I love this place! It was built in 1905, and is full of memorabilia related to a famous San Franciscan writer and American adventurer,
Jack London, he Loved to drink, eat and travel. His ghost
Lives on as you enter the Saloon.
Love the patio, casual dining, laid back atmosphere.
Locals, vintners, growers, world travelers and characters from all over
Stop in to have a bite and a cocktail.
You're never lonely and it feels safe to unwind and get away from the grind.!
Free popcorn, lunch or early dinners, and a place singles, families, young, hip, biker, gays, straight, mature middle/early aged, and couples feel at home. People of all races and ethnics arrive from all over. I've heard that many engaged, married, honeymooning or party guests go there, regularly, some yearly, and others, remember past vacation visits and return decades later. Kind of like a homecoming.
Def not for the pretentious, uppity, snobbish or haters types!
We stopped in here the night before my brother in law's wedding, WOW...
Erin went out of her way to be incredibly rude to every single customer! I was so uncomfortable at the bar after hearing the way she was talking to my father in law and my husband, we decided to leave. I bartended for years and NEVER in my personal life or bartending have I EVER spoken to customers like she did!
Bar is cute, drinks are cheap, but Erin ruined it for us...not worth it! Go to the next town, avoid this bar like the plague if that bartender is working.....
Two blondes walk into a bar... An Awful awful place! Walked from our charming hotel and stumbled upon the Jack London Saloon. My good friend and I thought the place looked quaint so we crossed the street to check it out. That's where the niceties end! We were "greeted" at the door by a lovely older man (insert sarcasm here) who was hammered at 4pm on Thursday afternoon. He stopped us at the front door with a "Hey! We're all taking bets as to why two blondes would walk in the middle if the street!" Well, being blonde, I'm no genius but when crossing a street at a crosswalk you're bound to make it to the middle of said street before making it to the other side.
Once inside the bartender was awful! Dirty looks and holier than thou attitude. We knew it was time to go when the local drunkard came back to (LOUDLY) ask us if we had heard the one about the blonde who...
Needless to say we will NEVER again patronize that locals only watering hole!!!
Giving  a star because the building was cute... From the outside!
strong drinks (many given to you for free), drunk locals (including the bartender), free fresh popped popcorn. you can't go wrong if you are looking for entertainment. perfect if you are staying at the Jack London Lodge right next door-- you can drag your drunk ass back to your room when they (reluctantly) shut down at 2am.
Review Source:In the past we have been to this bar and it was really nice and the service was great...this time its seemed a little different. When we went to rack up a pool game we noticed how dirty the pool table was and we had to brush off crumbs and dirt and the room we were in was absolutely filthy...food under the table, and we noticed other tables in the main bar area had dishes piled on them. We noticed the staff that we felt should have been cleaning up the area was watching TV...and never, the whole time we were there, which is close to two hours EVER cleaned it up. We were hungry, but  declined to eat because of how dirty the place felt. We have loved coming here, but now will take a break until they clean up their act.
FYI the Bartenders are great, great place to sit at the bar!
The first sign of trouble was when our small group of families entered at 8:45 pm for dinner, and we learned the kitchen was closing at 9 pm. Â One of us overheard the bartender say to the waitress "I hate everyone in this party". Â Wow...not exactly a big wave of the hospitality flag, especially considering these folks also owned the motel we were staying in. Â At that point, had there been an alternative close-by, the group would have moved on in a heartbeat.
But orders were grumpily taken, and food was eventually served, and it was all...OK. Most importantly, the kids got fed. (They had a morning soccer game to fuel up for).
For a place in wine country, the crowd here was surprisingly blue collar; I'd say about 75% locals. There were also an alarming number of drunks at 9:30 pm on a Friday. (Lightweights!!) Â Beers were cheap though, even the good stuff ($4 a pint!). The giant big-screen TV was a great place to catch some sports during the following afternoon. Fresh popcorn in the back corner was a nice touch.
Decor and setting was pretty good too. This appears to be a historic brick building from before the turn of the century; Woodwork inside is all mahogany.
Unfortunately the service continued to suck on our multiple visits. It's really a shame our overall treatment here didn't match the surroundings. Consequently, I can't give the Jack London Saloon a passing grade.
Growing up in Sonoma and having not visited this place in years...... Was very disappointed!!! I was welcomed half heartedly and Ordered anyway..... My BLT was less than adequate ! 2 pieces of bacon and sub par bread.... Fries  were the bright spot!!! When I asked where the bacon was I got... " the head chef is odd today .... Sorry!" as a local I expected more..... Especially in a cold
Rainy day! Very sad..... Hope
Te owner takes notice! This place has been over looked for years...., so wake
Up!!!
We stopped in here for a cocktail and some "bar food" after a day of hiking in nearby jack London State Park. Â It is definitely a "local hang out" as noted by other reviewers. Â The people were freiindly and the food was "ok." Â The buffalo wings were well made and crispy on the outside with a good hot sauce. Â I knocked this place a couple of stars becasue the woman who was bartending obviously did not want to be at work that night and seemed put out by having to take our order. Â That's too bad because it is a cool spot.
Review Source:So now that I am a local I have to parse my words, you may experience one of the most charming fun local bar atmospheres you have ever encountered, OR you may run into 12 saucy locals with barely a pair of teeth to share between the whole lot. Â You can be a fan of both, and sometimes I am, but if this place got a little interior work it could be an amazing little bar. Â
Either way, this place is worth a stop to see which of the experiences you will have, the bar is generous, the beers is cold, but don't expect the best bar food in the valley.
Had a fantastic time at the saloon the other day. Everyone is made to feel like a local and it has that laid-back, "we'll take you as you are" vibe to it. Very cool.
We were hungry and asked a friend what was good. "Everything," was his reply, though he did recommend a particular burger that I can't quite recall. We settled on splitting a burger called, "The Best Burger in Sonoma" (comes with pepper jack, grilled onions, sautéed mushrooms, and avocado mousse) and a side salad. Soo glad we split the burger because I can't imagine either of us tackling it on on our own. We ordered it medium and it was huge, juicy, and good. It came with some thin fries.
Beer and wine prices are decent - especially considering you're in wine country.
Drink and food orders must be placed at the bar while the popcorn is self-serve. The popcorn here is my favorite bar popcorn ever. Whatever blend they are using to sprinkle on these kernels is fantastic! It's not too light, not to strong, yet addictive. Popcorn is popped fresh and often and is super hard to resist. Eat, enjoy, and order some more drinks to wash it down.
Gayle and I stopped here yesterday for a casual lunch. We had just come from the new and elegant Audellsa across the street, and were in no mood to wait for a table to open up at the nearby Fig Cafe.
This is a pretty and laid back corner within the wine country and Gayle and I were happy to just sit down and relax within this mellow and historical saloon. This is my kind of place and I look forward to coming back. The draft beer and wine by-the-glass selection is good, the food and drink are plentiful and well priced, there's plenty of room inside and out (and on the creek), free popcorn and newspapers are available, there are nice dark woods throughout, and the folks here are friendly on both sides of the bar.
But why 3 Stars? Â That's because of the slow service and a so-so pulled pork sandwich on my end of the meal. One of my "Cardinal" sins in a restaurant is when the next table orders after you and gets their food first. And off a simple sandwich and salads menu no less. Maybe I also didn't know the service rules, because after waiting and waiting for our bill, I finally went to the bar and settled up. I'm usually good at rolling with the ebb and flow of casual service, but this experience really bothered me and resulted in my first sub-15% tip in a long time.
This was stop #4 on our self guided Bottle Shock tour. Â This is where they filmed the scenes in Joe's bar. Â When Spurier is sitting at the table with all the wines, you can see the Jack London window emblem behind him.
Everyone seemed like they were enjoying themselves when we came through for a visit. Â Your typical mellow dive bar type of atmosphere, dark wood, brick, etc. Â There's a great room in the back with a pool table and the bathrooms were clean. Â They were setting up for some kind of dinner in what seems to be an adjoining restaurant.
We were walking around snapping pictures and didn't get any dirty looks. To me, that means the locals are pretty cool folks. Â I could definitely seem myself hanging out here for awhile if I was staying in the area.
They have deep fried oreos? How did I miss that??
Deep fried Oreos. Come here for the deep fried Oreos. They are so mouthwatering I can taste them in my mouth as we speak. You can dip them in the chocolate sauce and they ooze out warm chocolate and vanilla as you bite into them.
Oh man...the bar itself is so awesome. Totally dive and low key. Lots of locals come by for food and their choice of poison. The bartender is so nice. She was down to earth and didn't treat us like snooty out of towners. Try the chicken wings. Spicy and oh so delish!
I was super excited to go to a real saloon and bugged hubby relentlessly until he said we could wander over for a drink after dinner. Yay! My persistence paid off!
The Jack London Saloon is what it is and gets the job done. Alcohol? Check. Friendly staff? Check. Ornery local chick giving me annoyed looks? Check. It also has a nice patio that overlooks the creek. Perfect for warmer weather but a few too many bugs on this occasion for my taste.
Will be back for drinks in the (hopefully) near future.
Not a bad little place to have a beer or two, despite the gigantic TV mounted on the wall, which seems to be the focal point of the main room. Â Otherwise, the mahogany gives it a nice saloon feel, not to mention that the old photos and other London-icana are pretty cool and the beer selection satisfactory (Anchor Steam, Fat Tire, Lagunitas, etc.)
But I'm giving the Jack London Saloon the benefit of the doubt by going with 3 instead of 2 stars, because in my experiences over the past couple of days the service was pretty bad. Â This place must see a lot of tourist traffic and probably wouldn't still be in business without it. Â So why the attitude from behind the bar when a group of 12 or so in a wedding party come in for a couple of beers at the end of the evening? Â And I'm not talking about Animal House-esque groomsmen when I say "wedding party," I'm talking parents of the bride and groom as well as two 70+ year old grandmothers. Â So despite the undeniable un-rowdiness of the crowd, at least one of the bartenders got up tight and irritated both nights. Â
The kicker was insisting that the bride and groom both show ID for a drink. Â Seriously? Â Very much so. Â So much so that even the groom's mother couldn't talk the bartender into serving her 28 year old son. Â Friends had to walk down the street (the bride was still in her gown) to retrieve the IDs. Â Nice one. Â Instead of laughing at herself and giving the newlyweds a free round for all the trouble, she justified her vigilance and incredulity by saying that people can get married at 18 and that it was her job to enforce the law. Â Charming, truly. Â
In any case, assuming that you are carrying your ID, this seems like a good option (and really one of very few) for anyone passing through Glen Ellen.
Couple doors down from a bunch of hidden gem restuarants is the Jack London Saloon. Deep mahogany and wood colors is the first thing you notice. Lots of locals and some travelers so the crowd can be totally random. The cowboy wearing hat folks seem to look right at home up against the bar.
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