By TR Robertson
You could say Jack Nielsen was born to work in the restaurant business as he started at an early age working for his father and grandfather in various restaurants in Nebraska, which has led him to soon open the newest bar and grill restaurant in the downtown Vista area. As he got older, he would continue by enrolling in a hotel and restaurant administration program at Washington State University moving to manage Sherman’s Restaurant in Pullman, Washington, the busiest restaurant in Pullman. Changes in his personal life would lead him to move to New Mexico where he would leave the restaurant business for a while and manage a Bed, Bath and Beyond store.
Jack’s success in this new venture opened a chance for him to move to Oceanside where he would manage the Bed, Bath and Beyond in Oceanside. He would meet his wife, now married for 22 years, move from the retail business into working in operations for AT&T for a while then moving to owning a number of T-Mobile stores, 24 in San Diego County. Jack sold the T-Mobile stores and took one year off to remodel his home in Vista. Even with all the success he had along the way, he still held a love for the restaurant industry and wanted to get back in this business, this time as his own boss running a restaurant designed the way he wanted and providing the food choices he felt people would enjoy the most. As he began to look for a place to purchase, COVID hit. He thought it might be easier to find a place for sale during the COVID shutdown, but the opposite occurred. Various bailouts and government money kept many of the restaurants open. This and the fact that Jack wanted a small neighborhood restaurant made his search difficult. Living off his savings for three years, he kept his dream alive. As luck would have it, a friend was looking through Facebook and saw a notice that Partake Restaurant on S. Santa Fe. Ave. in Vista was going to be closing. He was familiar with the location, made several contacts with some friends and the rest will soon be history as Jack becomes the owner of the newly named Jackson’s Sports Bar & Grill, formerly Partake Gastropub.
In a recent interview, Jack said, “I want to create a happy place where families will feel welcomed, friends can gather for good food, drinks, games, and socializing. A place where all will feel comfortable.” As the restaurant is going through some remodeling and renovations, a soft opening will soon be held with a Grand Opening planned for mid-August. One unique feature Jack wants everyone to know about is the chance for patrons to personally add to the décor by bringing in flags, pennants, and other memorabilia of their favorite sports teams to hang from the beamed ceiling or place around the restaurant. A few items are set to go up on the wall like Chargers, SDSU Aztecs and Padres items and University of Nebraska and Washington State University flags will soon hang from the ceiling. Feel free to bring your team items in when you visit the restaurant. As a member of the Elks Club in Vista, Jack said his friends keep asking when he will open. The answer is, very soon.
Jackson’s Sports Bar and Grill will be open 7 days a week with the hours of 10 am until 10 pm Mondays through Fridays, 10 am until 11 pm on Saturdays and 10 am until 8 pm on Sundays. The kitchen will close one hour before closing time. Currently hanging on the wall are 8 large screen televisions which will always have a variety of sports featured. The restaurant’s capacity is 78 people and there will be an outdoor patio area for additional patrons. Jack plans on employing 15-20 staff members and he is currently in the process of interviewing candidates.
At the present time beer, wine and non-alcoholic drinks will be served. Some of the beers that will be on tap include Coors, Michelob Ultra, Latitude 33, Modelo, Firestone 805, Alesmith, Booze Brothers, and several variates of Karl Strauss. The large kitchen will prepare the extensive menu Jackson’s will offer. Customers can begin with the choice of an assortment of appetizers such as Buffalo wings, chili cheese fries, fried zucchini and green beans, mozzarella sticks, onion straws, potato skins, pretzels, and nachos as well as fries and onion rings. A wide selection of burgers will be offered as well as a variety of sandwiches. The Texas BBQ burger and brisket cheddar burger sound delicious. Brisket dip sandwiches, French dip, Philly cheesesteak, several different melts and chicken sandwiches are on the menu. For those wanting more of a dinner meal you can choose from meatloaf, chicken fried steak, chicken fried chicken, Ribeye and Fish and Chips. All the burgers are prepared from freshly ground meat and all meats are fresh. All the steaks are prepared in flat iron skillets. For those not wanting meat items there are four salads to choose from, as well as quesadillas, mac and cheese, various daily soups and chili. There is also a kids’ menu offered. One very unique item that will be offered on Saturdays, especially during college football season and as a tribute to Jack’s Nebraska roots, is the Runza Nebraska Corn Husker Sandwich Special. The Runza is seasoned beef mixed with cabbage and onions wrapped in fresh baked bread. Sounds good even if you aren’t a University of Nebraska fan.
Be on the lookout for the Grand Opening announcement for Jackson’s Sports Bar and Grill, at 721 S. Santa Fe Ave., one of the newest restaurants to open in the downtown Vista area and be prepared to have some good comfort food, prepared by friendly staff in a fun atmosphere, filled with folks having a great time.
