JOEY Aventura — Restaurant in Aventura

I visited Joey's in Aventura this past Sunday for the second time with my sister, and overall, it was another enjoyable dining experience—with a few mixed feelings regarding an incident.

To start, I really love the complimentary bubbles offered upon entry. It was such a refreshing touch, especially on a hot day. Our server, Rachel, was absolutely phenomenal—quick, attentive, and incredibly friendly. I was actually shocked she said she just started working there. She checked on us consistently and even gave excellent cocktail recommendations that hit the mark perfectly.

For appetizers, we ordered the chicken lettuce wraps and the cauliflower, and both were delicious with a little bit of a kick. For entrées, we tried the Mediterranean Bowl and the Steak & Shrimp Ravioli—both dishes were delicious! While the steak came out a bit cold, it wasn’t enough to inform Rachel about it, especially since the overall flavor of the dish made up for it.To end the meal, we shared the apple pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, which was the perfect sweet finish.

NOW FOR THE BAD PART, I did have a concerning experience that I feel is important to mention. Joey’s has an open kitchen concept, which I typically appreciate as it brings a sense of transparency and trust to the dining experience. Unfortunately, I witnessed a moment that compromised that feeling.

A chef, who appeared to be the lead chef (based on his different uniform), was plating food what looked like wings with his bare hands. Shortly after, I saw him approach a man dining who had a dog with him and proceeded to pet/ rub the dog all over his belly and head —including letting the dog lick the palm of his hand. He then returned to the kitchen, using an iPad and handling kitchen items—without washing his hands! I brought this to Rachel’s attention, and she was extremely apologetic and responsive. She immediately notified the Assistant GM, Traya, who came over to personally apologize and assured us that the issue would be addressed with the chef.

While I did later see the chef wash his hands, he was still using the same iPad, which was already contaminated, and continued touching kitchen items. For a restaurant with an open kitchen, visible hygiene practices are crucial, and I hope this is something the management takes seriously moving forward.

This incident did make me worry about whether cross contamination occurred for meals. I do believe Joey's has a lot to offer, but I would HIGHLY recommend training on hygiene protocols—especially given the transparency an open kitchen demands. It’s small steps like these that build greater trust with guests and elevate the dining experience even further. Overall I enjoyed my meal and the excellent service...

A great restaurant and bar to highlight the Esplanade complex that has opened (but is not fully complete) next to Aventura Mall. There is a valet at the entrance of the restaurant, but you honestly shouldn't have to use it if you can walk 100 feet from the Esplanade garage or the open air lot.

The restaurant interior is beautiful, with a soaring ceiling above a second floor balcony (where the restrooms---single person---also are). It appeared adequately staffed, with 1 or 2 hostesses at the front stand, 3 bartenders at the bar and at least 2-3 floor managers checking on diner tables periodically. This led to a great service experience despite our being a group of 15 people. Our server Eddie was present, attentive and always available to take additional orders or napkin/utensil/straw requests.

There is a large drink list; the cocktails are pretty and clearly carefully crafted, when you see the bartenders making them. The wine list ranges from $15 to $33 a glass and is generously arranged by flavor profiles to suit the reader. Wine bottles start at $60. I had a dry, medium bodied Sancerre ($21) that held its own with the seafood dishes I got. The food offerings are wide in variety and high in quality, but as we all agreed, very expensive. I had the Jumbo Crab Cake ($26), which as an appetizer can be questionably shared if you're feeling nice. The crab meat was plentiful and plump and accompanied by a genuine pesto and tartar and a crisp apple fennel salad. The salad's seasoning was restrained enough to pair well with the heavier seasoning of the crab cake. I had the Sake Glazed Chilean Seabass ($49) for a main dish, and it was beautifully put together. A thick cut of fleshy seabass with that sear and mirin like glimmer, surrounded by stir fried napa cabbage, colored peppers, shimeji mushrooms and pan seared small potatoes looked like a small work of art. I respected that the vegetables were not over seasoned to accommodate for the dashi that came separately to be poured over to taste. The dashi gave that comfort element that I didn't realize I wanted in the dish. I had a bite of the Prime New York Strip ($68), perfectly grilled to medium rare and flavorful with the least salt, the way it was ordered.

Is the pricing worth the food? I can't say for sure that it is. The meal was wonderful, but the portions are normal sized for oversized pricing. If you ask me whether I'm in a rush to bring people there or return really soon, I can wait. I'll save up a little before making my way back lol, although I know it would be a...

From the moment we walked in , we thought the friendly front service with the "(complimentary) champagne was super nice gesture. To our experience we didn't recieve any complimentary after 2 people asked us at the table if we wanted it. We then asked 3x to our server if we are still getting our complimentary champagne and took about 20min in to get it. (We didn't ask for a drink but if your offering 2x and then forget 3x to bring it after speaking to us and reminding us that seems deciving as everyone else around us kept getting their as soon as they sat down at their table.

Next we ordered hummus for appetizer and our meals. Server was very kind hospitaly in the sense of guiding us through all the menu options and giving us good recommendations but she never put in our appetizer order . We noticed after our 20min wait for the complimentary (half a glass of champagne...) that we waited to long for just a plate of hummus to be delivered. As we noticed we told the server about it and she brought the manager to us at her courtesy to give us complimentary dessert. Very nice gesture but obviously we wanted to have our food and drink delivered on a certain timely manner . I also ordered a glass of red wine and server was very forgetful untill she remembered to bring it a bit after our entrees was delivered.

Food .. I will say do NOT ORDER STEAK HERE. the steak was extremely hard like charcoal although I ordered medium well. It was red inside but hard as a rock. With barley any seasoning or flavor . For the $48 price i would expect a good or decent steak. The rest of the plate had delicious sides so it was basically all I ate and some of the steak untill it was to hard to eat.

My friend ordered the salmon platter and that was actually delicious in every single bite from the sides to the salmon. (Good option)

The butter cake dessert was also good. Warm and crunchy with ice cream on top and Raspberry syrup.

The overall experience was disappointing. I would come back again another day and try to see if I can up their stars . Because I definitely liked my friends salmon therefore trying other ppetizers and meals might be worth it. But for the value for money I think they need some corrections on their forgetful servers and timing of delivery to...