Joe’s on Newbury — Restaurant in Boston

I had the worst experience at Joes, specifically because of discrimination due to my handicap usage of a wheelchair by the manager. The manager activelyeven yelled out to the room/denied me access to services for needing to wash my hands in the lady’s room. I left in tears. She may be one of the cruelest people I have ever met and clearly did not want a handicap person to be seen the dining room, going so far as physically try to stop us from having equal access to the bar.

We went into Joes and were told we would be seated downstairs where the lower tables were (Only space for a wheelchair; no problem!) but had to wait for a manager to unlock the elevator. Because they didn’t know where she was, we asked to just sit by the bar. We sat down, but needed to wash our hands as we had literally been at the infusion center. We asked were the bathroom was and were told it was downstairs, and we couldn’t just go, because the elevator is locked. One of the servers was a bit confused and flustered and kept saying he had to find the manager for the keys. At this point it was getting a bit embarrassing, because we had to explain to the bartender, as well, that we had to go to the bathroom first. People were staring at us. We went to the back of the restaurant and another server pointed to the handicap elevator. Turns out, there’s no key needed as 3 other people had told us. It's a normal handicap elevator, but the manager had stacked up all the extra tables, chairs and it looked like employee bags there, so it was no longer accessible. The manager kept saying I couldn’t go in, though, and finally when she let us, things got even worse. When we got downstairs, my husband and I were like yes finally, and because it was so hard decided we would stay at the downstairs, so I could go to the bathroom in peace, more than once, without a million people yelling about out.

But the manager, she refused to let us go into the restaurant or to the bathroom. She said that she, “needed to know exactly where you’re going and what you’re doing.” The one other server was genuinely very confused. I just said I need to use the bathroom and then we’re eating, and she wouldn’t let us go to the bar or the bathroom and was making a scene in the restaurant. Everyone was staring at us, and I was completely mortified. I started crying it was so bad. Then she wouldn’t even let me go to the bathroom alone, let alone sit somewhere. Finally, I said that she was making it impossible to receive service and humiliating me in front of everyone because of my disability, and she denied it. I told her shame on her. and we tried to leave but couldn’t get past the chairs in the upstairs bar room.

The manager treated me like I was not a human. She denied me basic human rights, and would’t even let me wash my hands before eating in peace. She spoke to me and my husband like we didn’t matter and like I had no right to be here. We understand that sometimes areas get cluttered and things get busy, but this was out right discrimination and cruelty. I’ve been going to Joe’s locations since I was a little kid, and this was never what I would have expected from your company. I’Humiliating people for washing their hands while being handicap, denying them free movement of their body and service, and blocking your handicap entrance/exit elevator that’s right by the kitchen, is not okay.

This just doesn’t align with Joe's past ethos and this is not someone who represents your company fairly. The young hostess watched us struggle in the rain to get into the doors and over the rolled-up/misplaced carpet and did nothing to help us or even hold the door. Where did she learn that? The back of house workers were, as always, very kind, and I’m grateful that they did try to help despite the manager blocking them from trying to do so.

This is a city of hospitals, and what about older people, too?

Bottom Line? Not a safe place for anyone with any disability (mine's invisible besides my wheelchair). They don't care about...

The food and service was good and my guests had a good time. That's why I'm leaving a 3 instead of a 1. However, if you are booking an event, make sure you ask a lot of questions from the company who is managing their group dining. They seem to outsource it to a group that I found to be lacking in communication. Based on everything I read on the website, the Atrium is a "private" space. When I arrived, it was semi-private and our group was at reserved tables in a crowded bar, with one server. Again, the experience ended up being fine, but it definitely wasn't what I expected that I was paying for. I'm not sure why I would agree to the per person minimum just for a dinner reservation. I should have just called the restaurant and made a regular dinner reservation. I think it ultimately would have been cheaper, and less frustrating given what I thought I was paying for.

When I spoke with the manager, he told me there was nothing he could really do because they contract out with this company who manages their group dining, despite the fact that my contract clearly doesn't say I was booked for a semi-private event. He was nice, but seemed to have no authority to make any offer of repair.

When I pointed out to the company after the fact, that nothing in my contract or in their web materials indicated I was booking a semi-private event. And in fact, it indicated the opposite. The response was, "the food & beverage minimum would have been much higher." Ok, but that doesn't make right that you miscommunicated about the experience. The rep apologized and promised to communicate better in the future, but it definitely left a bad taste that they didn't make any offers of monetary repair for what was clearly miscommunication on their part. And not a small thing either. It was the difference between telling my staff that we had a private space and my staff eating dinner in a crowded bar. Luckily, I have a fun, easy going team so we made lemonade and had a great night. But not all group dynamics are like that so just ask your questions on every...

We chose to eat at Joe’s on Newbury on the same night that we were going to see Pearl Jam at Fenway Park. Being 1.7 miles away from our paid parking location at Fenway park made this restaurant’s location perfect. We drove from Connecticut and we made reservations for eight. We parked at parking garages that were nearby and convenient as the street parking was all taken. We enjoyed a round of signature cocktails, craft beers and soft drinks with appetizers that included loaded lobster nachos, plain nachos and a lobster cocktail. The two plates of nachos and lobster cocktail was more than enough for our group of 8 and they were superb. Our entrees included a mix of dishes since we were eating early at 4 pm in order to get to a 6:30 concert. The menu had a wide selection of dishes to support all tastes and our waitress was extremely attentive and accommodating to ensure our dishes were prepared and served as we wanted. We even had one request for a vegetarian dish that was custom ordered on the fly. All our entrees were delicious and we left the restaurant with the satisfaction that we would not have eat ballpark food as a first order of business upon entering the park.

One of the young ladies in our group (Giavanna) wanted me to mention her thoughts —- “the food was fresh and fast and the cheeseburger was delicious because the meat was so soft. I would love to come back . Another thing was the bathrooms were clean and pretty. That is my official opinion”

My straw poll among our group of 8 was based on a score from one to 10 and we averaged 8.5. On a 5 star scale we collectively give this restaurant 4.25 out of 5 stars which rounds down to 4 stars. Also a special call out to our waitress Claire who did a superb job making sure our large group had everything we wanted. We all recommend this restaurant for a fine...