JNA Institute of Culinary Arts — Local services in Philadelphia

UPDATE: November 9th, 2019 from my February review removed due to Google's word limits.

Friday evening, my lady and me went to JNA for our Fall dinner experience.We try to go once a quarter to experience their new menu that changes with each season. JNA's Fall 2019 menu was the best we have experienced.

Fort starters, my lady had La Minestra del Giorno: A creamy bean soup.I had: Insalata Misticanza del Campo: Mixed Garden Greens and Herb Salad with "Balsamico Tradizionale"

Next we both had House made Linguine: Her's with Seafood White Wine Broth. Mine with Robust Beef Ragù. We cleaned the bowls. Main Course: We both had Il Pesce Italiano:Fresh pan seared salmon, prepared in various Italian styles with proper accommodating sides. It was served on a bed of the best tasting...grits I have ever had. Yes I said grits. The salmon was browned just right on the outside  and moist and fell apart with our fork.

I asked the manager, who because they were so busy, pitched in to be our server why the grits tasted so much better than grits at home and he said likely the mixture of milk and cheese used in preparation. I was surprised because I we didn't detect any cheese in it. Anyway...very good. Lastly for desert, we both enjoyed a scoop of strawberry gelato (Italian ice cream) with a coffee and biscotti (Italian Almond Biscuit) . So good. My lady who is a total grinch until she has her first cup of coffee in the morning said the coffee was especially good.

This was a five start experience for us, taking into account the lane we were in, a restaurant school dinner, prepared and served by it's students at a bargain price.

We already committed to visit again after their Winter 2020 menu starts on...

I understand that this is a learning experience so I wont hold it to the same standard as a "normal" restaurant. That being said, the service was a little lacking. The food was OK and given the Groupon, the price point was good. The good part about the amount of time spent there (~2.5hours), we never felt rushed and were able to enjoy a meal and carry on conversations without feeling like they wanted us to leave. The food was ok, nothing jumped out as being outstanding, but nothing was really bad either. We did have to flag our waiter down multple times for more water and to open our wine bottles that were clearly sitting in the center of the table. A good experience. Hopefully for the staff as well. Will I return?? Probably not unless I was going to Philly and needed to...

I took a tour of JNA culinary school back in the summer. In my opinion, I was highly unimpressed, uncomfortable and fairly disappointed. One they have an infestation of flies. The class sizes seemed smaller then my other tours of other culinary schools, the way they send food down I won’t speak of, truly gross. The person who took me for a tour, he gave off anger issues and made me slightly uncomfortable with the way he spoke of other culinary institutions Not to mention one part of it use to be a kitchen, it’s now a bar and a dining area

If zero stars were an option, I have it right here. And I’m not saying this to be rude either, this was my personal experience...