Jones

Reviews 5

MA

Mark Henninger

Jones, Stephen Starr’s “American Food” restaurant on Chestnut St in Philly, was on my “must try” list for months. I finally got there for a Saturday brunch. It was a mixed experience. As usual, the décor in jones was tasteful, but my wife and I chose to sit outdoors. Our waitress brought our drinks promptly enough, and took our order. For my wife it was a wild mushroom omelet, for me it was fried chicken and waffles with gravy on the side. So here’s the good part: The food tasted great. I’ve probably never had better fried chicken. Admittedly it was only two pieces of chicken (three pieces would have been ideal), but both pieces were breast and the batter coating was sooo tasty. The waffle was very good but I have had better. The gravy was good but not notably so, still I didn’t care because the chicken was so good. However $13.50 seems steep for such a simple dish with no extras. My wife’s omelet was great, one of the best I’ve tasted. Last time I tasted such a great omelet I was in France. Sadly the tater tots that came on the side were cold, but again that’s forgivable. The first sign of trouble was that our server never came back to check on us after the food arrived. Never a good thing. My wife wanted some more coffee, and eventually went inside to request it. We were essentially done with our meals and nary a server came by in that time. The Maitre D’ responded oddly to my wife’s request, asking if we were “table 101”??? How do we know our table’s number. Anyhow she said she’d send the manager. My wife didn’t ask for the manager, she asked for coffee. So, 5 minutes go by and lo and behold the manager shows up. To his credit he asked what was up, we told him that we just could not get a refill on our coffee, and that we expected our server to follow up after the food was delivered. He then offered to cover our full meal, and even to buy us a dessert. I have rarely seen a manager go so out of their way to rectify a problem with service (as opposed to the food itself) and I my wife and I were very grateful. He also mentioned that he would talk to our server, and indeed she came back with a bill for zero dollars, and apologized. In summary, Jones seems to have excellent food, spotty service, and a great manager. After that experience I would go back again, even though the meal itself was compromised. Sometimes servers make mistakes, and Jones certainly responded in the best way possible.

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Johanna Dziengowski

I have always loved it here and had a lot of good meals. So when I decided to take my daughter for her first train ride over to the city, I decided this would be a good spot to take her. When we arrived, there was plenty of open tables ( it was only 6:30 on a Saturday). I told the hostess that we had two adults and needed a high chair. It seemed to take a extra minutes for them to find us a table which I thought was odd because it was not crowded. They then walk us over to a small table for two. I told the hostess the table was way to small for two adults and a toddler. I asked her if we could have one of the many open booths. She said no. The were reserved. Ok understandably you have to save large tables for large parties but they had smaller booths that fit four. Our waitress came over and I asked to speak to the manager. She was very nice and poured us some water and went to let him know. 10 minutes go by and no one came over. The waitress comes over again and she apologizes and goes to get the manager. The manager comes over and I explain that the table is clearly too small for two adults and a two year old. He says they have no available tables. I show him on Open Table that if I make a reservation for three they have plenty open AND the family of theee next to us has a booth. He said “ oh ok let me check again”. He then goes back to the hostesses who at this point look like they wanna smack me ( feeling was mutual ladies). And the manager comes back and says “ sorry there is nothing we can do” and walks away. So we leave , a little passed 7 passing the MANY larger open tables. I also got a sarcastic have a nice night from the hostess. It took all my might to reserve my obscenities until I got out on to the street. We are now happily spending our money elsewhere. And I’m sure they are still sitting on their empty tables. If you go the food is pretty good. Upscale diner like.

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Joe D

The first thing youll probably notice is the atmosphere when you walk in the door. Jones is full of it. This is a excellent restaurant downtown in central Philly on the corner of Chestnut and S 7th. Jones consists of a large dining room that is on the left of the front door when you enter. Straight ahead is the bar and theres another smaller dining area upstairs. The food? Its really good food! They serve quick meals like soups and sandwiches or larger entrees like crab cakes, chili, pastas, etc. The menu is very well rounded and even the most finicky person should be able to find something they like. They also serve brunch on Sundays. Like many other places downtown you need to watch the mixed drinks here as they can skyrocket your bill quickly. However Jones does not serve a weak drink in my experiences there. Jones has a great friendly staff and I have always received great customer service during my visits. Its refreshing to visit a establishment and run into the same wait staff time and time again. They must be taking care of their employees and it shows in they level of service provided. Give them a try if youre downtown. Its about 2 blocks from the Liberty Bell.

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Attila Ujvari

This is for a dinner, I have no idea how their brunch may be... Their dinner menu is uninspired, boring and usual. Not to mention I could go to any diner and get the same quality food they served us. The only difference is the ambiance and the fact that they would take our coat if we wanted them to. My 8$ macaroni and cheese was made CheeseWhiz. I was shocked... My Turkey burger was waaay too salty, and I like salt. My friends tuna dish was tiny, and the coconut rice was blend to say the very least. The ambiance is nice, but the bathroom looks like it came out of a middle-school with broken hand towel holder. Our server was great, attentive, personable and professional. I didnt mention anything negative about the place or the food, no reason to complain, its not like they can change something if something as easy as mac and cheese is made with CheesWhiz... If you want diner food at a nice place, this is it. Otherwise, go a few blocks away to a diner to get the EXACT SAME quality for 1/3 price, or choose of the many other quality restaurants around. Being a Steven Starr restaurant, this was a gigantic let down.

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Chris Koenig

I got the turkey burger. It was pink in the middle when it arrived, I asked if it could be cooked longer.... They opted to cook me a new one, which was nice, except that it TOOK FOREVER. Everyone in my party was completely finished eating by the time my second sandwich came.... Then, when the "maitre d" brought the second sandwich he made a point to say "Heres your turkey burger, WELL DONE", implying it was my standards creating the issue, rather than the original sandwich not being cooked thoroughly. This subtle dig was a completely unnecessary and unprofessional gesture. On top of that, the second burger was pink in the middle as well! Ive eaten many turkey burgers in my life, but never have I eaten one that was pink in the center. I dont know many people that are comfortable eating poultry that is visibly pink in color..... My unfortunate experience aside, nobody else in my party found anything about the Jones experience compelling enough to ever return.

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