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Jack's Steaks Opens Its Doors in West Chester

The new restaurant will cater to the late-night bar crowd.

West Chester’s vibrant restaurant scene has one more addition:  Jack’s Steaks & Shakes, a casual dining establishment at 16 E. Gay Street that serves what its name obviously implies.

Still, don’t be fooled by the simplicity of its name.  Not only does Jack’s cultivate a culinary spin on comfort food – the “steaks” include grass-fed New Zealand beef and the shakes are made with low-fat frozen yogurt – the restaurant has a local-themed backstory.

The Jack in “Jack’s” is Chester County’s own celebrity restaurateur, Jack McFadden.

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Ok, “celebrity” may be too strong a word but McFadden, who was known for his innovative restaurant “concepts” even before there was such a term,  can certainly claim a number of “firsts.” 

The man who brought outdoor dining to West Chester has now opened a restaurant that will appeal to young and old, familes and students, but especially to late night diners looking for meal in the wee hours in the morning.

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Jack’s features two take-out windows, outdoor dining, a small roof-top dining area, as well as counter service  that gives you the option to oversee your order or to be served by a wait staff.

West Chester Dish reviewer, Jim Breslin, describes Jack’s Steaks & Shakes as one of the most “anticipated restaurant openings in West Chester.”   He points out that even though Jack’s does not have a liquor license (nor is it a BYOB), it is “surely going to draw the bar crowd that gathers on Gay Street Thursdays through Saturdays.”

Like McFadden’s previous enterprises in West Chester, the Turks Head restaurant and before that, the Bar & Restaurant, Jack’s Steaks & Shakes has all the hallmarks of  owner who stresses the word “experience” in phrase “dining experience.”

His modus operandi is to buy an old building and preserve its “soul,” or historic integrity, by using old materials, as McFadden has described it.  In the case of Jack’s, the renovation was not easy – the circa 1883 building partly collapsed last year after being abandoned for more than two decades.

McFadden, a self-described health nut who doesn’t eat meat, only fish and chicken, said that the entire structure had to be taken down to the studs and completely rebuilt.  There were unexpected delays that even surprised McFadden, who has worked in the dining trade since his days of bartending while studying industrial-arts at Millersville University.

Years of “making too much money” as a bartender changed his plans to teach, McFadden said, although he is still able to express his interest in industrial design in his restaurants.

Over the course of a 15-year period in the 1980s, McFadden owned three restaurants that were hugely popular in part because of their careful restoration  and use of space.   They included the Bar & Restaurant in West Chester, the Marshallton Inn and the former Oyster Bar, both in Marshallton, West Bradford.

In recent years, McFadden owned The Gables, housed in a circa-1897 former dairy barn, and Turk’s Head, once located in West Chester’s 1912 former Town Hall.

The new Jack’s Steaks & Shakes is equally impressive.

During Jack’s “soft” opening a few days ago, the staff hit the road running and were so busy giving away free samples to a constant stream of patrons,  it was easy to imagine that you had been transported to a tourist destination. As Breslin put it,  the counter layout is “reminiscent of a certain South Street steak shop.”

McFadden, who is known for his low-key management style (while still insisting on perfection), made a brief appearance that night, checking out the first batches of hand-cut French fries and sweet potato string fries. 

He left things to his manager, Patrick Moran, formerly of Five Guys Burgers & Fries,  but stopped long enough to give his thoughts of returning to West Chester after the closing of his popular Turk’s Head restaurant.

“I needed to be in West Chester, and I needed to have a takeout window. That’s what it’s all about.” McFadden said.

Jack’s Steaks & Shakes officially opened at 11 a.m. on Monday, August 6th.   

The current hours are posted on the restaurant’s Facebook page, from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.  The restaurant is located in the heart of West Chester, at 16 East Gay Street.  Call 610-436-1222 for more information.

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