R&J Lounge and Supper Club

[kevinpate]

East side chicken .... so is it only available at night and in the parking lot?

[soonerguru]

Little Kings hahahahahahahahahaha

LOL I know! First time I got smashed was on Little King's on a camping trip! Great memories.

[CCOKC]

Sept 26 is my birthday...happy birthday to me! My new spot!

My birthday is the 28th. If that weekend weren't my 30th high school reunion I would suggest we meet up with our significant others and have a drink or two.

[Mel]

This might be a cool place to hit for us on special occasions. Will they have live music? A good Lounge singer with a jazz trio or a quartet would be cool.

[Pete]

Sign is up! From their FB page:

[Pete]

Going old school!

[jrod]

That sign is gorgeous! I love it.

[Urbanized]

Haha that gold vein mirror tile is an obvious nod to Junior's. In fact, the whole place strikes me as to some extent an homage to the bar at Junior's, which is totally cool with me. My kind of place for sure.

[Pete]

I didn't know you could still buy those vein mirrors any more...

Proof that everything old at some point becomes new again.


I smell an absolutely home run hit. Can't wait to try the food and and hang in those booths.

[Pete]

BTW, their FB page said they would be opening next week during H & 8th.

[Urbanized]

I hate that H&8th is on my birthday. Would like to hang at R&J and Bleu Garten for a Friday night out, but thanks to proximity to H&8th think it would be a bad idea. I'll wait until early next week I guess.

[John Knight]

Getting ready for their Grand opening tomorrow!

[sooner88]

My move-in date for the Guardian is Friday as well.... not ideal.

I hate that H&8th is on my birthday. Would like to hang at R&J and Bleu Garten for a Friday night out, but thanks to proximity to H&8th think it would be a bad idea. I'll wait until early next week I guess.

[Chadanth]

Had dinner at R&J last night. The main dishes were great, good flavors, nice portion sizes (not too big, not too small). The drinks were great and very inexpensive. The bad: the side dishes, my mac n' cheese and my wife's potato, were cold. Not just "not hot". Cold. Drinks took FOREVER to come out, I ordered my second before we got our food and they brought it out with our check 40 min later. They didn't take anything off our bill either, but I didn't make a stink about it, mostly because I couldn't find anyone to talk to about it. Overall, it has a lot of potential, and we'll go back, but I'd give them some time to get into a groove. If it's like this in a few weeks, I'll go looking for the manager, for sure.

[Pete]

Had dinner at R&J last night. The main dishes were great, good flavors, nice portion sizes (not too big, not too small). The drinks were great and very inexpensive. The bad: the side dishes, my mac n' cheese and my wife's potato, were cold. Not just "not hot". Cold. Drinks took FOREVER to come out, I ordered my second before we got our food and they brought it out with our check 40 min later. They didn't take anything off our bill either, but I didn't make a stink about it, mostly because I couldn't find anyone to talk to about it. Overall, it has a lot of potential, and we'll go back, but I'd give them some time to get into a groove. If it's like this in a few weeks, I'll go looking for the manager, for sure.

How was the decor / vibe?

What were your entrees?

[Chadanth]

How was the decor / vibe?

What were your entrees?

Décor was cool, the pics in this thread show it pretty well. We sat on the patio, and it was really nice. You could tell they had just finished painting the furniture, as it was still damp/ rubbing off in some places. It's very small, but it keeps it intimate. Honestly, I'm usually ok with a couple service hiccups early on, but as for the food, these are experienced restaurateurs. It should have been spot on. I got a lobster roll, it was very good, wife got the croque, which was also very good.

[Andon]

Décor was cool, the pics in this thread show it pretty well. We sat on the patio, and it was really nice. You could tell they had just finished painting the furniture, as it was still damp/ rubbing off in some places. It's very small, but it keeps it intimate. Honestly, I'm usually ok with a couple service hiccups early on, but as for the food, these are experienced restaurateurs. It should have been spot on. I got a lobster roll, it was very good, wife got the croque, which was also very good.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on the note about the service; no place, no matter how experienced the restaurateurs (this is only their second restaurant,) is going to get it "spot on" during their first night of service, especially when it coincides with something as immense as H&8th. I'm going to assume that they were undoubtedly slammed, and that everyone was experiencing the same issues that your party was. There's a reason that professional food critics often go to a restaurant on no less than three separate occasions before writing a review, and none of them are usually within the first couple of weeks of service: it's because they know that those first couple/few weeks of a restaurant's operations are not representative of what service at that restaurant will actually be like once the initial craziness dies down.

I've got a few friends that work at R&J's, and I've told them that I won't even be coming in until a month is passed, because I know that's when service will be more even-keeled.

[Chadanth]

I'm going to have to disagree with you on the note about the service; no place, no matter how experienced the restaurateurs (this is only their second restaurant,) is going to get it "spot on" during their first night of service, especially when it coincides with something as immense as H&8th. I'm going to assume that they were undoubtedly slammed, and that everyone was experiencing the same issues that your party was. There's a reason that professional food critics often go to a restaurant on no less than three separate occasions before writing a review, and none of them are usually within the first couple of weeks of service: it's because they know that those first couple/few weeks of a restaurant's operations are not representative of what service at that restaurant will actually be like once the initial craziness dies down.

I've got a few friends that work at R&J's, and I've told them that I won't even be coming in until a month is passed, because I know that's when service will be more even-keeled.

They actually weren't slammed at all, we were one of 2 tables on the patio, and it was never full while we were there. There were open tables inside as well.

[Pete]

They have posted a lot of photos of dishes on their Facebook page and seem to be updating it pretty regularly now with specials and the like.

It all looks very good. Can't wait to try it.

[Teo9969]

The service on the night that I went was atrocious and absolutely flabbergasting. The place is super super small and was by no means packed. There were 2 bartenders and at least 1 server if not 2, plus managers. We sat around for, and this is not an exaggerated number, 30-45 minutes before getting a round of drinks, which we incidentally had to order twice...

There couldn't have been 40 people on the premises and nobody was eating. It was as if they had to go back to the 50s to get the ingredients. These resembled a full on choke rather than hiccups.

I'd love to hear the explanation as to why, but I'm gonna tell you now, there wouldn't be an acceptable one.

[OkieBerto]

The food dude Dave Chathey had an interview with the guys. I am sure this will end up a great spot, but it won't be for everyone. I think that is kind of the point.

Interview with Food Dude

[kevinpate]

Maybe someone needs to have a yak, a shout and then an obligatory hug from Taggart?

[Urbanized]

I've now had an after-work beer there and a lunch (beef stroganoff). Both times the service was friendly and prompt. The Old Style was cold and bubbly and the stroganoff (and cocktail weenies) were hot and tasty. The interior was as if the bar at Junior's and the HiLo had a baby. Except for the missing odor of stale cigarette smoke, it could have been there for 50 years. It is a hole-in-the-wall in the best possible way (as opposed to a dive bar, which it most certainly is NOT). So far, I'm a total fanboy.

[Rover]

Ate there Friday night. Had a short wait.

Had the Stroganoff. It was okay, not great. Noodles were a little too chewy. I'll go back to support them.but I hope the food is a little better next time.

[Chadanth]

The service on the night that I went was atrocious and absolutely flabbergasting. The place is super super small and was by no means packed. There were 2 bartenders and at least 1 server if not 2, plus managers. We sat around for, and this is not an exaggerated number, 30-45 minutes before getting a round of drinks, which we incidentally had to order twice...

There couldn't have been 40 people on the premises and nobody was eating. It was as if they had to go back to the 50s to get the ingredients. These resembled a full on choke rather than hiccups.

I'd love to hear the explanation as to why, but I'm gonna tell you now, there wouldn't be an acceptable one.

We had the same experience. At least I know it wasn't just me.