5-8 Tavern & Grill

I stopped by in the middle of the afternoon. Was greeted with a «Please seat yourself» sign. That’s fine. I had to decide if I wanted to sit on the restaurant side or the bar side. I chose the restaurant side. There were quite a few tables ready and a corner booth that would be ignorant of me to seat at since I was dining alone. One booth was empty but not cleared off yet. I chose that one. I waited for a few minutes and the waitress came by and asked for a beverage order and cleared the table. Ordered my beverage and started to check out my new phone and the features it has for us Foodies. My beverage was quickly brought to me and I was asked for my order. I had not yet checked out the menu, so I said I need a few minutes.
I looked over the menu and it did not take me long to decide on their signature Juicy Lucy. I chose pepperjack for the cheese. They also give you a choice of American, Bleu or Swiss cheese… Sides were coleslaw and choice of fries or carrot sticks. Who would order carrot sticks with a burger? If you want to eat healthy, Ok, but put the carrot sticks on a salad and really eat healthy. Don’t pretend!!! Appropriate sides for burgers are fries, chips or onion rings. I chose the fries.
While my burger was being prepared, I was checking out the camera features of my new phone. Pretty decent camera to me for a phone that I paid nearly nothing for. Not being very knowledgeable with camera features, it seems I got everything I need. I took a few pictures of my beverage. Tried taking pictures of the menu, but the feature to zero in on menus and be able to read it clearly, I do not have or can’t figure out how to use it.
My basket of the burger, fries and sample of coleslaw was delivered. Typical plastic basket lined with green/​white checkered food paper. The waitress must have told the cook, dude is taking pics so set it up correctly. The basket was presented to me just as you see in the pic. Bun offset from the burger a little. I got a few pics and decided I waited the suggested few minutes before digging in. Placed the top bun properly for eating.
Diameter wise, this looks like a small burger. But it’s not. It’s 1″ thick of fresh ground beef. The menu doesn’t say how much, but I will guess 7 – 8 oz of glorious beef. No lettuce, tomato, onion to fluff it up a bit to seem like a thick burger. Couple of thin pickle slices. But they got squashed into the bun to hide them from making the burger seem thicker.
My first bite was disappointing. Nice gooey cheese oozed out. But it was on the opposite side of my first bite, so it oozed out on my fries. Nothing wrong with cheesy fries, but I think at least for pic purposes, the cheese oozing out the edge of the burger should have been visible to me as presented. Maybe the cook needs to take a food styling class :-)
After my disappointment, I did enjoy the burger. I did enjoy the cheesy fries I got, for no extra charge. I think they even put in a pickled Jalapeño inside the burger. I got a nice kick from a bite. I have had pepperjack cheese before, but never have considered it spicy. This had a nice spicy bite to it in 1 or 2 bites.
The fries were decent fresh cut fries. Seasoned lightly with salt. I had my own seasoning that I used. The coleslaw was good, but wow, have you ever seen such a small serving of coleslaw? I have not.
I now have tried a Juicy/​Jucy Lucy from 3 places around this town. Yes, they are nice burgers. Unique, but do not give me that WOW sensation.

My favorite burger place! Service is always great. Good chicken too!!! I hope someday soon you guys do the mini lucys again. ;)

Currently here as I write this review… Normally I would write it after returning home, however I have had my plate cleared away and have been waiting for my tab for SOO flipping long I figured I’d get out my Unilocal.The food sucked. I was craving a juicy, well cooked burger, and what I got was a charred burger that was bone dry and seemed to have been cooked days earlier and reheated and thrown in a basket with some stale fries. But whatever. I just got done with work, I was hungry and that point I would have eaten just about anything. Our waitress Tinelle, was so non-​attentive. And she lacked customer service skills majorly. Should not be a waitress. Why? Well as I just mentioned. But also, this chick took so long to bring out our tab so we could leave. We actually witnessed her talking on her phone. While I kept inching my empty water glass closer and closer to the edge of the table on hopes for a refill. Basically, everything tonight here sucked. Not coming back. I’ll miss the cheesecurds.

This was by far the best burger I’ve had in 25 years of life I was only in town for two weeks and ate here 3 times and even took a burger for the flight home excellent service excellent food and best of all a a friendly price gonna miss this place but if I’m ever in Adair Paul again this will be my first stop!!!

Rude snotty bar tender women. Very poor service. Would not recommend. Burger was great.

While coming in here with high expectations or whatever I found the burger itself and the cheese really bland. Both burgers we tried were less than desirable in taste and flavor. The beers and the service were great, just not a fan of their juicy Lucy burgers.

Ordered the bacon cheeseburger for takeout and I was disappointed. I thought Culver’s has way better burgers. The bun was plain and not great, the cheeseburger itself was decent but nothing amazing and nothing that would make me go back again. The fries were also over cooked. Who wants hard fries? definitely not me. So if you want an average burger and some nasty hard fries i suggest this place.

The food here is okay, but the service is ridiculously slow. When you walk in, there’s a sign to seat yourself. There’s nothing wrong with this concept, and maybe they’re purposefully going for that whole laid back vibe, which is fine. But if your restaurant is going to have a seat yourself system, then your waitstaff need to be constantly aware of who’s coming in, which is where this place fails. You’re going to be waiting a while for someone to take your order.
I am a big fan of the whole Juicy Lucy concept. Why don’t more places put the cheese inside the cheeseburger? Unfortunately, the burger I had here just was not up to par. You could barely taste any of the cheese in the middle. And the meat itself was a bit dry. I could maybe overlook both of these flaws if the food had come out in a timely manner, but we were waiting for at least forty minutes. The menu notes that the Juicy Lucy’s take longer than normal burgers, but they don’t quantify this. I certainly wouldn’t have ordered one if I knew it would take quite that long. Definitely not a place for a quick delicious meal.

First time there was good. Order a burger and it did not disappoint. I would recommend going here if you want a juicy lucy.

Came during lunch. Juicy Lucy was great! Portion was nice. Service was a tad bit slow with food coming out from the kitchen but other than no other problems. Want to come back and try a different Juicy Lucy!

Juicy Lucy with pepper jack cheese is delicious! More fries than I can ever finish. Great prices! Comes with cole slaw. Service is always prompt. A little cold inside the restaurant/​bar and the tables are a little sticky. But I like the Snoopy right outside the front door!

Good family friendly restaurant. The Juicy Lucy burger with pepper jack cheese was very good. The pepper jack is very spicy so you have to like the kick from the jalapeño. My husband and my sister ordered the Saucy Sally burger and both really enjoyed it. Napkins are required with that one. We also had JoJo potatoes which my kids loved because they had no jalapeños on them only only sour cream, bacon, cheese and a sprinkle of scallions –just right for Tweens.
To end the meal we ordered the Doughboys. I was too full to try one but my kids said they were tasty! Our waitress was very accommodating and friendly.

This place is a staple for me when I come into town to visit. The juicy Lucy is legit (go pepper Jack cheese)!

H O H U M
Now I have been here a couple times after work with a work crew, and had fun. I am pretty sure I had fun. Yeah, I had fun.
But sharing the swiss cheese juicy lucy with daughter was a tad disappointing. Sorry, but it’s the truth!!!
My absolute 7/​cranberry was ok, after 2 I did feel them a little, great after a frustrating situation.
Our server gal was on the ball, and was on the spot, and was on speed, and was on good behavior.
Our fries were mediocre.
Our cole slaw was mediocre.
Her wine was, ya, you guessed it, mediocre.
While our JL was flavorful, the cheap bun ruined it for moi. I did LOVE the visual aspect of it. That’s what a JL should look like! I made them once while in Phoenix for my friends, they had never heard of such a thing. Mine looked like the 5 – 8 burger, only with a better bun.
And, compared to Vincent’s cheese stuffed burger, this one is the WINNER! Take that, make your burger in a press, Vincent.
W I N N E R W I N N E R B U R G E R D I N N E R

Here’s a fun riddle!
What is worse to find in your Juicy Lucy: a) ample cheese plus a long black hair or b) nothing at all?
Well I have had both at 5 – 8 and I still cannot tell you the answer. All I know is I never want to find out what option c) is.
After my gag-​worthy dinner service last year, I was contacted by management. The manager was kind and apologetic, and offered me 2 vouchers for juicy lucys after the hair we found in one. Of course it took me a good year for the flashbacks and my gag reflex to cease. Unfortunately, the vouchers only exposed me worse service that brought even worse food. I felt like I was at Ed Debevic’s for a moment as the waitress literally threw our burger baskets on the table as she passed by. Every time we had contact with the sour server, my friend and I exchanged looks after like, «Did that really just happen??» And yeah, my Lucy was clearly not juicy, it was almost void of cheese, and the meat was flavorless. It came with just two sad tiny pickle slices on a dry bland bun. One additional star for management’s retroactive effort, and for that broasted chicken that didn’t suck that one time.

I’ve given the juicy Lucy two tries at the 5 – 8 at two different locations. I’m just at a loss for how this place is still in business. Both times, there was no cheese in the burger. None. How can you not toast the bun? It appears to be the 99 cent for a 12 pack buns you’d find at Cub. Cold and untoasted bun, luke warm burger without cheese, and I highly doubt it was ½ pound. No seasoning on the burger. The fries were pitiful. Frozen fries from a bag was just the last kick to the crotch. I really wanted to like the 5 – 8, but there is no possible way this place could ever be even in the same conversation at the Nook/​Shamrocks let alone Matt’s Bar. It was actually pretty sad. My daughter’s grilled cheese had one lonely piece of cheese that covered maybe half of the bread with a few potato chip crumbs on the side.
Please, I would emplore the owners of the 5 – 8 to try a real burger at the Nook/​Shamrocks. I can guarantee that they would and should close the door after seeing how it should be done and realizing just how far away they are from a good burger.

This is usually my go to place for a cold beer, great bar service from Lisa, and a hearty well cooked and flavorful meal.
I mean, I’ve been to this place at least 40 times. I couldn’t of been more disappointed. My date and I started with the fried pickles and they were so salty we can only eat about 3 to 4 each. I’m not talking about salt on top that could be wiped off, I’m talking about the batter full of salt and pickles were extremely salty. i’ve ordered this at least 20 times and loved it.
Okay, so it didn’t go good but maybe dinner will be okay. It did not.
We ordered the hamburger steak to share and the walleye fish tacos to share. The fish tacos were on a corn tortilla, there were only two to the basket, the fish was fried fish sticks, and as soon as we picked up the tortilla, it simply fell apart because it it been sitting for so long. That meal was cold.
The hamburger steak was okay, but it had a mound of onions on top of it that was probably as much weight as the hamburger steak itself. They threw the side salad for the steak on the same plate, which didn’t work so well.
So I normally have 3 to 4 beers and plenty of appetizers main dishes, and maybe even a dessert here. After one beer, we were ready to go. Melissa, our server, did her best, but they were throwing slob on plates and that’s all she had to serve.
There has to be a new management, or a new cook, or new attitude going on at this place, because it’s not the same 58 visited six months ago.
It was pathetic, and I will not go back for food here.

The Tale of Two Shittys.
My stomach rumbled as I stared longingly into Sam’s right eye hoping desperately to find some glimmer of a suggestion on where to dine. Sam gazed off into the distance, her insides moaning the sounds of imminent death as our indecision drew out during the cold winter night.
Our time drew more and more limited and our picture was to show soon. We were at our breaking point and rash decision was made out of desperation. The 5 – 8 seemed our only option left.
We seated ourselves away from the drunkards roaming aimlessly and bumping into the tables. Okay, that didn’t really happen.
We seated ourselves in a booth which luckily exhausted heat on our frozen appendages. I requested a libation that which can only warm a soul from the inside; an ice cold beer.
But, lest we not speak of the minor details only to draw out the mundane.
Let us speak of the fare
The Juicy Lucy — The burger that the 5 – 8 hold many honors. This burger straight up sucked ass. I don’t get what the rave is about. Sam W’s comment on the meat is accurate, the meat itself was very good and it did have a very beefy flavor. But, this isn’t supposed to be a fancy beef patty. This burger is supposed to be the holy grail for liquid cheese gold. This liquid cheese gold is crap. It had no flavor, it added nothing. The burger was decorated with onion but nothing of interest and surprisingly it was pretty dry. I would take a Nook or BDP burger and cram it up this juicy lucy’s butt just so something in this burger tasted like something I want to eat.
Maybe I got a bad representation of what a juicy lucy is supposed to be (I hardly can say this considering this is claimed to have been invented at a 5 – 8) or maybe I just don’t enjoy the famous stuffed combo, who knows…
Sam’s broasted chicken was exceptionally well cooked but tasted like it died from lack of seasoning. By seasoning, I mean salt. or any flavor, really. I know Sam loved it and she devoured it, but I’m still scratching my head on that one.
That’s pretty much the extent of my feelings on that trip.
One shitty down, one to go.
My grandmother loves this place and I love seeing her smile, so we brought her here for dinner.
I ordered a coffee with baileys right off the bat. I had sweet visions of rich warmth pushing the chill off from our polar vortex. Instead, though, I received essence of coffee and a baileys aftertaste. People that order coffee usually do it because, well, they like the taste of coffee. If you are one of these people, 5 – 8 does not cater to you. I think they might hate coffee here. Seriously. There’s more coffee flavor in a barista’s fart.
Yeah, I can’t believe I just said that either.
My breaded walleye basket was a disappointment from the moment I laid eyes on it. What poor fish had to suffer only to be turned into thumb sized sticks and coated in a sad and bland breading. The sides weren’t even noteworthy so I will not be noting them.
Shitty two down.
But, my friends, don’t think it’s all bad. I quite enjoyed the chili, albeit it was very spicy, so much so that my ears started burning.
And the staff are more than accommodating and give you no grief when you send something back. They are really the reason I am giving three stars instead of the pathetic 2 that I originally was going to dole out.
And so, my companion and I left the establishment no longer near deaths door. No longer at the hands of desperation. Our see globes wide as we peered toward our picture which had begun shortly thereafter.
But, deep down I could hear the faint cries of yearning. yearning for something more…
Something… tasty.

I’ve heard the chatter about this place but didn’t end up finding myself here until a few weeks ago when we took Jenny’s grandma and dad out for dinner.
They’re both big fans of the fish fry here and on that particular night, all of us ended up ordering the walleye dinner.
Truthfully, I wasn’t impressed that night. The walleye was cut into extremely tiny (think fish stick sized) pieces and it was encrusted in an inch thick casing of under-​seasoned breadcrumbs. ²⁄₁₀ would not bang.
The potato wedges were in various stages of doneness and the coleslaw was your basic deli style variety. The only thing I found myself liking about the meal that night was the price: All four of us ate for 35 bucks, drinks included.
I shrugged it off and chalked it up to a fluke. Truth be told, I’d been eyeballing a number of other items on the menu that night and I made plans to return for another stab.
As fate would have it, Jenny and I ended up here the other evening on our way to a movie.
I tried a number of things, so I’ll whip out one of my patented lists:
— «Pig Pen» Wontons:
Largely disappointing and poorly executed; they were icy in the middle and very greasy as though they’d been dropped in cold oil. Even so, I don’t believe that proper preparation would’ve helped these things out. Their description (crispy wontons filled with ground beef, cream cheese, cheddar cheese, diced pickles and bacon) sounded INFINITELY more appetizing than it ended up being. The mixture was so heavily laden with pickles that it literally tasted like tartar sauce – I failed to detect any notes of beef or bacon, even texturally speaking – and we ended up sending them back to the briny depths from whence they came.
— Chili:
I’m sort of a chili snob, I’ll admit. I have certain criteria that has to be met for me to be satisfied by a bowl, but I can be cool as long as two things are present in whatever’s in front of me:
1. Lots of well-​seasoned ground beef in substantial chunks.
2. A thicker more complex sauce.
This chili was most definitely thin. Not Wendy’s thin, of course, but it lacked any sticking power whatsoever. I actually had to ask Jenny if she had any meat in hers since I neither tasted nor visually detected any amount of it. The flavor was on the spicier end of average and was very one-​note.
Chili’s just one of those things, though, and this one wasn’t in my wheelhouse. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from trying it because it may very well be in yours.
— Jucy Lucy:
This wasn’t my meal, but I did taste it and feel compelled to leave commentary. I have no idea where they get their beef, but it packs a good amount of flavor. To put it shortly, it’s very… beefy. The way beef more than likely used to taste before the pink slime shit we have everywhere now.
However, it was completely devoid of seasoning. I understand wanting the flavor of the meat it to be showcased (and for good reason) but a small pinch of salt would just amplify the delicious factor.
— Broasted Chicken:
Fuck. Yes. Holy. Balls.
This is what will keep me coming back here. The price is amazing (a quarter chicken dinner with all white meat is $ 7.99), the taste is phenomenal and the juiciness is unparalleled. I had broasted chicken for the first time many years ago in Illinois and have been hooked ever since. I’m thrilled to have found it here and I’m even more thrilled that the quality is up to par.
The exterior has a perfect amount of light crunch and saltiness. Once past the skin, the meat (the WHITE meat) is so tender it practically falls from the bone with the slightest provocation.
I absolutely decimated every ounce of chicken on my plate. There may have been fries or some shit. I was in far too blissful a hazy poultry mouthgasm to recall.
Bottom line?
This place, to me, is all over the fucking map. I wasn’t even entirely positive of the star rating I should give it.
On one hand: various poor preparation flaws, underwhelming flavors, weird tartar sauce wontons served with an even weirder hoisin type sauce.
On the other hand: Broasted chicken.
…
THREE STARS IT IS.

The 5 – 8 is a prime example of a Minnesota neighborhood bar, and all the better for it. Not fancy, and more often than not you’ll find yourself in conversations with complete strangers. Friendly as hell, and both times I was there I felt like one of the locals even though I moved to AZ 10 years ago
Never had a Jucy Lucy, but I had the AM Breakfast Lucy. .. two sausage patties stuffed with cheese, and it was exactly what I expected. Darned tasty.
I consider myself a chili aficionado, and I would definitely recommend theirs. Had a nice kick to it
I’m also a complete whore for deep fried pickles done fresh, and the bartender said with pride that they are homemade. I would have liked the pickle chips a bit thicker, but they were definitely fresh and made in house
The tap selection leaves a lot to be desired, but it’s not a place you go for craft taps. If you want a nice stiff mixed drink though, I got poured a couple Hurricanes that I had to compliment the bartender on. .. talk about a stiff pour!