Recently went to dinner here on a groupon and it was great! Â Ordered Garlic Shrimp and California Burger - food came hot and prompt. Â Our waitress was really good and to top off the dinner-we had apple crisp for dessert - which was divine! Â
Too bad to see all these negative reviews...
It had been awhile since I had been there and it did look like they had done some renovations to improve. Â I have not been to other Chatterbox locales - so I don't have anythinf else to compare it to but I think Linden Hills is a good spot!
I want to love the Chatterbox in Linden Hills. I really do. The one in Southeast Minneapolis is my favorite place to go with friends - and this location had a similarly fantastic beer list. However, this establishment seemed to be out of almost every beer that I attempted to order. I chose three different beers and, each time I selected, our server disappeared, only to come back seconds later to tell me that they didn't have my selections available.
Our server must not have been employed there long, as every time we asked for a recommendation ("How's the squash wrap?" "Is the curry mayo spicy?" "How hoppy is X beer?"), she told us she hadn't tried it. Instead of volunteering to check with another staff member, she stood awkwardly and waited for us to try to make a decision. And, despite the restaurant's lack of tables, she refilled our glasses a total of twice in the three hours we were there, and we had to hunt her down to get the check.
I ordered the Philly wrap, which tasted delightful, but was so sloppy and messy that I wound up having to fashion a bib out of my napkin, since every bite resulted in chaos.
I will say that we had a blast with the music trivia, but - Chatterbox, come on - a table that arrived after we did received a brand new version of the game we requested while we were trying to keep the four pieces of the game board together. We wound up playing Clue with salt and pepper shakers standing in for Mrs. White and the rope. Ultimately a pretty disappointing experience.
Our go-to family restaurant. Â Our 3 and 1 year-olds LOVE the mac and cheese, and the games keep them distracted. Â I'm just happy they like a place that has a great beer list. Â The food won't amaze, but there are a few selections that are consistently good (their hellcat salad or wrap, chili, and their pub fries). Â
Our bias is to go early, but I've also come later without kids, and found it a great place to order appetizers, drink a variety of beers, and play old-school games with friends.
I've been several times to the other Chatterbox locations and was always pleased, but this location is NOT the same!
I went at noon on Sunday for lunch with 3 friends, and there was maybe five other people in the entire place. Despite the place being empty, our food took an obnoxiously long time to arrive, and when it did, every single entree was cold. Our waiter didn't come around so I had to go find the him and ask them to microwave plates.
Also the music was one creepy song playing on endless repeat - weird and annoying.
We left all feeling pretty dissatisfied. I still recommend other Chatterbox locations, but will not be returning to this one.
We came here for my friends birthday dinner it was a very interesting atmosphere wide range from couples to big families, old people to children. I'm not sure this was what I was expecting, none the less it was really fun to play video and board games. We did not catch a happy hour sadly but the server was generously pouring wine which made it much better. On top of that the food was amazing!!! I got the build your own mac and cheese and I would return just for that reason. I would like to check out the other location for a different atmosphere but overall since this isn't to far from home they'll probably see me again.
Review Source:Don;t think this is bad because it's only 3 stars, because they are actually pretty good, but have a little room for improvements.  I'd like to give them 4 stars - maybe next time.  Had been wanting to try this as I drive by often and had heard good things..Been there twice now and will be back because it's comfy, nto too fancy, kind of like your grandma's lving room in about 1975.  The staff remembered us from several weeks earlier, so that's nice.  The menu is American classics with a twist, plus large beer menu, so I guess this is striving for American Pub.   For example, my husband wanted a  basic California burger, and wasn't sure that a ciabatta bun  would be ok, but it was.  I liked the blue cheese burger which  was  tasty but  messy with  loosely packed meat, plenty of cheese, and mushrooms.  Saw a pizza at the next table that looked pretty good so I might try that.
Review Source:Games! Super cheap happy hour prices! Lots of room! Brunch buffets (haven't tried it but impressed with the spread)!
I enjoyed my trip here. I can't speak to the food quality but the wait staff was nice and the beers were flowing. It was a cheap fun way to watch some football on a Sunday.
A few people had recommended that my boyfriend and I check out Chatterbox so last week we made the trip with a few of our friends and we all had a pretty good time. Our friends ordered the beer cheese fondue as an appetizer which we thoroughly enjoyed. Melty cheese and chips is rarely a bad thing.
Dinner for me consisted of the mac and cheese (with broccoli and bacon) and a specialty cocktail (The French Kiss) both of which were delicious! Everyone else at the table ordered pizzas and really seemed to enjoy them as well.
Overall, Chatterbox was a fun place to check out. It probably won't become a regular stop but I'd definitely go again. The staff was friendly and I appreciated the unique decor (which my boyfriend compared to being in his grandma's basement, haha).
NEVER ever again!
34 Trojan family members here for game
9 other customers that said they were ok with having game on
But no - NO audio allowed and they have turned the music up so loud it is obnoxious!!
Manager told us we could all come here to watch the game too
She said "I said watch, not hear it, I assumed u would know that"
Business 101
30+ customers wanting. To eat and drink for 4 hours and u tick them off and treat them rude, hmmmmmm???
We had a groupon here and looking forward to finally checking out this local spot. Â Unfortunately for us, we were extremely disappointed in the place. Â The atmosphere was unique, which I can appreciate, but it was the weird urine smell when I walked in that made me feel a little grossed out. Â Then I ordered a diet coke which came out flat and watered down- very weird. Â But they were nice to offer a free root beer. Â Then we ordered our food- which wasn't awful but they screwed up on my husbands order and brought the wrong thing. Â It took so long to get it fixed, he was full of my food and his other stuff was cold. Â We didn't get any refills on coffee/water/soda without asking. Needless to say, we won't be back to this local joint.
Review Source:Meh, not so much. Â I've had one great meal here, getting the one friendly waiter and eating the one good thing on the menu (the italian chop salad thingie, it's gooood) and having sangria on the patio while no one else was there.
That's a four star experience, but the rest of the time - meh not so much.
I was really disappointed. The decor was pretty sloppy. Old sofas, basic tables and chairs. I felt like I was in someone's basement. The server was nice but pretty slow since there were only 1 or 2 other tables. I ordered a squash wrap. I had no idea it would be a cold wrap. Really terrible. No wonder they needed a Groupon.
Review Source:I usually go to the St Paul location, but I had a coupon for this one so drove out here to check it out. I have a feeling they were giving out coupons to help improve their ratings and I wish I could help because I love the St Paul location, but I have to agree with the other reviewers here. The food is not as good as it is at St Paul, the lighting is too bright, and it's in a strip mall. I was there later in the evening so other then a couple teenagers there weren't many kids, but given the location and the bright atmosphere I could see how it would be a popular place to bring kids. The service was meh. It wasn't awful but certainly not anything to write home about. Â I'll be sticking with the Highland Park location from now on.
Review Source:Old video games, board games, booze, food. The concept is awesome, the execution is lacking.
I've been to Highland Park and Linden Hills location. This review is for Linden Hills. So yeah, it's in a strip-mall, has a parking lot, which is nice, etc.
We had a Crowd Cut coupon to visit this one after going to Highland Park (which was just OK). We bought it because we liked the idea of Chatterbox and it's a lot closer to our place.
We went on a weeknight, stood around for a while before anyone noticed us. It wasn't evident if we were supposed to seat ourselves or wait. The place wasn't busy at ALL. Â A server sat us in one of the first booths to the door.
I ordered mac-and-cheese with some add-ins (I got broccoli and possibly bacon and tomatoes). I was looking forward to gooey, cheesy, warm comfort food. When it arrived, it was, well, I guess the word would be dry. The broccoli in it was fresh, not cooked, which completely interrupted the texture of the macaroni. Which wasn't cheesy. It was more like when you re-heat mac-n-cheese and the cheese is absorbed into the noodles - except there was very little cheese flavor. Another reviewer wrote that it was like Velveeta - that would've been an improvement from what I had.
The ambiance is dingy. If they're really trying to get across the games-in-the-basement vibe, they've succeeded admirably. I don't mind if it just looked that way for the vintage feel, but everything seemed vaguely dirty (old carpet; musty couches or armchairs; sticky, torn booths, etc). It really feels like the furniture they have is from a garage sale. A little too authenticly old for my taste. I mean, I'm trying to eat here.
The bar had some solitary dudes sitting there, I couldn't tell if they were together and silent or strangers to one another. There was a group of 5 or 6 playing games nearby and they seemed to be having a good time. There were a couple nerdy couples that looked like they were on uncertain first or second dates. A family with several kids came in, and even though it is family-friendly with the games and whatnot, the family was obnoxious, kids were throwing things and running around. Parents didn't do anything to stop it. It got old fast.
Some of the games had missing parts, which was kind of annoying, but what do you expect? Playing games I played in middle school is cool, especially now that I can have a beer with it. We played Super Mario 3, Yoshi's World, Scrabble, and Battleship.
We let our second Chatterbox Crowd Cut go unredeemed. Unlikely to return.
Located in a nondescript strip mall just north of the action on 50th & France. Having games to play (even without all the necessary parts in the box) is a great way to spend an evening. Unfortunately the food was terrible. The French Dip I ordered had what appeared to be heavily salted water to dip a a dried out bun and day old meat into. Unacceptable. The hell fire chicken sandwich was small and light on any hell fire sauce. The only thing keeping this at a 2 star were the games and the coin size cut fries.
Review Source:I've decided to change my rating to a one. Â If i could give it a 0, I would.
I emailed the restaurant (and had quite a time finding an actual email address to send the complaint to!) shortly after writing the review.
Two days later, no response.
So I have to say it: Â Chatterbox Pub unapologetically serves food with bugs. Â Bon appetit.
Went for the Brunch Buffet and well, it was alright. Â The price was right as it is under $10 as well as morning drinks were cheap ($3.50 I think) but the food tasted like the just reheated it from another time. Â I don't know if I'd go back for this breakfast, but hey, if you need something quick, I mean, I guess....
I will say this for the servers: unique. Â Take a second to talk to them because it seems like every time I am there, I have a new server with a different story.
Went to Chatterbox with a Crowd Cut deal. Â The wait for a table was not long, but the wait for our food was. Â It took 30 minutes to get our appetizers, and our pizza arrived at the table 5 minutes after that. Â I did not like the pizza - we had an Italian style pizza, the crust was hand-tossed and very filling. Â The chicken quesadillas were OK. Â
The server we had seemed rather distracted. Â And the musty smell in the restaurant probably had to do with the old games and decor, but it was not appetizing at all.
But it was fun to play the board games and Nintendo. Â I don't think we'll be back, though, at least not to this location.
First and foremost, I'm a little spoiled in that I have easy access to the St. Paul location - which is a larger spot, more picturesque, and more convenient for me to get to. Â
Yet, with a friend in town from NY, we opted for this location last minute. Â
I'm happy we did go there, it's a nook away from the hustle and bustle of the high-end shops on France. Â The service was good, we really had an efficient and nice waiter. Â
Yet my only complaint is in the prep of my food, which is simply a preference of my own. Â Let's just say that I hate to eat hamburgers that are baked to the consistency of a piece of charcoal, I have this same standard with steaks. Â Despite my request that the burger not get overcooked, to the point where I requested Medium (in the cooking), it was still overcooked. Â I wouldn't blame this on my waiter, it's prob. a restaurant standard I have no control over.
Otherwise, it was a successful evening of drinks and food, and my NY friend seemed to like it.
Chatterbox in Linden Hills was a let-down.
I had heard good things and the Chatterbox concept is awesome in theory, but not in practice here. Board games? GREAT. Retro video games? GREAT. Brewpubs? GREAT. Bar food? GREAT. Chatterbox? Just didn't add up to "great" at this location.
I was with friends and we all ordered Chatterbox beers. I wasn't impressed, nor were my friends. We shared the Hellcat Inferno Pizza (some kind of BBQ chicken, caramelized onions, blue cheese, bacon, Parmesan), which was a big non-spicy disappointment. It came to the table cold, so that was the first sign of trouble. It was probably one of the worst pizzas that didn't come from my grocer's freezer. On the bright side, games in a bar are always fun.
And I really dislike giving this bad review because our server was SO nice, on top of our drinks and seemed to be handling the entire restaurant himself, including the bar. I just want him to know that the two stars have nothing to do with him. He was a five-star gentleman.
One of my ideal nights out- some apps, drinks, and games! Â It was quiet for a Saturday night but we had a blast! Â We ate sweet potato fries, and I drank a strawberry lemonade with champagne all while playing Apples to Apples, Clue, and Jenga. Â The fun doesn't end there... we played music BINGO all night and I won a "buy a pizza, get a bottle of wine free", Â Yay!
I highly recommend this place if you want a night out but don't want to go to yet another bar for the 4th weekend in a row.
It pains me to give Chatterbox one lowly star. I adore the concept, and truthfully the set up of the game idea is done ok. It's just everything else that pretty much sucks. By far, the food is the worst. The menu sounds so promising, and then you get your food and it's just disappointing if not down right bad. I did not know it was possible to screw up a cheeseburger, but Chatterbox did a whooping good job. I don't know if the meat was just old and bad or if there was that much poor seasoning, but it was awful--McDonald's seems culinary by comparison. No paper towels in the women's restroom. Not a tragedy, but I let the manager know so he could have them refilled. An hour and a half later on my second visit...still no paper towels. I could see that the staff was busy chatting with each other and friends who were in visiting, so clearly work wasn't on the list of items to get done. After our server brought out our food, we never saw her again. The manager was busy chatting with friends at another table for over 20 minutes, so we never got our bill or a chance to order more drinks. We took a stab at our total and left some cash on the table. Game selection was ok but could be better. Overall, this place is a great idea, but I would try one of the other locations....or go just to play games. Definitely skip the food. And if you are brave enough, I'd BYOB too.
Review Source:I like the concept - couches to hang out in and old video games to play. Â Nice place to hang out with friends and have a few beers. Â But I really dislike the food. Â When you read the menu everything sounds good, but it never seems to taste right. Â The burgers have an off taste to them for example. Â If they had good food I would give this place another star. Â If the service was better I would toss in another star.
Review Source:This place is right near my house and often times ends up being a destination for me and my out of town friends.
The food is decent, they have a huge menu and the service is okay. But the thing that draws me in most times are all the awesome selection of board games and old school video games they have to play!
My girlfriend took me to the Linden Hills Chatterbox for breakfast a couple months back and I must say that I thoroughly enjoyed my experience there. Some Yelpers have complained about this location in particular, so perhaps it is important to know that I haven't been to either of the other two Chatterbox Pubs.
With that said, we played the game of Life on a peaceful Saturday morning while I enjoyed my Chatterbox Benedict and orange juice. I had never heard of a restaurant with board games, so this was a new and pleasant surprise for me. The food was tasty, affordable, and of good quality. The juice was most likely Minute Maid, but I suppose I shouldn't be too critical of that. All-in-all a very nice establishment.
There are a lot of sour pusses here. I think a lot of it is misdirected frustration, which is why yelp is so great to make a decision BEFOREHAND. This Chatterbox is simply a great place to come and relax. Kids may dislike it because there isn't "enough to do" and adults may not like that fact that it isn't a bar. But for the well-rounded individual its very nice! You can play board games (for free) which are great for first dates, Nintendo games for $2, plus good food and drinks at a reasonable price. The menu is a little ambitious, but I give them credit for trying! I had the SXSW (south by southwest) with sweet potato fries, and it was pretty excellent! It's not perfect, but nothing great ever is. My advice is to come at a typically "slow" time for maximum enjoyment!
Review Source:I want to like this place... It's close to home, I love the original (well, the cutie hipster staff of the original really helps my opinion), but every time I go to the near-Edina version, I find something on the menu that sounds great. Â I order, thinking "This time it will be different." Â It's not. Â While most things on the menu sound great, they are very poorly executed. Â Overly seasoned, poorly prepared, *something* is going to be drastically wrong.
Don't get the ribs. Â They're the worst cut ever, full of gristle and hardly any meat. Â Their sauces are not tasty, but at least the hot one is actually hot. Â I got roasted red pepper mashed potatoes once and would have liked to have been able to taste the potato. Â Salt and red pepper were the only things I could pull out as flavors.
This strikes me as a kitchen of a group of restaurants where the chef is at another location and there's no one tasting to make sure the recipes came out the way they were supposed to.
They get two stars instead of one because of the beer and rootbeer. Â Tasty.
Otherwise? Â Pass.
there's a lot of pent up demand in this 'hood for a family restaurant that is more interesting than the grill options nearby and d'amico. Â
unfortunately, this chatterbox implementation leaves much to be desired. it's a solid call on the ribs, the beer selection is good but it's just too damn loud and while I have an unhealthy respect for bar food, this is pretty non-plussing.
it's a definitely a "meh". but given the dearth of beer options nearby and the presence of video games to play while waiting they'll probably do well in the hood.
First, let me say that I love the Chatterbox; my fiancée and I have been going to the Chatterbox in St. Paul for almost two years.
And the food and the experience at this new one are probably 80% as good as the St. Paul one. We were very excited it opened -- and so close to where we live!
However, this location has screwed up our to-go orders so egregiously, that I have to write a negative review. Hopefully, someday they'll realize how unacceptable this behavior is, and actually take steps to fix it.
In our five to-go order experiences with this Chatterbox, not one order has been correct. Here's a run-down of what happened with each order:
#1 Incorrect order, and included ingredients that someone was allergic to. I complained to the manager and received a gift certificate
#2 Incorrect; complained
#3 Incorrect, and they ran out of proper to-go containers, so we had our orders split up into many tiny containers; complained
#4 Incorrect; complained and was promised a gift certificate
#5 Incorrect; complained; then days later I discovered that they charged our credit card twice, and in slightly different amounts, even!
The inability of this Chatterbox to get even simple to-go orders correct is breathtaking. This latest screw-up (being charged twice) is the last straw: We will not be returning to this location.
The BIGGEST let down of my entire life... My boyfriend and I live pretty close to this place, and the other Chatterboxes are bars...right? at least that is what we've heard. Anyways, we went in here yesterday to go get a quick drink. We had nothing else to do, and have heard good things about this place...well the other Chatterboxes anyways.. We walked in and were completely baffled. Where is the bar? where are the adults? It was tons of kids EVERYWHERE.. Totally not what we expected. Anyways, we looked around for like a really quick minute, and then some rude little host-bitch came up to us and seated us...could've done with out the attitude!
We sat down and started talking, and looking at the menu. After realizing this was the complete opposite of what we wanted, we just got up and left. I told our server what had happened, she was totally understanding about it, and described to us about how the other Chatterboxes are more Adult-driven. Oh man.. I don't know. I hate this place so much already, I don't think it's even worth going to check out the other locations!
When I heard there was a Chatterbox opening in the neighborhood I was excited, but after visiting I was disappointed.
The food is fine. Â Decent pub food, more or less. Â Nothing to get excited about, nothing to gripe about. Â Exactly what I'd expect. Â Their brewpub beer is okay. Â Not great, but fine.
But here's the thing: Â they pulled out the bar that used to be in the place, crammed in as many tables as possible, and it really does seem like a hastily converted "family" restaurant with no bar.
And still they call it a "pub". Â It makes no sense.
I had heard nothing but good things about the Chatterbox Pub, so when this opened in my 'hood I was thrilled. We really need a bar, and this seemed to fit the bill. How disappointed I was.
Walking in, I felt like I was at my son's daycare across the street because of the purple carpet, gaudy walls and hordes of kids. Not good.
Then I went to order a beer and realized they serve their own "microbrew." I don't know what this means because I saw no brew kettles, nor do I understand why in a city that offers such delicious local brews as Surly and Summit that any pub would really delve into this. And my suspicions were proven right when my underwhelming Pale Ale arrived. My server recommended it after I said I like Surly Furious because the Chatterbox Pale Ale was "super-hoppy." Um, not. It was about as hoppy as Budweiser. The stout was not stout at all and both were highly overpriced.
Then we rifled through the pages and pages of menu. A rule of restaurants: If the menu is too big, that means they don't do anything well. Right again. My catfish was OK, and the fries were good. But the tartar sauce wasn't - it was honey-mustard sludge. That is not tartar sauce, my friends. My wife's mac and cheese was Velveeta and noodles, and at $10 a ripoff. Worst, though, were my friend's ribs, billed as "fall off the bone" but looked like they were cooked by a first-time barbecuer. I couldn't bring myself to even try one, they looked so bad. He couldn't finish them. His wife's chicken fingers looked like they were microwaved straight off the Schwan's truck, and tasted about as good.
Two more bad things: They give you one pop refill, then charge you for another drink. That's a HUGE no-no. Pop is so cheap they should give it away. Then a random server came out of nowhere and asked if we'd like some more chips for our appetizer dip. Sure, we said. "Well, it will be $1 extra." Charging extra for a chip refill? I don't think so.
Maybe late at night the experience is different with the rugrats gone. I don't know. But there was just too much stimulation going on and I couldn't wait to get out of there. We couldn't even dream of playing the Nintendos because there were gangs of kids mobbing them.
All in all, this was a huge disappointment. I can barely give the place two stars, but I will just because it's new and maybe they're working out some kinks. But the bad beer is a kink that can't be worked out, and the big menu won't change. So ... I won't be going back.
I have now been to The Chatterbox Pub twice in the last 24 hours. Â I went with some friends on a Friday night and it was full of families.
I tried the Hellcat Inferno pizza and the huge chunks of chicken on top of the carmelized onions and blue cheese dressing was fantastic.
We went with some cool friends and they got the mini sloppy joe's, which looked great as well. Â The Sweet Potatoe fries looked way crispy.
I tried the Pale Ale and Dupple that are made in Wisconsin and shipped to the pub. Â Both were pretty good, but 6 bucks for a large glass of supposedly craft brewed beer. Â Big Boo!
For a beer supposedly brewed locally, I want big beers for 3 bucks.
I went back on Saturday morning with a good friend of mine and I got the shrimp fritatta. Â Awesome, my waiter didn't ask what kind of bread I wanted and my wheat toast I got was cold, but the fritatta was awesome and the service was fantastic.
My friend got the Ham Sandwich and it looked like the best sandwich I have ever seen. Â The fries looked super crispy as well!
The service is great and it is turning into a family friendly bar. Â
They have Nintendo games you can play while you are there and a lot of board games you can play for free.
For sports, there are a ton of big screeen TVs to watch big games.
I think out of 20 groups there, 18 had children.
Splendid place. Edina REALLY needed a place like this. As much as I love the Edina Grill, you can't really let your hair down there. Here you most definitely can. The opening of this place gave the neighborhood some much needed cool points. The beer is tasty and the games are great. Such a trip to play all of those old games we were raised on. I was there just the other night playing Pitfall with some friends and had a blast.
I'd recommend "California Games" on Nintendo if you're with a group because you can have up to 6 players. Tons of fun. The onion rings come with 5 different sauces which is fun, and the deep fried pickles with curry sauce are great. I would almost consider myself a regular already. Definitely check it out!
I can't say I have been to prior Chatterbox Pubs in the Twin Cities, but being new to the area should give me a semi-fresh perspective to this new addition to the Linden Hills community.
I would have to say that I really enjoyed Chatterbox. Â The blue cheese and mushroom burger was decent and the french dip made me smile. Â I guess it was the combination of succulent beef, cheese, onions and gravy/"au juice." Â It was distinctive and tasty. Â The curry mustard dipping sauce was so good that i used it for my fries instead of ketchup (and i don't even like fries). Â Not to mention the service was top notch.
I have to mention that the menu is huge and the beer is cheap and fantastic (...$3 for a "big glass" at happy hour...) and they have a decent selection.
The downside? Well...its in a mini-mall which seemed to restrict their interior design options. Â Half of the place is well designed with some couches, video-games and booths but the high-top "bar-area" sucks. Â Maybe its me but if a place is called a "pub" it needs a bar. Â Just an opinion.
All in all, i can't wait to try some more items and will be going there to test the breakfast in the morning. Â To be continued.....
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