JILLIAN'S, EAT-DRINK-PLAY!! It's a good FUN choice.
Written: Jul 11 '04 (Updated Aug 02 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: There's a lot to do at Jillian's and it is fun and recommended.
Cons: I wasn't happy with the Hibachi Grill but will try it again.
The Bottom Line: Jillian's is as much a destination as a restaurant. Stick with it as a destination and you will have fun.
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| popsrocks's Full Review: Jillian's |
The following review blends our experience at Jillian's on two different nights. I have been there a few other times too.
On our first visit we played games and ate at the Hibachi Grill. The next time I had returned with my two daughters and my wife then we tried the Video Cafe.
My two youngest daughter 15 and 16 made good on their Fathers Day gift of taking me out to dinner. At this time of year, Summer, I would usually suggest one of the more than twenty outdoor restaurants on the canal near our home. We just finished visiting my oldest daughter who gave birth to my third straight grand daughter. We decided to go out and have some fun celebrating while my wife continued visiting at the hospital.
The MANY FACES Of JILLIAN'S
Jillian's is a terrific fun place with many attractions under one roof. Outside their doors and on much of their stationary are the words Eat-Drink-Play. Once inside you will understand what the words mean, There are about thirty five of these places from the east to west coast. There are two on Long Island. The one in Farmingdale of which I am writing is the larger of the two.
A LOT Of FUN UNDER ONE ROOF
As you enter Jillian's the doorman opens the door for you. I've never entered without one of these guys doing the honors. A warm welcome is always given. Once inside you start to realize the immense size of the place. This is a fun place that caters to the younger crowd of up to 21 until about 10PM when the place is basically cleared of unattended youth under the legal drinking age. It then puts on a different face in some of its clubs. The game rooms remain the same. You just start seeing older faces playing the same exciting games. The place has a lot to offer. But this is a restaurant review so I must be less detailed on this part of the review.
It has a 12 Lane Bowling Alley that is in its own room with dim lighting and music so loud you have to yell at each other to hear. That's not just me, a 50 something ol' guy, saying that. My daughters, who also hang out here with their friends agreed. I was just back again last night and the volume was perfect. It was festive yet you could easily talk to each other.
The bowling alley is right off the AMAZING GAME ROOM that has hundreds, yes hundreds, of video games and such including about ten lanes of Virtual Bowling , many linked car races, and high tek vid games that are out of my league. We spent about a half hour before dinner playing games. I came in last place in a simulated driving race that I did against my two daughters, and that was without having an alcoholic drink! Now I understand why they want to limit seniors driving on the road.
I happened to receive the high score of the day at Ski-ball and received enough tickets with that one win to redeem them for a Jillian's Mug.
On our second visit my daughters and I had to just about drag my wife away from the games. She was having a great time and some of the games are habit forming. We all won a good amount of tickets and turned them in for prizes. This is a great place for kids of all ages. Yes, my age too.
The 9 Ball Lounge has shuffle board and many pool tables in a nicely lighted area. Some smaller private party rooms are also in the place. One is named the Groove Shack I did some entertainment work in there fairly recently. It's set up as a party room with a raised DJ booth, and an atmosphere with lights and a bar, soft drinks or alcoholic depending on the age of the crowd, that was quite conducive to having a good time. This room can be rented for private parties.
Another room that is open on weekends for the older crowd is the Blue Cat Room that features Jazz and Blues played in the later hours.
Centered in the middle of all these choices are two places you can get some food to eat. The Video Cafe offers Burgers salads, Bar-B-Q items, wings and much more. The usual sports bar fare is offered and the little bit I saw of it looked good. I have worked in this place before and I had one of their burgers and it was very good as were the fries that came with them. We did have dessert in there after our dinner this day.
UPDATE
Though I am getting ahead of myself by time line, I did want to tell you about our second and more current visit of Jillian's. We opted for the Video Grill. This is an open room with a sports bar theme to it. It is broken up into two sections. One side boasted a busy bar with some tables. The other side was an open area with many large monitors showing sports. The place is noisy but hey, this is a sports bar and kids haven during the day.
The VIDEO CAFE
The Video Cafe is a fun place to enjoy some food. They have some good appetizers. We shared what they called a 9 Ball. It had a mix of Mozzerela stix, chicken wings, chicken fillets, onion rings and nacho chips with a few sauces. We also had the spinach dip that was excellent.
My wife and I had Long Island Iced Tea to drink. They had their own Jillian Tea that I tried. They make it with a Peach Schnapps. A bit too sweet for me but when I had a regular Long Island Iced Tea asking to leave that stuff out, I found it was a good drink. I also liked that they didn't load the glass up with ice.
The four of us asked to share their Oriental Salad. This can be ordered as a meal. It was a perfect mix of textures and wonderful flavors.
The entrees are varied. One of my girls had a Bar-B-Q Burger that comes with a huge order of fries. She liked it. My other daughter had some kind of burger too. It looked good. No leftovers for me though. She ate every bit of it.
My wife and I took our waiter Dave's suggestion of a strip steak. It was very tender and cooked just right to my order. It was also big enough to satisfy this large fellow. This came with a garlic mashed that my wife claimed to be the best she ever had anywhere. She said they used red potatoes. I agreed with her that the 'taters sure were good. Some perfectly cook veggies came with the dish too. This went for about $19.00.
On our first visit my two daughters and I shared one piece of chocolate pie that was piled high and was excellent at $4.99 for the slice. It was made to be shared. We had just come from having dinner in the next room at Jillian's Hibachi Grill.
On our second visit, we had room for dessert and the four of us were well taken care of by waiter Dave who gave us some direction on what he felt were good suggestions. For dessert we enjoyed a most delicious Cheese Cake and once again shared that piled high chocolate pie. They have a kids ice cream that my wife talked our waiter into serving to her. Actually the guy was quite accommodating and the staff was very friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and professional.
The restrooms in Jillian's are roomy and very clean.
HIBACHI GRILL
This eatery in the middle of all the fun stuff is designed to keep the party atmosphere going. This is an east meets west Japanese/American eating experience. If you ever have eaten at Benihana's Japanese restaurants then you know the style of artful group cooking that was to come. Add that to a more western style decor of 50's, 60's and 70's movie and music memorabilia on the walls ceilings and overhead vents, rock and roll music coming through speakers and the entertainer/chefs who are not Japanese but black, white, and very American fellows and you'll understand my east/west comparison.
Our chef greeted us with a VERY warm welcome and started on a humorous tone immediately. He joked around with everyone and gave some sampling of his great talents, well maybe not so great talents and skills, at maneuvering a serving fork and spatula in the air above the cooking surfaces. He did mention his insurance policy is up to date and I did count his fingers before he began. They were all there.
We were seated 8 people at our table. It's done family style. The cooking area/table can hold up to ten. The chef took his position and let us read the very limited menu items. Choices were
Scallops
Shrimp
Chicken
New York Steak, (they were out of it)
Filet Mignon
all come with grilled vegetables and white or brown rice at about $9.99
Combinations of the meats and fish could be had at $16.99-$19.99.
The SHOW
After a long wait, while he went into the kitchen to get the main ingredients of our meals, he brought out a platter that had the makings of our soon to be prepared meals. While he was gone another worker came and took drink orders. These are not included in the price.
Our Chef returned and he started doing some flips twirls and spins of the fork and spatula. He was OK at it but was far from some of the very talented Japanese I have seen do this art. Our guy made a lot of noise by banging these utensils on the stainless steel cooking surface and the overhead venting system, but didn't present many great moves. I must however give him credit in that he never made a miss in any of the moves he did.
Anyways, he started out by dumping a platter of white rice on the heat and said, "lets play a game". He would take small amounts of rice, stuck together, and toss them into the mouths of his guests. We happened to have some young gals, 17-21 that were quite entertained by these antics and the laughter was contagious. He did some flips to my daughters but the fact is one of them wanted no part of it all. The majority of people did play "the game" and seemed to enjoy it. People that are in the other parts of Jillian's can see the show as they walk by. Some stop to watch.
The FOOD
He cooked up the rice and gave it out to all. At this same time he was cooking the meats and fish. I was the only one who ordered scallops. When he was cooking it and I saw the portion, I mentioned that he must have left some in the kitchen to which he answered that he had actually brought extra. I wasn't happy with the portion sizes.
The flavor of the scallops was mostly of fresh lemon he squeezed just before serving it to me. I don't care for a strong lemon taste on my scallops and I wasn't even given an option. The Filet Mignon was OK, nothing special.
Drinks and dessert are all extra. The meal did come with a salad that was permeated with ginger and cilantro. Also given is a shrimp dumpling soup that had one small dumpling, I couldn't find the shrimp. The broth was the taste of seawater with ginger.
The presentation was poor, the amount of food was barely adequate, and the taste was poor.
IN CLOSING
I had met the manager this last time I was at Jillian's. I had to let him know about my experience at the Hibachi Grill a while back. The fellow Dave was terrific and showed he really cared about what I had to say. While we were eating at the Video Grill he brought over and introduced me to the new manager of the Hibachi Grill who assured us that changes were being made for the better. Dave, the manager of Jillian's, also was kind enough to give my daughters a stuffed animal each and a little free play in the game room.
After meeting the managers I am now planning at having another go at the Hibachi Grill. It was their effort of showing they care that has prompted me to do so.
All in all this is a great place to take the kids and also come out at night when the place changes to a more adult atmosphere. The truth however is that we all become kids of a sort playing our games and eating some good fare at the Video Cafe.
I can now suggest you follow the words on the sign outside the doors. EAT-DRINK-PLAY. You will have a good time.
Long Island So much to see and do
More chain eateries by popsrocks
Applebee's / Romano's MACARONI GRILL / KFC / OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE / Wendy's
OUTBACK Restaurant / Cozymel's / Cheesecake Factory / McDonald's / Taco Bell
/ Checkers Burgers / Red Lobster / The White Castle / TGI Friday's / Charlie Browns / Burger King / Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips / Dunkin' Donuts / / Ralph's Famous Ices / Cold Stone Creamery / Boulder Creek Steakhouse / Waffle House / Krispy Kreme / Friendlies / Nathan's / Jillian's
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