This is our go to place for a cheap family chicken night. Is this the best chicken and sides in Dubuque, of course not, but for the price it's hard to beat. The chicken is always cooked perfectly and tasty, the fries are not home made bit still very good and quite a large serving. Also can't go wrong with the onion rings, very addictive. If your ever looking for a quick meal for yourself or family give it a try, it is carryout only so call ahead and order, don't forget to add some hugh shrimp as a bonus. read more

Yesterday 8/06/2026 I ordered 2 catfish dinners and they were horrible tasted like the fish was spoiled and they fried it so hard there wasn't hardly any meat on the fish this was a horrible experience I was so disappointed it wasn't worth my $27-$28 read more

Ordered 2pc dark meat chicken dinner. The meat was good. I subbed Onion rings for Fries. They were soggy. No napkins or forks for the coleslaw. Price was ok but also had to carry out only. Not coming back. read more

Used to love this place until the new owners took over. They seem to only be open when it's convenient for them. First time ordering from the new owners I had an order I placed and it was cancelled when there was 2 hours left until close and had to wait a few days for my money to be returned (I'm on a budget so I couldn't eat that day). Another time I got food and it was so gross. It was greasy, undercooked, and unevenly cooked (check out the photo). Once upon a time this place was awesome but not anymore. read more

Jack's Chicken Palace - 2 onion ring orders that are unevenly cooked. One is burnt and the other underdone. - Chicken Shop Near Me - Dubuque, Iowa

Wretched. Dinner roll only edible item & no butter for either dinner. 1 chicken 1fish.thimbleful of something resembling​ slaw. Soggy fries.mayo for tartar sauce. No lemon for fish. Overdone dry flavorless.save ur $$$$$.Ate wing & bit into broken bones. Nasty. Never again. BTW everything fried in soy if allergies. read more

I called to place a take out order and the food was amazing; the lady that took the order was so nice and helpful. When you first walk in it's smaller but you feel as you're family. read more

I do not recommend jacks chicken palace! Attached is pics of the undercooked chicken I unfortunately didn't think I needed to check before allowing my intellectually disabled brother to eat. Now he is vomiting and feels very unwell. I called the restaurant and the young lady that answered was rude. She refused to give her first name when asked, and simply said "nope" and hung up on me. Before hanging up on me, she did talk to her manager and said we can have our next meal free of charge. I said there will definitely be no next meal from jacks chicken palace for us, even if they paid us the $19 we originally paid for the chicken that made him sick. I am reporting this to the local health department, but also wanted it to be known here, in hopes of preventing others from becoming as sick as my brother is, by assuming their chicken is fully cooked simply because it comes from a restaurant that specifically "cooks" chicken. read more

I stopped here for lunch after seeing that this place has been going since 1962 so it must be good I thought. It's a complete dump thats small with takeout only. The place was busy cranking out orders while I looked over the small menu and the chicken dinner is is $8 which is reasonable for 4 pieces of chicken with frys, coleslaw and a dinner roll. My fried chicken dinner was cooked to order and it was nice to see them pull fresh chicken from a fridge. My order took about 15 minutes and I was off. The chicken dinner looked good so I started with the frys which were not seasoned enough and fairly bland. The chicken had a thin crisp coating with very moist and tender meat I thought but like the frys it was bland and needs seasoning. It's definitely not 21 herbs and spices but a little salt helps. read more

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Had a fantastic meal at Jacks last night, my first visit with new owners. The chicken was f'ing perfect and HUGE PIECES (maybe I just got lucky?) Plus both the macaroni and potato salads seemed better than I ever remember them being. AND potato rolls are a step up! All in all phenomenal. Keep up the good work....it's noticed! read more

The food has definitely gone downhill with new owners. We ordered 2 4-piece chicken dinners, and one box only had 3 pieces. The quality of the chicken was not great. You really couldn't tell what the pieces were supposed to be either. Maybe they'll get better with time? read more

New owners are doing a great job. Food was delicious as always. No complaints. Glad we have someone to keep it going. This place is a Dubuque past time in a way. Thank you for your service , I'll be back! -Downs 7-20-24 read more

Ordered 3 chicken dinners 1 with onion rings instead of fries, in which they CHARGE EXTRA FOR (which is fine), Mac salad and 2 extra rolls tonight. I got there, they informed me that they cooked my chicken in the fish fryer and it was going to be re-dropped. They told me it would be 12 more minutes because mine it was burnt. Okay fine. Well it was 20 minutes. Still, fine whatever. But from the time i ordered to the time i sat to eat it had been an hour. With previous owners it was in and out in no time. I could order, pickup and eat in less than an hour. Anyways. I sat down to eat, opened the box and they didn't put my onion rings in with the chicken dinner. If I liked fries, wouldn't have been charged extra and not just waited an hour for this, i wouldn't have cared as much. But to do all that jussssst to have it wrong, ugh. I tried calling up there 4 times and then I'm pretty sure they unplugged the phone or shut it off because I called and additional 3 times and got a dial tone. Since it was close to 8pm I'm sure that's what they did. I'm annoyed. We used to eat here literally once a week and gave the new owners a fair chance. But they've tweaked some things... which I've gotten over... but after this...I'm over it. NO THANKS JACKS. read more

Jack's Chicken Palace is always awesome. Getting takeout there has been a big part of my childhood and family memories.

5.8.24 @7:30 pm - My family and I really enjoyed this food. We ordered 8 pieces of dark fried chicken and medium fries. I appreciated receiving 4 legs and 4 thighs, but wings are dark meat, too. Maybe a few wings should have been included? Maybe I should've asked? I'm not sure. Anyway, the plain crinkle fries were fresh, and crispy. Note there were no seasonings or salt on the fries, but they tasted like good ole' potatoes. Add your own salt/ seasoning if you have it. The chicken had a good balance of salt, but I didn't taste any flavors or seasonings. The chicken was fresh and crispy as well. This was a walk-in and order. Not sure if they have pre-order. No dining in here (counter service only). I would definitely order here again. My only gripe is there were no napkins, salt/pepper packs, ketchup, nothing besides the food itself in a large brown paper bag. I love the plainness of it all, but we could've used some ketchup packets with that huge bag of fries. I just changed from 4 stars to 5 because I'm craving another meal from Jack's. We were the last customers of the day, so maybe they just forgot to include the basics. I'll let you know how it goes round 2. Again, the food was so good. It took about 15 minutes to fry it all fresh. Wow! Paid about $18+, and a family of four (2 adults + 2 kids) was very satisfied. Cashier was nice and helpful, too. Update: Round 2 was just as good if not better than the initial visit. Favorite! read more

Visiting father-in-law and he wanted to show us a "historical treasure" of Dubuque...Jack's Chicken Palace. First, realize this is a takeout only place. It is not an attractive place inside. I think some of the grime has been there since it was founded. Just order chicken and a side dish if you go. We ordered chicken plates, which come with a roll and cole slaw. Since it is a takeout place, you have to take it somewhere to eat, usually home. The problem is the little tub of cole slaw is put into the chicken container, so it is warm when you go to eat it. The roll is just a store bought dinner roll they put a pat of butter in, which melts in transit, leaving you with a mushy roll. The better for the chicken had almost no seasoning. That all being said, the chicken was juicy and tasted pretty good. This palace has seen its better days. read more

This is an institution for a reason. Good chicken. That is the reason. Tender moist and juicy

I last enjoyed Jack's Chicken Palace chicken dinners forty years ago when I came home from college for the holidays. It was delicious then and it is delicious now. We came into town for a family funeral and stayed the weekend. This evening, we ordered two chicken dinners, and three sides: potato salad, macaroni salad, and three bean salad. The chicken was so fresh, hot, and tasty, and the sides were excellent. We had a wonderful evening picnic. read more

This place is a Dubuque staple! Great chicken and don't forget the giant bag of fries.

A fried chicken place after my heart. I went to Grambling State for a year, I use to go to this local chicken place that this reminds me of, so a little bit of nostalgia for me as I ate here even though they are miles apart. So everything seems fresh to order, I got the chicken dinner which is 4 pieces, bread, and fries for under $10. It takes about 15 minutes to make, which is fine knowing that it will be fresh and hot. Place is very small, take out only. They do have coke products for purchase as well. Cups of sauce are available upon requests. The chicken was good, anyone that knows fried chicken is often hard to make even though it seems easy there is an art to it. The meat was good, the batter was flavorful, the skin wasn't rubbery or sliding off, not greasy, and had a good crunch. Very well done chicken as I expected from a place that has been around for awhile. The Bread is just a basic bun and they have crinkle cut fries that are okay. I would come back again, its nice to see local places serving up quality fried chicken. Bonus for the giant chicken on top of their roof. read more

The chicken squirted juice when I ate it. The breading was so thin and crispy and seasoned. The bread roll was sweet and fluffy with some ?sweet cream butter slathered on. The fries were perfectly fried and all crunchy even when cold. The coleslaw was a little heavy on the horseradish taste... though I'm not very sure if that was even what I was tasting and I'm also not a big coleslaw connoisseur so who am I to judge? The chicken was just a tad salty for me. (I can see why people love it) No seating inside, it's purely a carry out establishment. They do take card. They make your order to order so I waited about 15 min for mine, which was totally worth it. read more

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How do you rate a Dubuque institution? This place has been around literally forever. As a kid I'd walk to Jack's and buy a large onion straw and pretty much finish it by the time I got back home. Everything is still done exactly like it was 50 years ago,which is actually brilliant. After all why would you change deliciously cooked chicken and fantastic sides? Did I mention the onion straws? My absolute favorite. Everything is take out and cooked when you order so be sure to allow up to 1/2 hour to come back to pick up your food after you order. Definitely a must do when in Dubuque. read more

Jacks has some of the best chicken in town. Great coleslaw, really good fries and a large is enough to fed the fam bam. I really like their onion rings and gizzards too. Friendly staff, excellent service. Definitely call ahead. 10/10 would recommend. read more

Staff was friendly and the chicken was delicious and well seasoned.Onion rings were good and portions were generous.

Love their chicken! The sides are very good, especially the onion rings. My grandkids love when we have Jack's Chicken for supper

Sat. Oct 10, 2020, went to Jacks around 2:30 pm, ordered 12 pc chicken and large order fries, everything was hot, the French fries had no salt on them making them tasteless, the broasted chicken had NO seasoning, did not taste like any broasted chicken we have ever ate, VARY DIS-APOINTED, SJ read more

They have good chic. En. I like it. It is good. If you are looking four chicken options and you don't think that Jacks Chicken Palace would have chicken then think again because they shore do. read more

A mom and pop alternative to the chains. Go there. Period. Best chicken in the state

We actually went to this area of town to try out someplace else. That place was closed and I happened to notice the big chicken on the sign across the street. Parking: strictly street. No private parking at all. It appears this is the standard for this area of Dubuque. Atmosphere: very simple. It is carry out only (which we discovered when we walked in). The menu is not located in a logical place, instead of being near the front door where the cash register is, it's off to the rear behind several items stacked against the wall. You can watch the staff as they prepare and cook the food...so it has an interesting feel about it. There is no place to sit at all, so waiting for our food required a period of standing just inside the doorway. Staff: they are friendly enough, but not overly so. We could tell when a regular came in because the conversation then perked up. We stepped outside to get some fresh air and were not notified that our food was done. An exiting customer was kind enough to tell us that she thought our food was done. Food: the chicken breasts were very good! They were fresh and moist and not overly greasy. The fries were overcooked and I couldn't even finish mine. I ordered shrimp which was good. We received a roll with each meal, which was a Sara Lee roll, which was good. The cole slaw was good, not quite sure whether it was a vinegar or mayo based slaw (maybe a combination of both). It was an okay place from which to get food, but the girlfriend and I agree that it's not someplace from which we will get food again. read more

Went to Jacks for my first time tonight, it won't be the last. The chicken was moist and the inside and perfectly seasoned on the outside. The dinner role was simple, but loaded with butter. Would highly recommend. read more

I live not far from the place and went there only because I heard about how good the place was. I was told to get the onion rings and a side as they are so good. When I got there I looked at the menu and saw they didn't have wings or anything of that sort just fried chicken and some other sides. I ordered the chicken and large order of onion rings. The place does not have any tables or even places to sit while you wait for your food to be prepared. When I received my food I already thought to myself "wow this better be good". I got home and opened the "BAGS" and dug in. The onion rings were a soggy mess! I tried them with different sauces I had at home and ended up throwing mostly all them away. The chicken tasted plain as all could be and nothing special about them at all. I would only order the chicken if I went there again. read more

Chicken tastes exactly like the old grease they are frying it in. Fries have No salt either.

Grrrreat food would have given this place a 5. But, our meals were lacking in the seasoning area. No condiments were offered or fork for our coleslaw. All and all it was a lot of food for less than $20 bucks! read more

Great spot to eat. My family goes here once in a while, and so far it has been great. I love the cod dinner. The establishment is takeout only and the food was fairly cheap. I recommend this restaurant. read more

Walked in as a customer with food was walking out and the staff told me they were closed (40 minutes early). I asked if they closed at seven instead of 6:20 and they told me they "ran out of stuff". Clearly they just wanted to close early. Don't worry, I will never be back. One star is generous. read more

Awesome broasted chicken. Love the onion rings, fries, and salads. For Take-out only you will not be disappointed.

Good, fast chicken! If you're expecting something more than deep fried goodness, you will be disappointed. Otherwise, you can't go wrong.

My husband and I have had the chicken in the past, it is not our favorite chicken, but it is very good. We ordered chicken strip meals and the meals came with 6 large chicken strips, fries, coleslaw and dinner roll. We both enjoyed our meals and we have strips left over for another meal. Also, ordered onion rings that I was a fan of but my husband said they didn't have much flavor. Will definitely order the chicken strips again. read more

Jack's Chicken Palace must be a legend. I don't know the history, but just walking in, you can tell they've been serving up that juicy chicken for a looong time. The chicken is fantastic, but it doesn't end there. With lots of menu choices, you'll find something new to try with each visit. The Palace is a great Sunday afternoon lunch, just be sure to call ahead for pick-up! read more

Best fried chicken I have EVER eaten!! It is crunchy beyond belief on the outside and so juicy on the inside that the juices drip down your chin the moment you bite into it.This chicken is even better than mom made..Also if you like fish the Deep Fried Pike Sandwich is also very good. read more

Food is always perfect and is greatly priced. It's a Dubuque classic, you can't go wrong here. And the fries are delicious!