Uncle Jack's Meat House — Restaurant in Duluth

Not great.

Service was fine, no issues there. Portions were also good.

Caesar salad - the dressing wasn't caesar at all, no black pepper, no anchovies. Lots of pickles though - closest thing I can think of is homemade tuna salad dressing. Still tasty, and the romaine wedge was cleanly washed down to the butt of the lettuce - but a caesar in name only.

French fries - the most generic, off the rack, thin-cut, cajun orange fries that I've ever seen, besides the 200 other spots I've had the same fries. Not bad, but not my preference.

12oz prime fillet (take 1) - The largest 12oz I've ever seen (nice). Served with a shallot, skin attached but pulled artfully to the side. I ordered med-rare, and half the steak was cooked perfectly - the other half was Golden Corral levels of well done. At least 5 out of 12 oz did not have a trace of pink or moisture. Even on the part cooked correctly, there was excessive char. Normally I'd call that a plus, but the char tasted off -not like charred meat, not like charred butter or herbs - it just tasted bad.

12oz prime fillet (take 2) - Cooked perfectly, all of it - which makes the original steak even more baffling. Char also tasted fine this time - again, baffling. Shallot served skin-off this time, so I guess the first time was a mistake. Not quite as melt in your mouth as I'd expect for a Prime fillet, but at 12oz I assume there's some adjacent muscle - and it was still very tender. It was not any better than I'd expect from a steakhouse, or a number of other non-steakhouse restaurants - most of which would cost similarly or less.

Service - Ryan was great. Took my first steak back immediately, apologized for that and for my salad coming out before my food (I wanted it all at once) in a sincere way, without going over the top and making me feel uncomfortable. Most servers can't do this.

The Bill - All this came out to $80, pre-tax ($59 for the steak, $21 for everything else). The portions are great, but for the level of food, I think it's steep. A caesar salad that, while good, isn't a caesar salad. Fries that I can only assume are sysco. A steak that, while large, is AT the standard I'd expect from a real restaurant. I've had more for less, and I've also had less and paid more. Both ways, encompassing thousands of occasions, I've been more satisfied.

Management (the bill part 2) - The suggested tip on the bill is based on the total price, pre-discount. My bill included both steaks with a 'discount' of $59 for one. Having both included is fine, it's tied to inventory. I also don't mind not getting a further discount for the mistake - once noted, it was rectified immediately, and I received what I paid for. That said - having the system set up this way nearly doubled the 'suggested tip' values. I calculate tips anyways, but I can't think of a good reason to have this set-up. Is it being done intentionally to try to get people to leave larger tips? Is it being done because there's an issue with people routinely being comped food for no valid reason? Is my experience with the kitchen not uncommon? Is management too asleep at the wheel to go in and change it? I don't know, but all of those leave a bad taste in my mouth - like that char on the first steak.

In conclusion - this restaurant is Disney World. It only just meets the standard for what it's supposed to be, but it's priced like it's a couple floors up - and hyped up by my associates to standards it could never meet. I'm clearly in the minority from other reviews, and despite the deluge of text, I wouldn't say this place was completely unfair or to be avoided. The service was good and I enjoyed my meal in the end - but there's such a huge amount of dining here. Not only can get better ROI for similar fare (price and quality), but with all the other types of cuisine, the opportunity cost just...

I've always said I'd sure like to go in Jack's Meat House and try that out. Well, it was a "very rainy, hot, and way too much traffic on the road" kind of day & Jack's Meat House was a block away. So, we decided to stop in & give it a try. Upon entering we were greeted by a very nice young lady. She was quick to accommodate us without any problems. It was 4pm in the afternoon. Our waiter Stephen was very nice, pleasantly chatty & a little funny too. There was a drink on the menu called The Sweet Smoke. After reading the description of it I just had to try it & decided I wanted photos of the bartender, Perry while he created it. He fired up the "flamethrower", so to speak, & lit some wood, sprayed the inside of the glass, then placed a tumbler over the wood after the flame had been put out & smoke filled the glass. It was a pretty interesting thing to see. It was amazing! The most unique cocktail I could even think of drinking and so perfect for this kind of restaurant! Smokey, touch of sweet, tart even... Try it, if you're up for a new taste treat. I had no idea about the history or of the restauranteur that started it, its roots, etc. I had received many emails from Jack's Meat House & we decided, what the heck" let's go. I had no preconceived notions or expectations. There were many selections of meat to be had, sandwiches which were pub-like & very very generous. The appetizers were also very interesting; everything from lamb lollipops to eggplant rings. We opted for the charred octopus. You never know with octopus whether it's going to be rubbery, chewy, have correct flavor profiles & seasoning, all of that.. This was wonderful, perfectly charred, perfectly seasoned, & not rubbery at all. It was quite delicious. After our appetizer, we ordered salads. I had a wedge Caesar salad which, as it is named was a "wedge Caesar salad" with romaine hearts. LOL. My date had the beet salad. I've seen these in a lot of other restaurants, very popular right now. I have never opted for beets for the obvious reasons. I tasted his, it was absolutely amazing. I wish I had gotten that! Beets, with a perfect mixture of goat cheese, balsamic and other ingredients; the perfect taste profile & we enjoyed it very much. Something very interesting about the salad that the waiter pointed out was that it was constructed to look like land. Sounds strange I know, but if your waiter explains it, you will totally get it. The puree at the bottom, landscaping of the beats, the frisee lettuce on top, it looks like a perfect landscape. Now, down to the important thing, the meat! There are very many selections to choose from, from Prime to Choice & priced accordingly. We decided on a 20oz ribeye &, because it was 20 oz, we shared it. We ordered it medium-rare. The sides are sharing sides, so we ordered mushrooms that we thought would coordinate beautifully with the steak. We received the steak, & after taking my photos, cut into it, and it was pure perfection. Beautifully seared on each side, no overwhelmed seasonings whatsoever & just an amazing piece of meat. The chef allowed the meat to speak for itself. They also had a beautifully roasted head of garlic on the plate & a charred onion. We split all that up too & created our own little perfect plates. All I can say, is that I probably could HAVE eaten that 20oz steak all by myself! It's a good thing we decided to share. LOL All in all, it was a great experience & if I had to say that they needed to do anything at all, it would be, make it a little cooler in there, especially since it was an extremely hot, humid and rainy day, & always put some kind of coasters or napkins underneath the drinks to accommodate for compensation. I hate finding my arm in a wet puddle.

We will definitely...

Let me start out by saying we went on Valentines day at 6pm, so I get it was busy-ish so some of the issues I can attribute to that. However, being a "Meat house" when both proteins are incorrectly prepared something's wrong.

I had been talking about wanting to go to Uncle Jacks Meat House for months and was very excited to try their 100 day dry aged ribeye. Against my better judgement, I made reservations for Valentines day, and upon arrival we were seated immediately. Our server Steven was prompt and polite and helped explain some questions we had. For V-day they had a special 3 course menu option on top of their normal menu. The Wife and I both decided on that since ordering a $180+ steak (100day dry aged) on a busy night in a place we've never tried before seemed risky.

Wife: Lobster bisque, colorado style filet topped with "crab" with mashed pots, crispy brussels. Me: Ahi tuna, NY strip topped with foie gras with crispy red pots and asparagus. Shared deserts of Tres Leches, red velvet cake, chocolate mousse, cake pops

The Lobster bisque came to our table 6 minutes before the spoon to eat it with did, and was really more of a coconut milk bisque with 2 bits of fried lobster. The seasoning on the filet was good. I like a bloody steak, but my wife is a more medium-medium rare type person. Her filet was so rare in the middle, that I would have sent it back too. The lobster on top was the worst thing of the night. It tasted like what I imagine the crab legs you get from the All you can eat asian buffet taste like. The sides were great, but when they brought her steak back out, as expected they gave her new sides. The new brussels sprouts were different than the original plate. These had some pieces of bacon scattered throughout. Which is good, but the first plate of brussels didn't so it was a little alarming until we looked back at the menu and saw that was intentional. Also, once they brought the steak out it was still under cooked, but we weren't there trying to be jerks and she just ate around the parts that were a bit on the blue side.

Ahi tuna was basic, served cold on a bed of hoisin sauce with some brunoise veg and seaweed salad. My NY strip was cooked to a perfect medium, but I ordered it a medium rare. In order to not make waves I didn't bother sending it back, but regretted this decision as I ate because there was a prominent vein of gristle and silver skin running through it on one side. This is probably due to them not wanting to remove any of the trimmings from the ny strip so they can give less quality meat and save $$. I didn't notice this until I was 2/3rds done with the meal and at that point it wasn't worth it. The foie gras was so small I actually asked the waiter "isn't this supposed to come with something on top" it took him a second to find it as well. Crispy red potatoes were great and asparagus was, well... it was just chopped asparagus on a plate pretty hard to screw up the cut on something.

Deserts: the cake was soaking wet. I know bakers may use a little simple syrup to make sure their cakes are not dry, but this was literally wet. In fact the wife has a texture complex with soggy bread and just from looking at the piece of cake on her spoon made her put it down saying "I'm not going to like this". Cake pops were nothing special, but not bad, mousse was good, but it was the smallest thing...