We'll be heading to Chicago on Friday, and when it's for a scheduled doctor visit, Jason treats me to some of my favorite Windy City cuisines afterwards. However, I still haven't decided where we'll dine this week yet. I mean, I usually never say no to Giordano's deep dish pizza, but I also have a soft spot for JoJo's Shake Bar. If you follow me on Instagram, you'll see that their freakshakes are my jam!
If you live in the Chicagoland or surrounding areas, you'll see a lot of advertising for JoJo's on your social media. Pictures of their milkshakes are drool-worthy (and enough to send one into a diabetic coma, I'm sure), but are they worth the social media hype? If you ask me, I'll tell you I'll make the 2 hour drive from my house just for a milkshake. If you ask Jason, he'll tell you he has no desire to ever step foot in there again. So, I suppose it depends on how much you love milkshakes and sugar?
Let me start my review by saying that I had someone on Instagram send me a message after I posted my freakshake pic and tell me that I need to eat better. Not that I have to explain my eating habits to anyone, but JoJo's should be treated as a special treat, not for every day food, which is what I do. I've been 3 times in 2 years, so mind your own business and move along if milkshakes and candy aren't your thing. For those of you who are interested, continue on :)
Before the pandemic, we got to dine indoors. Y'all remember those days? JoJo's Milk Bar is an Instagram worthy little eatery with a full menu consisting of grub like sandwiches, tacos, lasagna, biggie shakes and hot cocoa, and my personal favorite, cheese fries. Vegetarian or Vegan? Not an issue! They can accommodate your dietary needs.
And, where else are you going to get to dine with Biggie and The Queen, who both have milk mustaches!?
The first shake I ever ordered was The Gold Digger.
This milkshake is made with vanilla ice cream infused with caramel. It's topped with gold toned candies and cookies. But, as much as I loved the milkshake, I'll will agree with Jason and say that you're paying for the novelty of these shakes and they really aren't worth the $14 asking price. We split this one and I honestly didn't feel like the actual milkshake was enough to satisfy two people. We had the waitstaff box up the candy and cookie toppings so we could give them to the girls when we got home. By the next afternoon, the toppings were getting pretty stale and hard, so we ended up throwing them out since nobody wanted to eat them at that point.
While I was in Chicago in early December, Jason thought he'd treat me and my bestie to dinner at JoJo's. By treat, I mean drop us off at their outdoor dining winter wonderland and go find himself food elsewhere LOL. I had seen their special peppermint winter shake on their Facebook page and really didn't want to miss out on getting my hands on it before the season was over. Dining indoors was not (and to my knowledge, still not) happening, but they did set up a huge heated outdoor tent decorated in winter/Christmas theme for diners. Now, the setup was all kinds of adorable, but my excitement for my birthday meal went south rather quickly when the hostess told me there was a $20 SIT DOWN FEE. Like, what in the actual fuck is a sit down fee? She didn't tell me of any fee when we put our names on the waiting list and Jason had already drove off, so I paid the $20 just for the privilege of dining at JoJo's, which soured the birthday meal a bit for me. But, it was my bestie's first time here and I did love the decor, so I let it go. We both ordered the Winter Peppermint Shakes and cheese fries. Absolutely delish!
But again, as much as I love the shakes and fries, our total with the
sit down fees and tip came to $85. For 2 shakes and 2 baskets of fries. I
didn't even pay that much for food in New York!
I was going to wait until they took down their Christmas tent dining area to post my review since I didn't want to encourage anyone to show up and get blindsided with a sit down fee, but it appears that they have converted the area to a Candyland theme until the end of April, so I'm sure a sit down fee still applies if you plan to tent dine. For me, on top of the high food prices, tips and sit down fees, JoJo's is not worth the hype. But, the food is really good, so I personally won't stop patronizing them when we're in Chicago, but will place a curbside to-go pickup order for my future visits.
If you like massive milkshakes/freakshakes, and if you're ever in the South Bend/Mishawaka Indiana area, I insist that you stop at
Caracas Bistro. Their milkshakes are about twice the size of JoJo's and only cost $9. And are worth every calorie, imo.
What's your favorite milkshake flavor?
Why is it that I never get any fun mail from psycho readers, just you? I want some too LOL
ReplyDeleteHope everything goes well at the doctors, deary! I will be thinking of you this Friday. Hope you will be able to visit some nice shops after it.
15$ really is a lot for a milk shake, geez, do they put gold in it LOL
Please, take them crazies! I haven't had too many psycho comments from blog readers over the years, but Instagram is a free-for-all on unsolicited opinions I suppose. I've had people ridicule me for sharing pizza, I've had men in countries where women are considered second class citizens tell me to go to bed because I shouldn't be online so late (It was like 5pm here, probably 1 or 2am there, but shouldn't matter as nobody has the right to tell a woman when bedtime is), I've had people tell me that it's fine that I am sick because the weight I lost probably makes me feel better than the pudge I had been sporting before was gone (no matter that the pudge meant I was healthy and feeling good and the rail skin and bones me was just waiting for death, but you know, skinny is beautiful, right? *eyeroll*). I've had people google maps me their house, like I'm going to hop on a plane and travel across oceans for a booty call LOL. Funny enough, I have never received a dick pic. I don't know if I should be relieved or offended by that bwahaha! Oh, I also had someone try to get me to send him pictures of my feet and he'd paypal me some money. Jason was pissed when I turned that one down because he sees nothing wrong with selling pics of your feet to weird men on the internet.
DeleteJason should have sent him his own feet photos LOL Imagine the surprise LOL I do wish I got dick pics, but no such luck, never even had any stalkers, but I do occasionally notice that some of our celebrities are secretly following me, had our most famous writer attack me on my Facebook profile a few months ago because he thought I was some bigot in love with the Russians just because I occasionally post something nice about Russia. He later on erased the comment, but imagine a bestselling writer appearing on your profile and starting a quarrel with you LOL Guess I'm kinda famous too LOL
DeleteI'm embarassed to say that I've heard of Jojo's, but I've never been there. Gotta fix that.
ReplyDeleteYou must try them if you're in the area!
DeleteI loved this post because of the fantastic pictures! I hope you will still be my friend after I tell you I hate milkshakes . . . They make me feel sick and bloated. And I don’t eat fries, either! But I’d be down with the baked hot chocolate.
ReplyDeleteYeah, we have the igloo fees here and they are more like $50 for 2 hours! I get that they had to buy or rent the equipment, but that’s pricey. Gorgeous picture of you, as always!
Of course we'll still be friends. I'm not in the business of judging people on their dietary choices. If truth be told, I should be glad the milkshake wasn't filling when you split it with another person because too much milkshake makes me bloated and feeling meh, too.
DeleteThere was an igloo inside the tent, but we didn't get to sit in it. Maybe if we had, I wouldn't have been so pissed about the $20 fee. To me, businesses needed to think outside of the box to weather the loss of revenue from the pandemic, but charging extra fees is taking a risk at alienating your customer base. They should have took the hit for the tent and heaters and wrote some of the expenses off on their taxes this year. It's what I would have done. It's like the dentist here charging an extra $10 now for PPE equipment. Like, your staff ALREADY HAD TO WEAR PPE before the pandemic. Trying to nickel and dime your customers during the pandemic is a no-no for me.
Ladies, I can’t beat you both. We have igloos here or greenhouses here that you can outdoor dine in. I asked my hubby to take me for a much needed date night. He called to make a reservation at multiple places, the sit down fee for all of them was $200!!!!! He went on an obnoxious rant that he’d build me an igloo instead and can go in it whenever the hell I wanted. People are completely taking advantage of things. That being said, we can eat indoors here and we did that instead.
Delete¡Qué cuquis! ¡Besos mil!
ReplyDeletebesos ♥
Deletelmao $20 to sit down? Those must be some comfy chairs. No? Comfy floors? No? They give you slippers to wear? No? I guess I'm with Jason then. See ya lol
ReplyDeleteThey sure do look like they would bring quite the sugar high though. And enjoying it is the way to be. Even if higher than NY. And pffft to people and their two cents worth. Wait. I must argue. It's social media. You should eat better. Yep. Has to be said. lol
They were hard bar stools, not comfy but I suppose better than standing out in the snow eating my meal LOL.
DeleteThanks for your 2¢. I'll be happy to return it with my 2¢ next time I log into Instagram ;)
I can’t believe someone sent you that message! I get some nastygrams on social media too, but just shrug it off as a troll. The shakes are very pretty, but I’m with Jason. One time and done. We have a place here called Babylon Burger Bar that’s very similar. It’s $22 for a milkshake but it’s HUGE. More than enough for two people to split. I ate the brownies, luciana had the m&ms, Carlos had the shake, and poor Antonio got the whipped cream. Lol
ReplyDeleteGreat post
ReplyDeleteMilk shakes look great but more expensive than here. Hope everything is ok with the doctor. Have a great and heatlthy day to you.
ReplyDeleteBest Thumbs Up Photo Ever - Our Place Was The Corvette Diner In San Diego - They Whipped Up The Most Heavenly Dreamy Vanilla Malts - Oh Baby - The Boy Dog, He Enjoyed His Pup Cup Like No Other
ReplyDeleteCheers
I hate getting blindsided by unknown fees. It feels sketchy (because it is sketchy). That being said, everything looks so cute!! Not hidden fee cute, but cute enough that if you knew about the fees ahead of time you might choose to go in willingly every once in awhile, just because.
ReplyDeletePictures are amazing! Milkshakes look great, especialy Jojo's one.
ReplyDeleteI like the building, it looks like fun. The paintings are so cool. I like shakes and malts. Many do not add the malt powder. Flavors? Any please!
ReplyDelete