Having walked by Joe's many times in the past six years and intrigued by the camaderie of the restaurant, I finally decided to make a reservation here for my pop's birthday dinner. After having our dinner here, I have decided Joe's is actually a 3-star restaurant hidden behind their parade of waiters in suits and their famous Stone Crab.
In a city bustling with celebrity chef restaurants, Joe's fails to scratch at the surface of the upper echelon that consists of places like SW Steakhouse or Joel Robuchon. There's no single bad element that defines Joe's, but it was a combination of little miscues that diminished my experience here.
1) mac & cheese was too runny for my liking. I thought gourmet mac & cheese would have more texture, but this side dish was slathered in Kraft-like liquid cheese.
2) Most upscale joints have their waiters/assistants scrap off bread crumbs off the white tablecloth onto a pan. Details like that are supposed to enhance your fine-dining experience. But this particular evening, the assistant to our waiter just scraped the breadcrumbs onto the ground. I felt that small detail made my dinner less-than-memorable.
3) The complimentary bread was less than stellar. I have had better bread at lower $$ establishments. I liked that there was variety to the bread basket, but some of the choices tasted stale.
Pops and I both ordered the steak & lobster dinner. Dinner tasted delicious, but it fails to distinguish itself from previous steak and seafood joints I have eaten at. Is Joe's worth visiting once in your lifetime? Yes, it has some good qualities. The mashed potatoes were very good and I enjoyed the custom-inked cloth napkins in the upstairs restroom. I just don't find myself rushing back here anytime soon.