Shakey Jakes

For those who love dive bars, this is your place. I was here on business and the reaction from a couple of locals was the same: dive bar in every sense of the word. With that being said, I loved this place. We went on a wednesday night around 11 and it was pretty dead but we got drinks fast and they wee pretty good.

They have one of those buck hunting arcade games and a touch screen juke box on the wall along with knick-knacks and silly stuff all over the place. The bartender was friendly and the people in the bar were pretty chill.

Horrible and unfriendly. I generally don't trash local businesses and always try to support them but in this case I'll make an exception.

This place is nothing more than a glorified Gin Mill and local dive bar that caters to a local crowd.

The food is pretentious, inedible and over priced, the beer selection is minimum and packaged goods are outrageously priced.

Avoid at all cost, there are 4 local bar restaurants within walking distance, you'd be better off spending your time and hard earned cash at anyone of them.

Shakey Jake's:  A real-world "Dalton's" [see Dalton's Columbia Inn review for joke]

Preparing for the loss of being so close to such a wonderful establishment (Dalton's Columbia Inn), I felt it necessary to recapture the general feeling of Dalton's, in the town I'll be living in, with another Yelper, my WTB (wife-to-be for those who've not read any of my previous reviews- AND YOU SHOULD).  While waiting for her to arrive from where she works, I made my way over to SJ's.  

I've read all the other reviews, hers included.  But I was there a few hours prior to her, and took more time to take things in.

What I really like about the place is that, though divey (and yes, the lavs are... well...) it's quiet, cleanish, and not too far removed from Dalton's.  And yes, I'll make more comparisons, and will do so fairly.  

Thier menu is simple and small.  Their cajun clams are very tasty and the bread they supply is 100% necessary to suck up every last drop of the broth left behind in the bowl in which the clams are served.  The pub menu looked tasty, and I may work my way through every item, one night at a time.

Nancy could easily fit in with the staff in Columbia.  Attentive, friendly, helpful in finding you a good beer and making food recs.  Sadly, it would be quite confusing, as a Nancy already works at Dalton's.  

Tap choices were ordinary, and included Stella, which I appreciated seeing.  I wager there are better thinfs in bottles in the cooler, but I did not ask, as I wanted to test the draught lines first.  She let me sample something, to see if I actually liked it.  I did not (Mich Amber).  However, I saw plaques touting Chimay and Sam Smith, so I figured it's under there somewhere.

The buffalo burger (meat- not style) came out "medium" even though I asked for "still screaming from slaughterhouse" rare.  I ate it nonetheless, I was hungry.  I'll know not to order that again.  fries were coated, hot, and tasty.  

As for music and sights- classic rock piped in (or should I say beamed in) through XM station.  And yes, there is a dart board, and odd arcade machines boasting golf and big-game hunting.  Odd combination if you ask me... though you didn't.  Plenty of HD tv screens set to sports channels.  I bet I can convince them to change one to Jeopardy on a slow night.  

I passed on dessert- nothing thrilled me.  I almost tried their tiramisu, but thought for a minute.  I asked Nancy, and she admitted it's frozen.  Even though one of the regulars put hand to a stack of bibles about how good it is, I passed.  I'm spoiled, know what good tiramisu should be like, or both.

And yes, we'll be back.  It's close to my future home, and I know I can rely on Nancy to get me a cold beer and a decent meal.  The real fun will start when we're considered regulars... anyone know if there's an application process?