JJ's of Jacksonport - Door County WI

JJ is the effervescent owner of 3 restaurants in Door County, JJ's of Sister Bay, The Waterfront Grill (Sister Bay) and now JJ's of Jacksonport. Having lived in Sister Bay for over a year, JJ's in Sister Bay became quite a popular stop-off for me on the way home from the office. It seems the Jacksonport operation was intended to pickup and clone the successful model of the Sister Bay operation, and capitalize on a food suck-out zone on HWY 57 heading into Door County.

The building is great, the bar has character and the dining room open and family friendly.

The location is good too. I'm sure many people headed into Door County use HWY 57 and many have been frustrated at the lack of options driving to the Peninsula on the Lake side.

I've eaten at the Jacksonport location maybe 5 or 6 times in the last year, and to be frank, the food quality hasn't quite carried across from JJ's in Sister Bay. This is actually quite odd, since following a fire which caused the temporary closure of JJ's in Sister Bay, the chef and other staff were transplanted into the Jacksonport operation.

My favorite dinner at JJ's in Sister Bay had always been the Steak Ranchero's. Diced/cubed steak in a rich and spicy sauce (with optional hot/medium heat levels) served with rice and beans. The quality of the meat used at JJ's Jacksonport was poor, it was really tough to be quite honest. I tried the dish after they first opened and wrote off the poor performance as newbie problems. But I revisited in June 2010 and had the same meal and the quality was the same. It can't be too hard to find stewing beef that isn't tough and gristley.

Otherwise the standard tex-mex offerings are quite good. There Mexican special on a Wednesday looks like this (prices may change) -

For $12.95 Choose any three specialties from the list below.
Served w/ rice, beans & La Puerta quesadilla.

Hard Tacos. . $8.95
Soft Tacos. . . $9.95
Tacos La Puerta . . $10.95
Enchiladas. . $11.95
Burritos. . $10.95
Chimichangas. . . $10.95
Tostadas. . $10.95

Their menu includes other Mexican specialties along with a good selection of American food (Burgers, Fish, Steak etc).

It would be hard to leave JJ's without mentioning their great Margarita's - They're possibly the best in Door County. Also, the staff at JJ's (both in Sister Bay and Jacksonport) are absolutely first rate!

Check them out for yourselves, you'll have a good all-round experience staying with the more mainstream tex-mex food selections.

My ratings -

Food 6/10

Service 9/10

Overall Experience 7/10

Score - 22/30

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