Joe's On Jolly — Restaurant in Meridian Charter Township

After a frustrating first visit - where we were not allowed to have drinks and appetizers at the (empty) bar without a reservation - we called ahead yesterday to make sure we could be seated on the patio with our two boys.

We did get a reservation and we were promptly seated. As we were coming from a birthday party, we went with appetizers: the giant pretzel, grilled cheese bites, plain chicken wings (with spicy buffalo on the side), fried pickles, and chicken nachos.

The pretzel really was... a really giant pretzel. No joke. It's obnoxiously large. The 7YO said the beer cheese was the best thing ever. (I thought everything was super salty, but, it was a pretzel, so... it was good.)

The grilled cheese bites are essentially a grilled cheese sliced down the middle and then sliced again three ways the opposite direction. The bites are served with a smokey basil tomato soup. It seems odd to say that the soup was the highlight of our meal.

The chicken wings were cooked well. Good crisp and even seasoning. Unfortunately, I did not get the sauce that I ordered on the side.

The fried pickles (spears, not chips) were on point. I do not know exactly how they were prepared, but I would say that they were at the very least expertly fried. You could take a bite of the spear and the middle did not slide out and the breading did not fall apart. Not an easy accomplishment with fried pickles.

The nachos... The house-made chips are flour, not corn. There was maybe a 1/4 cup of cheese sprinkled overtop. They are not "smothered." The (overcooked) chicken and other toppings did not have any cheese on them whatsoever. We did not have any cilantro and we did not get our salsa. (We will not be ordering these again.)

It is interesting - and surprising - to me that they tout "innovative" flavors on their website, because that is absolutely not their business model; Joe's On Jolly simply takes "bar food" staples and rebrands them in an attempt to justify the markup.

Our food was fine. Our service was great. The bathrooms were clean.

(And speaking of the bathrooms... I was surprised they put the server station so close to the bathroom. There was an awful lot of cursing and complaining about customers both times I walked to and from the men's room with one of the boys.)

I am sure we will be back - but this is by no means a new,...

I really wanted to like this place...and I even gave it another try. Sadly, I don't think I'll be returning. First of all, the disclaimer in the menu about being "short staffed" is concerning. I understand that many places are short staffed, but to put it in your menu is a bit presumptuous. I can go to any restaurant in the greater Lansing area and be served decent food at a decent price without having an employee shortage memo in the menu.

Secondly, I don't understand how the restaurant can be understaffed when the two times I have been there, there have been at least 5 to 7 people huddled around the host stand chatting and drinking Biggby coffee. With today's technology and efficacy in streamlining in the restaurant business, host/hostess can perform a multitude of duties while wearing a headset to know when people need to be seated.

Thirdly, the food. I was seriously expecting amazing food for the high prices ($18 for Korean tacos?), instead I got mediocre food at best...BOTH times. I ordered the Impossible Burger, however, nowhere on the menu did it indicate an $8 upcharge. Seriously? For a plant burger? I ended up paying $25 for a plant burger. The Joe Mama's Bang Shrimp was really tiny and cold. (The slaw was decent though.) And the fries were cold...both times and we were there at 4pm when the place opened. The chili was really good though and the fried pickles were on point.

Finally, on every table there were little "Happy Hour" tents that show a discounted price for Monday-Friday from 4-6pm. Cool, so we ordered several items because they were discounted. However, when we got the bill, they were at full price. When I asked the server about this, he said that the Happy Hour prices were no longer available on Fridays. Uh??? Then why put the tents on the table? That's just poor management and organization.

The reason why I'm giving it two stars is because the manager did realize the absurdity of placing bogus tents on every table and honored the Happy Hour prices. Also, the servers both times were very courteous and efficient. I worked in the restaurant industry for several years. I know it's extremely hard work and requires a great deal of multi-tasking. But to say that you're short staffed while 7 people just mill about at the host stand is just selling...

This really is a top notch place now that they've been open for a couple years work most of the bugs out when it comes to service service is great there now I thought it was lacking a little bit when they first open but great service atmosphere is is an comfortable setting kind of the new modern style sort of throwback but it's pretty cool. My only problem is if I'm going to order a wagu burger I expect that thing could perfectly for the price I pay for them things and frankly it ain't just Joe's it seems like 80% of the places I stopped to get a burger none of these Cooks understand keeping it juicy it's always medium well or well done of most recent so don't get me wrong this is a great place and I did have a great meal even though the burger was overcooked I just can't let it go I got to State the facts I made it clear that I wanted it medium but tell that cook if he's got a problem cooking it to medium cook it to medium rare because I don't want all the pink cooked out of it it's almost word for word what I told the waiter because this has been happening all too often so I wanted to make it clear what my expectations were. I got back a medium well the Well Done Burger. I wasn't going to let it go not for the price I'm paying so I took it to the issue to the manager and tell them I never send anything back because I don't trust people no more. It's a sad thing to say but I'm not back in the kitchen and I'm not going to send something back and some cook take it personal and then screw with my food. That's just me though my point of this long-winded Bible is that manager went the extra mile went back there and cook the burger himself but I'm sad to say it still came back me and well the well done good help is hard to find but don't let that steer you away from this place they do a great job and they're good people. Just if you want a medium rare to medium Burger you better really emphasize what your need is. For the atmosphere and the quality they're actually fairly reasonable price you can get in and out of there for 20 to $30 in a good meal if you're going to have a couple drinks with your meal you're...