Original Joes

I have to say, firstly and fore-mostly, that this restaurant has become a favorite for myself and for Mr. Fussy. We LOVE eating at Original Joes! We've been many, many times. We are going to talk a bit about what we ate, and then give it a solid score out of a possible 30 points. 


Steak Sandwich!!!
-Paul's staple meal; if a restaurant has it, he loves you.
-delicious! Well seasoned...placed on a nice, thick slab of toast
-comes with two delicious sides (Paul would recommend the yam fries or the regular fries, and I would recommend the garlic mash and honey slaw)
-the only bad thing that can be said about it is that they tend to over-cook it a bit, so we've learned to just ask for it medium rare, more on the rare side, so it will arrive lovely and properly pink in the middle
-VERY filling! In the best sense possible


Pulled Pork Sandwich!!!
-just as amazing and delicious and savory as it sounds
-the bbq sauce is tantilizing, and rich, and so full of BOOM
-the buns are light and fluffy
-(see recommended sides above)....I've heard the mango pasta salad is divine too


Chicken Wings!!!!
-tender and glazed to absolute perfection
-have a delicious and spicy kick to them
-pretty good portions!


Margherita Pizza!!!
-perfectly thin crust...not too thin, and not too thick. 
-delicious fresh tasting pizza sauce
-topped with silky cream cheese, fresh, stringy mozzarella, and the MOST FLAVORFUL basil you will ever have in a restaurant!
-makes for absolute chaos in your mouth, NO JOKE.


We've gone back various times and have enjoyed these meals, and have been with people that have tried various other meals and everyone has always been VERY pleased with their food and the beverages and service. I'm STOKED to be able to give this place a great review!!!!

Service: 4.5/5

-we're able to seat ourselves, and everyone is always SUPER SUPER friendly. Except having to wait a few times (for extended periods of time where it hasn't been too too busy) for the bill (Paul's pet peeve), everything in terms of service was EXCEPTIONAL. 

Food:

Quality: 9/10

Quantity: 9.5/10

Atmostphere: 5/5

-there is a super relaxed atmosphere in the restaurant (the location on west Broadway and Cambie)...and yet the waitresses are hilarious and really, really polite!

Out of a possible 30 points, we give this (or these) experience(s) a 28/30. Awesome awesome awesome awesome, and SUPER recommended!!!!!!!

The Tuesday night Texan buffet at the Grand Villa Casino

We arrived at the buffet at around 6:45 pm to find that the ribs were gone. We choose this as the opening line because this mere fact set the mood for the entire evening that we spent at the casino. The advertisement (complete with a lovely picture of decadent, tender ribs slathered in sauce, and barbecued corn) paints a picture of deliciousness available at the snap of a finger. As we entered, we told our waiter that we wanted to savor the buffet, and were not made aware that a large party that had previously been, had cleaned out their entire supply of ribs. Had they have informed us, we probably wouldn't be writing this critique, let alone this blog. The saving grace of this 12.95 plus tax experience was that the corn muffins (tiny corn breads) were actually quite good, and the tiny chicken wings they replaced the ribs with were a) "more expensive than the ribs" (incompetent casino cook, verbatim) and b) good, once you managed to retrieve the morsels of meat from the bones. The corn/red pepper melange was watery, the "roast potatoes" (deemed chloratoes) tasted of chlorinated pool water, the ribs were invisible, the beef sandwiches aged my arteries, and the half glass of iced tea cost more than a 2L pop at safeway. The refills WERE free, but at this point, we were fed up with the no ribs situation, and the no waiter/waitress situation. After sitting around for about ten minutes while figuring out what we were going to do, and whether or not we were going to pay for a buffet that ran out of ribs, my husband decided on a burgar, which came about twenty minutes later with a very tiny serving of shoestring potato fries (no chlorine this time, thank GOD.) The meal actually left us feeling incredibly full, but we were left wondering if it was our arteries that felt full, or the chloratoes working their magic on the lining of our stomachs. We may be back for a second go, and just to make sure we didn't get one rare, bad night, but if it wasn't for our need to be fair judging, we would NOT go back.

On a scale of "I should have gone to Pizza Hut" to "I would spend a million bucks here", I would definitely not go as far as the former. However, we would have been happier with fast food. 

Service: 1/5

-no buffet instruction, didn't ask for drinks, seated ourselves, and we were not informed that the ribs were not available

Food:

Quality: 4.5/10

Quantity: 9/10*

*as it was a buffet, you could essentially eat as much as you want. As one of the staples of the advertised foods was missing (delicious, holy ribs) we knocked it down by one. 

Atmostphere: 3/5

-not particularely buzzing, quiet, apart from casino dinging and clanging (to be expected), hostile cook that attempted to convince us that chicken wings cost more than giant ribs, no entertainment.

Out of a possible 30 points, we give this buffet option a 17.5. 

Hope this helps!

Wishes of many good eats,

Yours faithfully,

Chatterbox and Fussy

My elbows are off the table...

Over the course of my becoming a functional and money-spending part of society, I have encountered many situations where I have caught myself saying, "Oh man, I would make a killer food critic." I am an open-minded Italian 20-something year old that has tried many different foods, from many different cultures and from many little hole-in-the-walls, and I feel like I have a lot to share. There are many gems in the rough in this beautiful city, and many overrated hotspots that don't deserve their place in the limelight; i intend to expose the overrated, and to shine light upon the less known, and hopefully, help create new and positive experiences. With the help of my husband, and through repeat experiences, and careful tasting and note taking, I will scale my experiences from one (should have gone to pizza hut) to ten (i would spend a million dollars here). I'd like to try different foods, and truly get everything I can from the amazing ability we have to savor so many different deliciousnesses. I truly hope you readers take from our experiences, and that you open your mind (just as we must), and truly learn to enjoy what food can bring to your life. 

Sincerely,

Miss. Chatterbox and Mr. Fussy