Original Joe’s Restaurant & Bar

9 Reviews on “Original Joe’s Restaurant & Bar”

• Prince Gastronome

  Right up there with Quantum of Solace, the ending of Mass Effect 3, and the inside of every Kinder Surprise, Original Joes is incredibly disappointing. And like those other examples, I wasnt expecting it to be, and thats why I walked away so unhappy. It was my exception to the rule, the proof of quality among mediocre franchises. No matter how bad Mr. Mikes or Boston Pizza could get, I could always depend on Original Joes. I had been there for lunch twice, enjoyed both meals, so I was expecting my recent dinner to be purely academic, verification of what I already knewthat Original Joes was, to but it simply, the good one.And Im annoyed; check that, Im borderline depressed, and my accompaniment agreed with me. We arrived in the evening to a packed house and was led to a table bathed in near absolute darkness, like the degenerate era of the universe dark (science mic drop). Ample spot lighting focused on each of the tables, but the gaps between were so murky, it was like trying to find your seat at the cinema while A Clockwork Orange was playing. This was in contrast to the lunch service due to the light spilling in from outside. At night, you can barely see anything. And I thought Pan was dark. I was almost thankful for the seven televisions tuned to only two channels for supplying some needed illumination. No joke, the only time I could see my friend under proper lighting was when the truck outside backed into a spot behind us, and it drenched my friend in a disconcerting crimson glow resembling the demon from Insidious (or Darth Maul with rounder face).Between BPs bible menu and Rockfords single page, OJ offered a double-sided single board, once again mixed with a shotgun blast of various ethnic and western options. Ive grown to tolerate many of these, and have been known to praise them when given a modern or fusion twist, but I always question the logic of listing something considered the norm at proper ethnic restaurants. Like butter chicken, why would I go to Original Joes for butter chicken considering Indian food is in the top ten in all cuisines in North America and thus represented by authentic restaurants a dozen times over. But beyond that, I opened up with the bruschetta–house made; served with baked garlic crostinis topped with melted mozzarella and parmesan cheese. These werent bad, but when Red Robin does it better, you have issues to address. To get really pedantic, there are ways to cut a baguette, and when straight-cutting, its really only good for spreads and single toppings. When making a bruschetta, it needs to be cut on a bias so it can properly hold the toppings. Also, officially my stance on bruschetta is that it come premade, and not offered in a bowlbut this is growing more common, so Ill let that slide.What I wont tolerate is bad food, and the two mains were below par. I ordered the tomato basil linguini–basil, olive oil and garlic in roasted tomato sauce, topped with shaved parmesan and toasted panko bread crumbs. It had maybe three shaves of parmesan. it was under-seasoned, and had a lake of oil pooling in the bottom. The garlic bread was barely toastedbasically they threated the top of the bread with the broiler until it showed color and tossed it onto the plate, borderline rubber. My friends meal wasnt any better. Full disclaimer, hes an actual cook, and he ordered the jambalaya–chicken, chorizo sausage, chopped bacon, prawns and fresh vegetables seasoned with creole spices in a roasted tomato sauce over orzo pasta. Thats a lot of ingredients with very little eventual flavor. Youd think creole spices would offer some heat, but there are legless puppies with more kick than this. He also complained that the shrimpmixed into the pastastill had their tails. In his words, the tails should be pureed and added to the stock. Okay, apparently thats a thing, knowledge is power. I only observed that like mine, the food lacked salt and had a pool of reddish oil collecting at the base. Couple all this with blas service and you end with an exceedingly poor experience. The first time I was here, I had the dragon boat lettuce wraps and thought they were awesome. Later, I had the Sgt. Pepper burger and enjoyed that as well. If it was just my plate, I could maybe pass it off, but three dishes ranging from underwhelming to borderline inedible I cannot excuse. JustwowI got nothing else. I guess theres still MoxisI hope that one hasnt fallen off its perch.Food: 2/5Service: 2/5Presentation: 2/5Value: 3/5Recommendation: 2.5/5

  April 19, 2016, 8:02 am

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• Alp

  Server was attentive and knowledgeable. Appie hour was slow, atmosphere was great. Wings were very crispy

  April 29, 2015, 12:25 am

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