Joanna's Family Restaurant — Restaurant in Indiana

Joanna's was the very pleasant surprise I did not see coming!

In Fort Wayne for the weekend recently and, as usual, we were looking for somewhere new and/or local for dinner. The hotel we were at had no dinner offerings and we'd played out most of the local eateries. Scrolling through Yelp I happened on Joanna's and it piqued my interest. It was less than two miles down the road from the hotel so off we went.

Situated in what I'm guessing is relatively new strip mall, Joanna's has a humble, understated exterior. Walking up to the door you really don't see just how large this restaurant is. The hostess stand is right inside the door for getting on the list (if there is one). On this particular Friday we were seated immediately but it wasn't long before they were on a list. I'm guessing this is a pretty popular place on Fridays.

The décor at Joanna's is minimal and tasteful and very much Family Dining. It doesn't overwhelm you with color and motion and blinking lights. The background music is kept at a level that allows for normal conversation.

Our server was Emma and she was awesome. The menu at Joanna's is HUGE and my wife and I were having a hard time narrowing it down. Emma mentioned the All You Can Eat walleye and this is one of the very few times in 28 years of marriage that we ordered the same meal at a restaurant. There are two options, 3 pieces for $10.95 or unlimited for $13.95.

Once we go our plates we were both glad we stuck with3 pieces, because this walleye was enormous...and HOLY COW, was it delicious! I don't know if it's because I hadn't had walleye in years or that it was just amazingly delicious, but this was some of the best fish I'd ever had. I'm one of those that likes both cocktail sauce and tartar sauce with his fried fish, so I was definitely enjoying the best of both worlds. I chose cole slaw as my side and that's always a gamble, but this was surprisingly good.

The staff here was hoppin'! Everyone constantly in motion making sure tables were cleared, floors were clean, and food was being delivered. They do a great job of keeping things in shape, even during a busy dinner rush.

Emma was an absolutely awesome server. She was always on the spot with iced tea refills (we drink a lot of tea), keeping the table clean, and even stopped long enough to have a conversation. Servers who take the time to talk to customers make dining out better.

I'm looking forward to visiting Joanna's the next time we're in Fort Wayne. And I hope it's on a Friday. And I hope they have...

I am so upset!! I can't believe how invisible I felt while dining. It started out well with being seated promptly. They had a lot of customers leaving and a large group waiting to be seated. The friendly waitress took my order and promptly brought my drinks and then my food. She dropped off the bill and said no hurry. As I was eating, all I could hear were waitresses sitting at a table right behind me, counting their money. The one was talking loudly on her speaker phone....somewhat annoying... but no problem. So, I am almost done eating and I start looking around for someone to bring me more coffee and water... but everyone ignores me. Then I am completely done eating, I look around, I see a waitress still counting money, she looks at me but continues counting. I see a bus-boy, he looks at me but continues on. I get up and stand there a bit, but no one acknowledges me. I pick up my plate and walk over to the cashiers, they have a gentleman talking with them so I look into kitchen and see some workers moving around so I ask, fairly loud, if I could get a box, finally a girl gets me a box that's too small, then gets me another bigger one. Then I ask if I could speak to a manager and someone says they aren't there, with no concern at all. So I finally get a cashier to take my money with absolutely no concern either. I left fuming! It would have been so easy for any one of the workers to acknowledge me and either help me or...

Just had brunch with my family. Less than pleasant experience which is unfortunate because normally we really love this place. We asked for well done bacon and well done hash browns- bacon came back under cooked and hash browns were black and burnt. One meal came out completely cold. We sent it back and that was good. We understand things happen and what not. What is not okay is the attitude out server had. She rolled her eyes and seemed annoyed since the moment she served us. Again- we get people have their days. But don't take it out on us. We told another person the issues and she straight up laughed and walked away. We never received our kids milk or gravy and mentioned it to the cashier to have it taken off the bill. The over all attitude from the girls rolling silverware and the server is our main issue. The server talked very rudely and openly about my mom not realizing I was still standing there. Mentioned "it couldn't have been too horrible - plates were cleaned." Actually- I took a box to take home to my dogs. Again- we get everyone has their days but in the customer service industry- fake it til you make it. Don't take your day out on us. Do better...