C.J. Mugg's - Clayton — Restaurant in Clayton

After years of walking past CJ Mugg’s in Clayton, we finally gave it a shot—and now I wish I had kept walking.

Our server was fantastic, no complaints there. She was doing her best in a place that felt like it had given up. We got our soup and salad before the entrées, which is great… except the entrées took over 30 minutes to show up. For a weekday lunch in a business-heavy area, that’s way too long to sit around wondering if the kitchen lost our ticket.

I ordered the French dip, expecting something warm, cheesy, and flavorful. What I got was dry roast beef on a plain toasted bun—no cheese, no seasoning. Even the au jus was bland. It was the kind of sandwich that makes you nostalgic for Arby’s, and that should never happen. and I love French dips and Cuban sandwiches!!! If we go to a restaurant and that’s on the menu, that’s what I’m getting. My coworker’s $20 pizza looked like a sad frozen dinner, and my boss’s melt was the best-looking plate by default—but still nothing to write home about.

The vibe? Equally disappointing. The place was dead quiet when we walked in. No music, no energy. A Cardinals game was playing on two TVs behind the bar, which is fine—until the game ended and they left the post-game show on like it was prime entertainment. Who does that? I’ve been to dive bars and hole-in-the-wall taverns with more life in them. And that’s saying something.

This spot seems to coast on location and routine foot traffic, but if you actually care about flavor or atmosphere, this probably isn’t your place. Judging by other reviews, I’m definitely not alone in this opinion.

We dropped about $80 for three people, and none of us left satisfied. Next time we’ll try the pizza spot down the block. CJ Mugg’s?...

Let me start by saying that our service was fantastic! We had a wonderful server that got us to a table quickly. She brought us some fresh rolls and some sweet potato fries as an appetizer and they were an amazing way to start a meal.

C.J. Mugg’s has a pretty expansive menu with a little bit of everything, and the menu can be a little daunting if you don’t know what you’re in the mood for. It’s the only place I know of where you can get Pad Thai, Pizza, Jambalaya and Tacos all on the same menu. I personally gravitated toward pizza, and I tried the wild mushroom pizza. Their pizza is made with a very thin crust and if you get topping with a lot of moisture prepare for floppiness. The flavor was pretty good, but the goat cheese on top could probably stand to be added after baking the pizza. The heat removed all the moisture from the cheese and changed the consistency and flavor pretty heavily. I don’t think this reflects on the rest of the pizzas or any of the other dishes for that matter, but if the description doesn’t sound like something you’re into, then I would pick a different dish. I will probably lean more toward sandwiches, burgers or the pub fare on the menu next time. My wife tried the salmon salad and it’s a pretty big portion. I tried some and the biggest flavor came from the salmon. It was a chilled fillet and was more on the fishy side than I was expecting. Chilled fillets tend to have a more fishy flavor, but I was thinking the blue cheese, candied walnuts and red onions would help mask it. The ingredients all seemed to be competing, as they’re all bold flavors.

We’ll definitely be back to try some of the other menu items, and I’ll update the review once I have some...

DELIVERY GRADE: F (Previous F-) DELIVERY DRIVERS: KNOW YOUR RIGHTS. You do NOT have to SIGN a receipt that does not belong to you (sign a blank piece of paper). If a restaurant has you sign a customers receipt (it will say tip+total)... Do not do it! It is not worth getting scammed over. This has been reported to rideshare platforms. Avoid until restaurant comes up with new confirmation protocol. Update: Restaurant owner J* refused to listen or hear other options for confirmation. Delivery drivers: will update if restaurant changes protocol. As of now, the manager at the bar and the owner, have been very rude and I am disturbed how they treat their drivers. Avoid at all costs. Bar tender A* is also very rude. Update #2: This has been escalated and marked for resolution. The restaurants delivery grade will change when their protocol for signing customer receipts is eliminated and/or another confirmation process has been agreed on. Oh, and the Bartender A** eats behind the counter. So unsanitary and gross. Update #3: Restaurant declines to change protocol and has even been giving the wrong orders to rideshare drivers. Also, based on other reviews on Google, this is an ongoing problem. I am having our rideshare teams attempt to disconnect the restaurant at this time for their absolute failure to Deliver food with any sort of value. Owner still declines calls from Rideshare Driver's Quality Control of St Louis. AVOID at all costs. Update #4: Restaurant now allows drivers to sign blank paper BUT while picking up an order, the Bartender A** started brushing her HAIR over the takeout orders. DISGUSTING. Remains 1 star for...