particularly the cheese balls sitting atop a truffle aioli– yum! Fried and crispy exterior with a gooey, satisfy cheesy interior. The alligator bites were plentiful, but a little overcooked which made them a bit tough and chewy. We ordered the ‘Michael Jordan” sandwiches as our main entrées.
I don’t understand the connection between MJ and Jack Ruby, The American president’s assassin nor do I see a connection between MJ and pulled pork — perhaps it is an inside joke? MJ was a huge (literally) American basketball star and this sandwich is tiny! Oxymoronic. The joke was on me I suppose because at $ 19 the quantity of meat on the sandwich was quite small! A good rule of thumb is if the bun is twice the size of the meat, you are being ripped off and paying WAY to much for the sandwich. This was the case with the MJ sandwich this evening; the quality of meat was high and it was tasty, but at $ 19 the Michael Jordan is not a good value. What a shame because the slaw and bun were of excellent quality…

American eats are quickly becoming so ubiquitous it’s lost its novelty, but Jack Ruby is still an example of a place getting it more right than many others.
Great subterranean location, some good eats and drinks specials, great selection of US beers, and super filling (though far from healthy) grub.
Only lost a star for having meals named after Crows and Power footy players, which as somewhere from across the border there to see a game I couldn’t bring myself to order!

Mac and Cheese balls. I think that’s probably all I need to say. They were heaven, amazing, fantastic!!!
You also get served popcorn while you wait which is pretty cool.
I had the sliders as always if it’s on the menu and they were pretty good.
I will definitely be back, even if I just to order a meal of Mac and Cheese balls :)

We went for a friend’s engagement party & the atmosphere, food & service was fantastic. Look forward to going again

American-​style pub, but think more mobster than fast food.
Love the décor, Jack Ruby is dimly lit giving it a nice cosy feel but while still having a cool vibe about it.
Food is great, traditional American dishes but with a slightly posh twist (mac & cheese balls with truffle aioli — delish). I’ve eaten here a few times and have never been disappointed. Service is great too. Do yourself a favor and stop by.

Great menu if you’re in the mood for American style cuisine. There were some odd choices of flavours, I had a Japanese crispy chicken burger with seaweed and wasabi mayo which sounds like it shouldn’t work but does completely! It’s places like these that blend different cuisines to make something old new that I love about Adelaide!
Great vibe of the place, especially for a
Tuesday night. It was quiet and homey but I feel on the weekend it could get a little busier.

Arriving at Jack’s with an empty stomach was defiantly the best decision I’ve made. With the location being in the basement area of King William St, it’s a cool place to hangs for drinks.
After grabbing a seat a waitress came up to us straight away and offered us water and popcorn to snack on. Such a great idea! Must I say as I normally get full from the bread and butter, before the meal even comes out. So popcorn was a great touch.
I’m not 100% sure with what the burger I order was called but I do remember is having ‘Tex’ in the title. And once it arrived the excitement on my face was probably scaring to the waitress off haha.
The size of them do look rather medium-​small but trust me once you start getting into this burger we’ll realize how filling, good and huge the burger actually is!
The patty and bacon were cooked to perfection with juices coming out from the sauce and onion rings. Nom nom nom. What a great place to celebrate National Burger Day.
I’m keen to try a few of Jack’s sides and other meals, of course. Defiantly a place I would recommend to my guy friends as it has amazing fatty food and alcohol serving.
Thank you for the plus size Jack Ruby!

This places reminds me of Melbourne not because of the décor or anything but how it’s located down stairs. Melbourne is famous for a number of its restaurants not being on the actual ground floor but either upstairs or downstairs in a basement kind of setting.
It’s pretty awesome that Jack Ruby is like this. It just adds so much more to it. Love it! Came here on a Monday for a dinner and naturally it wasn’t busy. The service wasn’t too bad but the food strangely took a while to come out despite we being one of three tables.
It’s strange because the first time I was here despite it being a hectic Saturday night, my friend and I received our food quite quickly after our orders were taken.
But that’s okay as the waitress was sincere and apologised for the delay. I had a sample of all my friend’s dishes as well. The chicken wings with the blue cheese dipping sauce wasn’t too bad. Although the sauce was a bit weird, not my thing. Maybe because I personally don’t like blue cheese.
The soft shell burger was surprisingly good but not something I would picked personally. The beef cheek and potatoes was the highlight. Beautiful, juicy and tender. Definitely worth the price but not exactly a filling dish but so worth it for that melt in your mouth beef cheek.
I had the Japanese style fried chicken burger with the Japanese mayo sauce. That was pretty damn good! That fried chicken. That batter they used! Crunchy, succulent and not greasy at all. Generous size as well.
The only downer was that the chips looked, smelt and tasted like the exact same ones you would get at McDonald’s.

Go here. Forget the calories. All of them, just forget about them.
Burgers.
Fries.
Mac & Cheese.
New York Strip
Chocolate Brownies.
Cheesecake.
Enjoy every single mouthful and don’t think for one second about those calorie gremlins sewing the seams of your clothing smaller over night.
Have the side serve of Mac & Cheese. Just have it!
Awesome food, awesome drinks, awesome décor and awesome service.

A once-​off stop while staying in the city, looking for a cool new place to try. I can’t really say too much for what I ate, as that night I fell really ill and (TMI!!) buffalo wings should never be tasted twice. Especially such ridiculously SPICEY ones! My boyfriend is a spice-​fiend but these were even too much for him, although a good price on their happy hour. Needless to say I sincerely hope for everyone’s sake that it wasn’t the lukewarm fish tacos from here that I suspected made me ill.
The menu seems to be heavily «inspired» by T.G.I Friday’s American Style menu, and I’m sure that there are more American Style foods than what can be found essentially with different names at these two different places.
Jack Ruby’s is dark as many have said, and can be seemingly hard to locate if you don’t spot the sign and the corresponding staircase, it’s almost like walking into a dungeon. At the time of our attendance the establishment was quiet with only a few guests, and a reasonably friendly barman. The seating on stools around pillars was a bit awkward, but the candles on all tables was a nice touch.
Despite all this, the spiked milkshakes were possibly the best thing I have ever had in my life and I would actually return for these if I was really in the mood. Overall kind of average in my experience, which is disappointing given such other rave reveiws.
Sorry to be the mood killer!

Don’t bother putting the belt on, or maybe just wear elasticised pants.
JR’s is not for the calorie counting designated driver, it’s for the ballsy, hard hitting criminal in us all who says yes to a dozen buffalo wings, mac n’ cheese balls and a burger with that.
A backboard menu of ciders, craft beer, «fizz» and wine and a selection of sneaky rums, whiskeys and spirits will wet your whistle at a reasonable price for a bar. But you can’t come here and not eat. Whether it be their very reasonably American share menu of dishes for $ 7 – 14 a pop that will feed 2 – 3 people (crocodile popcorn is a must) or the fancy schmance $ 18 – 20 something burgers of snapper, Tex Walkers, pork, carrot and lentil (a great alternative for the vegos/​fake vegos like me) these guys have taken an American themed menu and made it palatable without loosing out on the fun of eating fried.
DJ’s or live bands entertain at night and large groups dine in for lunch on weekdays. Be prepared to wait for a table if you’re eating, or try and book beforehand if there are a few of you.
Delightful service and straight to your table means you won’t stop at just one spiced rum and dry, but enjoy 3. Bravo Jack!

Jack Ruby sir, I cannot fault you.
I don’t know if anyone has noticed, but the latest fashion in Adelaide is American comfort food. Jack Ruby’s can comfort you better than your mother ever could.
$ 45 and you can have 5 courses, or 7 — still not sure why we were laden with 7 bountiful meals instead of 5. I thought perhaps after all the american craft beer I had been drinking that I may have forgotten how to count. Regardless of my basic math skills, we left our waiter a decent tip.
Oh no wait I CAN fault them. Ever had fried pickles? No? You haven’t LIVED my friend. Best you be on your way to try some somewhere, or even make them yourself — but don’t get them here, because sadly they are disappointing (they would be better sliced thinner and in a different batter). In saying that though, the stuffed fried green peppers are pretty great, so are the sliders, the KFQ (kentucky fried quail — I know right) and the deep fried apple pie. I cant believe my heart is still beating after eating that pie.
Somebody spiked the milkshakes!!! God bless that somebody.

EXPLOSIVE is not how I would normally describe my burger experiences however in this case I guess I’ll be making an exception…
Explosive refers to the burger on two levels — the flavour was amazing and my burger fell apart and ‘exploded’ all over the plate — but that was a-​okay by me, it just meant that I got to show my my skills with a knife and fork, something that this gal does not often get to do!!!
I ordered the Tex Walker on many a recommendation and also because many of those on our table of 15 or so were — and I figured that the mob couldn’t possibly be wrong — and this time they certainly weren’t!
The jalapenos in this burger certainly gave it a wonderful kick and all the flavours worked together brilliantly! Accompanied by some super thin fries and presented nicely, I’ll definitely be back!
We also ordered the Buttermilk fried pickles, which were great — albeit sound like a pregnancy craving… but hey, trying new things often pays off!
Our table was booked ahead and I’d say that this is the way to go as this place can get pretty busy — for good reason!
Also must say that the staff were all awesome and very helpful!

I came here when I was looking for somewhere to sit and do my assignment without having to move on because of busyness. I arrived at about three PM and there were maybe 2 other people in the restaurant but nearly every decent sized booth had a reserved sign. The waitress however kindly let me sit at one.
The table service was nice, I was pleasantly surprised with the delicious salty popcorn while I waited. I ordered fries and a soft taco (vege no cheese), because I really just needed somewhere to sit and study and I wasn’t heaps hungry. I noted a veggie burger on the menu, maybe next time.
The taco was nice and warm with the tortilla being well cooked and just the right level of crispy yet still foldable.
The chips were meh. I got all the butt chips, you know the end of the packet, chips about 1 cm long. I was feeling weak and tired otherwise I may have asked for another lot. I mean I’m paying $ 7 for a teeny bowl of chips so MAKE them GOOD, a kilo of chips would have cost less for them, so you know open a new packet.
But I persisted and did the elegant smush ten mini chips into your face thing.
I really want to try the spiked milkshakes and might come back here in the evening as I hear they have live entertainment.
The service was fantastic :) and the layout/​theme is cool, very americana, like a dimly lit saloon, and i felt like a cowboy drinking water from a makers mark bottle. I would have given five stars, but I think for the prices they charge the food needs to be more en pointe.
(Ie. do good chips. I judge so many places by chip –ability

Hello darkness my old friend. This place is just as much of a shadowy din as the old Bull and Bear was, but a far superior din that you want to skulk around and have flirtations in. Jack Ruby’s has all of the great aspects of a true dive bar (big booths, timber furnishings, high-​calorie food, live bluesy bands) yet somehow manages to make it feel fresh. And the Americana trend is all over Adelaide at present but their US cuisine is as alluring as the Orient: the fries are served in their own individual baby deep fryers. I’m not altogether sure why their namesake is Kennedy’s assassinator’s assassinator and I don’t really care: keep the fries coming.
This is a dive bar with a sexy vibe but the lack of beer garden is a real pain. People seeking smoke breaks or outdoor tomfoolery have to traipse back up the stairs and stand out front on King William Street. And in colder weather, King William is essentially a hypothermic wind tunnel. There’s also the fact that you need to surrender your seat when you go out, and getting a seat in the general bar area is challenge that requires wit, resilience and above all, tits. We got the far corner booth and I made smug faces at all the people loitering at the bar. It just seemed like the American thing to do.