07/21/08

Not near on par with reviews...not a good place to spend your money.

by illdoitright

I am very knowledgeble about food and open minded.

Reviews that are postive on here must be related in some way to the restaurant.

If you want watered down sauce, old soup, rubbery chicken then this is your place....

• Pros: Neat little building, ambience, close to downtown.
• Cons: Pre cooked then reheated, rubbery chicken, flat watery sauce, waste of money.

03/12/07

Cheap...and you get what you pay for!

by jorgejulio01

I work downtown, so there aren't many good lunch options for me. Consequently, I end up eating at Joe's pretty frequently because one of the guys suggests it. The food is consistently average to below average. The red sauce is very ordinary and leaves an unpleasant, lingering garlic taste in your mouth. The negative reviews about the bread are right on the money; it's like a crusty Wonderbread. The butter is always frozen so unless you hold it in your hand to warm it, you won't be able to spread it on the awful bread. Really, the only thing the bread is good for is sopping up some sauce. The soup, which is the same everyday, is basically overcooked garlic with a hint of tomato sauce poured over pasta. It's rubbish. The salad is worse than the stuff you get in a bag at the grocery store. Even with all these negatives, I'll admit that the entrees are generally okay, but not great. The service is pretty standard. I try to avoid Joe's when I can, but without a lot of options to counter a co-worker's suggestion, I'll be back. My advice is to eat somewhere else, but if you have to eat at Joe's, go with the chicken parm. It's a standard, and they don't screw it up. If you're looking for a cheap Italian meal and are prepared for average food, this is your place. If you are looking for a pleasant surprise, keep looking.

• Pros: Location (good for downtown employees); price
• Cons: Bad bread; horrible salad; gross soup

05/30/06

One of the worst restaurants I've ever eaten at

by jackstraw74

I am baffled by the good reviews of this restaurant. It was hands down one of the worst places I've ever eaten. I'm not a food snob, but I know and love good italian food having grown up on the East Coast. This place was just flat out awful. Your local pizzeria probably has better food than this place. While the ambience was good, there was not one Italian working there, and it felt like the chef learned how to good at a local prison. The Veal Parm was disgusting. They were "out" of spaghetti. The silverware was dirty. The bread was like Wonder Bread. The salad was lower grade then McDonalds. And it was in the middle of nowhere. So unless you're an ex-con, you should probably pass on this place.

• Pros: None
• Cons: Rubbery meat, Crappy Bread, "No Spaghetti"