JOEY Newport Beach — Restaurant in Newport Beach

I thought that this would have definitely been a five star review seeing as I know they started out in Vancouver and I’ve had the best experiences in their restaurants there.

Went in with a large group after a graduation party Monday night and it wasn’t too busy which is to be expected. Loved the way the indoor outdoor space was a seamless transition and I thought the restaurant had all the right vibe for the SoCal setting.

Sat down and ordered drinks and appetizers after a few minutes and all the alcoholic beverages came out but for some reason the two people who ordered San pellagrino didn’t get their water until reminding the staff multiple times.

Next came the sushi cones. These were AMAZING. You cannot go wrong ordering these and I highly recommend it. The truffle fries weren’t as good as I thought they’d be so definitely not worth it in my opinion.

Now where things went south was when the food arrived…so the waiter had a great system taking the orders stating that okay I will start here and go around the table and I thought, perfect! This guy knows what he’s doing. When the meals arrived not one person got what they ordered. So eventually we traded foods and 8/10 people got their food and 2/10 didn’t get what they ordered. They were told that it had mistakenly sent to another table and that they would steak fired up right away and would have something in about 10 minutes. They were nice about asking if they wanted anything else and brought two other sushi cones ok the house.

When the steaks came out for the 2 people they were barely warm. This is where the frustration stems from because it was just not right and two other peoples steaks didn’t come out hot either.

I got the tuna salad and highly recommend it (it was one of my favorite dishes in Vancouver). The ravioli with shrimp was also really good. The poke bowl was fantastic as well.

I will go back in hopes for a five star experience because I do like their food and will write another review when it happens but for now I think it was just an off night for some staff / trainee staff. I will say they comp’d the meals that came late and did apologize several times. Looking forward to another experience to match other...

Wow, I’m so disappointed with my experience at this restaurant. It’s unfortunate because the food is pretty decent but the service was atrocious. Let me clarify, the service of a few people was atrocious. My family and I went to celebrate my dad’s birthday and while we were waiting in line to check-in, we noticed that everybody prior to us received a glass of welcome champagne. When we checked in, they asked if we were celebrating an occasion (yes) and they did not offer it to us so we asked and we were served. Not a big deal, but I did think it was strange considering everybody prior to us did not have to ask. Sure, whatever, it happens.

Then, we were led to our table by our host and the waitress who helped us at first was super great and incredibly nice. She let us know she was filling in for somebody while they were on their break and was lovely. As our meal progressed, nobody checked-in with us and we had to flag staff down to put in more orders. Towards the end of our meal, when we were still finishing up our plates, a young male waiter came by and kept asking us if we were done when we were clearly not finished. He did this twice and it felt quite aggressive as if he were trying to push us out. Come to find out, he was the waiter that our waitress had been covering for—he did not introduce himself when he got back from his break and we had no clue he was the one who was supposed to be helping us.

Meanwhile, a group who was sitting behind us, who he seemed to know was being treated tremendously well. He was attentive, brought out cake for someone’s birthday, etc.

At the end of our meal, we were expecting a little cake or something for my dad as we had seen other tables receive the same service. Nothing. When we asked at the end of our meal if there was any birthday dessert, he asked “Whose birthday is it?” It all felt icky…we had already spoken to our host about us being there to celebrate an occasion and aren’t the POS systems supposed to indicate that data? Anyways, we ended up paying and leaving. Couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Sure, we may not look like your “normal” clientele but some decency would be nice. It definitely felt like were not being treated like the...

I had one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had at Joey. While the food was delicious, the service—especially from our waitress, Alexis—was absolutely unacceptable.

From the beginning, Alexis treated our table with noticeable disdain. We were the only Asians in the restaurant, and while she was warm, cheerful, and highly attentive to the other (non-Asian) customers around us, her attitude toward our table was cold and dismissive. She barely spoke to us, rolled her eyes when we asked for anything, and only approached us when absolutely necessary. I don’t want to make assumptions, but it was very difficult to ignore the feeling that Alexis showed clear racial bias in her behavior.

One example of her behavior was when it came time to clear the table. Instead of walking around to collect our plates, as she did for every other table, Alexis simply stuck out her arm and gestured for us to hand them to her—something I’ve never seen in a full-service restaurant. For other guests, she went around to each person and politely picked up their plates. This made it painfully clear that we were being singled out and disrespected, especially considering this isn’t a fast food restaurant where minimal service is expected.

When it was finally time to pay—after we waited more than 15 minutes while she stood around unoccupied—she tossed the receipt onto the table with as much attitude as she could muster.

Throughout our visit, she laughed and chatted with other guests, even kneeling down to engage with them more personally. Yet every time she came to our table, her expression turned sour, and her hostility was palpable. We felt like a burden simply for being there. As the only Asian diners in the restaurant, we couldn’t shake the feeling that we were being treated differently because of our race.

Customers deserve basic respect and hospitality regardless of their background. I sincerely hope management takes this feedback seriously. No one should ever feel unwelcome or disrespected while dining out. We won’t be returning because of Alexis, and I wouldn’t recommend this...