Meramec Jack’s

Diamond in the rough. We were a little concerned when walked in. Seemed to be clutter piled up on some tables and in the corners of the place. We sat at a table and were quickly greeted with a friendly waitress. I ordered the fried chicken. It was some of the best fried chicken I’ve had in a restaurant. Very light golden brown, and so tasty. My girlfriend ordered the cheeseburger. It was a fairly rare. Although they never asked how she wanted it cooked. The burger was delicious. Good quality beef. I will be back next time I’m in town.

Walked in, got scared, and walked out. No one greeted us or said a word. Place was empty…

Pros
Cheap
Food is actually great for what it is. Greasy cheesy goodness
Employees are nice
Drinks were strong! And cheap
Cons
Smokey inside, if cigarette smoke bothers you then don’t go inside.
Great place if you are cool with smokey dive bars and understand the ups and downs of dive bars.

I’ll give it four only because of the smoke smell. And, yes, they could stand a remodel, but it’s so «local» that no one probably even notices. The bartender/​server, Sharon, was the best! She made sure I had my beer and tried some of their own appetizers. Most things are house made and taste like it… in a good way! I’d like to bring a group here, only because as an outsider you feel like you’re being stared at, hahaha! The locals appear to love it and everyone seems to know each other.
Sheewwwwww, with that said — the blue cheese mushroom burger I had was cooked perfectly! The blue cheese just melted enough and the mushrooms crispy! The bag of chips made it perfect! I also had, as recommended by Sharon, an order of Betty’s Spinach Balls with horseradish ranch dipping sauce — they we interferon to say the least — and I couldn’t quit eating them until I had none left! Who would have thought in a dive bar that this would be what I liked better than the burger! They had great seasoning and consistency… id come back just for more of these!
Anyway, give it a try if your from here or visiting… well worth it!

Some of the best wings around if you like the traditional Buffalo wing sauce. They serve them up as the whole wing, leg & wing together. Their fried mushrooms are also very good. Service is good and friendly. NOTE: This is a smokers bar. The second time I was there I had the French Dip which was really good. Sat in the other room. It’s a little divey, but the food and service is good

WOW THIS PLACE HAS GREAT FOOD! WE HAVE BEEN GOING FOR A YR NOW-​GETTING GREAT FISH SANDWICH AND BURGER/​FRIES. BUT… TODAY (WEDNESDAY) WE HAD THE FRIED CHICK SPECIAL (Breast-​thigh-​leg (but we got an xtra thigh), mashed potatoes/​gravy & yummy green beans. It was outstanding. Seriously better than ANY STL city chicken around STL. Plus… Felicia and Tracy provide outstanding friendly service. Felicia works her butt off at the bar and food service and is ALWAYS greets customers no matter what she is doing. Tracy will help with anything you want-​so friendly. Both are energetic and aim to please customers. The food is great and Wed/​Sat Fried Chicken special is totally awesome. You have to try it. Don’t be put-​off by the interior (kinda 50’s) as the service and food are the best around (much better than Bobby’s). Please try it – they buy fresh food every week from Costco/​Sams. Pork steak special on Thurs is to die for, as well. OH! and the prices are great!

This place is awesome! The food is cheap the owner serves you food and great drinks! Hands down this place is worth trying!

Pretty good food. Totally gross and smelly interior of restaurant. It’s such a shame bc this is a fairly large building that could be remodeled and look awesome. We took family here for a quick lunch after reading other Unilocal reviews. Most reviews warn diners that it’s not the nicest inside but the food is worth it. Like I wrote earlier, the food is decent. Good burgers, grilled buns, crispy fries. But it seriously smells so bad it gave me the creeps. Moldy, dank, cigarette smoke. Service was friendly. Menus are paper tri-​folds that are falling apart. Stacks of chairs and old furniture everywhere. It was weird. Not worth coming back.

Haven’t even received our food yet, but I can promise you the flavor of whatever we get is going to be ruined by the cigarette smoke that is already burning my eyes. Not sure how this place ended up with 5 stars.
UPDATE: adding a couple stars because the food was that good. We just got a couple appetizers: fried mushrooms w/​horsey ranch sauce and teriyaki chicken wings. Sadly, they were out of chips to go with the spinach artichoke dip, because I bet that would have been delicious, too. Our waitress was also really nice.
It’s just too bad Missouri hasn’t joined the rest of the world in recognizing the damage cigarette smoke can cause.

Unilocaled a cheap bite to eat and this one popped up. This is a hidden treasure! Our bartender was friendly, and the appetizer we tried (fried artichokes) was delicious! The main course (chicken for me and fish & chips for my girlfriend) were fantastic!
Great little bar. Only con is its a smoking bar, but the food, service, and friendly staff makes up for it.

Just landed in STL from Las Vegas and now heading to Ft. Leonard Wood. Was looking for a quick bite before we head down 44 and found this place on Unilocal.Great food! Great Service! Loved our spinach salad! Thanks, Tracy!

All the food is amazing and very very reasonable for big families. Best burgers around! Pizza is delicious! Wings, fried mushrooms, sandwiches all A+. Owner is very friendly and good person. Great relaxed vibe.

Decided to give this place a try after reading the reviews and we just happened to be in the area. Judging from the outside… you might think that this place isn’t even open on a Monday afternoon. We soldiered in and it turned out to be a larger than average dive bar/​grill. Don’t let that scare you off! The waitress/​bartender greeted us right away and told us we could sit wherever. The eight or so, other people in there were most likely regulars and sat around the bar.
The place is split in half and the bar side allows smoking. That day it wasn’t crowded and we barely smelled any smoke sitting on the dining side.
We started off with tea (really good — unsweetened) and the spinach and artichoke dip with tortilla chips. I will say that it was the round kind of chips that are on the thick side, so not really my favorite kind, but the dip was alright.
I ordered a Pepper Jack Cheese Burger (4.25) with some sautéed mushrooms (add 1.00) medium rare. I will say that this 5.25 dollar burger was just FANTASTIC! I can’t comment too much on the bun since I don’t eat the top, but it was grilled as well and I’m sure it was perfect too.
Seasoned perfect and HUGE. Tons of cheese and mushrooms. (see photo)
I also order a side of mashed potatoes (not on menu) but they didn’t have brown gravy, only white.
These are just the creamy kind of potatoes but were good… nothing special.
My daughter ordered a French Dip and onion rings. The dip was also great and the onion rings are the thin kind.
There are also lots of games to play in here and we noticed a foosball table as well.
Our server was on top of things and got everything right! We will be back!

Really really really good burger. Super friendly service from Tracy at the bar. The food was also really cheap. I had a burger with onion rings and it was only $ 8.30 put the door! That’s with adding mushrooms on the burger. I came for lunch and the service was really fast. I will be coming back.
Only reason it is 4 stars instead of 5 is because you can smoke in the bar area. Not cool.

I enjoy all the food from the burgers, pizza, chicken fingers and delicious chili! They make great mixed drinks. Definitely a nice hole in the wall to have a relaxing evening.

Bring your own atmosphere. The place is a little on the grubby side, but… I love the food and the service is always friendly. If you come when they are smoking meat around back, don’t hesitate. It’s all good. I eat lunch here about once a week. I also enjoy the Jack Salad, their chicken wings and their chili. Oh, and the beer is cold on those few occasions when I could have one during the day.

We were looking for a quick burger. Came across Meremac Jack’s. Not many reviews but close to the house so decided to give it a try. Bacon Cheeseburger was outstanding. The real find was the onion rings. Thin, crispy and melted in my mouth. Cannot beat the price. We’ll definitely be back!

This is a bar. With a limited beer selection. And a «bar food» menu. And that makes this place great. Meramec Jack’s doesn’t pretend to be a pub or a brewhouse. It’s a bar.
The menu is pretty extensive for a bar. A lot of appetizers, salads, sandwiches, burgers and pizzas. We arrived for lunch at 11:30am, half an hour after opening. We were alone in the dining area but the bar was full of regulars.
The bartender came over, handed us our menus and pleasantly took our drink orders. After returning with the drinks, she took our food order. We decided to try Betty’s Spinach Balls as an appetizer.
I highly recommend Betty’s Spinach Balls. Nobody seems to know who Betty is. But these are an amazing legacy. Crisp and tasty, we wanted more! The rest of food was very good and the beer was cold. Our sever/​bartender was very attentive and took great care of us.
This may not be the place for a fancy night out but its a great to meet friends, catch the game and have cold one (or two).

Thumbs up for a free puffy peppermint when you exit; thumbs down for a free book of matches when you leave.
If you are a smoker looking for a bar with good service and some tasty bar food, this would be a great place.
Fortunately, I ate here at 11 AM. Hardly any smoke. Service was excellent.
Their specialty appetizer is Betty’s Spinach Balls. Very tasty. I chose the ranch horseradish sauce. To complete my all-​spinach lunch, I had a spinach salad which was excellent.
So, 5 stars for smokers. 3 stars for non-​smokers. Comes out to 4 stars because of the food and the service.

Great burgers, and really good pizza. Fried chicken on Wednesday and Saturday. Good stuff all around.