Smiling Jack Station

closed

Drove by Smiling Jack Station many times the past month. lights were turned off. a lighted sign states they are available for parties and meetings.
calls to the listed number had the following response «the party you are trying to reach is not currently accepting calls at this number».
sounds like jack isn’t smiling anymores.

Wow, they sure do serve everything here:
Pizza, filipino food, even boiling crab stuff!
I was in the mood for breakfast, so I had the tapsilog (sliced beef/​rice/​eggs) and coffee.
They served it with garlic rice, which was pretty good. The food was good, but it wasn’t anything to rave about. The coffee sucked — and they served it with non-​dairy powder creamer. I can imagine no one would really order coffee in a place like this, so it probably doesn’t make sense for them ot invest in some real cream. But how do they expect me to have breakfast without coffee?
The Mr ordered a pound of cajun shrimp (boiling crab style)
He said they were hard to peel. Does that mean it’s overcooked? Does that mean the shrimp is fresh? Does that mean the shrimp is old? lol. I dunno. But he sure had a lot of trouble peeling them.
Staff/​service was friendly.
We’ll be back here to try other things they have on the menu.

Sisig Pizza: spicy, greasy, juicy, delicious.
The place was pretty empty except for a large party going on in the back, it seemed kind of dead and I hope it doesn’t close anytime soon because I want to come back. I want to come back for that freakin delectable sisig filipino goodness pizza. They could go a little bit lighter on the grease if possible. I felt like I had a 3 month old post-​mature grease baby in my stomach for hours after I ate it.
Got the pizza to go, $ 19.95 for an XL with 12 slices. Good size to split amongst friends for a good price. Will come back for the pizza and maybe for some other filipino goodies like lumpia if this place is still open when I’m back in the bay.

My mother bought a $ 17 crispy pata to-​go that turned out to be only worth less than $ 10. Why? When she got home, she noticed there’s hardly any meat on the bones. The pieces looked like they were just left over pork bones after using up 90% of the meat for their low-​quality pizzas. Besides, this type of food isn’t supposed to be served all cut up like that. This was my mother’s first and last purchase from this stupid restaurant. This is a disgrace to the entire Bay Area’s Filipino community. We’re supposed to be known as people who are hospitable and can provide the most courteous customer service. Yet they disappointed someone like us. Basically, about 75% of the entire thing is all bones. Only 25% of the entire thing was meat. Such poor service and rude employees. Even the manager is unfriendly. This business should go extinct anytime soon.

Great place to go for a few beers and some unique pizza. It has a very old, tavern like feel to it. Definitely pretty ‘divey’ in the sense that it feels a bit dark and rundown. They have a unique menu of Filipino style pizzas including adobo toppings. Pretty bomb and goes great with a few towers of beer. The prices are pretty standard, but its a nice area to come with a group because its nice a spacious inside. They also do have live music some nights. Very small town feel to this joint; don’t expect it to be comparable to SF venues.

Wow. Bad service. Disgusting food. how worst can it get??.
The clams aren’t fresh the raw oysters is nasty & the crawfish is frozen. not fresh at all. & trust me i know seafood. this place is a nightmare.

Meh.
I’d say that the venue is better than the food and that isn’t saying much. As others have mentioned, it does have an old feel to it. They have a nice area for parties with a couple of TVs, a pool table and a bar. The food had a freezer taste to it. Like it was just frozen and deep fried. This was the case for the calamari and the fries. The pizza isn’t that great either. The Filipino food is alright. Nothing special though. Out of everything I’ve had a chance to taste, the fish had the most flavor.

Date visited: Friday 4÷13÷12
The ambiance has a very old feel to it, which they do need redo if they want to attract more customers.
My parents like coming here to eat the Filipino food but the only thing that i have tried here was the sisig pizza which was not too bad of quality i would definitely come back to eat it.
When I came in to eat with my parents I gave the jacks seafood combo a try and I must say it wasn’t as bad as i thought it would be but definitely nothing worth coming back for. It has some potential if they could improve on the following.
The waitress handed us 3 plates and sadly one of the plates weren’t thoroughly cleaned because there was a tiny left over crab meat on the plate which was a turn off because it shows the cleanliness of the restaurant and having that combination with an older restaurant is VERY bad for business.
The quality seemed to be not too fresh and they barely gave any sauce. When i order seafood at places that are like boiling crab i expect a good amount of sauce to either redip my seafood in or add to my rice or corn. The sauce wasn’t too bad but it seemed either watered down or just missing that extra mmpphhh. I had to add a good amount of lemon which made it a little better. Lastly if i didn’t load up on rice i wouldn’t have been full. it seems that the 2 lbs wasn’t that filling but on the plus side the price wasn’t too bad for what you get. I also thought they could have added thicker slices of sausage because they were so tiny.
I really do hope they take these critiques seriously because they have so much more room for improvement

Came here for the first time Saturday night to celebrate one of my girlfriend’s birthday. I usually do not like to go anywhere where there’s too much of any one ethnicity however it could not be helped for this occasion.
Place looks old and run down. More of a hole in the wall atmosphere. Needs updating, though it’s pretty spacious. There’s a small bar and a pool table with a few video games.
In the later evenings, the restaurant turns into a stage for stand up comedy or other shows and then a night club.
There were a good mix of ages from the very young to the very old.
The food was under par. I’ve had lots of Filipino food in my life and the food served here was just not good. The pork dish we got was dried and very salty. The calamari was a bit dry and tough.
The price was decent.
Forget buying drinks here. They don’t know how to make them. We ordered pineapple and vodka, we pretty much got pineapple. We tried again with Mai Thai’s, again big disappointment. They have beer and well you can’t go wrong with beer. Either they carry what you like or they don’t.
I enjoyed the evening because I was there with my friends but I wouldn’t go back ever for any other reason.

This isn’t anything extraordinary or over the top wow. BUT…
Their sisig pizza is pretty tasty (only wish there was more fat on the meat *oink)
Their shrimp with EXTRA sauce on the side gets the job done but isn’t anything like Ray’s or Boiling crab.
But when you have both the sisig pizza and some shrimp and beers then there really isn’t much to complain about! Oh yah, not to mention sports playing on their tvs, winning!
The workers are super friendly and are quick in getting you whatever it is that you ask for.
Sure the place isn’t spiffy and the décor definitely needs a makeover. But they do have a back room which is huge for personal parties or for instance they’re throwing a super bowl party this sunday back there. Cool cool. right?!
Verdict: Would come back for sure when I’m too lazy to go to ray’s or BC or just want some yummy sisig pizza!

This place is new, and they definitely have alot of work to do.
I tried the sisig pizza awhile ago since my boyfriend’s sister got one to go. we popped some slices in the oven to reheat, and it was delicious. you could taste the sisig, the crust was nice and crisp, and there was a good amount of jalapenos to add some kick. I liked the pizza alot, and then we heard they have boiling crab-​esque seafood as well, so we decided to pay a visit to the actual restaurant.
our visit last night was kind of a disappointment. service is lackluster and unprofessional, but we got our food so I don’t have any huge complaints there. paul and I ordered the sisig and adobo pizza, and some other people ordered shrimp and corn in their «all 3» sauce. the shrimp is decent, it’s smaller than boiling crab and other places, but the sauce has good flavor (although it’s pretty watery). however, their corn didn’t come out until they were almost done, and when they bit into the corn it was frozen solid. frozen corn?! at least defrost it before you try to cook and serve to your customers.
the pizza was totally not up to par from last time. it seemed a bit undercooked and there was WAYYYYY too much cheese on it, so it was really soggy. I felt a little sick from the mixture of too much cheese + underdone crust so I stopped eating it and we took the majority of pizza to go.
they still get the 3 stars because it’s a pretty unique place– they have pizza, filipino food, seafood boil. there’s karaōke, a dj, a bar, pool table, and foosball. if they work out the kinks this could be a great place to hang out, and we all know the east bay [especially san leandro!] needs one. when I popped a slice of pizza in the oven today, it was perfect, so it wasn’t a total loss. I’d definitely come back for sisig pizza, but I’d take it to go.

We found this place on a fluke. We read the reviews and it wasn’t too far away from where we live so we decided to give it a try.
By this time we been here twice, BOTH TIMES LATE NIGHT. The first time we had the Sisig pizza, which was pretty good, a little spicy. We really liked the entertainment, Karaōke and Dancing. The second night we went with some friends, They had the DJ going and the dance floor was in full effect. We ordered the Mussels in Garlic Butter sauce and Sisig Bangus. The Mussels were rubbery and the garlic butter was extremely salty. Needless to say we all concluded that these Mussels were terrible. Especially if you’re used to a really good Mussel. The Sisig Bangus was really good but it definitely needed a side of rice.
We like this place because of it’s fun atmosphere and the so far the food is hit or miss. One thing I have to say is the menu choices don’t really match the venue surroundings. It’s kinda hard to eat in total darkness.
Some suggestions hopefully considered, when food is ordered maybe bring a flameless candle to the table to help with the lighting issues. That would also help keep track of which tables have open food orders. Consider some menu changes that are easier to eat in low light. The Sisig Bangus was difficult to eat in low light bc it was it got all over the place.
This place is fairly new and you can tell by the recipes and quality of service. The service wasn’t too bad, I’m thinking as this place gets older the food and service will improve. We haven’t been here during the day but we’re definitely looking forward to it. Will update this review after a few daytime visits

Wow, where do I begin…
1. My family and I walked in. It’s a good thing that my dad had been there before. Otherwise, if it were up to my sister and I, we would have probably stood there for an extra twenty minutes. The place is huge and a bit daunting for a first timer. I didn’t realize that the band was playing in the «other room.» They told us you had to be 21+ to sit there. Then they told us my 18 year old sister is okay to go in. When we walked in, there were a ton of kids belonging to the under 10 club running around.
2. We sat ourselves. We had to watch out for the «Reserved» signs written on white paper. In the dark, you can barely see these things. So make sure you look out for those. Or you can be one of those Reserved signs and call ahead of time… I guess.
I couldn’t tell who was the hostess/​waitress/​server. There was just a bunch of females running around in clothes that were 3 sizes too small. It seems to be the uniform: tight white top and tight black mini skirt/​shorts with hooker heels/boots…and the required fit is to make sure every roll in your body is shown. It’s really not the classiest attire. I’m not saying I have the best looking body, but seriously. Stacey and Clint get over to Smiling Jack’s and fix their poorly dressed staff!
3. The waitress, who is apparently the owner/​manager’s wife, came back 3 times in a 10 minute period to ask me what I wanted. I told her each time to come back when the rest of the party has arrived. We were waiting for my dad’s friends (and my dad who mysteriously disappeared…)
4. She came to get our order. She listened to my dad and his two friends. Then she walked away when it was time for me to order. She was REALLY REALLY nice to my Tagalog speaking older companions. And she was really rude to my sister and me.
5. I chased her down and told her that I wanted to order something. She messed up the order. On top of the awful service, the food was bland. It’s like they thought deep frying in dirty oil was the universal solution to make food taste good…
This restaurant seems to be super confused. Their sign says: Crab Boil, BBQ, Seafood Boil… but their menu highlights a ton of pizzas and Filipino food. I can’t base their entire menu off of one bland item. So I will maybe return to taste their boiling crab-​esque seafood… only if my friend’s band is playing. Otherwise, I will not be returning.

Boiling Crab, Pizza, Wings, Salad, and Filipino food! So there’s a good selection, but I tried the boiling crab and filipino food, and they were good, but nothing special.
Boiling Crab: The sauces you can have Spicy Cajun, Garlic Butter, Lemon Pepper, or «All 3.» Of course we got all 3, tried the shrimp and crab, got the mild because that’s what I usually get in Boiling Crab, found it to be not spicy at all, then tried the medium, still wasn’t spicy –_​– lame. And the sauces don’t compare to boiling crab. We just come here because it’s close by, I wish we had a boiling crab closer! So we’d probably come back here again just because it’s close, we’ll see if the «hot» is actually spicy haha
Crawfish, lobster, king crab legs, dungeness crab = Market Price
Shrimp, mussels, clams = $ 9.95/lb
Extra corn = 80 cents
Spicy french fries = $ 2.95
Filipino food: we got the bangus sisig. It was alright. they have choices of pancit, lumpia, sisig (pork, bangus), bangus (grilled, fried, sisig), and sinigang (pork, shrimp, bangus belly, seafood). This place is owned by filipinos so it’s interesting how they have this along with boiling crab
12 types of pizza
Lunch buffet is $ 5.95 for pizza and salad. Good deal!
Also have domestic and premium beer, Wine.
Venue: There’s a huge room in the back that you can have for a party! Tables all around, 2 huge TVs, a dance floor, it’s like you can have a debut here! Can easily fit about 50+ people. I really liked this part of the restaurant. They have Karaōke/​Dancing Fri and Sat from 9am — 2am. Never been, but I’m assuming it’s all the old Filipinos =P
Whether you come here to eat, drink, dance, or sing, it’s a good venue with a variety of food to choose from. Just don’t expect it to be anything like boiling crab haha. Enjoy :)

Kudos to the staff for being friendly. Disappointed that the restaurant does not offer refills on fountain drinks… And, we were given paper plates to eat our meal from.
Went to the restaurant in the early evening, only 10 other patrons in the joint. Waited 20 minutes for our soft drinks, 2 of the 3 Arcade games ate my money, and the food came shortly afterwards.
We ordered lumpia, it tasted okay. also ordered a small pizza for my #1 food critic of a son, and he enjoyed it. The fried /​breaded shrimp and french fries was also part of our selection which I personally appreciated because it wasn’t greasy.
It’s not my first choice to visit, but I do think I might come back and try the crab. I just hope they don’t serve that on a paper plate.

I had just woke up after working a morning shift and it was about 10 pm. That cut my options down quite a bit. That’s where Smiling Jack comes to play. Their Kitchen is open till 3 AM. Coolness. I jumped into the Weekend Whip and cranked the A/​C and Miranda Lambert and rolled to Smiling Jack. I rolled into Smiling Jacks parking lot and parked. I got out and started to wander into Smiling Jacks. There were 2 Asian ladies in front that gave me Kool Aid Smiles and I smiled back and entered. I rolled up to the front counter.
Smiling Jack has a very interesting Menu from Pizza, Ribs, to Seafood Boil like Boiling Crab. Very Cool. I ordered a Pound of Shrimp –Cajun Spicy, Garlic Noodles and Fried Calamari. I also ordered a Pint of Stella.
While I was chilling at my table the same 2 Asian ladies cruised by.
I got my food 15 minutes later. It was pretty yummy .I really enjoyed the Garlic noodles.
Smiling Jack is split up into 3 different areas One room is the Restaurant, Sports Bar, Billiard room and the Main Room is a Karaōke Club with a DJ and a dance floor.
When I was leaving one of the Asian girls happen to be leaving at the same time as me. She started talking to me and said don’t worry I’m coming back a little later. That made me laugh to myself. I might have to start hanging out there once in a while.LOL.

So I was here this past Saturday night — Awesome good times… I went to watch the band that was playing there, not too shabby I say. The food was good and loved the ambiance.
I will say one thing, I had a great time but I saw kids there and don’t get me wrong; I love kids. However at a venue like this I would NEVER bring my kids to this place in the evening hours especially having them running around like it’s a playground w/​glass & bottles everywhere. Can you imagine if they ran into a table full of glass and bottles? SHEESH parents; c’mon! This place is an environment for adults and not kids. Yes, there may be arcades and video games, but I believe that area is used for the day time crowd only. Should you decide to bring your kids, have them chill in one spot, I’m just sayin’.
All in all, for those of you who are interested in supporting your local spot that has amazing music, this is your spot. To bring friends, family and just enjoy the ambiance and each others’ company. I will definitely be back this week!

I’m not gonna totally knock it, but this is a newer pizza spot opened in a failed repetitive location of pizza spots. I took the household to try it and it wasn’t a dissapointment. Let’s just give it 2 stars for now and say try at ur own risk. The prices are quite competitive, yet the pie had a lackluster plainness. Wings were decent and the garlic cheese bread was fine, but the salad bar left much too be desired…
Heres my parting tip… if you are going out with a group and want a spacious area to hang in with food that doesn’t have to blow your mind and doesn’t spank oyur wallet, Smilng Jacks is fine… but me? I’m a foodee and it just didn’t make a spark in my gullet.

Well, I went back ti give this place second chance.
This time I ordered my pizza to-​go. A small «Bull Fighter,» Pepperoni, Jalapenos, Chorizo, Beef, and lots of Mozzarella cheese with Red Tomato Sauce. It tasted better than the Chicken Pesto but still wasn’t what it should have been.
The ingredients didn’t taste fresh and there wasn’t enough sauce. It was dry and unflavored. I thought that something with so much heat would at least make my mouth water. It didn’t.
The staff is nice and were dead on when giving me an ETA for my pizza.