12/10/08

Gourmet food in a quaint atmosphere

by rodney_tonya

The food was excellent. We went for lunch and the place was nice, quiet, seated immediately. Gourmet 3 course meal for $16 is tough to beat. The specials menu change daily. Abbot-Kinney can be hard to find parking but I would recommend giving it a try.

• Pros: World class dining at an affordable prce.
• Cons: Parking

12/01/08

Great place gone BAD? (April 2009)

by LAgirl2008

We used to love this place! There were always fresh seasonal ingredients, great menu, and service! After a long break (about a year) we went there for a dinner and were shocked. The service and the quality went down the drain.The seafood appetizer was undercooked and I left it. My short rib was inedible. Basically I paid about $30 for a cube of fat with no meat. And of course, the desert. I don't remember the last time I ate something so awful. Strawberry shortcake had sides made of something (I could not figure out what it was, but tasted disgusting), the filling was some resemblance of a whipped cream, but with absolutely no taste and a few pieces of spoiled strawberry. I am still shocked that I lost one of my favorite paces. NEVER will we come back...

• Pros: none
• Cons: not fresh ingredients, disgusting food

08/09/08

exceptional service

by cortastic

was new to joe's but had heard great things. food was very good, but the real stand-out was the service. eric was extremely knowledgable, charming and personable-- best waiter i've had in LA. I would definitely recommend this place for the quality of the food, ambience, and service. great date spot.

07/02/08

Lucky Experience

by wam08

My boyfriend and I went here for our anniversary and didn't have reservations, so we got put back at the "chef's table" across from the noisy kitchen and by the bathrooms, best bad table we ever had!!!! This was so awsome, we got free appetizers and dessert because of the "bad" location and full introductory for each from the chef himself!!! He was HILARIOUS and charming. The dishes were definitely expensive, probably over priced, so this was lthe only way we could have afforded to eat like this. I would go again to sit there, or I would love to try the pre-fix lunch. The food was delicious even if it was overpriced!

• Pros: delicous food, great chef
• Cons: expensive!!!

06/29/08

pretty good but not great

by bigbelly29

I live in the area and I have been here few times for special occasions. it is a little pricey, but it is a michelin star restaurant now, so maybe it should be expected. what is not expected is the food being less than great, and in my opinion, for what it tries to be, it is average. I tried tasting menus on occasions and a la carte items on other occasions, and I was never disappointed, but never blown away. overall, I recommend to try it, after all there are people that swear by it, and I'll still go back when I want something more sophisticated and I don't feel like driving.

06/27/08

Pricey but worth it.

by dreamlet

Joe's is quite simply an amazing restaurant. The food is definitely cutting edge - and sometimes borders on pretentious - but it's always delicious and creative. The price tag is high, but the quality of the food cannot be argued with, and the rich, elegant ambience make you feel like a million bucks. Great place to go for a special meal or if someone has an expense account!

• Pros: Great food, attentive service, beautiful setting, great location
• Cons: A bit pricey, Bar is very small

06/10/08

over rated

by walburgerz

I went to Joes on two separate occsions: First time my boyfriend and I had dinner there; which was good. Very formal dinning area with pretty descent food. I had the chicken and my boyfriend ordered some fish dish that we both liked but didn't LOVE. So we decided to try there Sunday brunch anyway...

We were promptly seated outside in the patio area and the service was good. My friend ordered the breakfast burrito and I ordered the french toast. What a joke! I was literally served TOAST with jelly and cream sauce on it! In fact it was the exact same toast that came in the bread basket with the same jelly on it I was SHOCKED!. I wanted to have it removed from the bill because it was just disgusting that they would pull something like that... but my friend didn't want to cause a scene. I mean, did they really thing I wouldn't notice the difference between toast and french toast???? Haven't been back since but I hope they don't pull that with anyone else. I should have just stuck with the bread basket that gave me before my meal.

04/09/08

Best service in LA, interesting dishes

by msmerymac

My boyfriend and I went to Joe's for a New Year's dinner, and we both left extremely impressed. While there are a plethora of nice restaurants in LA, most of which we have yet to try, I would definitely take an out-of-towner who wanted a special dinner or celebration to Joe's. The service was impeccable, which we find is becoming more and more rare in LA, as restaurants rely on their celebrity clientele (or owners), their location, or their past reputation. Not only was the waiter there before every course, giving us wine pairing suggestions, but Joe himself even stopped to ask how everything was. They were also able to substitute a course on the prix fixe menu because of dietary requirements. The wine list is fairly extensive and interesting, and my pomegranate martini was tasty. The first course, consisting of heirloom beets, scared me a bit (I'm not a huge fan), but even those were tasty. They also let you chose from a selection of bread and butter before each course - an unnecessary, yet nice touch. I'll definitely be back.

• Pros: wait staff, wine list, prix fixe menu
• Cons: It's a little small - hard to navigate some of the tables while wearing heels.

01/27/08

Disappointing

by foodlova5

I went to Joe's on Friday night and was really excited to try the newly michelin starred fare. The evening started out well-we were promptly seated, ordered a great cocktail and presented with the menus. Unfortunately the meal went down hill from there. I ordered a special scallop appetizer and my boyfriend ordered the mushroom ravioli. Both were mediocre. For entrees I had the John Dory which was an udon noodle dish, except they left out the noodles. My boyfriend had the escolar that was frankly boring.

I will never be back as it was very expensive for bland food.

• Pros: Drinks and atmosphere
• Cons: food

01/17/08

Perfect For A Special Occation

by jbramen

This place has a top notch and innovatice menue, high quality ingrediants and a mellow atmosphere. Perfect for a quiet romanitc evening on a special occation, especially if you want to avoid the pretension of restaurants in Beverly Hills,.