Joe's Garage Berryfields — Restaurant in Tasman

Easter Dinner Disappointment – Let Down by Poor Knowledge & Rudeness

We visited Joe’s Garage on Easter Sunday for a special family dinner—a rare chance to gather all of our children, who range in age from 14 to 31. As business owners (my husband runs an engineering company and I manage a local brewery, with years in hospitality and past café ownership myself), we value good service and know how hard hospo can be. We were really looking forward to a relaxed night out.

The meal started well—our server was warm, friendly, and a total credit to the venue. We ordered a full round of meals and drinks, starters through to desserts. The food was fine: nothing exceptional, but decent. The bill came to $360, which we were happy to pay for a rare family outing.

Where things went downhill was when I ordered a frozen margarita for my 17-year-old daughter to enjoy with her meal. She’s a quiet, sensible girl, and I believe strongly in modelling responsible alcohol use in a safe environment. Legally, under the Sale and Supply of Alcohol Act 2012, parents or legal guardians are permitted to supply their under-18 children with alcohol in a supervised area (like a restaurant) provided it is with a meal, and the child is not intoxicated. This was exactly our situation.

Despite this, we were approached in a loud and frankly humiliating manner by a woman—later identified as the co-owner—who demanded ID and claimed it was “illegal.” She was rude, dismissive, and showed no willingness to engage in a polite conversation about the law. I calmly explained the legislation, but was met with eye-rolling and the repeated phrase “it’s our policy.”

Policy is one thing—but policy cannot override law, and this approach was not only unprofessional but deeply embarrassing for my daughter, who was mortified to be singled out in front of other diners. When I asked to speak with the manager, he arrived and echoed the same stance—only for us to discover he was her husband. No apology, no attempt to de-escalate or show understanding—just more defensiveness.

This was not a case of us being difficult or pushing boundaries. We are a professional, respectful family who had simply come for dinner. The way this situation was handled showed a lack of legal understanding and a real failure in basic hospitality.

It’s a real shame—what could have been a lovely evening ended on a sour and disappointing note. We won’t return, and we’ve already made the decision to stop using Joe’s Garage for business meetings or client breakfasts. Several of our contacts, upon hearing what happened, have said the same.

I hope the owners take this as an opportunity to better educate themselves and their staff on the actual legislation surrounding alcohol, and reflect on how to handle sensitive situations with more professionalism and respect. At no stage were you, nor your company, at risk of prosecution in the matter at hand. Despite your assertion to the contrary, I made it explicitly clear that, given the specific circumstances, there was no legal liability to be incurred. Your response—“Yes we can!”—was both inaccurate and ill-informed. I was operating entirely within the framework of the law, as per standard procedure, and any suggestion otherwise reflects a fundamental misunderstanding of legal protocol.

— Jenny Johnston Local Business Owner | Hospitality...

We were a table of 9, booked via Google... which was awesome! Where we were seated was far to hot as the sun was shining on the window side of the table/s. No blinds on the windows, which could have helped. We moved to outside, with a small breeze to help with the heat. Wanted to move the umbrella... but they do not tilt.

Regardless of that, the staff were friendly and helpful, and removed the empty dishes in a reasonable time. They were cheerful and polite. Cannot fault that.

On such a warm day, warmer in an enclosed section, warm tap water will not do... the water needs to be chilled. That was a big downfall for myself, as I drink a lot of water. Yet, when asked, we were given water with ice, then chilled water. One of us ordered Iced Chocolate, after 5:30 they do not do Iced Chocolate... yet they do Chocolate Milk Shakes.

The food, everyone liked their meals, but they were not out of the world. Some of the dishes were a bit bland. The schnitzel came with chips, but no salad or vegetables, nor the lamb ragu dish. We all had a mixture of Chicken Parm, Beef Burgers, Chicken Burgers, Fish and Chips, Schnitzel and Lamb. There was no choice of what type of potatoes, just all chips. A few had desserts (Banana Split and Brownie), which was not totally out of the world either. Our bill, for 6 we thought a bit overpriced, for what we got.

Atmosphere, inside was hot and loud, whereas outside was a little cooler and more pleasant, and not so noisy. For the 2 hours there, it was a pleasant Sunday evening with...

Have been going to Joes since it opened for birthdays and other celebrations as it used to be fantastic. This time it was a complete let down, celebrating my daughters 21st she was not allowed to order one alcoholic drink as she didn't have her driver's licence (her partner drove). She had her 3 year old son, her mother, father and grandparents with her who all vouched for her age, we even found a photo of her original driver's licence on my phone which has her photo and birthdate. Nope not good enough apparently, the waitress did not care. I even found a scan of her birth certificate!! again showed the waitress and again denied the evidence. I totally understand about no ID but when we have shown multiple images of her ID and it's rejected that's just taking the piss. We on average spend around $400 each time we go to Joes as we have a large family, that's 8 birthdays a year + many other celebrations and have never encountered this before. This time we spent minimal... So this will be the last time we go to Joes, the food this night was sub par, a smattering of fries with a main, rubbery steak, dirty glasses, and a waitress with one hell of a chip on her shoulder. Maybe a financial loss of around $5k a year from one family won't hurt but a bad review does.

Bring back the old Joes that was a clean restaurant with happy staff that was a enjoyable destination to spend quality time...