I had some out of town visitors, and we had been walking around downtown when we decided to get something to eat. We decided to go to Coast, since I have been there before and the food is good. However, they were not open yet since it was between lunch and dinner, so we decided to go to Joe Pasta right across the street. What a mistake that was. I didn't expect greatness, just something fairly decent that would tie us over until dinner later in the evening. Little did I know that it would be the worst dining experience I've ever had.
We decided to sit outside since the weather was nice, and it was very noisy inside. My first clue that this was going to be a disaster was when I saw that the table was sticky with dried up soda, and covered with dead flies.
The waitress came over to take our order. She was actually very nice and attentive. We ordered Joe's Platter, a sampler of various appetizers, such as mozzarella sticks, chicken tenders, bruschetta and fried cheese ravioli. The food arrived. Nothing remotely italian about this. Everything was over fried and dry, served with a honey mustard sauce and something that I think was supposed to be a very watery flavorless marinara sauce. The bruschetta was a split sub roll, (texture was like a hot dog bun), that was soggy from balsamic vinegar, topped with chunks of tomato and pre-grated parmesan cheese out of a can. Being the positive person I normally am, I was hoping that the main course would be better.
My mom and girlfriend ordered the Margherita pizza, and I designed my own, with tomatoes, mushrooms, gorgonzola cheese and capicola ham. We also ordered a small pasta salad. The pasta salad arrived first and consisted of penne pasta and various vegetables, mostly tomatoes and onions. The pasta was hard and dry, not hard as in al dente, but from having been cooked a long time ago and dried up. The whole concoction was drenched in a very vinegary italian dressing that obviously came out of a store bought bottle. Nothing seems to have been made on premises. Well, surely the pizza must be ok, right? Wrong again. After what seemed like an eternity, 3 servers emerged with the pizzas. All three pizzas were covered with a 1/4 inch layer of water that must have separated from the watery marinara sauce, which made everything a soggy tasteless mess. There was no flavor or texture to anything. The capicola ham on my pizza could just have been a few pieces of bacon bits. What really made it nasty was the ""crust"". Or lack there of. I mean, if your specialties are pizza and pasta, at least make the crust out of dough. These weren't even pre-made pizza crusts, but something that reminded me of large round wonton wrappers, with the sauce and topping extended over the edges so you couldn't even see what was underneath until you cut into it. This shold not even be allowed to be called a pizza. Chucky Cheese's makes better pizza than that. Everybody were disgusted with their food and only took a few bites.
The most bizarre thing happened when my girlfriend asked the waitress for an ashtray. She went into the restaurant and came back out with an ashtray full of cigarette butts, and simply dumped them out on the sidewalk in front of us and put it on the table.
Do not go to this place, you will waste your money, and I can guarantee you that you can go ANYWHERE and get better food for a lot less money. It's not good nor cheap. I would have given it zero stars if that was an option. I see some reviews that has given it 5 stars, but I highly suspect that those reviews are written with people affiliated with Joe Pasta. I always try to find something positive to say, and this is no exception. The ice water was nice and cold.
more