Happy Hour at Daddy Jack’s

This week’s Happy Hour (HH) Adventure took us to Daddy Jack’s at 9419 N. Meridian St. Daddy Jack’s, along with its adjacent neighbor Kona Jack’s, has been serving Indianapolis for over 35 years at this location. It is well established and has, from what we observed, a well-established clientele.

It has been a good while since Mrs. K and I have been in the place, but the old English style of the Daddy side, with dark wood walls, mirrors, and heavily cushioned booths, has always been inviting. The look of the bar room reminds me a bit of the Cheers bar. And the same friendliness prevails here.

Happy Hour is from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and the menu features $4, $8, and $12 selections. Our server Jeff brought around some waters and took our drink orders – Mrs. K asked for a Hess Chardonnay ($10 for a generous pour – not a HH special) and I chose a $4 HH Draft – Yuengling Amber.

The HH menu is available to look at here. There is a nice variety of items to choose from.

We decided on the Wings ($8 for five) with a teriyaki sauce, and the Southwest Chicken Eggrolls ($12 for three). Basically, the prices are one-half off the regular menu prices for a one-half portion. Lots of places do that and it’s a good way for us to sample different things.

Our order at Daddy Jack’s. (Photo by Ken Klingenmeier)

We had a pretty good wait for the food to arrive, but it was interesting watching the place go from nearly empty to quite bustling in a matter of one-half hour or so. Plenty of regulars at the bar, and after work groups as well. The six table “event room” had an affair, as well.

Our food came and we both agreed, we had never seen bigger chicken wings in all our experiences. They were extra-large and meaty, served in a pool of teriyaki sauce. Just delicious. Our egg rolls were good sized, too, with cups of salsa and sour cream. But, we didn’t enjoy them as much as we did the wings. I mean, you can’t believe they found chickens this big!

Overall, Daddy Jack’s is a very comfortable place for HH, their menu variety is notable (pizza, quesadilla, cheese curds, potato skins, among others), the prices were good ($37 plus tip for our repast), and the vibe has an amiable “everybody knows your name” feel.

Ken Klingenmeier offers this series of columns, called “A Seat at the Table,” wherein he reviews Indy-area restaurants – specifically their Happy Hour offers. Keep reading The Reporter for future restaurant reviews.