Jt’s Food Land

For many years I wanted to try this place, because it’s been around for so long. But JT is long gone, and it seemed closed down for a while. I finally got to go recently, and ordered a «giant burger.» There was no cooking involved, the guy simply assembled it from already cooked patties. And a giant burger seemed to simply be 2 very small patties put together. Which begs the question, if this is the giant, is the large 1 small patty? I’m afraid to ask what the regular is.
The end product is a small, low quality, soggy burger.
Answering the Unilocal survey questions that are listed below where you write your review, I encountered a dilemma when presented with the question — «Good for kids»? A small informal hamburger stand is of course very appropriate for kids, but how could a low quality, greasy hamburger be good for kids?

If you like ONION RINGS, you’ve got to try JT’s. They’re among the best to be had in the Twin Cities — thin batter, crispy, perfectly fried. They make any of JT’s combination meals (less than $ 6 each) a good choice.
One of the things I like best about the combo meals is the unusual offerings such as the hamburger and Vietnamese egg roll combo — or the coney dog and hamburger combo. Combo meals include a can of soda and french fries (never) or onion rings (always).
The burgers at JT’s are small and served with fried onions on a steamed (aka ‘soggy’) bun. They’re best when they’re eaten ‘on arrival.’ The coney dog is solid (with a snappy grilled dog, mild chili and mustard).
The venue is more than 60 years old — and it’s shows it’s age. The faux artwork, plywood patches and mismatched seating gives JT’s an outdated, irrelevant and overall ‘second hand’ feel — but the food is generally inexpensive and the onion rings are ‘first rate’.

I actually like their onion-​y burgers. They’re almost steamed, think white castle. I’ll bet I would have loved this place in High school. Truth is the buns are crappy, burgers greasy, and the onion rings were good for about 30 seconds. Sad they’re closing, but I think time’s past this place by.

I tried JT’s this afternoon for the first time. What it isn’t — haute cuisine or a fancy dining experience. That’s OK — I could tell that from the outside, it’s a tiny little dive that does burgers and a few other things.
And what I got there was pretty good, and pretty much expected. I don’t know what people mean by ‘steamed’ burgers — they are pretty clearly on a flat grill. I had a giant bacon cheeseburger (the special of the day) — it was big, kind of sloppy (because of the grilled onions on it), and very tasty. The order of fries that came with it was generous and pretty good. I also tried the onion rings, which are battered in the store. Also quite good.
The two folks working there (the owners I believe) were friendly, the burgers were decent, the price can’t be beat. It’s what you expect from a little neighborhood burger joint, and that’s OK with me. Four stars on that basis.

This awesome burger is still the best on the block. Ignore any haters that fault the restaurant for it’s location, size or age. Look, sometimes you just have a gem in a neighborhood and this is it.
If you enjoy a crazy good burger then enjoy! JT’s has a long history of Awesome.

I am in pain. I wanted my experience here to be like the drive thrus of yesteryear, but this was not the case. I would consider this to be chinese-​american fusion cuisine
My onion rings were won ton breading which was absolutely delicious except for the excess salt. The burger was disgusting. Steamed meat the size of half dollars with canned onions on top. Cheese wasn’t even melted and the burgers… i don’t even know if i should call them that… meat half dollars were undercooked…
I’ll find out in about 4 hours if i have food poisoning and update my reviee.
I know mom and pop places are supposed to have that home kitchen feel but this place was beyond dirty and disgusting.

Warning: this place smells like an old, uncleaned, tar-​caked grease trap. The scent will completely permeate your clothes and ultimately render you generally unattractive.
That being said… I have a coworker that used to frequent this place way back in the day. She’s 42 now… and it was her haunt in her 20’s.
She loved it. Yeah, the burgers were greasy but it was a different sort of greasy. The onion rings were hot, crispy and she’d make special trips to get them.
She tried it again a couple years ago and has refused to go back since. She cautioned me repeatedly (I like checking out little stand-​alone places).
The onion rings are so grease-​laden that your mouth gets blanketed in stale oil. The bag itself was shiny and slick.
The burger can only be described as a giant White Castle mess. Don’t get me wrong… I love greasy, big, cheesy, unhealthy shit. I ate bacon cooked in beer and butter. Yes. Butter beer bacon.
This place? It’s greasy without –anything– to back it up. It’s just cheap and old tasting.
I don’t want them to close because they’re one of the few non-​chains. I just wish they’d step it up a little. It –is– possible to drain things when they come out of the fryer. It just screams lazy and careless to me, personally.

We came here because we were on Robert Street and I wanted to be cheap and use a Happenings Coupon. The place is the size of a bedroom so I would suggest getting food for take out. There are a few tables to sit and eat if you really want to. I would have to change clothes If I ate inside here because the smell is so greasy, I could not stand it but that’s just me and my OCD.
We ordered burgers, onion rings and fries. Nothing special. The onion rings were probably the best thing but it was all pretty greasy and I will not be returning because its just not my kind of food. if you like greasy steamed burgers with greasy fries/​onion rings with the option of adding an egg roll, check it out. Yes, I said Egg Roll. There is a combo which has egg roll, burger, and fries.
You more than likely will not run into me here.

My late great aunt dined here and I wanted to try them out on my recent visit back to the twin cities to honor her. The nice Vietnamese owner is very kind and will recommend fries or onion rings to go with your burger. In my case, I got two double cheeseburgers as I had a light breakfast and worked a dog moving my grandmother from her apartment to assisted living all day. It is cheep, a dive, and a step above White Cassle and every bit worth it. Everything is steamed and juicy and a bit greasy; the onion rings are crispy and a bit greasy, but good. I’m one that doesn’t mind a little grease as long as the food is good. I thought it was neat to see an African American worker being trained in as far as races working together. She was very nice and we enjoyed the whole experience sitting at the high tables and listening to the TV; a nice re fudge from the Minnesota heat. So, for excellent burgers and onion rings in a divy atmosphere with friendly service at cheep prices, JT’s cannot be beat. Keep up the good work guys.

4 stars, huh?
Yes.
I’m all about atmosphere and expectations. This is a tiny little stand alone building tucked between two crumbling strip malls in W St. Paul. Walk in and a 10 year old asian girl wearing a Hello Kitty tshirt takes my order, suggests I get something else (which I do), gives me my change and I go sit down. IRL is on the TV. I get my burger/​fries which are a hot mess with slighly questionable meat. Ordered a chocolate shake too. Why not.
And it was all terrific.
Don’t: take a date there.
Do: take your friend there after you pick up a bearing puller from Harbor Freight and have been working on his stupid differential for hours. You already smell like gear oil and look like hell.

So sad… used to be SO great when original owners were still here years ago. My family would get their burgers and famous unique onion rings once in awhile — what a treat! Now new owners and nasty. Burgers are not the same — were grey on the outside and raw on the inside. :(

I was sucked into this place by the charming, old school building. Who doesn’t love a dive?
I was not expecting a steamed burger so I learned a few things that day. One being that steamed burgers are best eaten plain — not with lettuce and tomato which just turns to goop in the hot burger. (And this thing remained hot for a long time!).
Fries were good, onion rings were good. I kinda wanted to order an egg roll but it just felt wrong. I probably won’t be back as I prefer a grilled burger to steamed. :(

The place oozes greasy spoon nostalgia. The burgers are decent enough and very tasty… almost as good as Porky’s. Not sure how this place is also called JT’s Foodland as the menu I have shows it is called JT’s Hamburgers.
Prices are cheap. Waffle fries. I didn’t get the homemade onion rings but the old school picture on the wall makes em look good.
Will I go there again? Definitely when I’m in that part of town. The place offers the big three:
Quick
Cheap
Tasty

Grey burgers are up top my list of things not to put in my body after eating at JT’s. Staff was friendly enough. The seating was quaint inside. The building is cute. Next time, I’ll go there to play cards… And maybe punish my body (if I’m feeling I deserve it).

A classic American burger joint — It’s tiny, seating for maybe 8 people inside, but it’s worth it even for take-​out. The burgers are steam-​grilled with onions and all that goodness and the onion rings have a very distinctive quality to them that’s usually really really good.
Stop in if you want some classic St. Paul Americana and you won’t be disappointed; JT’s has been there fore years and years and hopefully will stay for years more.