joey polo park

as usual i wasn't disappointed with what we had. the atmosphere was nice, but a little uncomfortable (i'll get to that)

for starters i had their mushroom soup. lots of people like their mushroom soup, and i have to say it was pretty good. i didn't like the cream added to the top which created a hot/cold combination that was a bit strange. you take a bite of soup and half of it is nice and hot and the other half cold. not a bad soup though... nice and light and had good color.

iorderedrotisserie chicken with dirty rice. the chicken was good, but the rice.... i could have asked for an entire plate of it. it was so good! the almonds added to the rice gave it an almost indian flavor of sweetness that i just couldn't get enough of. the funny thing was that i had eaten all the rice on my plate before even touching my chicken.

for dessert i had their molten lava cake. very soft and light. the "molten" part was extremely rich, and i loved it dearly. my only complaint was that there wasn't more of it on the plate! very good.

what was uncomfortable about it? there were these people with clipboards walking around the restaurant writing notes. on several occasions i saw them staring at tables and jotting down notes. it would have been nice to know what they were looking at and what they were writing. i thought it might have something to do with the training of their wait staff, but it was a little weird not to know for sure.

all in all, a good experience. not the first i've had like it there and probably won't be the last like it i have there.

good, but overpriced!!. went to joey again recently with a friend. for some reason i have never been a huge fan myself, but all my friends seem to rave about it. if you eat vegetarian and notice there is almost nothing you can eat on the menu, ask for the vegetarian menu, which offers some of the regular dishes with soy "chicken" strips instead of real meat.
my friend and i started off with the lettuce wraps, which were tasty albeit being a little too salty. my other complaint was that there were more noodles than vegetables in the filling and as typical of most restaurants, not enough filling for all the lettuce given (the lettuce and filling come separate and you wrap it yourself).
for my entree i had the soy beach salad (minus the goat cheese), which was a large salad full of lettuce, soy "chicken" meat, strawberries, avocado, candied pecans, and a sprinkling of quinoa. i thought it would have been heavier and contained more quinoa. the non-dairy lemon poppyseed dressing came on the side and it was pretty tasty. overall the salad was very good tasting and filling (although i did have half an appetizer, so not sure how filling it would be on its own). my friendorderedraviolis and enjoyed her meal very much.
my biggest complaint would be that my meal of half an appie and a salad came to over $25. add in the tip and my bill was just shy of $30 for one person, and that was with only having water to drink. service was great and food was good, but $25 for half order of lettuce wraps and a salad? too expensive for me personally for being a chain restaurant!


-----08 sep, 2011-----

much better. i thought my last experience at joey's would be the last (see my previous review). surprisingly, joey's cares about their image and service and i was contacted a couple weeks after i had posted my review. they asked for my phone number and i was called by the bar manager who sincerly apologized. she wanted me to come back and said she would bend the no reservations policy for my party and "take care of us". i was just happy with the apology and that someone took the time to acknowledge and listen to my problem.
anyways, my friends insisted going to joey's for dinner last night. i decided to give it another go. service was very prompt and friendly. i had a viva salad which was packed full of feta cheese, cranberries, granny smith apple, and roasted chicken. while i still think $15.49 is expensive for a salad, this one was huge and filled me up--worth the price.
so overall, with being given an apology for the awful service last visit, and the good service and food this most recent visit, i wouldn't hesitate recommending joey's to anyone.


-----25 jun, 2011-----

gone downhill. since it opened i've been to joey's in polo park about 5 times and always had great food and service. however, yesterday was a different story. my bf and i went around 9pm and since there was a long wait for the patio opted to sit inside the half empty dining room. after being seated quickly we looked over the menu, which it seems they had shortened and increased the prices on. $13.99 for a burger and fries? $16.99 for an entree salad consisting only of vegetables? all of the appetizers pretty much over $10? now i will shell out money for quality food but this is a chain restaurant full of processed ingredients competing with moxie's and earls etc. who last time i checked didn't have such extravagent prices. anyways, the prices didn't matter because after waiting at our table for 10 minutes without a single server stopping by we decided to leave, and will never be coming back!

kenaston one is waayyyy better. the shrimp in the shrimp rolls here were much smaller, the mains were prepared in an unskilled way, too greasy, and it is very disorganized here.ordereda double rye, got a diet coke, then got a 2nd one shortly after, plain diet coke again. we will stick to the better location over this sloppy one.

i had lunch today at joey polo park . iorderedthe hourly roasted rotisserie chicken (minus the veggies).  it was delicious!  there were two big pieces of chicken (a breast and a thigh) and it was sooooo tender.  the potatoes were like homemade.  the gravy had a nice kick to it.  i would definitely get this again. amanda was my server.  she was friendly and helpful and took excellent care of me.

for a meal that cost $45 with tip, no drinks, i'd would expected a lot more.
i had the full rack of ribs. iorderedthe full rack of ribs because it's just a few dollars more to upgrade from a half rack to full rack. normally i can't eat a full rack (at other restaurants), take the remaining ribs home and have a meal for the next day. not here. the size/portion of the ribs was very small and they were a lot more expensive the other restaurants.
other restaurants also give a choice of up to 5 different bbq sauces to go on the ribs, only one here. the ribs were ok, the meat fell off the bones. the taste of them was comparable to other restaurants, no complaint there.
a small quibble, but the amount of fries given was very small portion, and the meal came with strange tasting coleslaw, bordering on i'm not sure i like this.
something strange about the decaf coffee. when it was brought to the table it was foamy on the top. had decaf coffee before and its never looked like that. i thought it was unusual that they brought it to the table already in a cup while others who had regular coffee had their cups filled at the table. when i wanted a refill, they brought a new cup ?? others at the table, who had regular coffee had refills poured from a carafe, which is normal. only after leaving did i start thinking that my coffee was instant. that would cause the foaminess. if that truly was instant and they are serving instant coffee in a restaurant where you are paying over $30 for a meal, i can't find the words to say how wrong that is.
there was no sugar on the table for my coffee, when i asked for some the waitress brought out a small dish with 3 packs in it. is this restaurant policy? i don't want to have to ask for sugar each time i have a refill.
another quibble - they are trying to come off as an upscale restaurant, but yet they give you cheep paper napkins. other upscale restaurants give you a real cloth napkin.
we were seated promptly, the waitress was attentive, and the meal came out with no long wait. my complaint is not there. 
will i come back here? no. it's too over priced for what you get.

went for a lunch today with a friend while shopping. iorderedthe steak and sushi and my friend had the 1/2 rack of ribs with a side salad and a 'stuffed' potato spring roll. everything was perfect and on point. i tried a bit of the spring roll and it was unique and delishes, would have liked the seasonings inside it as well as the outside, but a nice crispy and soft contrast. steak was perfectly cooked and very flavorful with the ponzhu sauce and the rainbow roll was lovely.

stopped here for lunch. iorderedthe chicken caesar's salad and my friendorderedthe salad and soup combo and all was good. i just find the service a bit slow that day. overall, we did enjoy our experience at this place.we've been here before when they first really opened years ago and couldn't remember what weorderedthat evening. we did enjoy as well our visit that night.

came here for lunch with a friend the other day as it had been a while since we both had visited.
iorderedthe fettuccine alfredo which was pretty good. the pasta was cooked al dente which is how i like my pasta, but the sauce, i was hoping for more of a cream sauce..
however, i did enjoy their version of the dish too.
the arugula and mini tomatoes were a nice addition from the typical fettuccine alfredo you'd find at other restaurants.

my friendorderedthe baha tacos and she enjoyed her dish as well.

overall i was pleased with my visit. service was pretty good too. water glasses we're always topped up and our server checked up on us often.
will come visit it again

we went here for a birthday party. we were a party of 8. the service was a little slow but all in all, she was pleasant and attentive when there. iorderedthe steak and sushi. i thought it sounded like the best of both worlds. when my plate came, the steak was really overwhelmed by the sauce and it was very chewy despite being medium. also, my sushi was disappointing. it was cold like it just came out of refrigerator and tasteless. the "crab" tasted like a lot like thousand island dressing. i would not order this dish again. for others whoorderedother menu items, they said it was okay. ribs tasted good and soft

i feel mixed about how to feel about the food here. the first time i ate here, iorderedthe steak frite, the salad fries and steak were delicious! my only complaint was the size of the steak. it was hidden beneath my fries and salad because it was so small.
my second visit iorderedthe spicy bbq chicken sandwich with the house salad. i was not happy with my choice. the bbq sauce was very bold and overpowered everything in the sandwich, making it not very enjoyable. my friendorderedthe tandoori flat bread and didn't seem too impressed with it. i've tried the calamari here and it's pretty good, i would order that again.
overall the service was great, friendly staff, quick refills and nice environment.

came here recently for a special celebration with my partner, was very disappointed. i usually really enjoy joeys very much but last time we came i hadordereda steak topped with a herb butter, the steak was cold. seriously, the herb butter on top of my steak didn't even melt a tiny bit, it was very gross to try and eat a cold steak with hard butter, needless to say i didn't finish it. very disappointing when your paying good money for a steak at a more expensive restaurant on a special day. i should have told our waitress but didn't because i didn't want my partner to eat by himself then have him watch me eat by myself after they warmed up my steak. to be very fair, the calamari as a starter was absolutely tasty, the best i've had and i really enjoyed their wine selection. unfortunately i don't believe i'll be coming back, while the calamari is delicious i don't want to take my chances on another cold item.

went here for one year anniversary and had an awesome experience. the chicken and steak weorderedwas tasty and cooked perfectly and we received amazing service. will absolutely be going back.

decent food, exceptional service. went here wednesday night as part of the celebration for my girlfriend's 3 year anniversary of coming to canada.
the moment we walked in we were greeted, seated, given menus and had our drink our taken. now, they weren't very busy (late on a wednesday) so i can't say from personal experience if it would be the same, but still a good start. i had to ask for our waters a second time, but i think they were just waiting for the glasses to finish washing because they came out warm (the glass, not the water). and our waters were full the entire time we were there.
weorderedthe edamame & baja fish tacos for appetizers. we were told that the edamame were quite spicy, and being spicy food lovers we were excited. unfortunately, they were not spicy at all. however, they still had great flavour and were cooked nicely. the tacos were great. i don't really care for seafood, but all the flavours went together quite nicely. the sauce they came with was spicy, perfect for us. didn't need too much of it. on the last bite, my girlfriend found in her mouth what was either onion/ginger peel or a piece of paper. we showed it to the server, just so they were aware (we didn't expect anything from them, it was the last bite). our server apologized many times, and we were given another order and had them taken off the bill (so we didn't pay for either order). the only thing i might criticize about how they handled the situation is the server told us the kitchen thinks it may have just been a piece of breading from the fish. we knew this wasn't true because my girlfriend found it in her mouth, couldn't bite it and you could bend it without it breaking. this however is just a minor thing, they handled it very well.
for our mains, she had the sirloin steak & prawn skewer, i had the peppercorn new york. both steaks were cooked perfectly, medium rare. i thought the seasoning on mine was just right, she thought it was a little excessive. but that's just her personal preference. the sauce for my new york was alright. in small amounts it was good, but i wouldn't pour it on my steak. her prawns were also delicious. great flavour, cooked nicely (i'm quite sure they were poached, but who knows), presented beautifully. we also enjoyed the mashed potatoes. good texture, seasoned well. they came inside a spring roll which added a really nice crunch. these potato spring rolls also had melted cheese and whatever else on them, a nice touch. our veg was a mix of roasted vegetables, they were good. considering the rest of the food, it's best they kept the veg simple otherwise it would just be too over complicated.
so, in conclusion the food was pretty good (much better then i thought, being a chain restaurant) and the service was near flawless. would definitely go back and recommend to someone else.

calamari fritta = amazing. i went here for the first time last night and i will definitely be coming back. iorderedthe calamari fritta and a sushi cone and they were both delicious. it was the best calamari i've ever had and i do tend to order calamari quite often at other restaurants. the sushi cone was different which is why iorderedit and i would order it again, i was confused though as to whether i could eat the wrapping or if i ate the inside with a fork...(you can eat the wrapping). the waitresses were all friendly especially my tables', jane i believe her name was. she engaged in conversation with us as we were all paying and made the experience even better.

pleasantly surprised. now i am not at all a fan of chain/fast food restaurants, but everytime i have gone to joey polo park i have been pleasantly surprised. i recently had lunch at on friday. we got there at 11:50. the lobby was very full, but only waited for 10 minutes to get a table! we were expecting atleast a 30 min wait. they have a nice sized menu, which is so nice to see compared to the multi-paged menus at some of the other chains. everything listed on the menu sounded wonderful. iorderedthe ahi tuna tacos, which were wonderful! my mom and sister bothorderedthe lobster grilled cheese. they both enjoyed their meal, but the portion size was really small. we had great service and good meals and would definately return!