JUN Szechuan Kitchen & Bar — Restaurant in Minneapolis

Wow. I went here alone right after a work event across the street. My phone died while I was viewing the menu via QR code and they kindly charged my phone for me while I sat back and observed the restaurant.

There was only one cook in the back and one staff running the entire floor as the host, server and bartender. Though it might be easy to get upset about how understaffed they are... Remembering that we are still in a pandemic with fluctuating numbers of customers means it's important to be understanding that some restaurants need to do with less.

The server did an amazing job given the circumstances. He was constantly on the go, working to be on top of everything. He only paused for a brief moment for a sip of water. He did not have time to swing by to ask me how my meal was but he was constantly making sure folks' orders got in and they got their meals at an adequate time. I was highly impressed.

I appreciated that they don't rely on the QR code to order. As an introvert, I usually don't mind ordering via QR code but when I go to new restaurants, I like to ask what the popular dishes are. The waiter came to the table to take my order. Since my phone had died, he made recommendations. I had the Shelter Island mixed drink (which he made himself) and the Chong Qing Spicy Chicken which were both delicious.

In Minnesota, it's tough to find Sichuan food which are super flavorful and spicy. This definitely hit the spot. Though the meal was enough for two, it was tasty enough that I finished the entire thing. As an Asian person, the rice was not the best I've ever had but given the circumstances, the overall meal was delicious.

The atmosphere was also dark, moody and hip.

I will be returning with friends/spouse for now...

B+ food, C- service and C+ atmosphere.

We ordered a few dishes, including Szechuan Dumplings, which were very tasty but not spicy in the slightest. The sauce they came in was sweet, which was surprising given their Szechuan name. Their wrappers were thick and soft but cold on the edges by the time they got to the table. We also ordered Xiao Long Bao, which unfortunately stuck together and to the steamer basket, so we lost the soup filling in four of the six that came with the order. They still had good flavor. The Chong Qing Chicken had the right level of Szechuan numbing spice. Overall, food was good but not excellent.

The dining experience left a lot to be desired. There are QR code menus instead of real menus, but the codes are printed on peeling laminated sheets of paper that were sticky and dirty. Our server said we chose to order great dishes, which was nice to hear, but she disappeared for most of the meal. We could see her socializing -- and Facetiming -- with the rest of the wait staff on the other side of the restaurant for most of our dinner. When our food began coming out, we had no chopsticks, so we got up and asked the kitchen for some. Our server eventually returned once and seemed very surprised we had found chopsticks.

Our bill had a 4% service fee on it that had no explanation, but I found on the website after paying that it's a mandatory employee benefit surcharge. JUN should simply raise menu prices by 4% instead of adding this tacky fee. Tables are tiny given the area required for this type of family-style ordering restaurant.

JUN has good food and a trendy, buzzy interior, but it left me disappointed in the...

Unfortunately does not live up to the hype. Food was ok but not impressive. The drink I got tasted like it was made with shitty vodka. with the food it felt like they were trying to appeal to the Minnesota palate in a way that I imagine would leave both of their potential audiences somewhat disappointed (people looking for authentic Szechuan food vs Minnesotans who can’t handle spice). I got the mapo tofu and it was the most mild mapo tofu I’ve ever had. It definitely wasn’t the worst mapo I’ve had, but it was noticably mild compared to other authentic mapo tofu I’ve had. It also was just too expensive for the quality of the food and drink. I got 1 entree and 1 drink and ended up paying around $50 after tip and everything.

It also seems like they are majorly short staffed to the point that it affected our service. We got there and the people in front of us were seated immediately, but we were told there was a 30 minute wait but could sit at the bar. The people who came in after us were also seated immediately (it’s possible they had a reservation but we opted not to make a reservation because of how much open availability they had on their website). Next to the bar were MANY open tables. The bartender was kind enough to seat us at one of those tables but it still took about 25 minutes after being seated to have someone take our drink order. I don’t blame the server we had at all, I know they had a lot of tables and were doing their best. I blame the restaurant for seemingly not properly staffing their restaurant. It seemed like there were only two servers for the...