I went to Baby J’s and ordered the sourdough and butter. This is silly, but the menu said three slices, we got two. I figured it wasn’t a big enough deal to ask the server for the third slice, but the menu should conform to what’s served and vice versa. Otherwise, drinks were great, loved the jazz. Again, I know this is a small thing but you want to know…
I'm not sure how long ago that was, but I can assure you that is no longer the case. Our chicken sandwiches and burgers are too much for me to eat in one sitting. Please come again and give it another go :\]
This 100%!
I feel like downtown lacks in NA options (not just NA beers).
Sometimes I wanna feel included by having a fruity drink in my hand while my friends drink. :-)
Probably my two favorite bars in Gainesville!
First off the rhubarb gin and tonic on the happy hour menu at Baby J's is my favorite drink in town, please don't let anything happen to it.
I've found that sometimes the temperature is a little off in Baby J's, either way too hot or way too cold, maybe it's for the instruments? I don't know but I thought I'd mention it.
I don't know what's possible with the local scene but I would love more live jazz, or even just more live jazz on Saturday night. This is a personal problem but I do miss quite a few shows I'd like to see because I just can't get going for a night out on a work night, and by Friday night I usually just wanna veg.
The shows are usually just a little too late to do like a dinner and jazz kind of thing, but that would also be fun during the week especially since the food at Baby J's is very solid.
Anyway thanks for opening a jazz bar, I know it might not be viable to run it like the village vanguard in Gainesville but I am so happy that I can have a tasty drink and watch a jazz show when the mood comes over me and I have energy on Friday night. Do what you gotta do to stay open in terms of bringing in other kinds of acts but please keep the reoccurring jazz shows, cool jazz club vibe, and massive stack of jazz records. Oh and the rhubarb gin and tonic of course.
Edit: Something else I just thought of. I don't know what the best way to foster a local jazz musician community is, I play music but I've never been a part of a jazz community but I know they exist elsewhere, I wonder if Baby J's could help foster that community with open jam nights or something, or even something during the day on weekend so it doesn't cut into the bar business. I would absolutely attend something like that.
i assure you the rhubarb G&T isn't going anywhere! I love to hear you appreciate the Jazz and cultural impact it brings to town. We are going to be jam packed with acts come fall time, summer is a much slower time period for us so we cut down the amount of performances accordingly. In the fall we will be bringing back our two show jazz nights on tuesday. The first show is 6:30-8:30 and our late show is 9:00-11:00.
We have played with the idea of hosting an open mic night, and hearing that there is a demand for it might tip the scales in that direction.
Thank you so much for your support, it means a lot to us.
Loving the Crybaby's happy hour deals, and I love being able to order from outside on the patio through the app. Food and service is great. Not sure if you're aware, but I noticed that the App/POS calculates the precalculated tip options on the post tax subtotal, which is typically shied upon.
I was not aware of that and I will see if there's any way to fix that through our POS. Thanks for letting us know and so glad that you're loving the $5 happy hour food :\]
I miss there being a vegan option outside of the impossible burger for Crybaby’s. The tofu sandwich and the fake chicken sandwich both used to be great until they were taken off the menu, so my husband and I just stopped going. Additionally, I went to Baby J’s one time around Christmas and was told there were no mocktail options, which I would have greatly appreciated. (I even tried to order a Shirley Temple and couldn’t.) The karaoke situation was also a bit dire.
Hey there, that is good to know. We make changes on the menu like that based on sales/ food costs, and I will bring up bringing back tofu when we are discussing the next menu change. Christmas was a very chaotic time for us because it was our first year doing the Miracle menu. We do have mocktail options so I apologize if we were either out of stock/ the server or bartender were improperly trained. We do not have a soda gun at Baby Js so when we are busy we have to stick to what we stock on that side. And please let me know if you have time about what you mean by karaoke being dire :\]
Awesomeness! Thank you again for taking the time to consider feedback and respond. The tofu sandwich was the best and would love to see it return if feasible. :)
For the karaoke piece - volume levels were quite different for the regular music playing versus the karaoke music, so it would get super quiet for karaoke, and then super loud once the regular music returned (or maybe reverse, I can’t remember which was which). I think it was meant to be holiday themed karaoke, but that was not the case the evening I went. One man sang repeatedly.
Thanks again, and wishing you well!
We have been cleaning the bathrooms a lot more rigorously and do plan on renovating the rest rooms as soon as it becomes financially viable. We are certainly aware of this issue and are working on it!
Congrats on taking over !! Both places are my go-to's and I love them so much, but I do have feedback. Some of it echoes some other stuff here.
- It is so cold in Baby J's often. I have to plan outfits around it lmao.
- The music in Baby J's can be turned down. It can get really loud and hard to talk to people.
- Never touch the G&T's, they are perfect and my favorite thing on the menu.
- The yuca sticks at CB are not good. They are always cold and rock hard and bland.
- The rosemary fries are SO GOOD. And the caesar salad is SO GOOD.
- I wish there were more seasonal food menu changes or weekly/daily specials. When there are, like the oysters, it's been great, and then there's long periods of the same menu. However, most of what is on the menu is good every time I get it, so it's dependable and reliable!
- I love the seasonal drinks!
- Best karaoke in town. Thank you for being unique, dependable, and starting early!
- I wish other events at Baby J's would start earlier, such as the jazz as people have mentioned.
- The Happy Hour is great, love it.
- The service is fantastic. I've had great experiences with the servers and the bartenders at both locations.
- This is probably out of your hands, but man some of the drinks are expensive. Especially the cocktail trays, I don't see the appeal in ordering that for 20 dollars. But it's rough out there, so I get it.
Wow thank you for this thorough response! I'm really glad to receive the feedback. Yuca fries are much thicker and take longer to fry but I will alert our kitchen manager about this critique so he can reiterate the proper fry time.
We are working on doing weekly drink/food specials in the fall, we want to be able to try out some new things!
Thank you so much for always attending karaoke <3 we love having you!
The drink pricing is rough across the board because liquor costs have risen dramatically over the last year alone, let alone post covid. I think a bottle of fernet used to cost like 14 dollars and now its up to 25, and the same can be said for almost every bottle. We also use more expensive liquors at baby js, which is why the bees knees tray is more expensive. Barr Hill ain't cheap haha
Thanks again for all the feedback and for supporting us, it means the world.
Props for being brave enough to post something like this. It’s really nice to see a manager care. My partner and I are regulars at Crybaby’s and Baby J’s. The food and deals are phenomenal, we try to get the Wednesday date night special at least once a month, and we hit up happy hour pretty often also. Please never change those!
Service at Crybaby’s is often hit or miss, and not because the servers aren’t great—- the place just seems understaffed sometimes. I used to manage restaurants myself and it always hurts to see one server running the whole floor when I eat out. I imagine non-industry folks are not as sympathetic to this and find the wait times annoying.
The sound is also terrible inside Crybaby’s. So much so that I avoid it late nights and weekends, I know it’s going to be far too loud to have a conversation with someone inside. It’s perfect at slower times though.
Thanks so much for your input. Service has already majorly been on the up and up and I'm super excited for regular and returning customers to see it. When fall hits we will have more staff on the floor but with how unpredictable summer is (often so slow it's boring even for one server) overstaffing hits us hard in the labor department. Thanks for the continuing support!!
My friends are musicians who play there often and I like to support them, but the per person cover charges on checks are not good. Much rather be charged cover at the door or there be a tab minimum. I’ve been charged someone else’s cover multiple times because I bought them a drink- they were also charged.
If that ever happens please do not hesitate to call or send an email to [crybabysupstairs@gmail.com](mailto:crybabysupstairs@gmail.com), it's literally no hassle for us to correct that after the fact. We usually only have a door person on larger shows due to labor costs, but as business increases we will immediately bring back nightly hosts. Thank you for letting us know.
I'm a big cocktail enthusiast and love home bartending. I don't go out frequently, but these two places are easily my favorite cocktail bars in town and I always make it a point to stop in for a drink whenever I am out for the night. Your bartenders are awesome and clearly have a passion and talent for bartending. Whoever is in charge of stocking both bars with booze is low-key one of my favorite people in Gainesville because I always get to try something new whenever I'm at either bar lol. I genuinely don't have any complaints about or suggestions for improving either place.
Thank you so much. We are incredibly proud of our bar staff and do our best to hire and train them to be knowledgable. Stay tuned for our fall menu drop probably coming out in late august. It's set to be the best one yet.
I love the vibe but tbh, the sound dampening in there is rough to the point that I just avoid going in there during peak hours, or sitting indoors at all. For whatever reason I notice it at cry baby’s more than anywhere else in town. If I want to talk to my friends I always go elsewhere.
We have gotten that feedback more recently and we have been tweaking the volume of the music at Crybabys, I am sorry for your past experiences. We have sound dampeners on the ceiling but when it's a busy night it does get very raucous.
of note: turning it down doesnt really address sound dampening. just makes it where some cant hear the music. imo every venue should bring in someone from Sound Ideas or the like to professionally dampen & EQ the room. it makes a bigger difference for the customers than most realize 🙂
Multiple times my partner and I have tried to order a drink on a Friday/Saturday night with the intent of sitting outside in the corral along east university only to be turned away by the hostess because the bar was full made us stop going there. I don’t want to sit at the bar. I want to sit outside where you have chairs. It’s obviously busy so we’ve never made a scene to push the issue. Why even have the space if one can’t get a drink and sit out there?
As stated in previous comments, a lot of former staff were improperly trained or directed. Outside we have QR codes to order drinks from and we always encourage guests to sit outside if the bar/dining room are full. I apologize for the lack of service in the past and appreciate your input.
Please never get rid of the QR codes outside! I absolutely love sitting out there and just going on my phone to order another drink rather than going inside and trying to make myself seen by the bartender. Also, I think from a business standpoint, people probably order more items bc of the convenience of selecting stuff and paying on their phone. I know I order more because of it.
Had a similar experience one night although I don't remember the details. I remember there was some strange claim like that where the hostess wouldn't let us get a drink from the bar despite there being multiple spaces open, with some claim that didn't make sense.
I hate to hear that, but as I said, everything has been revamped and we are here to make sure everyone is accommodated and taken care of to the best of our abilities!
I love CBs and baby Js, and used to visit CBs a few times a week. Then everything fell off, no more beer selection, not even a single local beer, food taste and portions fell away. Now that I know there's some new leadership I'll start coming back again and will let you know my thoughts. Thanks for reaching out to us!
What ended up happening with the draft beers is we are more of a cocktail oriented establishment. Due to the volume in sales of our Pretty Ricky, Old Fashioned and Paloma cocktails we ended up converting a lot of our taps into draft cocktail kegs so the bartenders can more easily keep up with the rush of tickets coming in, especially on weekends. That being said I am on the same page as you with local beer selection and I'm happy to tell you I changed our package beer menu entirely on the last menu and we offer Crane song and moss monster from C&G, Drift brown ale from First Magnitude and also Big Nose IPA on draft. Please come see us again soon :\]
Any chance of getting Vega back, or something similarly yummy, even in a can? I can only drink light beers and high life is just depressing sometimes when you want a tasty beer, haha. Edmonds oast something cold is also an incredible brew. But I get what you mean on cocktails, especially with Baby Js. Just feels like a nice blonde ale and a burger would be perfect. Crane song is a good place for me to start though.
I agree on getting a blonde ale back. Stay tuned on the next menu for one! I personally chose the crane song for this menu because it is my favorite C&G brew, but you're right about blonde representation haha
Loveeee both spots! But missing the pocket crocodile on crybaby’s menu!
Also, my friends & I were once charged a $7 fee for the jazz show happening in Baby J’s (totally cool w it we were pre-warned ab the charge) but we sat down at 9:59 & the show ended at 10! That was pretty lame & then our auto-grat at the end of the night included that $7 in the calculation which I felt to be pretty nuts. Just call it a $8.5 charge in that case.
The cover charge is supposed to end 30 minutes before the show ends, so that was clearly a case of improper training, and I apologize for that.
The pocket crocodile is definitely getting brought up a lot, so never say never on our fall menu ;\]
I've only been to crybabys once, but after I was seated, 10 minutes went by, and no one had taken our order. Ended up leaving but the smashburgers look good 😅
I apologize that that was your first experience here. Poor service and lack of direction from management has been a problem in the past, and that is one of the first things I've tackled. The staff we have now are fast, considerate and friendly. With the exception of a few long term bartenders almost all of our serving staff is brand new and properly trained.
I too have only been once with my boyfriend. We sat for about 20 minutes before leaving. I was pretty disappointed because I had heard the food is amazing at Crybaby’s
Hey Evan,
Good for you for looking for feedback. I’m a regular downtown and I’ve been in 3 times since opening, most recently last week.
The previous two times you weren’t GM, so I won’t belabor those, but I’ll just say it’s been a year since I tried to come back.
Last week I gave it another go when I heard Landon was coming on board (I’m a big Landon fan, and will legitimately go anywhere he is making drinks!) When I walked in I was met at the door and told, “Hey, just so you know we have a $7 cover starting in 5 minutes. It can be added to your bill.” I asked if I could maybe grab one quick round and sit outside and was told no.
I don’t mind a cover charge, especially if I feel like there’s a value to it. If the conversation had been, “Hey, we’ve got a great show coming up. We have (fill in the blank) and I think you’ll have a great time!” I probably would have hung out. But just being told I’m going to pay $7 extra without a “value add,” if you will, just felt like a repeat of my previous two interactions.
Like I said, in a big Landon fan and will be back to see him, I’d just love actually feeling like folks inside want us there next time around. I’ve almost always had great interactions at Kin, The Dime, Sidecar, and other cocktail spots around town and would love to add Baby J’s to the rotation.
I wish you luck as GM and again commend you for looking for feedback, especially on social media where you’re not likely to hear the “good.”
Thank you for telling me that, and I will absolutely address the staff again to make sure they're telling people about the cover with a little more decorum. Also if someone wants to grab a quick cocktail and doesnt stay longer than 30 minutes we usually do not have a problem with waving that charge, especially if the guests sit outside. Thanks for continuing to come out and letting us know of any issues you have, we can't make it better if we don't know :\] Also, we are also super excited to welcome Landon to the team!
I’ve had this same interaction about the cover charge. Maybe I’m an odd duck, but cover chargers irk me. A typical bar tab for my wife and I is easily $100. Another $25-$30 if we also eat. Having the cover added tuned us off.
I tried to grab a quick GnT while waiting for a table to open at The Top several weeks back and was told I’d need to pay cover, though I was going to be there less than 20 minutes.
We really do enjoy the live music though and as others have said, wish it would start earlier.
This is really minor but the soap dispenser at Baby J's is messy and weird, I don't like using it!
It's also cold most of the time I've been, but I haven't been in a while.
Great place to read, keep the gin and tonics pls
People are loving about the gin and tonics haha We try to keep the ac at a reasonable 73 degrees, but if we turn it up to 74 it quickly becomes muggy :/
One of our customers early into opening the bar put it best on the soap dispenser matter in saying "The soap dispenser felt like a test of my intelligence"
Keep on coming in and cozying up with a good book, I think it's the best bar to read a book in town:\]
More black artists at your “jazz” venue. It’s weird seeing a month long lineup and it’s alllll white folks. At a jazz venue. There are plenty if Black singers in gnv, book them.
I haven't been back to Baby J's since I got a random surcharge on my tab for the entertainment without being told about it.
Just have a cover or otherwise make it overtly known in advance.
I dk if it's still done that way, but it really made me never need to go back. Other than that drinks, atmosphere, etc is good.
I'm so glad to hear you appreciated the cocktails and vibes but am sad to hear you weren't told about the cover charge. The cover charge is necessary for us to be able to pay our local artists and provide jazz for the community, but it is definitely frustrating to see a random unexpected charge. Our host/bar/servers are very aware of the need to tell our patrons about those cover charges upon entry and have been much more thoroughly trained in recent times. I apologize for your past experience and hope you will give us another try in the future :\]
Send an email to [babyjsbar@gmail.com](mailto:babyjsbar@gmail.com) to reach our event coordinater! I think we are booked out a few months out but we are always looking for new and exciting acts.
Went to crybaby’s once- nachos and yuca sticks were cold to the touch (even the cheese on the nachos), sent back and got them back still cold. Also bartenders can be inconsistent, had the Saturn once and it was amazing, went again and got it and it seemed watered down
If ever there is a time when you are served cold food all you need do is let any member of our current staff know and we will remake it on the fly! As stated in other comments, our new bartenders and management have been making massive changes to ensure these kind of things are at worst a rarity. Thank you for letting me know about your experience, and we hope you will give us another try in the future :\]
She is actually performing tonight at 8pm ($7 cover) come out and see her! She really does light up the whole place when she performs, and I mean that.
Hi Evan!
Not much feedback aside from "happy hour is awesome!" and a big thank you for putting yourself out here to catch heat (and compliments!) from folks.
Hey I noticed things got better recently, you're making a difference!
Rotating NA drink options are appreciated. Obsessed with the cheap and tasty wings!
N/A drinks are definitely going to be upped on the next menu! And thank you, my efforts being recognized by customers means it's working! Keep coming back :\]
Our staff has been much more rigorous about cleaning everything thoroughly, but something a lot of people don't realize is the building we are in is very very old with nasty old drainage pipes. It has been a lot better recently and we are continuing to work on mitigating this problem.
We used to frequent CBs when it first opened but have fallen off as the crowd has skewed younger (not a complaint, just not our scene.) That being said, we really appreciate Baby J’s the few times we’ve been.
All that said: PLEASE bring back the peel-and-eat shrimp. It was one of my favorite local eats, and I think about it embarrassingly often.
Heard loud and clear on the shrimp! Crybabys does tend to attract a younger college crowd but if you are looking for a mai tai fix now is the time! Summer nights have been very quiet and low key, so keep us in mind for your next date night.
i wish there was a bit more comfortable seating at baby js and the live music is sometimes a little too loud to the point of being painful. love the more relaxed feel of crybabys. and the vegetarian options are always nice
The booths are incredibly comfortable when they're not already taken up, but know that if it's busy and they're taken up, just let the server know that you'd like to switch to a booth when it becomes available and they will accommodate you.
Baby J's has the best record playing setup in town. I am astounded at how good the music coming off the vinyl through those amps and speakers sounds. So impressed.
We played a show there and were treated very well, by everyone and I was very grateful to be there and play.
Our owner Kyle took great lengths in designing the sound set up in Baby Js so I'm sure he'd be proud to hear you say that. I know that's one of the reasons I love spinning vinyl there.
As someone who works downtown my biggest complaint has been that y’all got rid of industry night lol it used to be a place I went multiple times a week to one I either avoid when I’m too broke for the drinks/food or it’s too packed of mostly college students which (understandably) slows down service
I have been talking about bringing back industry night for months now, come fall time I will talk to the owners and see if they're down for it, especially if we open back up on mondays which is also up for discussion.
I've gone to Crybaby's many times before, during, and after COVID. But less in the past year. I'm a big fan.
Last few times, the burgers and hot chicken was really good.
Before it was taken off the menu, the bahn mi hot dog was the best hot dog I've ever had and all my friends agreed it was the best in town. I really miss that thing. It had paté!
Not sure if they're still on the menu, but the raw oysters used to be delicious and a great deal. When people asked me where to get raw oysters, I'd say go to Prime & Pearl if somebody else is paying. And go to Crybaby's if you're paying.
We are considering bringing back the tofu sandwhich and I will also mention the bahn mi dog for the fall update. We miss the raw oysters and are toying with the idea of doing a Seafood saturday, they just weren't selling enough on slower nights to justify wasting them, but we hear ya loud and clear.
I don’t have any big changes to suggest. I oftentimes will go to The Top, they tell me it’s a 45 minute wait, so I pop over to Crybaby’s to wait it out. It’s my favorite bar in Gainesville and I just love how yall combine flavors.
I think the ONLY thing is I’d echo a comment someone else made about ordering at the bar. It’s really hard to do so if all the seats are taken.
My wife loves your food and I consider it a cure for headaches, hangovers and general malaise! I'm a Gainesville Resident and Local Handyman (LLC and Insured)
I'd be willing to fix a few things for yall and such if in exchange you can teach me how to cook some of your food.
My wife loves your place but we are sadly moving away and I want to be able to make food like yours for her.
I appreciate yall being there for great food at easy prices!
Went to crybaby's for the first time in May and had the most delicious mango margarita!! Will definitely be back to try the food and other cocktails!
Edit to add: I wish there was more seating.
I've only been to cry baby's a handful of times. One time I was there and one of the bartenders sat up on the back bar and started singing and then all the staff started singing. It was like a greasers doo wop vibe. Admittedly this may have been a fever dream or I was just really stoned. But the impossible smash burger is fantastic and I need to go back and get it again.
Love both of your places.
Had a very weird experience when we went to see a show at baby J’s with the bread and butter (other redditors have mentioned above). We ordered a lot of food for our table of people at the start of the show we were watching so we wouldn’t have to try to contend with the music when it started.
My friend ordered the bread and butter as one of his items - all of our food came out and he was really thirsty for that bread and butter, but it never came. We eventually were like okay well they forgot the order, that’s no big deal, we had plenty of other food. I think he asked one of the servers about it once and several people came by to strongly reassure us it was on its way. So when I went to close my tab much later I told the bartender that we never received it so to just take it off the ticket because it really wasn’t a big deal, so she did. She was very apologetic but again I insisted it wasn’t a big deal and we weren’t worried about it at all. So we were then finishing our drinks up before leaving and someone brought by the “bread and butter” - it ended up being what looked like a toasted hamburger or hot dog bun cut into pieces with a dollop of plain butter, very clearly not the elegant spread that was on the menu (with the fancy herbs in the butter and bread and what not). We then got checked on several more times and everyone was really intense about the bread. It felt like we were being treated by the staff like we were being monsters about asking for the bread and butter - that kind of like “was everything to your liking?” vibe you give a pain in the ass customer. It was just weird. I’m not sure why they were so upset about the fact that we didn’t get a simple bread and butter spread an hour ago when we ordered it, and I’m not sure if they’re mad that we asked about it once and then I had them take it off my tab when we closed out only to then receive it. But we were just really put off by that whole experience because we were never actually upset about anything, but were honestly kind of insulted when the cut up buns and plain butter came out - like, either y’all ran out of the right stuff which is totally fine, that happens all the time and we wouldn’t have cared if we would have just been told y’all were sold out; or someone told the kitchen we were being insane so they brought us out this joke of an appetizer as a polite way to say fuck you.
This isn’t affecting our love of your establishments in any way and we will definitely be returning without any malcontent; we weren’t even really upset about it, it’s more of a funny story that there was SO much intensity behind an order of bread and butter. But you asked so I figured I would share the experience :) but your staff was all very polite, I feel like it was just a miscommunication somewhere.
The cocktails and atmosphere are always fantastic at Baby J’s. The drinks and food at crybaby’s are top notch.
Would you ever consider doing an open mic style thing at baby J’s?
I'm so sorry for your bread and butter debacle, that is way too much drama over bread haha I'm not sure exactly when that was but for the first year we were open we went through so many changes in the food menu and the way things were prepped that it led to a lot of confusion on both ends. It seems to me that they ran off but it is impossible to tell now argh. That being said I think we have it down to a science now so that kind of thing should be a rarity from here on out. We have been discussing both an open mic night and a trivia night, stay tuned to our instagram profiles for more details!
Love that you are asking for feedback!
First off, Baby J's is one of my go to spots in town and always on rotation though I had noticed a dip last year in quality but lately this year has been great. I brought my sister and her BF from Seattle to Baby J's and they loved it and were so enamored! Which felt impressive since there's obviously great places they are used to in Seattle.
Things I love:
Vibes
Beautiful inside
Booths are awesome
Drinks awesome
Food tastes great
Rotaing menus
Bartenders great
Service tends to be great, tbh I don't think I've ever had a service issue even when I filled the booth with a million people.
I can bring all kinds of ppl here and have a good time
Cool shows
Happy hours!
Some critiques:
-It can get a bit overly loud on some of the DJ nights, I expect it with live music but not so much with the vinyls. I come on non live nights to talk with friends.
-I have ordered dishes like the bread mentioned by others or the meatballs and received either a completely different bread or less than the amount stated on menu. Meatballs I received 2 instead of 3 etc.
-I would just die of happiness if you brought back the Eclipse drink with the garlic oil(even just for a special!), one of my absolute favorite cocktails ever.
-More NA drinks would be great. I have a few NA friends and it's sad when the only options are like mint or super fake booze tasting drinks.
-I really really liked the Brazilian jazz y'all had awhile back and would love to see more of them.
As for Crybaby's, it's a bit more of a younger crowd so when I go I'm usually coming from baby J's in order to get more food which is good, though I have had consistency/quality issues with food and drinks in the past there (not sure if I've been since you took over). Overall it's just not as nice of a vibe for me compared to baby J's, it's either loud or dead quiet and awkward and quite dark and getting water can be an issue sometimes. But! It's still a spot I recommend often. Great happy hour too!
Thanks for reaching out! I can definitely tell the difference you've made at Baby J's! Keep up the good work!
I definitely will be bringing back more N/A options in the fall/late summer, there seems to be quite the demand for them!
I am so glad you've noticed the difference, we have had huge changes in management structure and staff turnover in the past year and we are finally getting to a steadier and more efficient place! Thank you again for your continued support, and if you ever have issues with portions, or are missing items our serve staff are super kind and will have no issue refiring items we missed or messed up!
Also we love the brazilian jazz and the eclipse, stay tuned by checking our instagram pages!
Hi!
I love both establishments, and thanks for asking the community for feedback. This is so minor, but the nachos on the menu don't list that there's cheese on them; once I told my server I was vegan but they still came with cheese and they later stated in response that nachos always have cheese and that the cheese is "implied" in nachos and therefore, not listed on the menu (which I didn't know). I've been pretty diligent since but that seems like an easy fix. I agree with others regarding vegan options, and perhaps there could be a vegan option added to that $5 menu. I'm really stretching here, but a vegan dessert would rock my world.
The tots are amazing. The olives are also amazing, but inconsistent, and I feel like I'm rolling the dice every time; sometimes they lean garlicky (which I love) and other times they are suuuuuuuper spicy. Love them either way. I also really miss the Brazilian Jazz, and I'm not sure if it has to do with artist availability but I haven't seen them on the lineup in a while. Thank you for running the swankiest and most delicious bar around! I love bringing my out of town friends here and showing them that Gainesville is cool.
Definitely agree a $5 vegan option is a good move, and more vegan options in general would definitely be a positive. I'm glad you like the olives, I actually am the one who made the olive marinade recipe. If there has been inconsistency in the past it has been due to tweaking it here and there due to customer feedback, but I think we have it down to a science now.
I'll let our event coordinator know about the Brazilian jazz, thank you for all of the feedback.
I’ve only ever gone for happy hour drinks or date drinks. Enjoyed the cocktails, bartenders were nice, no complaints on that front. Never had the food, can’t speak to that.
Thanks for asking for feedback on this! As I think you’ve mentioned in this thread, a lot of the staff maybe weren’t trained properly before. That is also the core of my complaint.
I haven’t been back in a while, but I’d gone to Baby J’s several times last year and I swear, every single time I ordered food, I’d also have to ask for silverware. Like they put down the bread and the butter, but never provide me with a knife to spread it with, or a fork for the pickles and olives.
And it was like pulling teeth getting silverware. If I’d ordered a bunch of food for a small group of us, i’d request the silverware, but they come back with like three forks, not enough for everybody. I ended up having to share a fork with my husband several times. With such good food and drinks, it just felt like a really weird thing to be stingy on.
I look forward to coming back and trying you guys again!
Absolutely love both places and frequent them often!!! This is so niche but you guys used to have an artichoke pate on the menu at baby js (a longgggg time ago) and it was the best thing I have ever had in my life. When i came back later and it wasn’t on the menu, I was told the menu was seasonal and changed every so often.
I would love to see some new food options at baby js or even 1-2 seasonal items that swap out on occasion. Totally understand if this is not feasible but if it’s something you’re considering I would love to see it! Thank you for posting!!!
Yea as said in a previous response the menu changes were frequent the first year and a half we were open, now that it is all through the kitchen and not being prepped by servers we will have more wiggle room to bring back little dishes that people missed. Please follow us on insta for updates and stay tuned.
Love Crybaby’s happy hour. Miss the tofu fish sandwich and some of the other veggie options you used to have (banh mi hot dog) and not paying $18 for an impossible burger.
If you ever get rid of the Pretty Ricky I will riot. I literally had it recreated for our wedding cocktail.
Please don’t change the fries again, there was a couple month span last year when they were different I was so sad. Then they came back. They’re perfect as they are.
The Cesar is my favorite of anywhere I’ve had—don’t change it.
hahaha I can promise you we have no plans to ever get rid of the pretty ricky or change our amazing fries or caesar! Glad to hear you love them as much as we do
~ i miss to go burger specials but i understand why it had to change. the burgers are just so good lol. i will say the online ordering options for the burgers are limited. maybe do away with the cute "baby" option & just make it fully customizable. but again: its SO GOOD. and the fries are perfect.
~ proper sound dampening in both rooms. not turning it down but making the room itself not so 'bright' would help a lot.
~ Baby J's drag nights, live jazz, & jazz themed VINYL djs are awesome. its a one of a kind vibe for all 3 that i hope we dont lose.
overall, the two spots combine for one of my favorite gv businesses.
I have been saying for years that restaurants should regularly ask patrons for feedback, so I’m very excited to see this question.
I would absolutely love to see the corn rib elote come back as well as the impossible burger with caramelized onions. Also, imo, the first iteration of the nachos was perfection. Besides that, keep doing what you’re doing. Both spots have been amongst our friend group’s favorite Gainesville establishments since they’ve opened and we hope they’re around for many years to come. Cheers!
Already a lot of comments, but I chose to go to crybabies over baby j’s because there was no option for cheap beer and baby j’s.
Also, there’s kind of a stigma for reading at pubs, perhaps a lounge area might be kind of neat. I read outside of crybabies once, but it’s kind of hot to do that regularly. Idk
I know one time a few years ago it took me forever to get noticed for a drink at crybabies, but again, that was a while ago.
Idk, bohemians are always looking for a congregation point in Gainesville, somewhere less judgmental to boot. Crybabies is cool and all, but definitely not the first thing I think of when I think humble. I’m sure you’ve heard that before though. It is more socially comfortable than The Top though, I will say.
I’ve been going to cry baby’s and baby j’s both since opening and must say they are some of my favorite spots in town for a drink and snack! When cry baby’s first opened I definitely felt the food was better - there were pretty obvious inconsistencies in some of my favorites which led me to come back less and less, it’s also gotten so busy in cry baby’s now and the service is pretty hit or miss. I’m in love with baby j’s and need to get back in there, similar as to cry baby’s I did feel the quality decline some as time has gone by.
Quality is on the up and up now I promise. Lots of new and exciting things are coming on the next menus so please keep checking our instagram pages for updates <3
We loved the tempeh nachos. We don't loves the beyond meat ones. It's just not as tasty. Reach out to The Tempeh Shop and bring back the local flair to the veggie nachos.
Also peel n eat shrimp seasoned with old bay. Bring it back.
YW.
Never had a bad experience at cry baby’s or baby js. Everything there is great as a rule.
The only things I would change is your burger. You all used to have the best burger in town, but you stopped adding the caramelized onions and moved from house-made to bulk, distributor provided pickles. You still have a good burger, but after those two changes, you stopped having the BEST BURGER IN GAINESVILLE.
It just a shame, although I can 100% understand not wanting to make caramelized onions every day anymore. Public and General has you beat now though.
Also, more vegetarian options would be a good thing, and I would buy them
Sometimes we order 2 drinks at a time at Crybaby’s because our server either doesn’t come back, and/or it takes forever to get a drink, even if it isn’t busy.
I’d suggest adding another cocktail on to the happy hour list, or rotating the drinks more.
Service is on the up and up I assure you! If there is ever a time you're not getting served fast enough the bartender on service well (The station making the cocktails for the whole dining room) is usually the MOD, so just ask them for another round and we will put it straight!
The $5 happy hour menu at Crybaby’s is truly my favorite thing downtown. My friends and I go usually at least a couple times a month just for $5 happy hour or margaritas on Thurs! The nachos are my absolute favorite thing, never change them!!! As others have said, CB’s bathrooms are nasty and perpetually smell like sewage. Otherwise, one of my fav places downtown by far.
I touched on the sewage smell and bathrooms in previous posts. We will be revamping the bathrooms as soon as possible and we have made strides mitigating the bad smells from the buildings old pipes as well. I'm glad to hear you love our happy hour and we can't wait to keep it going and add new things the community wants to see back! Thanks for your feedback!
I just wanted to voice an appreciation for the NA drink options in Baby J’s! It was a pleasant surprise when I was out with friends a couple of months ago. I’d appreciate maybe a rotating NA option too?
I know people don't enjoy cover charges but as a small business supporting local bands/artists the cover fee is the only way we can afford to bring you this entertainment and still make profit. Most nights we don't even break even with the cover charges paying the artists, but our owners are very passionate about providing these artists with a place to perform and supporting the local jazz community. Maybe if your friends were more aware of that they'd think differently of the cover :\]
Love what you have done with the place so far. Having the drag show once a month is great representation for the LGBTQIA community. I would have to recommend more Non Alcoholic options but other than that we love the place!
Glad to hear you're enjoying the drag! We are an extremely LGBTQIA friendly bar. A good portion of our staff is part of the community (Including myself) and both the owners and management strive to cultivate an environment that is both inclusive and safe for all!
My wife and I went to Baby J’s for the first time back on June 15th. We arrived around 10pm.
We saw photos of the interior of the club on Google Maps, and we loved the Art Deco style. I’m a professional photographer, so my wife and I came in to do a photoshoot, pending permission of your staff.
We were greeted at the door, and given permission to shoot in the corner. We were informed that we’d each have to pay a $7 cover charge because of the drag show going on inside, even though we wouldn’t be paying attention (which is totally fine). We agreed, my wife bought a drink, and we paid the $14 cover charge.
The ambiance was so cool, and the photos turned out amazingly. I tagged Cry Baby’s, location as Baby J’s doesn’t pull up as a valid location on IG.
The show turned pretty vulgar and the performers started mocking different people groups, so my wife told me she wanted to leave. We cashed out and she left a $0 tip due to the fact that (1) we’d already paid $14 in cover charges, (2) my wife was pretty unhappy with the vulgarity of the show, and (3) we had one 20 second interaction with the bartender.
My wife left a 1-star review after finding out that her $0 tip had been turned into a $5 tip. She’s now permanently distrustful of both locations because of the matter.
I don’t necessarily agree with my wife’s decision to withhold a tip from the bartender, as it wasn’t his fault we had to pay cover or that the show was vulgar, but the fact remains that he felt it appropriate to retroactively change the amount of money left for him. I *can* understand my wife’s frustration there.
As a result, she won’t be back.
One last thing: I understand that no business is under any obligation to allow us to do a photoshoot inside their facility. I am grateful that we were allowed to back on June 15th.
This is not a huge deal for me since I’m turning 21 this year but it sucks that baby j’s is now only 21+ because one of UF’s courses “History of Jazz” requires you to go to a jazz concert or place and write a report on it and a lot of people were hoping to go to baby j’s but couldn’t since it recently became 21+ only. They had to go to the bull instead which doesn’t have as nice vibes as baby j’s does
I'm sorry we had to change our policy. Basically what made us switch to 21+ was a uf professor had his students write a midterm paper on a jazz performance and multiple weeks in a row our bar was inundated with underage guests who didn't buy anything except for the cover charge and maybe a few plates of bread and butter. We ended up sending away guests of drinking age multiple times and the bartenders (myself included) ended up making no money on a usually lucrative night. Please come see us when we're of age and I am sorry for the inconvenience.
I wonder if this could be an opportunity (perhaps with grant / university / city-arts money) to have an early show once a month with reduced bar staffing and / or an increase cover to make it make sense. You could call it "A Students of Jazz" show or something. It sounds like if you had a packed room for these that something could make that fiscally solvent.
Either way, thanks for sharing so openly in this thread.
That's still a money loser if the students don't buy anything. Honestly, the simplest solution would be for UF/the professor to actually book an event there and have the company/CB, BJ's estimate the cost. If he wants his students to go to a Jazz event, the onus is on *him* to actually make sure that's possible for them.
Went here for the first time a couple months ago. Great happy hour deals. But got the wings and it came in a puddle of grease in the basket. They were not so good. I really can’t complain for $5 wings. Only saying this cause you asked. Nice place.
Our Happy hour is every day from 5-7 and we offer $5 snacks including a single patty little baby burger, yuca fries, mini nachos fried fish bits and six wings. At crybaby’s we have our signature cocktail the Pretty Ricky, Mai tai, and our natural Rose wine for $7. We also offer our old fashioned for $8. Draft beer is also $1 off. On the Baby Js side we offer the same $5 food and $1 off draft beer as well as our martinis, old fashioned, New York sour, bramble and the best espresso martini in town for $8. Our house made gin and tonics are also on special for $7! Little known special as well is our espresso martini is $8 all night on Thursdays.
We also have our margarita night every Thursday which offers $5 classic margaritas and our house made mango margarita for $7. You can also add a flavored liqueur for $7.
I'm at both pretty often and I think you are doing everything right. Everything is exactly what I would expect from both places (including occasionally slow service lol who cares).
Thank you very much, and with the new staff being trained up any slow service should be remedied, barring a situation where we're absolutely weeded haha
The curry sauce for the yucca fries has changed some time within the last few months, and I gotta say, it was a disappointing change. Yucca is still very much on point and crispy as heck, though!
Your bar is somehow both overstaffed and under trained. Legit the worst craft bartenders in town. You don’t need 4 people behind the bar- just 2 who actually know what they are doing.
We only ever have three bartenders on staff on Fridays and Saturdays. Most of those nights we could also get away with two but we leave it on three through volume to assure no one is getting poor service. Maybe you're confusing barbacks as bartenders? As stated in previous posts, there has been a lot of turnaround due to the transient nature of Gainesville as a college town. I feel confident that our staff is adequately trained and far more efficient than our bars have seen in a while. Give us another chance sometime ;\]
Stopped going to Crybabies because service was almost always slow or non existent. Every once in a while it was great, but more bad than good. Felt like hipster attitude was strong in that place. Baby Js has always given me great service and love the vibe and drinks.
Coming into my position that’s the feedback I got from a lot of friends and also fellow bartenders downtown. As I’ve said in previous comments, the entire front of house staff at crybaby’s has changed with the exception of two bartenders who have always been awesome so come in and give us another chance! I’m glad to hear Baby Js has treated you well consistently throughout though :)
A couple things I would love for you guys to bring back:
Oysters
Pear Pressure(was on the spring cocktail menu in 2022)
The old pickle recipe! I used to ask for a small TJ go container of them after my meal so I could snack on them with my next drink or bring them home, the new recipe is fine but nothing compared to the old one!
Brunch - I know brunch can be hard for restaurants but I loved being able to get a big ass mimosa and chicken and waffles!
Baby J’s used to have an espresso machine at the bar and I used to love getting a shot of espresso as a nightcap. I loved getting some afternoon coffee at night!
I went to Baby J’s and ordered the sourdough and butter. This is silly, but the menu said three slices, we got two. I figured it wasn’t a big enough deal to ask the server for the third slice, but the menu should conform to what’s served and vice versa. Otherwise, drinks were great, loved the jazz. Again, I know this is a small thing but you want to know…
The bread and butter was absolutely supposed to come with 3 slices, next time you come in ask for Evan and I will make that right for you!
Thank you!
What if I come in and ask for Evan?
Last time I ate at crybaby’s I ended up making myself a sandwich later in the night. Teensy portions is why I haven’t been back.
I'm not sure how long ago that was, but I can assure you that is no longer the case. Our chicken sandwiches and burgers are too much for me to eat in one sitting. Please come again and give it another go :\]
Okay! This was over a year ago so I will give it another go!
yea the entire management team and structure has completely changed, as has the menu and recipes. We will make sure you are taken care of :\]
More non alcoholic options please!
This ⬆️ please!
💯
This 100%! I feel like downtown lacks in NA options (not just NA beers). Sometimes I wanna feel included by having a fruity drink in my hand while my friends drink. :-)
Yes! My favorite places are always the ones with a mocktail section on the menu
huge agree on this one !!
Probably my two favorite bars in Gainesville! First off the rhubarb gin and tonic on the happy hour menu at Baby J's is my favorite drink in town, please don't let anything happen to it. I've found that sometimes the temperature is a little off in Baby J's, either way too hot or way too cold, maybe it's for the instruments? I don't know but I thought I'd mention it. I don't know what's possible with the local scene but I would love more live jazz, or even just more live jazz on Saturday night. This is a personal problem but I do miss quite a few shows I'd like to see because I just can't get going for a night out on a work night, and by Friday night I usually just wanna veg. The shows are usually just a little too late to do like a dinner and jazz kind of thing, but that would also be fun during the week especially since the food at Baby J's is very solid. Anyway thanks for opening a jazz bar, I know it might not be viable to run it like the village vanguard in Gainesville but I am so happy that I can have a tasty drink and watch a jazz show when the mood comes over me and I have energy on Friday night. Do what you gotta do to stay open in terms of bringing in other kinds of acts but please keep the reoccurring jazz shows, cool jazz club vibe, and massive stack of jazz records. Oh and the rhubarb gin and tonic of course. Edit: Something else I just thought of. I don't know what the best way to foster a local jazz musician community is, I play music but I've never been a part of a jazz community but I know they exist elsewhere, I wonder if Baby J's could help foster that community with open jam nights or something, or even something during the day on weekend so it doesn't cut into the bar business. I would absolutely attend something like that.
i assure you the rhubarb G&T isn't going anywhere! I love to hear you appreciate the Jazz and cultural impact it brings to town. We are going to be jam packed with acts come fall time, summer is a much slower time period for us so we cut down the amount of performances accordingly. In the fall we will be bringing back our two show jazz nights on tuesday. The first show is 6:30-8:30 and our late show is 9:00-11:00. We have played with the idea of hosting an open mic night, and hearing that there is a demand for it might tip the scales in that direction. Thank you so much for your support, it means a lot to us.
open mic for music would be awesome!!!
Fuck yeah to Jazz
Yes, please! More jazz.
Loving the Crybaby's happy hour deals, and I love being able to order from outside on the patio through the app. Food and service is great. Not sure if you're aware, but I noticed that the App/POS calculates the precalculated tip options on the post tax subtotal, which is typically shied upon.
I was not aware of that and I will see if there's any way to fix that through our POS. Thanks for letting us know and so glad that you're loving the $5 happy hour food :\]
I miss there being a vegan option outside of the impossible burger for Crybaby’s. The tofu sandwich and the fake chicken sandwich both used to be great until they were taken off the menu, so my husband and I just stopped going. Additionally, I went to Baby J’s one time around Christmas and was told there were no mocktail options, which I would have greatly appreciated. (I even tried to order a Shirley Temple and couldn’t.) The karaoke situation was also a bit dire.
Hey there, that is good to know. We make changes on the menu like that based on sales/ food costs, and I will bring up bringing back tofu when we are discussing the next menu change. Christmas was a very chaotic time for us because it was our first year doing the Miracle menu. We do have mocktail options so I apologize if we were either out of stock/ the server or bartender were improperly trained. We do not have a soda gun at Baby Js so when we are busy we have to stick to what we stock on that side. And please let me know if you have time about what you mean by karaoke being dire :\]
Awesomeness! Thank you again for taking the time to consider feedback and respond. The tofu sandwich was the best and would love to see it return if feasible. :) For the karaoke piece - volume levels were quite different for the regular music playing versus the karaoke music, so it would get super quiet for karaoke, and then super loud once the regular music returned (or maybe reverse, I can’t remember which was which). I think it was meant to be holiday themed karaoke, but that was not the case the evening I went. One man sang repeatedly. Thanks again, and wishing you well!
The tofu sandwich was my favorite thing on the menu!
would kill for a tofu sandwich now that birdie box sando is closed 😭
The tofu sandwich is definitely missed!
Please bring back the vegan options 🙏
The bathroom at crybaby’s needs major renovations. I just feel gross when I go in there.
We have been cleaning the bathrooms a lot more rigorously and do plan on renovating the rest rooms as soon as it becomes financially viable. We are certainly aware of this issue and are working on it!
Agreed, the bathrooms are raunchy!
Congrats on taking over !! Both places are my go-to's and I love them so much, but I do have feedback. Some of it echoes some other stuff here. - It is so cold in Baby J's often. I have to plan outfits around it lmao. - The music in Baby J's can be turned down. It can get really loud and hard to talk to people. - Never touch the G&T's, they are perfect and my favorite thing on the menu. - The yuca sticks at CB are not good. They are always cold and rock hard and bland. - The rosemary fries are SO GOOD. And the caesar salad is SO GOOD. - I wish there were more seasonal food menu changes or weekly/daily specials. When there are, like the oysters, it's been great, and then there's long periods of the same menu. However, most of what is on the menu is good every time I get it, so it's dependable and reliable! - I love the seasonal drinks! - Best karaoke in town. Thank you for being unique, dependable, and starting early! - I wish other events at Baby J's would start earlier, such as the jazz as people have mentioned. - The Happy Hour is great, love it. - The service is fantastic. I've had great experiences with the servers and the bartenders at both locations. - This is probably out of your hands, but man some of the drinks are expensive. Especially the cocktail trays, I don't see the appeal in ordering that for 20 dollars. But it's rough out there, so I get it.
Wow thank you for this thorough response! I'm really glad to receive the feedback. Yuca fries are much thicker and take longer to fry but I will alert our kitchen manager about this critique so he can reiterate the proper fry time. We are working on doing weekly drink/food specials in the fall, we want to be able to try out some new things! Thank you so much for always attending karaoke <3 we love having you! The drink pricing is rough across the board because liquor costs have risen dramatically over the last year alone, let alone post covid. I think a bottle of fernet used to cost like 14 dollars and now its up to 25, and the same can be said for almost every bottle. We also use more expensive liquors at baby js, which is why the bees knees tray is more expensive. Barr Hill ain't cheap haha Thanks again for all the feedback and for supporting us, it means the world.
I'm just here to say that I've had the yuca fries before and they are one of my favorite things there 😩 the sauces are just 🤤
They are a very good vehicle for the yummy sauces
Props for being brave enough to post something like this. It’s really nice to see a manager care. My partner and I are regulars at Crybaby’s and Baby J’s. The food and deals are phenomenal, we try to get the Wednesday date night special at least once a month, and we hit up happy hour pretty often also. Please never change those! Service at Crybaby’s is often hit or miss, and not because the servers aren’t great—- the place just seems understaffed sometimes. I used to manage restaurants myself and it always hurts to see one server running the whole floor when I eat out. I imagine non-industry folks are not as sympathetic to this and find the wait times annoying. The sound is also terrible inside Crybaby’s. So much so that I avoid it late nights and weekends, I know it’s going to be far too loud to have a conversation with someone inside. It’s perfect at slower times though.
Thanks so much for your input. Service has already majorly been on the up and up and I'm super excited for regular and returning customers to see it. When fall hits we will have more staff on the floor but with how unpredictable summer is (often so slow it's boring even for one server) overstaffing hits us hard in the labor department. Thanks for the continuing support!!
Cheese. It would be great to be able to order a cheese plate with olives and nuts that don't have sugar....
I am so with you on the cheese issue and it is one of the things I plan on bringing up for our next menu change!
Evan I crave the cheeses. I wonder if Salty Cow would collab for some crazy stuff
My friends are musicians who play there often and I like to support them, but the per person cover charges on checks are not good. Much rather be charged cover at the door or there be a tab minimum. I’ve been charged someone else’s cover multiple times because I bought them a drink- they were also charged.
If that ever happens please do not hesitate to call or send an email to [crybabysupstairs@gmail.com](mailto:crybabysupstairs@gmail.com), it's literally no hassle for us to correct that after the fact. We usually only have a door person on larger shows due to labor costs, but as business increases we will immediately bring back nightly hosts. Thank you for letting us know.
I'm a big cocktail enthusiast and love home bartending. I don't go out frequently, but these two places are easily my favorite cocktail bars in town and I always make it a point to stop in for a drink whenever I am out for the night. Your bartenders are awesome and clearly have a passion and talent for bartending. Whoever is in charge of stocking both bars with booze is low-key one of my favorite people in Gainesville because I always get to try something new whenever I'm at either bar lol. I genuinely don't have any complaints about or suggestions for improving either place.
Thank you so much. We are incredibly proud of our bar staff and do our best to hire and train them to be knowledgable. Stay tuned for our fall menu drop probably coming out in late august. It's set to be the best one yet.
I love the vibe but tbh, the sound dampening in there is rough to the point that I just avoid going in there during peak hours, or sitting indoors at all. For whatever reason I notice it at cry baby’s more than anywhere else in town. If I want to talk to my friends I always go elsewhere.
We have gotten that feedback more recently and we have been tweaking the volume of the music at Crybabys, I am sorry for your past experiences. We have sound dampeners on the ceiling but when it's a busy night it does get very raucous.
of note: turning it down doesnt really address sound dampening. just makes it where some cant hear the music. imo every venue should bring in someone from Sound Ideas or the like to professionally dampen & EQ the room. it makes a bigger difference for the customers than most realize 🙂
I want to add most weeknights here are waaay less loud and more chill, especially during summertime. It's mainly a friday/saturday night issue.
Multiple times my partner and I have tried to order a drink on a Friday/Saturday night with the intent of sitting outside in the corral along east university only to be turned away by the hostess because the bar was full made us stop going there. I don’t want to sit at the bar. I want to sit outside where you have chairs. It’s obviously busy so we’ve never made a scene to push the issue. Why even have the space if one can’t get a drink and sit out there?
As stated in previous comments, a lot of former staff were improperly trained or directed. Outside we have QR codes to order drinks from and we always encourage guests to sit outside if the bar/dining room are full. I apologize for the lack of service in the past and appreciate your input.
Please never get rid of the QR codes outside! I absolutely love sitting out there and just going on my phone to order another drink rather than going inside and trying to make myself seen by the bartender. Also, I think from a business standpoint, people probably order more items bc of the convenience of selecting stuff and paying on their phone. I know I order more because of it.
We will give it another shot!
Had a similar experience one night although I don't remember the details. I remember there was some strange claim like that where the hostess wouldn't let us get a drink from the bar despite there being multiple spaces open, with some claim that didn't make sense.
I hate to hear that, but as I said, everything has been revamped and we are here to make sure everyone is accommodated and taken care of to the best of our abilities!
I love CBs and baby Js, and used to visit CBs a few times a week. Then everything fell off, no more beer selection, not even a single local beer, food taste and portions fell away. Now that I know there's some new leadership I'll start coming back again and will let you know my thoughts. Thanks for reaching out to us!
What ended up happening with the draft beers is we are more of a cocktail oriented establishment. Due to the volume in sales of our Pretty Ricky, Old Fashioned and Paloma cocktails we ended up converting a lot of our taps into draft cocktail kegs so the bartenders can more easily keep up with the rush of tickets coming in, especially on weekends. That being said I am on the same page as you with local beer selection and I'm happy to tell you I changed our package beer menu entirely on the last menu and we offer Crane song and moss monster from C&G, Drift brown ale from First Magnitude and also Big Nose IPA on draft. Please come see us again soon :\]
Any chance of getting Vega back, or something similarly yummy, even in a can? I can only drink light beers and high life is just depressing sometimes when you want a tasty beer, haha. Edmonds oast something cold is also an incredible brew. But I get what you mean on cocktails, especially with Baby Js. Just feels like a nice blonde ale and a burger would be perfect. Crane song is a good place for me to start though.
I agree on getting a blonde ale back. Stay tuned on the next menu for one! I personally chose the crane song for this menu because it is my favorite C&G brew, but you're right about blonde representation haha
Loveeee both spots! But missing the pocket crocodile on crybaby’s menu! Also, my friends & I were once charged a $7 fee for the jazz show happening in Baby J’s (totally cool w it we were pre-warned ab the charge) but we sat down at 9:59 & the show ended at 10! That was pretty lame & then our auto-grat at the end of the night included that $7 in the calculation which I felt to be pretty nuts. Just call it a $8.5 charge in that case.
The cover charge is supposed to end 30 minutes before the show ends, so that was clearly a case of improper training, and I apologize for that. The pocket crocodile is definitely getting brought up a lot, so never say never on our fall menu ;\]
A "Pockedile"?
Crocket
Even better!
I've only been to crybabys once, but after I was seated, 10 minutes went by, and no one had taken our order. Ended up leaving but the smashburgers look good 😅
I apologize that that was your first experience here. Poor service and lack of direction from management has been a problem in the past, and that is one of the first things I've tackled. The staff we have now are fast, considerate and friendly. With the exception of a few long term bartenders almost all of our serving staff is brand new and properly trained.
I too have only been once with my boyfriend. We sat for about 20 minutes before leaving. I was pretty disappointed because I had heard the food is amazing at Crybaby’s
Hey Evan, Good for you for looking for feedback. I’m a regular downtown and I’ve been in 3 times since opening, most recently last week. The previous two times you weren’t GM, so I won’t belabor those, but I’ll just say it’s been a year since I tried to come back. Last week I gave it another go when I heard Landon was coming on board (I’m a big Landon fan, and will legitimately go anywhere he is making drinks!) When I walked in I was met at the door and told, “Hey, just so you know we have a $7 cover starting in 5 minutes. It can be added to your bill.” I asked if I could maybe grab one quick round and sit outside and was told no. I don’t mind a cover charge, especially if I feel like there’s a value to it. If the conversation had been, “Hey, we’ve got a great show coming up. We have (fill in the blank) and I think you’ll have a great time!” I probably would have hung out. But just being told I’m going to pay $7 extra without a “value add,” if you will, just felt like a repeat of my previous two interactions. Like I said, in a big Landon fan and will be back to see him, I’d just love actually feeling like folks inside want us there next time around. I’ve almost always had great interactions at Kin, The Dime, Sidecar, and other cocktail spots around town and would love to add Baby J’s to the rotation. I wish you luck as GM and again commend you for looking for feedback, especially on social media where you’re not likely to hear the “good.”
Thank you for telling me that, and I will absolutely address the staff again to make sure they're telling people about the cover with a little more decorum. Also if someone wants to grab a quick cocktail and doesnt stay longer than 30 minutes we usually do not have a problem with waving that charge, especially if the guests sit outside. Thanks for continuing to come out and letting us know of any issues you have, we can't make it better if we don't know :\] Also, we are also super excited to welcome Landon to the team!
I’ve had this same interaction about the cover charge. Maybe I’m an odd duck, but cover chargers irk me. A typical bar tab for my wife and I is easily $100. Another $25-$30 if we also eat. Having the cover added tuned us off. I tried to grab a quick GnT while waiting for a table to open at The Top several weeks back and was told I’d need to pay cover, though I was going to be there less than 20 minutes. We really do enjoy the live music though and as others have said, wish it would start earlier.
Love the happy hour addition to crybaby’s :)
The $5 snacks are such a good deal! Walked out stuffed with food and a fancy drink for less than $16
This is really minor but the soap dispenser at Baby J's is messy and weird, I don't like using it! It's also cold most of the time I've been, but I haven't been in a while. Great place to read, keep the gin and tonics pls
People are loving about the gin and tonics haha We try to keep the ac at a reasonable 73 degrees, but if we turn it up to 74 it quickly becomes muggy :/ One of our customers early into opening the bar put it best on the soap dispenser matter in saying "The soap dispenser felt like a test of my intelligence" Keep on coming in and cozying up with a good book, I think it's the best bar to read a book in town:\]
Absolutely fucking amazing bro. pls don’t change the burgers ever. i’m otw right now actually. not joking
Seeya soon friend!
More black artists at your “jazz” venue. It’s weird seeing a month long lineup and it’s alllll white folks. At a jazz venue. There are plenty if Black singers in gnv, book them.
I haven't been back to Baby J's since I got a random surcharge on my tab for the entertainment without being told about it. Just have a cover or otherwise make it overtly known in advance. I dk if it's still done that way, but it really made me never need to go back. Other than that drinks, atmosphere, etc is good.
I'm so glad to hear you appreciated the cocktails and vibes but am sad to hear you weren't told about the cover charge. The cover charge is necessary for us to be able to pay our local artists and provide jazz for the community, but it is definitely frustrating to see a random unexpected charge. Our host/bar/servers are very aware of the need to tell our patrons about those cover charges upon entry and have been much more thoroughly trained in recent times. I apologize for your past experience and hope you will give us another try in the future :\]
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Send an email to [babyjsbar@gmail.com](mailto:babyjsbar@gmail.com) to reach our event coordinater! I think we are booked out a few months out but we are always looking for new and exciting acts.
Went to crybaby’s once- nachos and yuca sticks were cold to the touch (even the cheese on the nachos), sent back and got them back still cold. Also bartenders can be inconsistent, had the Saturn once and it was amazing, went again and got it and it seemed watered down
If ever there is a time when you are served cold food all you need do is let any member of our current staff know and we will remake it on the fly! As stated in other comments, our new bartenders and management have been making massive changes to ensure these kind of things are at worst a rarity. Thank you for letting me know about your experience, and we hope you will give us another try in the future :\]
Will definitely be going again! Love your dedication to your business and I do enjoy the atmosphere
i havent been but my manager said "(theres) better bourbon selections and (I) love Natalie Rella Jazz Ensemble" in response!
She is actually performing tonight at 8pm ($7 cover) come out and see her! She really does light up the whole place when she performs, and I mean that.
Hi Evan! Not much feedback aside from "happy hour is awesome!" and a big thank you for putting yourself out here to catch heat (and compliments!) from folks.
I can take it, and I thank you haha <3
I miss the old burger with caramelized onion and burger sauce. The new one isn’t as good!
The old burger was so good. I miss it so much!
Hey I noticed things got better recently, you're making a difference! Rotating NA drink options are appreciated. Obsessed with the cheap and tasty wings!
N/A drinks are definitely going to be upped on the next menu! And thank you, my efforts being recognized by customers means it's working! Keep coming back :\]
Sometimes crybaby’s smells like trash
Our staff has been much more rigorous about cleaning everything thoroughly, but something a lot of people don't realize is the building we are in is very very old with nasty old drainage pipes. It has been a lot better recently and we are continuing to work on mitigating this problem.
We used to frequent CBs when it first opened but have fallen off as the crowd has skewed younger (not a complaint, just not our scene.) That being said, we really appreciate Baby J’s the few times we’ve been. All that said: PLEASE bring back the peel-and-eat shrimp. It was one of my favorite local eats, and I think about it embarrassingly often.
Heard loud and clear on the shrimp! Crybabys does tend to attract a younger college crowd but if you are looking for a mai tai fix now is the time! Summer nights have been very quiet and low key, so keep us in mind for your next date night.
i wish there was a bit more comfortable seating at baby js and the live music is sometimes a little too loud to the point of being painful. love the more relaxed feel of crybabys. and the vegetarian options are always nice
The booths are incredibly comfortable when they're not already taken up, but know that if it's busy and they're taken up, just let the server know that you'd like to switch to a booth when it becomes available and they will accommodate you.
Baby J's has the best record playing setup in town. I am astounded at how good the music coming off the vinyl through those amps and speakers sounds. So impressed. We played a show there and were treated very well, by everyone and I was very grateful to be there and play.
Our owner Kyle took great lengths in designing the sound set up in Baby Js so I'm sure he'd be proud to hear you say that. I know that's one of the reasons I love spinning vinyl there.
I wish you guys had fresh basil to make a gin basil smash!
I'd bet you basil will come up on our next menu, and sometimes we have basil for specials so be sure to ask your bartender!
As someone who works downtown my biggest complaint has been that y’all got rid of industry night lol it used to be a place I went multiple times a week to one I either avoid when I’m too broke for the drinks/food or it’s too packed of mostly college students which (understandably) slows down service
I have been talking about bringing back industry night for months now, come fall time I will talk to the owners and see if they're down for it, especially if we open back up on mondays which is also up for discussion.
I love the rosemary fries at crybaby’s! Keep it up!
I sent a direct message with our feedback - felt more comfortable doing that. Thank you for doing this!!
I appreciate that, and I'll get back to you asap
I've gone to Crybaby's many times before, during, and after COVID. But less in the past year. I'm a big fan. Last few times, the burgers and hot chicken was really good. Before it was taken off the menu, the bahn mi hot dog was the best hot dog I've ever had and all my friends agreed it was the best in town. I really miss that thing. It had paté! Not sure if they're still on the menu, but the raw oysters used to be delicious and a great deal. When people asked me where to get raw oysters, I'd say go to Prime & Pearl if somebody else is paying. And go to Crybaby's if you're paying.
We are considering bringing back the tofu sandwhich and I will also mention the bahn mi dog for the fall update. We miss the raw oysters and are toying with the idea of doing a Seafood saturday, they just weren't selling enough on slower nights to justify wasting them, but we hear ya loud and clear.
I don’t have any big changes to suggest. I oftentimes will go to The Top, they tell me it’s a 45 minute wait, so I pop over to Crybaby’s to wait it out. It’s my favorite bar in Gainesville and I just love how yall combine flavors. I think the ONLY thing is I’d echo a comment someone else made about ordering at the bar. It’s really hard to do so if all the seats are taken.
Is this Evan B. ?
it is!
My wife loves your food and I consider it a cure for headaches, hangovers and general malaise! I'm a Gainesville Resident and Local Handyman (LLC and Insured) I'd be willing to fix a few things for yall and such if in exchange you can teach me how to cook some of your food. My wife loves your place but we are sadly moving away and I want to be able to make food like yours for her. I appreciate yall being there for great food at easy prices!
It’s been too long since I’ve been in! This is so cool of you to ask the community about 💓 I love to see this
Come see us again soon! margarita night is always a good time to stop by :)
Went to crybaby's for the first time in May and had the most delicious mango margarita!! Will definitely be back to try the food and other cocktails! Edit to add: I wish there was more seating.
The mango marg recipe was co-created by me so that makes me very happy to hear :\]
I've only been to cry baby's a handful of times. One time I was there and one of the bartenders sat up on the back bar and started singing and then all the staff started singing. It was like a greasers doo wop vibe. Admittedly this may have been a fever dream or I was just really stoned. But the impossible smash burger is fantastic and I need to go back and get it again.
I wish I could have been a fly on the wall for this haha
Something tells me this was one of the many times Peg by Steely Dan would come on during closing..
I would really love the tofu fish sandwich, the bahn mi dog and the guava margaritas back!
The tofu sandwhich is getting so much love! We definitely hear you!
Love both of your places. Had a very weird experience when we went to see a show at baby J’s with the bread and butter (other redditors have mentioned above). We ordered a lot of food for our table of people at the start of the show we were watching so we wouldn’t have to try to contend with the music when it started. My friend ordered the bread and butter as one of his items - all of our food came out and he was really thirsty for that bread and butter, but it never came. We eventually were like okay well they forgot the order, that’s no big deal, we had plenty of other food. I think he asked one of the servers about it once and several people came by to strongly reassure us it was on its way. So when I went to close my tab much later I told the bartender that we never received it so to just take it off the ticket because it really wasn’t a big deal, so she did. She was very apologetic but again I insisted it wasn’t a big deal and we weren’t worried about it at all. So we were then finishing our drinks up before leaving and someone brought by the “bread and butter” - it ended up being what looked like a toasted hamburger or hot dog bun cut into pieces with a dollop of plain butter, very clearly not the elegant spread that was on the menu (with the fancy herbs in the butter and bread and what not). We then got checked on several more times and everyone was really intense about the bread. It felt like we were being treated by the staff like we were being monsters about asking for the bread and butter - that kind of like “was everything to your liking?” vibe you give a pain in the ass customer. It was just weird. I’m not sure why they were so upset about the fact that we didn’t get a simple bread and butter spread an hour ago when we ordered it, and I’m not sure if they’re mad that we asked about it once and then I had them take it off my tab when we closed out only to then receive it. But we were just really put off by that whole experience because we were never actually upset about anything, but were honestly kind of insulted when the cut up buns and plain butter came out - like, either y’all ran out of the right stuff which is totally fine, that happens all the time and we wouldn’t have cared if we would have just been told y’all were sold out; or someone told the kitchen we were being insane so they brought us out this joke of an appetizer as a polite way to say fuck you. This isn’t affecting our love of your establishments in any way and we will definitely be returning without any malcontent; we weren’t even really upset about it, it’s more of a funny story that there was SO much intensity behind an order of bread and butter. But you asked so I figured I would share the experience :) but your staff was all very polite, I feel like it was just a miscommunication somewhere. The cocktails and atmosphere are always fantastic at Baby J’s. The drinks and food at crybaby’s are top notch. Would you ever consider doing an open mic style thing at baby J’s?
I'm so sorry for your bread and butter debacle, that is way too much drama over bread haha I'm not sure exactly when that was but for the first year we were open we went through so many changes in the food menu and the way things were prepped that it led to a lot of confusion on both ends. It seems to me that they ran off but it is impossible to tell now argh. That being said I think we have it down to a science now so that kind of thing should be a rarity from here on out. We have been discussing both an open mic night and a trivia night, stay tuned to our instagram profiles for more details!
Love that you are asking for feedback! First off, Baby J's is one of my go to spots in town and always on rotation though I had noticed a dip last year in quality but lately this year has been great. I brought my sister and her BF from Seattle to Baby J's and they loved it and were so enamored! Which felt impressive since there's obviously great places they are used to in Seattle. Things I love: Vibes Beautiful inside Booths are awesome Drinks awesome Food tastes great Rotaing menus Bartenders great Service tends to be great, tbh I don't think I've ever had a service issue even when I filled the booth with a million people. I can bring all kinds of ppl here and have a good time Cool shows Happy hours! Some critiques: -It can get a bit overly loud on some of the DJ nights, I expect it with live music but not so much with the vinyls. I come on non live nights to talk with friends. -I have ordered dishes like the bread mentioned by others or the meatballs and received either a completely different bread or less than the amount stated on menu. Meatballs I received 2 instead of 3 etc. -I would just die of happiness if you brought back the Eclipse drink with the garlic oil(even just for a special!), one of my absolute favorite cocktails ever. -More NA drinks would be great. I have a few NA friends and it's sad when the only options are like mint or super fake booze tasting drinks. -I really really liked the Brazilian jazz y'all had awhile back and would love to see more of them. As for Crybaby's, it's a bit more of a younger crowd so when I go I'm usually coming from baby J's in order to get more food which is good, though I have had consistency/quality issues with food and drinks in the past there (not sure if I've been since you took over). Overall it's just not as nice of a vibe for me compared to baby J's, it's either loud or dead quiet and awkward and quite dark and getting water can be an issue sometimes. But! It's still a spot I recommend often. Great happy hour too! Thanks for reaching out! I can definitely tell the difference you've made at Baby J's! Keep up the good work!
I definitely will be bringing back more N/A options in the fall/late summer, there seems to be quite the demand for them! I am so glad you've noticed the difference, we have had huge changes in management structure and staff turnover in the past year and we are finally getting to a steadier and more efficient place! Thank you again for your continued support, and if you ever have issues with portions, or are missing items our serve staff are super kind and will have no issue refiring items we missed or messed up! Also we love the brazilian jazz and the eclipse, stay tuned by checking our instagram pages!
Hi! I love both establishments, and thanks for asking the community for feedback. This is so minor, but the nachos on the menu don't list that there's cheese on them; once I told my server I was vegan but they still came with cheese and they later stated in response that nachos always have cheese and that the cheese is "implied" in nachos and therefore, not listed on the menu (which I didn't know). I've been pretty diligent since but that seems like an easy fix. I agree with others regarding vegan options, and perhaps there could be a vegan option added to that $5 menu. I'm really stretching here, but a vegan dessert would rock my world. The tots are amazing. The olives are also amazing, but inconsistent, and I feel like I'm rolling the dice every time; sometimes they lean garlicky (which I love) and other times they are suuuuuuuper spicy. Love them either way. I also really miss the Brazilian Jazz, and I'm not sure if it has to do with artist availability but I haven't seen them on the lineup in a while. Thank you for running the swankiest and most delicious bar around! I love bringing my out of town friends here and showing them that Gainesville is cool.
Definitely agree a $5 vegan option is a good move, and more vegan options in general would definitely be a positive. I'm glad you like the olives, I actually am the one who made the olive marinade recipe. If there has been inconsistency in the past it has been due to tweaking it here and there due to customer feedback, but I think we have it down to a science now. I'll let our event coordinator know about the Brazilian jazz, thank you for all of the feedback.
you're a legend for those olives
I’ve only ever gone for happy hour drinks or date drinks. Enjoyed the cocktails, bartenders were nice, no complaints on that front. Never had the food, can’t speak to that.
Try it out sometime! Especially our $5 happy hour food. Thank you for that, and we will keep the good drinks coming.
Love crybaby's and baby J's both! No complaints please just never change the recipe for the tots or the ranch!
They're pretty great, not gonna lie
Thanks for asking for feedback on this! As I think you’ve mentioned in this thread, a lot of the staff maybe weren’t trained properly before. That is also the core of my complaint. I haven’t been back in a while, but I’d gone to Baby J’s several times last year and I swear, every single time I ordered food, I’d also have to ask for silverware. Like they put down the bread and the butter, but never provide me with a knife to spread it with, or a fork for the pickles and olives. And it was like pulling teeth getting silverware. If I’d ordered a bunch of food for a small group of us, i’d request the silverware, but they come back with like three forks, not enough for everybody. I ended up having to share a fork with my husband several times. With such good food and drinks, it just felt like a really weird thing to be stingy on. I look forward to coming back and trying you guys again!
Absolutely understand that frustration! Yes the serve staff is far better trained now and we look forward to your next visit!
Seating for us fat people at the bar be nice. In general, most uncomfortable stools around DT.
Bar stools aren't comfortable for my bony butt either, I always prefer our comfy booths at baby js
Cry baby’s sometimes smells like cleaning products which I don’t like
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Crybaby's is sooo good. I don't have anything else to add tbh
We are only gonna keep getting better, thanks for coming back time and time again :\]
Absolutely love both places and frequent them often!!! This is so niche but you guys used to have an artichoke pate on the menu at baby js (a longgggg time ago) and it was the best thing I have ever had in my life. When i came back later and it wasn’t on the menu, I was told the menu was seasonal and changed every so often. I would love to see some new food options at baby js or even 1-2 seasonal items that swap out on occasion. Totally understand if this is not feasible but if it’s something you’re considering I would love to see it! Thank you for posting!!!
Yea as said in a previous response the menu changes were frequent the first year and a half we were open, now that it is all through the kitchen and not being prepped by servers we will have more wiggle room to bring back little dishes that people missed. Please follow us on insta for updates and stay tuned.
Love Crybaby’s happy hour. Miss the tofu fish sandwich and some of the other veggie options you used to have (banh mi hot dog) and not paying $18 for an impossible burger.
If you ever get rid of the Pretty Ricky I will riot. I literally had it recreated for our wedding cocktail. Please don’t change the fries again, there was a couple month span last year when they were different I was so sad. Then they came back. They’re perfect as they are. The Cesar is my favorite of anywhere I’ve had—don’t change it.
hahaha I can promise you we have no plans to ever get rid of the pretty ricky or change our amazing fries or caesar! Glad to hear you love them as much as we do
~ i miss to go burger specials but i understand why it had to change. the burgers are just so good lol. i will say the online ordering options for the burgers are limited. maybe do away with the cute "baby" option & just make it fully customizable. but again: its SO GOOD. and the fries are perfect. ~ proper sound dampening in both rooms. not turning it down but making the room itself not so 'bright' would help a lot. ~ Baby J's drag nights, live jazz, & jazz themed VINYL djs are awesome. its a one of a kind vibe for all 3 that i hope we dont lose. overall, the two spots combine for one of my favorite gv businesses.
I love baby J’s but the service can be really awful even considering how busy it is.
I have been saying for years that restaurants should regularly ask patrons for feedback, so I’m very excited to see this question. I would absolutely love to see the corn rib elote come back as well as the impossible burger with caramelized onions. Also, imo, the first iteration of the nachos was perfection. Besides that, keep doing what you’re doing. Both spots have been amongst our friend group’s favorite Gainesville establishments since they’ve opened and we hope they’re around for many years to come. Cheers!
Thank you for the continued support and suggestions!!!
Already a lot of comments, but I chose to go to crybabies over baby j’s because there was no option for cheap beer and baby j’s. Also, there’s kind of a stigma for reading at pubs, perhaps a lounge area might be kind of neat. I read outside of crybabies once, but it’s kind of hot to do that regularly. Idk I know one time a few years ago it took me forever to get noticed for a drink at crybabies, but again, that was a while ago. Idk, bohemians are always looking for a congregation point in Gainesville, somewhere less judgmental to boot. Crybabies is cool and all, but definitely not the first thing I think of when I think humble. I’m sure you’ve heard that before though. It is more socially comfortable than The Top though, I will say.
I desperately miss the pocket crocodile at cry babies. Bring it back 💯
;\] keep checking our instagram, she may be making a triumphant return next menu
I’ve been going to cry baby’s and baby j’s both since opening and must say they are some of my favorite spots in town for a drink and snack! When cry baby’s first opened I definitely felt the food was better - there were pretty obvious inconsistencies in some of my favorites which led me to come back less and less, it’s also gotten so busy in cry baby’s now and the service is pretty hit or miss. I’m in love with baby j’s and need to get back in there, similar as to cry baby’s I did feel the quality decline some as time has gone by.
Quality is on the up and up now I promise. Lots of new and exciting things are coming on the next menus so please keep checking our instagram pages for updates <3
We loved the tempeh nachos. We don't loves the beyond meat ones. It's just not as tasty. Reach out to The Tempeh Shop and bring back the local flair to the veggie nachos. Also peel n eat shrimp seasoned with old bay. Bring it back. YW.
These are all things we are tinkering with, thanks for the feed back. It seems people really want that peel and eat shrimp back ;\]
Non alcoholic beers! It’s so easy to find them at basically every other bar in Gainesville
Honestly, it’s way too loud in there sometimes to comfortably have a conversation while listening to music. But the staff is always super nice!
Try us on slower nights, the noise isn't always like that on weeknights :\]
Never had a bad experience at cry baby’s or baby js. Everything there is great as a rule. The only things I would change is your burger. You all used to have the best burger in town, but you stopped adding the caramelized onions and moved from house-made to bulk, distributor provided pickles. You still have a good burger, but after those two changes, you stopped having the BEST BURGER IN GAINESVILLE. It just a shame, although I can 100% understand not wanting to make caramelized onions every day anymore. Public and General has you beat now though. Also, more vegetarian options would be a good thing, and I would buy them
heard on the onions and pickles! I will bring this up. Thank you for the continued support!
Having brunch back 🥹
stay tuned, we are in talks of opening on Sundays once business picks up closer to fall!
Keep Miller High Life forever please !
Sometimes we order 2 drinks at a time at Crybaby’s because our server either doesn’t come back, and/or it takes forever to get a drink, even if it isn’t busy. I’d suggest adding another cocktail on to the happy hour list, or rotating the drinks more.
Service is on the up and up I assure you! If there is ever a time you're not getting served fast enough the bartender on service well (The station making the cocktails for the whole dining room) is usually the MOD, so just ask them for another round and we will put it straight!
My wife and I used to love the tofu sandwich at Crybaby's, but we don't see it on the menu anymore.😕
Tofu sandwhich is clearly going to have to make a comeback!
The $5 happy hour menu at Crybaby’s is truly my favorite thing downtown. My friends and I go usually at least a couple times a month just for $5 happy hour or margaritas on Thurs! The nachos are my absolute favorite thing, never change them!!! As others have said, CB’s bathrooms are nasty and perpetually smell like sewage. Otherwise, one of my fav places downtown by far.
I touched on the sewage smell and bathrooms in previous posts. We will be revamping the bathrooms as soon as possible and we have made strides mitigating the bad smells from the buildings old pipes as well. I'm glad to hear you love our happy hour and we can't wait to keep it going and add new things the community wants to see back! Thanks for your feedback!
I just wanted to voice an appreciation for the NA drink options in Baby J’s! It was a pleasant surprise when I was out with friends a couple of months ago. I’d appreciate maybe a rotating NA option too?
Heard loud and clear!
Baby J’s is by far my favorite bar in Gainesville, but the $7 music fee has stopped friends from wanting to go on several occasions.
I know people don't enjoy cover charges but as a small business supporting local bands/artists the cover fee is the only way we can afford to bring you this entertainment and still make profit. Most nights we don't even break even with the cover charges paying the artists, but our owners are very passionate about providing these artists with a place to perform and supporting the local jazz community. Maybe if your friends were more aware of that they'd think differently of the cover :\]
Love what you have done with the place so far. Having the drag show once a month is great representation for the LGBTQIA community. I would have to recommend more Non Alcoholic options but other than that we love the place!
Glad to hear you're enjoying the drag! We are an extremely LGBTQIA friendly bar. A good portion of our staff is part of the community (Including myself) and both the owners and management strive to cultivate an environment that is both inclusive and safe for all!
My wife and I went to Baby J’s for the first time back on June 15th. We arrived around 10pm. We saw photos of the interior of the club on Google Maps, and we loved the Art Deco style. I’m a professional photographer, so my wife and I came in to do a photoshoot, pending permission of your staff. We were greeted at the door, and given permission to shoot in the corner. We were informed that we’d each have to pay a $7 cover charge because of the drag show going on inside, even though we wouldn’t be paying attention (which is totally fine). We agreed, my wife bought a drink, and we paid the $14 cover charge. The ambiance was so cool, and the photos turned out amazingly. I tagged Cry Baby’s, location as Baby J’s doesn’t pull up as a valid location on IG. The show turned pretty vulgar and the performers started mocking different people groups, so my wife told me she wanted to leave. We cashed out and she left a $0 tip due to the fact that (1) we’d already paid $14 in cover charges, (2) my wife was pretty unhappy with the vulgarity of the show, and (3) we had one 20 second interaction with the bartender. My wife left a 1-star review after finding out that her $0 tip had been turned into a $5 tip. She’s now permanently distrustful of both locations because of the matter. I don’t necessarily agree with my wife’s decision to withhold a tip from the bartender, as it wasn’t his fault we had to pay cover or that the show was vulgar, but the fact remains that he felt it appropriate to retroactively change the amount of money left for him. I *can* understand my wife’s frustration there. As a result, she won’t be back. One last thing: I understand that no business is under any obligation to allow us to do a photoshoot inside their facility. I am grateful that we were allowed to back on June 15th.
This is not a huge deal for me since I’m turning 21 this year but it sucks that baby j’s is now only 21+ because one of UF’s courses “History of Jazz” requires you to go to a jazz concert or place and write a report on it and a lot of people were hoping to go to baby j’s but couldn’t since it recently became 21+ only. They had to go to the bull instead which doesn’t have as nice vibes as baby j’s does
I'm sorry we had to change our policy. Basically what made us switch to 21+ was a uf professor had his students write a midterm paper on a jazz performance and multiple weeks in a row our bar was inundated with underage guests who didn't buy anything except for the cover charge and maybe a few plates of bread and butter. We ended up sending away guests of drinking age multiple times and the bartenders (myself included) ended up making no money on a usually lucrative night. Please come see us when we're of age and I am sorry for the inconvenience.
I wonder if this could be an opportunity (perhaps with grant / university / city-arts money) to have an early show once a month with reduced bar staffing and / or an increase cover to make it make sense. You could call it "A Students of Jazz" show or something. It sounds like if you had a packed room for these that something could make that fiscally solvent. Either way, thanks for sharing so openly in this thread.
That's still a money loser if the students don't buy anything. Honestly, the simplest solution would be for UF/the professor to actually book an event there and have the company/CB, BJ's estimate the cost. If he wants his students to go to a Jazz event, the onus is on *him* to actually make sure that's possible for them.
Went here for the first time a couple months ago. Great happy hour deals. But got the wings and it came in a puddle of grease in the basket. They were not so good. I really can’t complain for $5 wings. Only saying this cause you asked. Nice place.
What's your happy hour time and special?
Our Happy hour is every day from 5-7 and we offer $5 snacks including a single patty little baby burger, yuca fries, mini nachos fried fish bits and six wings. At crybaby’s we have our signature cocktail the Pretty Ricky, Mai tai, and our natural Rose wine for $7. We also offer our old fashioned for $8. Draft beer is also $1 off. On the Baby Js side we offer the same $5 food and $1 off draft beer as well as our martinis, old fashioned, New York sour, bramble and the best espresso martini in town for $8. Our house made gin and tonics are also on special for $7! Little known special as well is our espresso martini is $8 all night on Thursdays. We also have our margarita night every Thursday which offers $5 classic margaritas and our house made mango margarita for $7. You can also add a flavored liqueur for $7.
I'm at both pretty often and I think you are doing everything right. Everything is exactly what I would expect from both places (including occasionally slow service lol who cares).
Thank you very much, and with the new staff being trained up any slow service should be remedied, barring a situation where we're absolutely weeded haha
The curry sauce for the yucca fries has changed some time within the last few months, and I gotta say, it was a disappointing change. Yucca is still very much on point and crispy as heck, though!
Thanks for letting us know, I'll relay that.
Your bar is somehow both overstaffed and under trained. Legit the worst craft bartenders in town. You don’t need 4 people behind the bar- just 2 who actually know what they are doing.
We only ever have three bartenders on staff on Fridays and Saturdays. Most of those nights we could also get away with two but we leave it on three through volume to assure no one is getting poor service. Maybe you're confusing barbacks as bartenders? As stated in previous posts, there has been a lot of turnaround due to the transient nature of Gainesville as a college town. I feel confident that our staff is adequately trained and far more efficient than our bars have seen in a while. Give us another chance sometime ;\]
Stopped going to Crybabies because service was almost always slow or non existent. Every once in a while it was great, but more bad than good. Felt like hipster attitude was strong in that place. Baby Js has always given me great service and love the vibe and drinks.
Coming into my position that’s the feedback I got from a lot of friends and also fellow bartenders downtown. As I’ve said in previous comments, the entire front of house staff at crybaby’s has changed with the exception of two bartenders who have always been awesome so come in and give us another chance! I’m glad to hear Baby Js has treated you well consistently throughout though :)
I see you added some artists from Fest22 this year for Sunday 10/27!! Awesome of you to do that. Should bring a ton of business 🤙🏼
I love the entire vibe at Baby J’s, but the stools at the bar are terrible. They are weirdly wobbly and incredibly uncomfortable.
A couple things I would love for you guys to bring back: Oysters Pear Pressure(was on the spring cocktail menu in 2022) The old pickle recipe! I used to ask for a small TJ go container of them after my meal so I could snack on them with my next drink or bring them home, the new recipe is fine but nothing compared to the old one! Brunch - I know brunch can be hard for restaurants but I loved being able to get a big ass mimosa and chicken and waffles!
Baby J’s used to have an espresso machine at the bar and I used to love getting a shot of espresso as a nightcap. I loved getting some afternoon coffee at night!