I am a little confused by all the bad comments regarding the food. My husband and I have been there several times and we have always had a great meal. Prime rib was excellant and would recommend the chicken picatta, burger or open steak sandwhich to anyone. I will agree that the decor needs help but besides that we will continue to go as often as we can.

"Until recently"?? Mark has been the Lead cook there for well over twenty years! The reason the staff looks over their shoulders is because the owner is bi-polar. You never know what your going to get when she comes in the restaurant. Everyones on pins and needles. The whole mood of the place changes upon her arrival. Oh, and the drinks are not good. They use the Berg electronic portion control system. Weak drinks even when the thing doesn't clog up.

We'll coupon issuies aside, the food is just aweful!
for a steak house and a pub the cook needs to be fired. Ive gone there many times in the past 2 months, thinking and hoping it was just a bad night, I grade as follows
Prime rib = 1 star
NY strip = 1 star
Rib eye = 2.5 star
Corn beef + cabbage (st pattys day) 0 stars - meat and vegies ICE COLD
grilled chicken = 2 stars

save your self the greif what this place used to be in the 70's and 80's is long gone. I swear the bar croud is all that keeps this place going.

The bar staff is great, they mix good drinks, and pour bear fast with a smile.

I was thinking the same thing !! Restaurant Impossible should come to CJ's Steakloft!! It is sad that the restaurant is beyond dated, the food is iffy at best and nothing has been done about it! It would be great to have another place to go eat in town, but CJ's hasn't been on list of places to go for a while now!! (Too bad since the Mom's Group goes out to dinner monthly)

CJ’s Steakloft. The first thing that comes to mind when entering the establishment is the show “Restaurant Impossible” they need it. The atmosphere reeks early 1980’s, is old, dated, dark and dingy. carpeting is atrocious. What used to be a white is tinted brown. I’m guessing from the days gone by when you could smoke in a bar. The decor looks like it has been there since they opened the doors. It’s good thing the lighting is so dim you can hardly read the menu. Staff tries to be pleasant, but there is the sense that they can’t win, They look over their shoulder before answering a question or comment. As far as the food, it’s just OK at best, it lacks real flavor and you leave with the feeling that you overpaid for what you got and could have done that your self. Second time we tried CJ's I ordered a Med-rare steak and got well done, when I brought it to the waiter’s attention she told me she would talk to the kitchen. She returned 15 minutes later to see if we needed more drinks. I think CJ’s Steakloft is in survival mode, when they should be in improvement mode and trying to build on what little they have left, an old school following. Three strikes and your out, we WON’T go back.

This place utterly screws up coupons. A few years ago I tried to use a Boston Globe one and had to spend a half an hour on the phone with the owner to sort it all out when the server refused to honor it. But, other than that prices have gone way up, service can be, well, spotty, and though the food can be good (I do like their chicken dishes) it can also be erratic. Oh, and why oh why do they often 'close the kitchen' well before the posted hours and before one can sit down, have a drink and relax????? There also was a tendency to not carefully salt the entrance and driveway. I took a wicked fall and wrote the owner about it. Not even a response.

Jayne, that is unfortunate. I have never had a problem like that using a Groupon. I would contact Groupon directly and explain the situation. Think their policy is to refund your money. https://www.groupon.com/support

We went to CJs Steakloft in Northboro to redeem our $30 Groupon last night. The hostess greeted us with, "do you have an internet coupon" and I said that we were going to use our $30 Groupon. She said that the owner changed the rules and we would have to spend $50 to use our $30 Groupon. The hostess agreed that the owner was wrong to make this change but could not help us. We left and, even though I am a Northboro resident and have dined at CJs before, I will never return. I know that a finite number of Groupons is sold in a day and the owner should have honored the deal. It is not a coupon I cut out of the newspaper, it is something I paid for and was unable to use because the owner altered the deal. CJs has lost a customer, and when I post this message to the Northboro Patch, I hope she loses lots of customers.