Huge entrées, team service don't impress at Claim Jumper
By CRYSTAL PETROCELLI
Get Out

Wait: We put our name on the call- ahead list and walked through a crowd of 30-plus hungry diners at 7:45 p.m. on a Friday. Our wait was less than 10 minutes.

Service: When our server finally showed up, her speedy speech was difficult to understand but we did get the part about how we should feel free to ask anyone for help. This is the second time I've had “team” service and, like the first time at Damon’s, there wasn't an M.V.P. in the bunch.

What we liked: If you sample as many dishes as we did and the two things getting all the praise are the lemonade and a biscuit, something has gone horribly wrong. Granted the tall, sugar-rimmed and mint-leaf-dressed lemonade was a thirst-quenching delight and our hand-sized homestyle biscuit was carb-ilicious but ... our sloppily constructed loaded skins had a bruised potato piece, the beef ribs in the ore cart (heaping platter of three types of ribs, rotisserie chicken, side and bread) were fatty and the giant bowl of black tie pasta left pools of oil on our plates. As for dessert, our obscene slice of Chocolate Motherlode Cake was moist with a tasty filling but no more exciting than the store-bought variety and the mint chip mud pie had a weak crust.

Scene: It’s like dining in an overzealous outdoorsman’s cabin with river rock walls, heavy timber decor and various stuffed animals mounted about.

Bathroom break: The spacious, clean restroom breaks from the rustic theme of the restaurant with its pink tiled walls and pink-and-pale-green flooring.

Tab for two: $96 with tax and tip for loaded skins ($9.95), crispy shrimp taquitos ($9.95), Ore Cart ($26.95), black tie pasta ($12.95), half slice of Jumper’s Mud Pie ($4.95), Chocolate Motherlode Cake ($7.95) and two lemonades ($3 each).

If work weren’t buying: It turns out bigger isn’t always better — this was the most disappointing $100 dinner I’ve ever had.

By CHRIS PAGE
Get Out

Wait: We arrived at 9 p.m. on a Thursday and were taken to a large booth after a 15-minute wait.

Service: For a restaurant whose theme is unabashed bigness (it’s the Wal-Mart of restaurant chains), our server was an ironically diminutive young woman named Jessica. She was helpful, delightfully courteous and prompt.

What we liked: Claim Jumper, with its absurdly diverse menu, serves up what is essentially American comfort food, only in portions so large you’re guaranteed to leave with big doggie bags and should get a coupon for gastric bypass upon exit. Even our gonzo fire-roasted artichoke appetizer — with side tub o’ mayo — was daunting. For entrées we ordered the broiled portobello stack sandwich, which was moist and robust with balsamic vinegar but too cheesy. As for the tri-tip — that underrated West Coast cut of meat — our server didn’t ask how we wanted it prepared, but she brought it on the pinker side of medium-rare. Lucky guess. It was smoky, tender and good enough to go without the too-sweet McClintock’s-esque barbecue sauce it came with. We also ordered an overly pricey 10-ounce lobstertail, which was, well, lobster. For dessert, we poked at the lemon bar brulée, a flavor abomination of limp lemon tart cheesecake with a torched but soggy sugar top, and a much better (by which we mean supermarket-quality) carrot cake. Strangely, the thing we loved most was our Arnold Palmer — half lemonade, half iced tea — which came in a big glass with a sugared rim (what joy!) and a sprig of mint on top.

Scene: Big. Claim Jumper’s Old West mining town aesthetic is translated into a dining room that looks like a mammoth Disney hunting lodge — big faux-antler chandeliers, wall-mounted taxidermy and big wooden tables.

Bathroom break: Hang left at the Yukon Territory, right at the collapsed mineshaft, quick left at the grizzled old prospector and head into a pretty standard, clean-ish bathroom.

Tab for two: What else? Big. $91 with tax and tip for fire-roasted artichoke ($9.95), broiled portobello stack sandwich ($8.95), tri-tip dinner ($16.95), lobster ($29.95), carrot cake ($5.95), lemon bar brulée ($6.50), Arnold Palmer ($3.00) and soft drink ($2.50).

If work weren’t buying: We’d come back for Arnold Palmers and perhaps split an entrée — instead of our pants.

Claim Jumper
1530 W. Baseline Road, Tempe

Major cross streets: Baseline Road and I-10
Hours: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sun.-Thu., 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Fri.-Sat.
Reservations accepted: No, but there's a call-ahead list
Health report: No major violations on April 28
Kid friendly: Yes
Web site: claimjumper.com