john ash & co.

over priced for the quality recieved. i've been going to johnashfor many years. but the last two times, i was rather disappointed. last week i took my date there, expecting a nice meal. what i got was a small, tough new york steak for $38. her scallops were large and tender, but tasted fishy: usually a sign of age.

the service was good... until a party of twenty wedding revelers were seated next to us. their noise didn't bother me. i like the sounds of a good time. what i find irritating was that once our neighbors arrived, the wait staff completely ignored us for prolonged periods. i had to flag down the waiter just to get my check.

in fairness, he did give us our deserts for free, apologizing for the noise. but as i said, the noise was not the issue.

banish those who complain

unbelievable?  but it happened to us. last thanksgiving (2016) we had a reservation at johnashbut they did not have a table for us when we arrived at the appointed time.  i was quite unhappy with this and told them so.   they told us to wait in some chair about 20 feet from the front desk.  then they proceeded to seat others who came in later.  my wife, who is japanese suggested there might be racism involved but i wrote it off.  however, i did complain about others who came in later being seated before us.  finally we got a table but the consequences where not clear until this year (2017) when we made reservations for johnashfor this thanksgiving.  about a week after the reservation i had a phone message from dave asking me to call him - he didn't say why.  i did not reach him when i called back but he called me again to say they were refusing our reservation (just 3 days before thanksgiving).  why?  he said that they had a complaint from a manager who no longer worked there about our visit the prior year.  he didn't have any details and when i explained what had happened he didn't amend his opinion.  we had been banished, in effect, by a rumor from a former employee without documentation nor any chance to refute the allegations.

what made it even worse was that johnashcould have emailed me or canceled the reservation the day after i made it.  and they could have said they no longer wanted us as customers after our prior visit.  they did none of these things.  these actions are not only unjust and unfairly punitive but spiteful.  of course, we will now avoid this restaurant and i hope this post will convince you to do likewise.

not what it used to be. seems to be at the end of a long downhill slide. the last meal there (6 of us) we were parked in siberia. waiter was haughty and arrogant. we have been customers of johnashsince the montgomery village days (1982). i'm sorry, but never again..

wine country elegance!. we dined at johnashfor the first time last night. beautiful ambiance, with a fireplace, white linen tablecloths and lots of windows looking out to the vineyards. my salad was very fresh and innovative and i loved my pumpkin ravioli entree, a small portion that paired well with a glass of local chardonnay. service was very attentive and friendly.

wished we would have saved room for dessert but we had a huge lunch at wiili's earlier in the day. next time! :)