Anytime I come for California to the Capital District, there are three places you gotta go to. Hot Dog Charlie's, Ted's Fish Fry and of course Jacks! Ever since I was a kid gorwin' up, we went to Jacks. In the old days, they had trays that hung off the window. I remember always getting a burger with chocolate milk. It was the bomb! In the past few years, they've improved the shack and the food hasn't changed. The onions make the burgers awesome. This is a hometown fave...not a chain. It's like the White Castle of the Capital District. My only wish is that they would be open when I visit around the holidays! If you want a good burger at a great price, then Jack's is the place!
Review Source:I adore this place for what it is - cheap and awesome drive-in food.
My usual - burger with everything, cheese fries, and a side of their onions for the cheese fries. Â Plus ketchup on the side please.
Their caramelized onion mix is amazing and really what makes this 5 stars for me. Â Without that onion mix, I probably would rate Jack's a 3.
1938, that is when Jack's opened. Â So it isn't retro, it is just consistent. Â However, they have added sodas and cheese on their fries. Â I now live about eight hours away, so when i am anywhere within 50 miles, I am sure to try to get to jacks. I had not been for a few years and finally got back last summer (2011). Â It was great, as usual. Â The patty smothered in onions that had been cooking since '38 on a spongy roll with just the right amount of grease. Â I ate too many and felt them for hours.... Â I can't wait to get back again.
Review Source:I too grew up at Jack's in the summer. Â I now live in California and each visit back east is a "slider" visit. Â You don't have to chew the burgers, they just slide down. Â My visits of late, the 50+ years, Â require antacids for dessert, and so worth it! Â If you grew up on the east side of Troy (wynantskill), it's more than the burger and fries, it's the gathering of friends at the picnic table sharing memories of other Jack's burger (slider) outings filled with childhood memories that make these the best burgers EVER.
Review Source:I've been hearing about this place for years and never took a trip out until today. They have a very simple menu, Burger, Cheeseburger, Hot Dog, Fries, Cheese Fries, Soda, Milkshakes. But why mess with success right? Cheeseburgers come with sauteed onions and ketchup, just the way they should. Not a bad little burger, and the Cheese fries are quite tasty. Seemed a little pricey. $1.99 for a slider but it was good to finally try it out after all the hype.
Review Source:Another reviewer said "cute retro-vibe" and I'm reminded of the 75+ year old lady who told me, as she slowly ate her burger and fries, how she had been coming to Jack's ever since she was a little girl.... Â Retro, indeed.
Retro is when you make something now that reflects something from the past. Â Jack's, in my opinion, -is- the past. Â Let me explain....
I'm vegan now and wouldn't actually eat at Jack's today, but I ate there on and off for decades. Â I still crave these burgers and fries, and I haven't had them since the Summer of 2008. Â That's a long time for a craving to stick around. Â There has to be a reason....
1) Â I'm pretty sure I started eating at Jack's when I was in diapers, and although I can't remember what I had for lunch today, I can tell you that Jack's food simply hasn't changed. Â Consistency. Â You aren't going to Jack's for something modern, off-the-wall, different - it's an establishment where, unlike many others, you know exactly what you're going to get each and every time you order. Â You also know that if you come back the next day, or the next year, there's a pretty good chance you won't be saying "this used to be different" or "they changed something, I can't quite put my finger on it!" Â In a world where things are constantly being watered-down, and change is the only constant, Jack's is an oasis of...well, tasty-tasty grease.
2) Â The menu is simple: You've got your basic hamburger with a grilled bun and grilled onions. Â I love caramelized onions, and whenever I make them at home, I pray that I will eventually hit the jackpot and figure out their secret. Â Yes, grease from hamburger -might- help, but it hadn't in the past, and as a vegan, I'm only going to get so close now. Â Hot dogs are probably good but...they're hot dogs. Â You've got your fries, which are pretty tasty, although best eaten hot with ketchup (if you're into that). Â They have milk, milkshakes, and soft drinks (fizzy and not). Â I used to get two or three burgers, a large fry and a Hawaiian Punch. Â Pretty sure I slept the drive home each and every time. Â
3) Â No-frills. Â You pull up, park - plenty of parking - and wait in line. Â You order, and they fill your order quickly. Â The menu is so small, it's not that hard to choose, and they don't really have to spend a lot of time making different things. Â You want a burger or hot dog? Â Fries with that? Â Maybe a drink? Â Done. Â You take your order on the red tray over to the picnic tables and pray that your napkins or food don't blow away if the wind is high. Â That's what the drink is for anyway - to keep the napkins down, and to wash things down.
4) Â Alfresco! Â How often do we actually eat outside, on a picnic table, under beautiful trees filtering the sunlight? Â I'd say for most of us staring at our computer monitors reading this review, not often enough. Â Leave your technological gadgets in the car and have a meal the way it used to be. Â It's really pretty, even when it's warm in the summer, because of the huge...HUGE shade trees.
A few things to keep in mind:
* This place is easy to miss. Â You turn a corner, from either direction, and you're like "whoa!" Â If you have a GPS, and it takes kindly to the lack of sky visibility, or if you have directions pre-printed, you're golden. Â If you pass it, turn around - it's worth it.
* Go hungry. Â I mean, seriously, you want to eat at least one burger and a basket of fries. Â If you go, and you're not hungry, you will be sad.
* Don't compare.  This place has been around longer than most of the people writing reviews on Yelp.  It's older than the Internet and, heck, it's most likely older than TV.  It's nice to see a good business sticking around for what must seem like forever in this economy and, if you think about it, Jack's has survived a lot worse. If anything, Jack's is a living testament  to what you can do, and what you can keep going, with a good, simple business strategy, and people wiling to come to work every day.  This is not a fancy restaurant, and the prices are reasonable.  I think a lot of the ingredients we see in foods these days weren't even invented when Jack's first opened up, so keep things in perspective.
* Bring a friend. Â Hey, someone has to drive your sleepy butt home, right? Â Or at least talk to you to keep you awake while you drive.
Also, I have seen many times where people have stated that it's a cash-only establishment. Â Do yourself a favor and call ahead. If they do take credit cards, you can save yourself a trip to the ATM. Or just go retro and pay cash - it's fun.
Summary: I don't believe you can get this burger experience anywhere else, and I've tried.
Jacks: I can feel my arteries hardening just thinking about it!
There are better burger joints near Troy, even Ted's Fish Fry can make a better burger than Jack. The patties are dry and bland almost as bad as a frozen burger. The onions are carmelized, so they are sweet and bitter rather than mild and awesome ... maybe that is intentional. They are also small, about the size of a mcdonald's cheeseburger and a bit pricey.
Review Source:I like this place for the cute retro-vibe of the cooks and staff wearing  whites. It's a little shack type place where you walk up, order, and receive your food shortly afterward.
After hearing all of this buzz about Jack's, I decided to give it a whirl.
On the whole, the food was just not there. The burger didn't really have much flavor - it was just a thin patty cooked well with some onions on top. I didn't think it was too greasy, though.
The fries were soggy and I think they could have used longer in the fryer to crisp them up a bit. A bit undercooked, perhaps?
I took a bite or two, but ended up not eating the food for the most part - nothing particularly off putting, but nothing really making me want to go back for more.
If I'm going to be brutally honest, the star rating is based mostly on the warm fuzzy memories from my childhood! Â Yup - Jack's has been around THAT long! Â
My family would go there a half dozen or so times every summer and it was always a treat! Â Here's a hint of how long ago that was... Â no cheese! In fact, I don't remember the exact year, but when Jack's started offering cheese, it made the *front page* of the daily local paper! Â Sadly now, the burgers are just okay. Â They're still delightfully greasy and onion-y, but WAY over-priced and seem to have gotten a great deal smaller.
Still and all, go - at least once a year. Â Get the burgers (no cheese!!!) and drink Dzembo's chocolate milk with them. Â It's an experience you have to share with your kids. Â And bring your Rolaids!
Great little sliders with lots of grease. I can smell the onions into Troy. My wife and I stop here during the summer and get a whole plate of greasy sliders, greasy fries, and some soft drinks and have a feast out on one of the picnic tables. All that grease goes down hard.
Where are my Rolaids????
Jack's Drive-In is a popular burger takeout restaurant, which is open mid March to mid November and closed during the winter months. Xmas trees are sold here during the holiday season. Jack's Drive-In and Ted's Fish Fry are operated by the same family ownership.
The burgers (aka "sliders") here are very greasy and loaded with ketchup and fried greasy onions, but taste pretty darn good!! I can smell strong aromas of the Jack's sliders into the McDonald's parking lot! The french fries here are great too! Order a chocolate milk for a great tasting meal!
I know folks from a large radius (some as far away as Queensbury and Broadalbin) who flock here just for the "sliders." I usually see long lines form here on nice sunny weekend days.
One of my childhood friends loves Jack's so much, that he arrived here at 7:45 AM on opening day just to be the first customer of the season. He waited almost 3.5 hours for the 11 AM opening with his newspaper and large Stewart's coffee on a cold rainy March morning. YNN and CBS 6 also interviewed him.
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