Original Joe's — Restaurant in Grande Prairie

My husband and I ordered pick up from them about 3 weeks ago. My husband ordered their bruschetta chicken fettuchini pasta dish. Called them when they forgot to put in the fettuccine. They said they would leave a $20 gift card at the front counter for us to rectify the order.

So we decided to go dine in last night. We asked our server if our gift card was waiting for us. She inquired with the manager. She came back to the table to inform us that we did have the card waiting for us. Cool.

So we order or dinner, we wait for about 30 minutes. The people beside us who had came in 20 minutes after us, received their food first. And then the next person who came in after us gets their food. The server says she will go check on our order. Comes back to the table and explains that she is unsure what happened to our order but it was coming up right away. Another 20 minutes go by and she says they are just plating the order. After another 10 minutes go bye, we walked out. We sat and waited for 60 minutes.

Now, I've been in the service industry for a very long time. (About 20 years) When eating out, I would be considerate of the time of the evening, the amount of skip orders they have, how busy their pick up orders are. However, they had food flying out of the kitchen. The restaurant was sitting at about 50% capacity when we arrived, and about half of those tables were already eating. I always do a room scan when I walk into a restaurant, I check tables for food, drinks, just to see what kind of service is happening. Our server had 4 tables when we arrived, 2 of them were already eating, us being the 5th. Once we were seated and AFTER ordering, she got another 3 tables. 2 of those tables got their food before us before the server made an effort to see what happened. The manager was packing orders the whole time we were there. Had an order ticket been up, he would have been on the kitchen staff to get it done. We ordered a burger and a wrap.... nothing fancy. The server gave us an excuse that she didn't know what happened. I'm pretty sure she forgot to even put in our order.

So much for our first date night in...

We stepped in right after work, before the supper rush hit on half price wing night. Our server, and I regret that my work worn mind missed her name, was extraordinary, filled with smiles, foresight and efficiency from moment one. The dear soul who brought our meals out from the kitchen was just as endearing and kind.

The atmosphere was great. Just enough music to keep the heart light yet still, one's dinner conversation could easily be heard by one's dining partner.

The menu was challenging to choose from as everything looked and sounded so good, so comforting for the weary soul. I knew I'd come specifically with thoughts of roasted Brussels sprouts in mind yet so much else captured my eye. In the end, I choose the tomato soup as a starter, the Brussels sprouts as my main with, of course, a side of the half price s&p wings. My colleague had something spicy that I regretfully also missed the name of but it's in the photos and she said it was good. We're both foodies so a thumbs up from her was also a win.

The soup 😍 was the perfect creaminess as I'd chosen the tag on option of melted cheese in/topping it. Texture, flavour, filling content! Honestly, on its own, it could have been the perfect end to a long day.

After nibbling on some wings, accompanied the freshest of carrot and celery sticks (trivial to some, important to me), my appetite filled but my mind still craving, I splurged on calories and wallet go add a brownie to the mix. Well worth it!!!! A decadent treat to top it all off!!!

All in all, the soup topped with cheese and accompanied by small breads, the roasted Brussels sprouts, two orders of wings to share, a delightfully warmed large brownie with icecream ... $54 but it hit the spot and I ended up with some leftovers for my lunch...

Not exceptional, but an ok restaurant. Have had some real good items on their summer menus over the years, to try, that have been good. Chef must have been on their a game those days. But this time Im thinking it was service. Maybe she didnt have enough help. Table of four, outside with probably about 4 other tables to serve. Forgot a serving of wings, took a while for my burger to come out after everyone else at table, had been served, when it did it was def cool. When she asked if everything was ok I did let her know, she offered to take it back, but a cold burger and the wait for a new one, with everyone else already halfway through their meals, wasnt ideal. I didnt want the 2 sides, that came with my burger, and ordered onion rings instead. Wont be doing that again. The 5 that came were very crispy. Lesson learned - will just take the sides that come with, as charged extra for the 5 onion rings. (I was told that it was a measured portion, just a bit sad when you dont...