St. John's Bar & Grill - Santa Clara, CA

St. John's Bar & Grill is impressive in its scale alone. Very unassuming as one passes on Lawrence expressway, it morphs into a jammed parking lot and billowing smoke from an outside chicken grill at lunch on a typical day in Silicon Valley. This spot is so popular that the parking for the strip mall was jammed and I ended up sharing a space with a dumpster. As I walked in, 100 people sat outside in the beergarden and equal number were seated inside. Two women at the counter were ringing up orders as fast as they could. The line to order was at least 30 people deep, but I moved to the front in about ten minutes. I noticed in the restaurant that there were perhaps 5 women out of the 200 or so souls scarfing down their charred flesh. A golf theme permeated the decor and the television screens scattered throughout. A full bar was also available.

The very nice lady at the counter took my order. I got the one-third pound blue bacon burger ($7.25). The burger is made from fresh ground chuck. I also ordered beer-battered onion rings ($3.50) and small side of just cut fries ($1.95). I was issued a pager and scouted out a red-checkered, table-clothed table. The line to order never shortened as I sat. The burger was ready quickly, about 5 minutes.

I liked the combination of the perfectly cooked bacon - crisp and salty - with the bleu cheese. But the burger was overcooked and dry. (3 spatulas). The onion rings were beer-battered Maui style and were tasty but nothing special (3). The fries were of medium thickness with the skins on, the best part of the meal (4).

Overall, I am not sure that I would battle the crowds to return, but it wasn't bad.

Burger 3 spatulas (out of 5)
Fries 4 spatulas
Onion Rings 3 spatulas

St. John's Bar & Grill
510 Lawrence Expressway, Ste 110
Sunnyvale, CA 94086
408-738-8515