Skinny J's — Restaurant in Jonesboro

I don’t typically treat myself to a night out and I was quite excited to grab some food and drinks downtown so my crew decided to go to Skinny J’s. We order drinks, appetizers and our entrees and wait. It took a little bit to get appetizers and drinks (nothing major at all and normal time frame for restaurants). We had a drink (key lime pie) that wasn’t prepared the way that it’s described like missing the rim and wedge but it wasn’t a big deal as they were busy and we moved on. My drink (grape popsicle or something) was great.

Here’s where things get wonky.

I ordered the Spinach Arti-Chicken with Garlic Mashed Potatoes - $23 meal.

My crew ordered a burger w fries and the other a veggie burger w sweet potato fries.

We waited over an hour to get our meals. When they got brought to the table my $23 spinach artichicken just looked disappointing. The presentation looked pitiful and overall didn’t look like it was a $23 meal. However, regardless of that I’m a big fan of food and won’t judge too harshly on appearance as long as the flavor is killer! It was not…My chicken was tough…very tough and my potatoes were cold and appeared like they had been out for a bit.

My crew had a burger patty size that was tiny compared to the bun and had messy presentation. The other was missing ingredients that come with the veggie burger and got very few sweet potato fries.

At this point after waiting for so long to get the food we didn’t feel like saying “hey, this seems off” bc we didn’t want to wait another hour. We did ask for some of the things missing from their orders and again understood they were busy but were disappointed.

On top of all this, I love live music. However I’m not a fan of being seated in a spot where the speaker is directly behind my head. (To be clear, we weren’t under the impression there was going to be a band upon entering). Anyway, having the speaker directly behind my head (I’m not lying about the location lol the artist asked if we could hop out of our seats to turn on the speakers) ruins the environmental experience of live music and enjoying time with friends.

Interestingly in the spot they put us we were able to watch other tables have frustrations. I’m unsure of what was going on but it really killed the fun friday night experience and I hate to say that.

If anything maybe it was just a really off day. I hope things get better as I’ll give it a shot another time but I won’t be at SJ’s...

Grimy downtown setting on the north end of Main St. with torn chair seats, filthy floor and bathrooms, well-below-average food at well-above-average prices. Regular "sides" are not vegetables, but rather all starches. Premium sides are $3.00 each. That's $3.00 for a cup of canned green beans with (seriously) 2 heaping tablespoons of chopped garlic. Baked potato loaded came with no real butter (buttery flavored spread) and no real bacon bits (obvious soy based bacon chips), no cheese, no chives, and two squeeze packs of (thankfully) real sour cream. Better condiments at any Captain D's. Server dropped my steak (8 oz. eye of sirloin, soaked in a soy-based marinade, with the aforementioned green beans and baked potato), along with girlfriend's loaded nachos (actually pretty good), left us no silverware. He disappeared. As our food is getting cold, I got up from the table and walked over to the bar where I asked 4 idle servers, who were standing together doing nothing but talking, could I please have some silverware. They grudgingly gave me the silverware wrapped in a single small paper napkin. The silverware consisted of a fork. I had to ask for a steak knife. Total indifference by the wait staff. To his credit, our server, Kaylon, checked the table multiple times while we were eating. He cheerfully exchanged the garlic-covered green beans for a serving of broccoli which was cooked perfectly, well-steamed and fresh. He was very prompt with the check. Unfortunately for him, poor food, and the grimy surroundings do not do anything to support his attentiveness. There are many, many better choices in Jonesboro. I would give Skinny J's 'zero' stars, and my recommendation is that you should steer clear, as far away as...

This spot attracts you with the location of historical downtown Jonesboro. Very nice atmosphere, love the old brick that they kept and the whole ambiance of the place. What do I miss? The old Skinny’s. 2025 Skinny’s is NOT IT! We used to love coming to Skinny’s, but the quality of their food and menu selection has rapidly went downhill over the years. I thought the “no potatoes until after 5” would eventually change, because I can get one at Outback or Lorado Grill any time before that allotted time frame. Never have understood it! Their fries are good, only if they cook them thoroughly and not giant chunks. Many things were taken off the menu, and I don’t understand why they would take off crowd favorites. It reminds me of the Pasta and Sandwich debacle at their other restaurant that sat next to them—Eleanor’s. They took off pasta, sandwiches, and slices (yes, you could order by the slice!!!) Pasta was amazing and so were the sandwiches and pizza. But they didn’t think so—took it off the menu! When I discovered this, I walked out. That’s what I went there for! Not to mention others were not pleased about the decision. Shortly after, Eleanor’s closes down. Not a shocker to me. Tried out Uncle Taco to give it another go—maybe this would be it?? No!!! Don’t even know what they were thinking when they opened that place. Oh, but it’s no longer open anymore if that tells you something!!! Stop trying to open new restaurants and work on Skinny’s!! The OG! Listen to your customers! Add back crowd favorites! Stop lacking on the food quality (whoever the cook is in the back!) Bring potatoes (baked) ALL DAY! Or at least starting at lunch and not at DINNER!!! Craziest thing ever that this is still in place years...