Mr J’s Sports Bar & Grill

I wouldn’t even give it a one star, can you give it a zero. It deserves it, awful service…

Just TERRIBLE service. The food was nothing to write home about either. The cheesy bacon fries were actually really good if you like flimsy seasoned fries (which I personally do.) The rest of our food was average or below. There was some games and darts, and tons of tvs everywhere. Your basic sports bar. That being said, I have never felt so disrespected in my life. Sat for an entire hour without anyone asking if they could refill or empty drinks. After we watched our waitress emerge from the kitchen, put on her coat and leave, I asked the bar tender if we could get our bill. She said «sure,» then I watched her go over and talk to her friends a few minutes. They refused to split our bill because we were a group of 4. It took about 15 minutes just to get our credit card back after paying. The whole bar had cleared out, but for some reason we were forgotten. I felt so trapped. I just wanted to go home. One of those moments I just wanted to scream «TAKE MY EFFING MONEY!!!» NEVER EVER AGAIN! EVER!

The waitress was very nice and promptly informed us she was new. Ok — disclaimer to say things might be screwed up. We ordered the small (7) wings but when they were delivered 30 minutes later there were only 6 because the cook, also new, didn’t know she had to make 7 wings.
The waitress recommended the burgers as being «so delicious» so we went with two of those. Twenty minutes after getting the first 6 wings, we got the 7^th wing and our burgers. The waitress dropped our food at the table and said goodnight. What???
The burgers and wings were good. 45 minute wait good? Not sure about that.
The manager came by, asked how things were, and said goodbye.
We were now left with two really loud drunks (on a Monday) at the bar, and 18 year old bartender, and a new cook. The drunks were propositioning the 18 year old bartender for a threesome after we left. She was mortified. She really could have been their kid!
Since they were all pretty much to the establishment or adulthood, I can’t base my rating on them.
I sincerely hope the management reads this. Don’t leave new and young inexperienced staff alone. It’s just poor management.

I would give 0 if possible. I normally reserve a one star for places like Denny’s. First the owner is rude and condescending. He was yelling at his staff in front of us. We planned to have an event with coworkers, about 20 total. Pre-​planned for over a week with the owner. We show up and are told the room we were told we had was not available (keep in mind the place is empty and stayed empty the whole night). 6 people ordered food, 3 got their food in 20 minutes. We are the only people in the bar, mind you, 20 more minutes goes by and the waitress explains they did not start the other fried food because not enough people ordered yet (what?) and then complained that there are a lot of us and we keep ordering stuff. 6 orders of food and some beers. Waitress was overwhelmed by the amout of people in a bar at one time (20) which was clear sign of the trouble of this bar! People never got their food, when addressed to the manager he sayed I am not talking about this and walked away. The manager lied and said the owner was not in when he was the owner (oops waitress slipped on telling us that one) Owner yelled at us swore at us and berated us over his poor run establishment. Needless to say we left and went to a new bar 4 buildings down with smiling staff, happy to have us and normal service for drinks in food. That bar accommodated 20 of us with drinks and 15 meals in 30 minutes! Thats how its done Mr J’s sports bar take some notes! Needless to say I will never go back nor will the 20 people I was with. The negative reviews on here reflect exactly what we experienced. Save your time and energy and go a few doors down to a real bar with real staff and real customer service, with a staff that wants you their and an owner who is glad to have the customers.

I don’t think I’ve had such an awful experience at a restaurant/​bar in a long time. There were specials advertised on the menu that were «unavailable» due to a sporting event being played (which I understand), but normally I think that is advertised. We waited OVER AN HOUR for our food. I’m serious. It took an hour and 20 minutes for me to a receive a nothing special quesadilla. Two of our friends had to cancel their orders that hadn’t even been started when the wait time for the food got close to an hour because they had to leave. There were no free drinks or percentage off our bill or free anything to make up for it. Our server was embarrassed and avoiding is and said she has only worked there for a short time. She said she might be able to get us some coupons. Coupons?! We’re never going back!!! Then when the manager/​cook/​owner came over he claimed that his cook called in sick and he wanted our orders to come out right. There was only one other table in there ordering food and it was not very busy! He said he could give us his card and next time we came in we could ask for him. What?! We’re never going back! Uncoils understand if they would have forewarned us about the situation and we knew what we were getting into or they tried to make it right, but the customer service was awful. Don’t ever go here!!!

This was hands down the worst dining experience I’ve ever had. They wouldn’t honor their advertised daily special. The food took over and hour to come to our table. The food wasn’t good. And probably the worst part, when the owner finally came out to talk to us he blamed everyone else. Said his cook didn’t show and blamed the waitress for not telling us that it would be slow. I recommend going somewhere else.

A really disappointing place. Their menu shows misleading «specials» and it took an hour and a half for our food to arrive. Unfortunately, we will not be coming here again.

This place makes a great margarita and a mean cheeseburger!

Came to this bar as the overflow of 24 Seconds on an especially busy college football evening. It’s pretty close to our apartment and I’d been wanting to try it out, but I can say I won’t be back unless completely desperate. I’m not sure if they have air conditioning and weren’t using it or don’t have it, but it was a bit stuffy. Luckily the highs were the lower 70s and they had the doors open. It was also extremely dark in there to the point I got a headache from my eyes straining.
They only had, who I’m guessing is, the manager or owner working and one other server. The place ended up filling up with other football fans and saying they couldn’t keep up is an understatement (even though it wasn’t completely full). Our table of three went to order food as was told «he (the manager or owner/​chef) isn’t taking orders right now». I can say I’ve never been told that at any bar/​restaurant before. We had to wait close to an hour before he was caught up and we could order our food which wasn’t anything special. The one server also ran the bar, so people at a table like us either waited a long time for drinks or went to the bar to get them.
The women’s restroom only had one stall with toilet paper and no paper towel and my boyfriend told me only one urinal was working in the men’s restroom.
The pros I can think of was they were accommodating to the fans there (Michigan and Michigan State were both at the same time) and even with being overwhelmed they were friendly.
I don’t know if this is the way they normally operate, but with all the competition they have around them, I don’t think I’ll be giving them another chance.

This is one review I am elated to make. I’ve been here twice and they’ve failed both times. First, we came here back in November on a Saturday night for my birthday with 8 people. We were the only 8 people in the whole bar so we expected stellar service. The two bartenders were so busy chatting that they didn’t seem to want to be bothered helping us. I would never be back, but we decided to give them another chance.
We had a group of 17 people (employees of the Red Wings) looking for a place to watch the away Wings playoff game. Knowing this was a larger group, we called in the morning to let them know we were coming. One might add appropriate staff members to accommodate a playoff game and a group of 17. To our surprise, only one bartender was on staff to serve the entire place. As we sat down the bartender (who doesn’t know us) informed us that she just came back from being at the strip club and she’s exhausted. Classy. After she informed us of how her day has gone, she then told us that she will not do seperate tabs. Wait… This is a bar? Three people ordered food. We all drank bottled beer. I don’t understand how this makes sense to put 17 people on one tab. In order to avoid the entire hassle of breaking down a tab 17 ways, 5 or 6 people went to the bar and started a tab.
When it was time to leave we had to ask for the bill. The bartender sat down at our table with a long receipt and a pen. Then took one person at a time, took their card, crossed their drinks off the tab, went back to the bar to scan their card, and then moved on to the next person. After everyone left we were left with a $ 37 tab — and we only ordered 3 beers. We pointed out that several items on the tab were items that nobody ordered. Rather than arguing, we paid the bill and left. And we definitely won’t be back.
This is a great spot for a dive bar in Berkley. Just not THIS dive bar. I can only hope the owner realizes he has no idea what he’s doing and someone else can turn this into a great spot to hang out.

–If it were possible to put zero stars, I would. Suggestion for Unilocal,negative stars.
–awful service
–warm beer
–caters to dirt-​ball regulars
–nice remodel, but wasted on the wrong patrons
–overpriced bar food that tastes like a pre-​wrapped gas station lunch.
–disgusting bathrooms
–did I mention awful service?
–I can’t wait for the owner to run out of money, so a REAL businessperson can take over
–I live VERY close to this bar (I can throw a football at the building from my front yard) and enjoy having a drink with friends, but would rather pay for a cab, or walk a few extra blocks, to hang out at 24-​seconds/​Berkley Front on 12-​mile.
–Don’t waste your time or money
–Every visit, I have seen the regulars smoking at the bar (non-​smoking State).

I don’t know who Mr J is, but I do know he’s a bonafide hustla. He has taken an old bar and he’s converting it into a cool little place off the beaten path of Berkley; with a lot of room, a TON of tv’s, a pool table, games and clean bathrooms.
It’s definitely a work in progress, but my man J knows the score! We came in last night at half time of the game and he switched it on for us immediately.
«What’s that?» J asked us, «you need volume? no problem fellas, sit down right here in front of one of my 42″ high def flat screens, let me get your coats for you. Who wants a beer? Yeah? Some chicken wings? Sweet… they’re on the way homey. Why don’t you kick up your feet and chillax in my chairs while I get you guys straightened out.»
I says to my man J… «J?» i says to him, «you got it goin on.»
J flashed his million dollar smile.

J’s has been my favorite dive bar for a long time… Pre-​renovations. The owner regularly tries new beers and always has sports on the many TVs. Sometimes the service is hit or miss, but we are usually able to go up to the bar and get things straightened out. I’d gladly trade a stressful evening in royal oak for this dive bar in berkley.