My family and I have frequented Joe's Shanghai in Flushing for years. We were willing to put up with the frequent 30 minute or longer wait to be seated because the food was consistently excellent. However, 2 weeks ago we went there for dinner after not having been there in a few months and we were very disappointed because the quality of the food just wasn't as good as it had been.
Upon entering the restaurant we didn't recognize anyone working at the cash register and there seemed to be quite a few new staff faces scattered about the restaurant as well. We were promptly greeted and given a number by a staff person we didn't recognize and we waited approximately 20 minutes to be seated.
Once seated I saw posted on the table a notice stating that there would be a 15% gratuity surcharge tacked onto our check. Hmmm, that's new i thought but I had no problem with that because we often left considerably more than 15% as a tip because we enjoy eating here so much. The menus were all familiar and we ordered our favorite dishes - one order of hot and sour soup, one order of pork dumplings, one order of crab dumplings, one order of scallion pancakes and one order of pan fried noodles with seafood which is my favorite dish here and which I consider one of Joe's signature dishes.
The food began arriving and looked fresh and well presented. However, except for the soup and the scallion pancakes none of the dishes tasted the same as they had in the past. It was as if their recipes had changed. For instance, the assortment of fish in the pan fried noodles was not the same as in the past and there was more filler such as onions and faux crab meat as well as the addition of sesame seeds.
Between the new faces, the 15% gratuity and the changed recipes my suspicion grew that there had been a change in chefs or worse, that there had been a change in ownership of the restaurant. So I asked our waiter who had served us many times in the past and he acknowledged that there the restaurant was under new management. I expressed our disappointment in our experience that evening and how we believed the food wasn't as good as it had been under the previous management and he offered to relay our conversation to the new management and chef.
My wife, daughter and I were very disappointed. We all felt like we lost a good friend because we always looked forward to eating at Joe's.What was once a great restaurant was now just so so and we vowed never to return. For the same money spent at Joe's we could have enjoyed our selves much more elsewhere.
Pros: Atentive and Friendly Staff
Cons: Mandatory 15% Gratuity
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