Trader Jacks Riverside Grill - Chagrin River Hangout

We went kayaking on the mouth of the Chagrin River (the livery website is here) and after a very enjoyable couple of hours paddling around exploring the marinas, the islands and the houses we headed over to Trader Jacks for some lunch. Located at 35901 Lake Shore Blvd, Willoughby (see map here), Trader Jacks sits just beneath Lake Shore Blvd as it heads over the Chagrin River and has a great view from its patios. For those familiar with most of the Chagrin River, you almost wouldn't recognize it at its mouth. The last mile or so this is a big river and it has marinas, large and small houses and just a whole different feel; sort of what you would expect from a South Florida area along the intercoastal. Trader Jacks kind of continues that feeling with a nice relaxed feel and attempts at upgrading the quality of its menu. Of the items we tried, everything seemed pretty good, the portions were large, the prices reasonable. The onion rings were good sized rings of onions with a breaded coating and deep fried. The Calamari was fresh cut and breaded before being fried as advertised. While all of this was just fine, there were not any exceptional flavors. I was a bit disappointed that the food, while well prepared, just didn't taste better. Don't get me wrong, nothing was bad, but by the same token nothing was exceptional. Especially with the amount of fried items, you just want that feeling of eating something that sends your taste buds into orbit. Service was interesting to say the least, while the food came out in a reasonable time, I had to request the mayo sauce to go with the Calamari, soup was sent out twice. Our server was a bit frazzled and seemed to have trouble understanding my question about what kind of broth was used to make the vegetable soup. The bottom line for Trader Jacks, really good location and they are obviously trying hard; giving big portions of pretty good food at reasonable prices. What I think they really need is someone with some culinary chops in the kitchen. If they could improve flavors, this could be a real gem. In any case I can highly recommend finding a nice day to paddle the Chagrin River.

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