Jay's Restaurant & Lounge
120 West 7th Street, Sanborn, IA 51248
Hours open
Monday:
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday:
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday:
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Thursday:
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Friday:
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Saturday:
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Sunday:
8:00 AM - 1:30 PM
Photos
Location & Phone number
About the Business

Jay's Restaurant & Lounge is a beloved institution located at 120 West 7th Street in Sanborn, Iowa, United States. This bar and restaurant has been serving the community of O'Brien County since 1946. Founded by Marion Jaycox, affectionately known as "Jay," who was one of the last to be drafted into WWII due to his occupation as a school teacher outside of Crofton, Nebraska. Jay's parents later moved to a farm outside of Lake Park, Iowa, where he eventually opened his own restaurant. With a rich history and dedication to providing delicious food and drinks, Jay's Restaurant & Lounge is a must-visit destination for locals and visitors alike.
Reviews
"Food Overcooked and very bland no seasoning at all. They charge hidden fees for credit card users, but do not disclose and it’s a credit card it’s disguised as a technology fee and they’re charging over the state percentage."
"Walked in the door and was greeted like family! Even other patrons said hi - friendly! Great food! Love the cheesy potatoe soup and variety on the salad bar. They have large seating areas - some in the bar area, some in a dinning area and some in a coffee shop area. Quiet atmosphere all around. Margaret was spectacular waitress! Great smile and pleasant. Right on top of it all. Wonderful experience!! Will love to go back!!"
"I come here every week for the famous French Dip sandwich with sliced Prime Rib! They always cook it according to my liking and the flavor is just amazing! I’ve never had a French Dip sandwich like this anywhere! Little to NO fat on the meat, savory flavor, and I love to add mushrooms, onions, and Swiss cheese to mine! ❤️ some people even add bacon! There’s so many polite waitresses and bartenders here! I love the atmosphere! The homemade soup is another favorite part of mine!"
"We went here for supper Saturday night, what a disappointment. Took a long time for anyone to acknowledge us or bring us menus. A young boy came over gave us menus and asked for our drink order, when one of us tried to order a beer he was told he’d have to go up to the bar to order it, so he just got a soda instead. After about 20 minutes a waitress came over to take our order. I ordered the small cut of prime rib medium rare with a baked potato, my husband ordered a rare sirloin, and the other orders at our table were chicken fried steak and a bacon cheese burger with sweet potato fries. Our orders included a trip to what they call the “Colossal” salad bar, more like a “Colossal” mess! It contained some pasta salads, potato salad, and pea salads, nothing looked fresh. The pasta in the pasta salad was undercooked and crunchy. The soup was near empty and the cubed pieces of beef tasted old and were not edible. As we were sitting there someone one started stocking the containers at the salad bar, instead of refreshing the containers they were pouring new product right over the old, gross. When our food came out the first thing I noticed was my old brownish cold foil wrapped potato, it looked and tasted like it had been cooked that morning. I looked at my prime rib and it was brown, not pink like a medium rare should be. I asked for them to take it back as I ordered it medium rare, not well done. The other things that were not okay, the hamburger patty was very thin and had no flavor, the sweet potato fries were over cooked shriveled up pieces of nothing. The gravy on the chicken fried steak looked like mayo, straight up from a can and barely heated. My husbands sirloin was not rare, but cooked medium. When they brought my prime rib out it was the same piece and the waitress asked me if I wanted it cooked more…. What? I sent it back because it was to done and you cooked it more! At this point, I had lost all expectations of having a good meal and took it. I asked for creamy horseradish and they brought out raw. It was so bad, it was funny. When I bit into the prime rib it tasted as though it had been microwaved and had a weird beer, yeast flavor. Just, no! I asked for a doggy bag, because literally that’s who I was taking it home to. The last thing that made this night one to remember, was the waitress asked if we would be paying with cash or card, we thought that was kind of weird. We said card, and without any explanation, she brought us our bill and it had a credit card surcharge of 4.00, so we told her we’d pay cash since they charge a fee for us to use our card. The bill was 100.00 for 4 people with no bar or appetizers. The whole experience was off, my expectations were low, since I had been warned that the food and service were not the same as it had been before changing ownership. We will never be back. This is not a good representation of NW Iowa cooking and service. It’s just bad, do yourself a favor and find a place that prides themselves on good service and good food. Just keep driving."
"I just stopped by to eat something and was pleasantly surprised by the atmosphere of this bar and the delicious food"
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