Mystery Diner in La Salle: Jake’s Pour House serves good food from neighborhood bar

Tavern has cultivated a reputation as a carryout option

This Mystery Diner is sometimes wary of eating at bars. That rule is not absolute, however, and Jake’s Pour House in La Salle rates an exception.

Jake’s is a sports-themed bar that venerates the Blackhawks – don’t bother asking staff to lower the volume on game day – but its kitchen has cultivated a good reputation, including as a worthwhile takeout option.

The neighborhood tavern perched at Ninth and Creve Coeur streets has a 1940s-style bar of varnished wood and arched mirrors – a pre-war saloon in a previous incarnation, perhaps? – with a bronze-colored tin ceiling.

The menu focuses, in part, on fried food, though this is no complaint. As late author Donald Westlake sagely opined, “If it ain’t fried, it ain’t food.” The Mystery Diner agrees wholeheartedly, and opted for the deep-fried cod, while my dining companion selected the chicken strips.

Service was extremely friendly and, despite the frenetic activity in the kitchen (we got there on a busy night), the food was done in a flash. The fish dinner came with a chilled salad, and the entrees were sizable. Everything was served in paper baskets and with plastic cutlery.

No frills it may be, but the entrees upheld Jake’s reputation. The volume of calls streaming in as we ate suggests local diners have taken note, as well. Our server was most attentive, but juggled her tables with a cordless phone fielding takeout orders – lots of them. It looked as if two-thirds of the kitchen output was bundled in clamshell takeout containers.

So, no, Jake’s cooks aren’t there to slap mediocre food in front of undiscriminating bar flies. Takeout dining is a competitive business since COVID, and this is a capable kitchen that happens to be nestled in a neighborhood watering hole.

Certainly, the price was good: We left with full bellies on a $34 tab, tip included.

Jake’s Pour House is open seven days a week, with lunch available Monday through Saturday. Sunday lunch service is available “seasonally,” which surely means game day.

The full dinner menu is available from 4:30 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Not so on Monday and Tuesday evenings, which are limited to wings and tacos, respectively. The kitchen is closed Sunday night. Major credit cards are accepted, but subject to a $10 minimum.

Jake’s Pour House is at 201 Ninth St. in La Salle, with outdoor seating on the front patio. To place a takeout order or call for delivery (visit jakespourhouse.net for delivery hours and charges), call 815-223-8232.

• The Mystery Diner is an employee at Shaw Media. The diner’s identity is not revealed to the restaurant staff before or during the meal. The Mystery Diner visits a different restaurant and then reports on the experience. If the Mystery Diner cannot recommend the establishment, we will not publish a story.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Jake’s Pour House

WHERE: 201 Ninth St., La Salle

PHONE: 815-223-8232

INFORMATION: jakespourhouse.net