Joe's American

This local pub kind of place presents a very nondescript face. Inside the decor is just as plain, done nicely but with no bric-a-brac with which so many pubs like to inundate diners, thankfully. Even as we were seated we kept wondering what kind of place it was.




As soon as the menus were plunked down, though nothing about the service here merits the term "soon", we had some clarification.

Burgers, sandwiches, salads, steaks. This is pub grub, but a little less "fryer forward" than usual. But the puzzle was not completely unravelled. Why are the prices so low? We realize this is not Manhattan, or Sequim, but $8 entrees? We looked forward to learning if it is a value, or just cheap.

As time went by, we also looked forward to seeing our server. And one we did, we looked forward to every step thereafter. This was the most painfully drawn out service I can recall. Wait for menus. Wait for a greeting. Wait for water. Yes, water didn't come  when the server came. We looked forward to having our order taken, as it eventually was. Then we waited for our food, our condiments, our follow up, and our bill.

What we couldn't wait for was to leave.

The food was a bit below mediocre. No effort at making it memorable, nor tasty was apparent. It was humorous though- check it out, two asparagus spears, and that broccoli is just about raw.
In a fit of rage, I left 10% and left.

It is rare to get good service, and a tip does not insure proper service, as it claims to.  But it is also rare to get bad service.  Service that is not only designed to fail by asking or allowing a server to cover too many seats, but also fails by hiring the wrong person for the job.  These two errors work to geometrically multiply the level of service ineptitude.