jaja — Restaurant in Cleveland

Jaja is an anomaly of the Cleveland restaurant scene for reasons I could never expect. In the Top 3 worst dining experiences I’ve ever encountered, Jaja presented us with every possible mistake any established business in the industry could make. Unfortunately this was our THIRD attempt to eat here as the first two attempts were met with “sorry, we are out of most menu items” strange excuse given an early dinner on a Thursday and Friday in January. 930pm reservation on Friday February 23rd. We arrive with 5 at 925 and are told there are no tables available we are sorry, please wait downstairs at pioneer we will text you when your table is ready. 1030pm we check in and the host kindly admits they had forgotten and we are promptly sat at a banquette table in the main dining room. Within 30 seconds one of our party sat in the chair and an exposed upholstery staple under the chair sliced his middle finger. Not seeking any sort of freebie we truly just wanted to have dinner and drinks to celebrate a birthday. The hostess delivered bandaids but there was a great deal of blood. Complimentary 3oz Prosecco and water was delivered. Our server was very warming and kind to us. Immediately we ordered bread and eggplant to start before ordering drinks. The manager Bobby who showed genuine concern apologized for the staple. However it was followed up with the miscommunication of the hosts and reservation resulting in our inability to have dinner due to the kitchen closing. It is 1045. Your kitchen closes at 11, the restaurant closes at 12. “Unfortunately the staff has cleaned the kitchen and have started to leave” In disbelief of being denied dinner when we are within the time frames listed AFTER our reservation was forgotten about and delayed an hour we still diplomatically complied with that decision and Bobby offered us a round of drinks. (The bare minimum given the circumstances and the injury caused by an exposed staple resulting in a wound). Because of that we were moved to a table in the bar lounge. Our bread/eggplant was delivered. We kept the same server who took our drink order. 22 minutes go by without receiving beverages but we never complained. The server clearly saw this and also showed stress that drinks weren’t made. At the 24 minute mark the men received their drinks. At 27 minutes the women finally got theirs . Now at 1130pm the check is dropped with no discount or round paid for, additionally after having no preference on alcohol and the girls saying mid shelf liquor we were charged for top shelf liquor and upcharged for garnishes (1 dollar for 2 tiny Spanish Olives). That’s not only ludicrous but just unheard of in the industry. One more complaint to Bobby and we’re greeted with another “miscommunication, here is 50 percent off instead of a full round email/text me to make things right”. Never in my 12 years of Bartending in high end restaurants or hospitality management has this protocol ever been in practice in any reputable business. Not concerned with money but the mere principle of the matter we paid our tab. To add insult to injury, Quite literally, a bouncer approached our table (1150pm ten minutes before close) with the lights on full blast, crossed his arms and said “we’re closed drink up and leave” our jaws dropped in disbelief knowing we’re being kicked out. He stood there as we managed to finish our overpriced non comped drinks and put our coats on. I asked him well there’s tables still in the dining room and a full bar? He cut me off with “those are employees were closed” In hindsight we should’ve made an incident report with the police and restaurant in case we needed stitches and a trip to the hospital. However after it was all said and done we wanted to leave as quick as possible since from the start we were not made to feel special and were essentially being kicked out. Quite a birthday celebration from jaja. After 3 attempts and night where everything that can go wrong will, I cannot recommend anyone to dine here after the stress that was put on let alone lack of...

About 4 weeks ago we made reservations to eat here at 7:15 p.m. on Friday April 14. We arrived promptly at 7:13 and let the hostess know we were ready to be seated. The restaurant is on the 2nd floor and the hostess station is in a small room on the 1st floor. The hostess was rather non-communicative and we proceeded to wait until a little after7:30 when finally after waiting in a VERY crowded small room, we were told that “our table is ready” and that we were permitted to use the elevator to gain access to the restaurant. Not sure if the hostess was overwhelmed or if she simply wasn’t well-trained in the art of making customers feel welcomed, but the experience definitely got our evening off on the wrong foot. (Also not sure why after having a reservation on the books for almost a MONTH our table was not ready, but that’s not her problem….)

The restaurant was packed. We were escorted past the bar area, which although rather small, was slick and well-appointed. The ceiling is all glass and the windows facing north offer a nice view of downtown and the setting sun. These were the visual highpoints of the night.

I’ve read several reviews of jaja and most of the reviewers must never have stepped foot in a Houlihan’s or an “all you can eat” buffet in Florida in the mid-1980s. (I’m 52…and remember the aesthetic of these places rather well) In terms of interior design it appears as though the owners thought it may be “cutting edge” or….actually I don’t know WHAT they may have been thinking….but the décor is 1980s suburban and tacky. The abundance of plants (I know some were real, but I can’t be sure about most, especially those decorating the ceiling) was weird to me. I’m not a big “ambiance” guy, but as I age and spend a LOT of money at restaurants, it’s becoming a factor for me.

We ordered the big seafood platter as an appetizer ($115). It arrived with 4 pieces of mostly burnt bread, 2 small pieces of lobster (I THOUGHT the menu said a whole grilled lobster, but I could be wrong), a few small prawns, and 4 blackened scallops. While the lobster was tasty, it was tiny. The oysters (I think there were 6 or 8 of them) on the half-shell were lightly cooked with a very nice topping of diced tomato and cilantro. All of the seafood was fresh and tasty, but $115 is an incredibly inflated price for what we received. They did bring a few more less-burnt pieces of bread by request.

We also shared the kale salad which was sizable tasty (hints of lemon and vinaigrette) and the pappardelle with mushrooms in a creamy sauce. The pappardelle was very good, however the notion that these plates are meant to be shared is a bit odd when the portion served barely provided 1 noodle to each of us.

We then ordered the 14 oz. dry-aged ribeye. It came properly cooked and was sliced for sharing. The steak itself tasted unlike any steak I’ve ever had. It had a nutty/woody flavor which to me was interesting and was well complemented by the accompanying sauces (chimichurri and some sort of vinegar based sauce). Interesting and pretty good.

For dessert we ordered the cheesecake and the chocolate ganache cake. My wife said the cheesecake was very good (I don’t eat cheesecake), I thought the chocolate cake tasted like something from Restaurant Depot (or wherever restaurants buy pre-made desserts).

Our server, Madeline, was TOP-NOTCH, professional and helpful. Toward the beginning of our meal, another server came by with a water pitcher and asked my associate if he’d like more water. My associate cut to the chase and politely told him, “Don’t ask, just please fill the water glasses.” After that, the service was smooth, friendly and professional. I travel a bit, and it seems to me that improperly trained service personnel are endemic to higher-end Cleveland restaurants. Nice people, just not trained properly (see above situation with the “hostess”).

A bottle of white wine, a few drinks, not much food, and it ended up being $125 PER PERSON with tip. I certainly walked out hungry. Would I go back? No. Several better...

I went to Jaja a few weeks ago for brunch and I can’t stop thinking about how disappointed I was. I found Jaja from a TikTok account and was so excited to try it out for a with my best friend for girls day. 1st the service was nice, nothing to note, quick and responsive. The atmosphere was delightful, we chose to sit in the main dining room at the cutest two top table with comfy stylish chairs and it all seemed so promising until we left our seats to grab our meals from the buffet brunch.

The menu boats bread pudding style french toast, I wish I had a picture, this was completely black, burnt, charred on the bottom of the dish. Which influenced the overall flavor. Sad because this would have been delicious otherwise

There were no chicken and pancake skewers- instead a crusty dusty chicken biscuit that looked like it came from the freezer section of the local grocery store. There was no cheese or spread of any kind to accompany the sandwich, the chicken was clearly a frozen patty of sorts that looked more like a nugget. I didn’t even try it because it literally looked like a dry rock to sink your teeth into.

Soft scrambled eggs- again were eggs you find a holiday inn continental breakfast bar.. if you don’t know. These eggs come in a plastic bag and are boiled until they cook/ scramble in the bag. These are no Gordon Ramsay eggs.

Twas not blueberry maple sausage- just regular ol’ jimmy dean links. Dry.

Breakfast potatoes- not fresh. Baked from frozen. Chimichurri was severed on the side and not tossed on the potatoes as the menu reads.

The build your own yogurt parfait - was spread out across the buffet line with no labels. The yogurt was not kept cold on ice, it was in a white bowl next to the salad on a pedestal and my friend actually thought it was salad dressing. I only knew it wasn’t because I had read the menu several times and knew it was supposed to be yogurt.

I chose a pre warmed bagel and what I thought was cream cheese but still to this day am not sure what i ate. Not sure if it was completely over whipped cream with no sugar or salt for the “parfait” bar or wannabe butter? it was complete shock to the pallet to realize it was not cream cheese because whatever it was had absolutely no flavor.

The hummus and naan bread - hit it out of the park along with the melon slices and was honestly the best thing in this buffet line.

Salmon tray was not on ice and I don’t care for smoked salmon so I didn’t try any. But that’s a stomach ache waiting to happen.

Creamy grits weren’t bad, but they needed salt and sugar. Simply plain.

Assorted pastries served table side were never delivered to our table.

Additionally, nothing on this buffet line had a label indicating what the item was. So unless you had read the menu online several times like I had prior to arrival you wouldn’t have known what half the items were..

Just overall really disappointed for the hefty $45 pp price tag on this brunch. it was so blah, not fresh, burnt and just a complete “toss together because we can” attitude. I was really hoping for an elegant and scrumptious meal spent with a dear friend. We made the most of it but again, sorely dissatisfied and disappointed in the offerings and the lack of pride that was put into this brunch.

If you’re considering Jaja for your next Sunday brunch, go in eyes wide open, knowing exactly what you’re getting. Nothing more than a Bob Evan’s breakfast platter with some hummus and warm smoked salmon...