Chicken N Pickle - St. Charles — Restaurant in Missouri

This place is chaotic.

Very scenic with a playful and colorful atmosphere. It's a really big venue with multiple locations including bars, restaurant, indoor and outdoor games. Very confusing and little to no direction with multiple entrances.

Saw a sign that said SEATING UPSTAIRS and got a gorgeous view. No tables were cleared off. They had trash, dirty plates, and food scraps as if they had no busser. No signs saying WAIT TO BE SEATED or any other directive. We cleared a table ourselves and sat down. After waiting 20 minutes (and no staff acknowledging us at all even though staff were walking by everywhere) we approached someone and asked how to order food. They told us to go downstairs to the FOOD WINDOW.

We went down and found a long line of people waiting to order. It was very cafeteria style. It looked like a fast food counter, but you can't wait there for your food. Large signs saying CARD ONLY and that it was a no cash place. They swipe your card BEFORE you order (so you can open a tab, which was not communicated at all. I wondered why I got no receipt and thought maybe it would arrive with the food. Again, nothing communicated. )

I ordered the pickled chicken sandwich with tots while my friend ordered a burger with fries. They had table numbers with GPS so they can track where you are seated (which is genius! If only you could order from your phone and facilitate things for staff and customers.)

We then waited 35 minutes for our food. Although the burger and sandwich were good and appropriately priced for the area, the sides were lacking. My tots had absolutely no flavor, and my guest stated her fries were very bland as well with hardly any salt and no seasoning. They also only gave one packet of ketchup for two plates of food.

We could see the kitchen staff literally running around, and all the staff seemed to be red in the face from running around. There's no doubt in my mind they worked very hard. Which again just makes me question the systems in use.

We also heard guests asking each other "how did you order your food?" Which furthered the idea that we weren't the only ones confused by the set up.

I also saw more than one table leave after waiting for a server because they didn't understand you had to go order your food.

Then to close the tab we had to find an employee. You have to WAIT IN LINE at any of the registers to close your tab. So I waited in line at the store to close my tab from the restaurant. This proved difficult and tedious. I could have closed my tab when I ordered my food and been done. Then the printer malfunctioned. She said I could wait for the manager if we wanted the receipt but we didn't need it unless we wanted to tip. I'm not sure who the tip would go to since we ordered in the restaurant, got drinks at the bar, but then paid in the store and was waited on by no one.

This place was trying to be a resort instead of a restaurant or bar.

The drinks were tasty, although weak for the price. Value overall was decent for what we got in terms of the food but still sub par on flavor. This seems like a fun place to come play games and have drinks but absolutely not a restaurant by any means.

If they changed a few of the ways they organized things this would be 4 or 5 stars. Way too much confusion and work...

This is our third time visiting Chicken & Pickle, and I wanted to make sure I gave them a fair review before sharing my thoughts.

Overall, it’s a pretty good place to spend an evening. They have a lot of free activities like life-sized battleship, ping pong, and cornhole. The pickleball court reservations are easy to make and priced reasonably. I also like that they have free UFC fight nights for those over 21.

We usually eat, drink, hang out with friends, and have a couple of drinks each time we visit. The only thing that Chicken & Pickle always seems to miss is the quality and speed of their food and drink service. I was really reluctant to give them a 4-star rating, but the shortcomings mentioned really should have put them at a 3-star rating.

PARKING: NO STARS. This place has the worst parking lot I’ve ever seen. We had to park in a public parking spot about 2 blocks away that felt very unsafe to leave our cars unattended.

10/19/24: On my birthday, I showed up for a gathering with family and friends. I saw a larger table open up, so I went over to reserve it. The previous guests had left their dishes and mess all over the table (which is understandable since the staff is supposed to come by and tidy up for the next group). But it took the staff 8 minutes just to come by and check on us. Then when I asked to have it cleaned, it took another 20 minutes for a staff member to fully remove the dishes that I had personally gathered up for them because I had guests coming shortly. The waiter also never wiped down the table.

Once my friends and family started arriving, we were able to reserve another table behind us. But sadly, the staff NEVER cleaned the table, even after we finished eating. This is pretty normal being the third time we’ve visited. They’re always well-staffed, but they don’t seem to be very motivated.

Here are some things I liked about our visit:

The food was really good for the price. The drinks were a fairly priced but hardly any alcohol per drink. Tasted more like fruit juice. The reservation for the pickleball court went great, and we all had a blast playing. The waitress at the indoor court area was super friendly and even wished me a happy birthday with a high five and a hug! That was so sweet of them. It definitely made my day and helped me give this place an extra star.

Overall, I’d highly recommend Chicken and Pickle as a fun family spot for all ages. We’ll definitely...

The primary draw at Chicken N Pickle are the games, which include Pickleball of course, Cornhole, Ping Pong, Battleship, Bocce, and Jenga. Unlike some of their other locations in this chain restaurant/bar, there is no shuffleboard. Being a senior that plays shuffleboard year round, it's a shame that the designers omitted this fun sport here. Shuffleboard is not just for old geezers like me. In fact, New York's Royal Palms, which features shuffleboard with their restaurant and bar, did so well that they opened a 2nd one in Chicago. It's mostly populated by young people, so I think Chicken N Pickle missed an opportunity here to broaden their potential market. I was at this location May 2nd, to compete in the Cornhole event of the St. Charles Golden Games. I returned on May 17th with my wife and a friend to try their food, so let's move on to that discussion. The staff were above average. When we entered the building housing the restaurant and bar, we were greeted by a lovely older woman who explained the layout of the complex, as well as where and how to order our meal. We were told once we placed the order we could go anywhere in the building or outside to sit and wait for the food. They give you a large plastic number that apparently has a homing device for the wait staff. The three of us ordered and went outside and sat down at one of the tables. We waited about 10 minutes and then a waitress appeared with our food. My wife ordered the chicken Quesadilla, our friend ordered the Country Fried Chicken sandwich, with sweet potato fries, and I ordered the Skinny Cobb salad. My salad was inundated with blue cheese to the point where it dominated and drowned out the flavors of the rest of the salad. I only finished half of it. My wife gave me part of her chicken Quesadilla and it was crisp and flavorful. I wish I had ordered that. Our friend said her Country Fried Chicken sandwich was good, so lunch only gets 3 stars from me, based on the salad I sampled, but the other two dishes were good. It's a fun atmosphere, and I believe the only sport you pay for is Pickleball, with everything else being free. I would return sometime, but I won't order another salad. Too bad they didn't include...