Jem's " Take A Plate" — Restaurant in Portsmouth

Hmm. Not sure about this one. $9.50 for lunch (one entree, one side)... The food wasn't bad at all. Admittedly, I thought I played it safe. I ordered meatloaf and cabbage, and tried the bread pudding. It weird when places show you the food before they bag it up lol. Like, if you're dissatisfied they can use that against you, "you approved of it when they showed it to you". I mean, maybe they should look at it themselves and determine if it's up to their standards or not, if they have any, that is. But I digress lol.

The meatloaf portion wasn't impressive for what it is and it didn't seem homemade. It had the consistency of a processed meatloaf you'd buy from a store or wholesale club. (Mushroom?) gravy was good but again I think it was homemade. Who am I to think homemade soul food exists anymore lol? It's hard to screw up cabbage so it was good. The cornbread was a nice size. It's of the jiffy+mayo recipe I believe. Bread pudding was good. It was day-old cold...

I would like to express my disappointment with JEMS. My son-in-law booked an event, for his wife, at JEMS banquet hall. First, I was quite disturbed that a venue would charge $150 extra to come and decorate beyond the one hour allotted. I have never heard of such a thing!!Secondly, the customer service was poor. I reside in Maryland and each time I called to get questions answered, I was told something different. On the day of the event, it was like pulling teeth to get what was asked for. For example, a trash can to put trash in, a bowl of ice to chill beverages. I was informed by my son-in-law that the event would be fully staffed to serve the guests their food and to clean the tables after everyone finished eating. That was not true - there were on 2 people on the day of the event. Also, the food was being packed up as guests were still arriving. The only good comment I have for JEMS is the food was very good. As a black establishment, you need...

I had an event here over the weekend and the food was great as well of the staff EXCEPT for one lady that i believe her name was Cindy. She was HORRIBLE. I planned my event through Dont'e and we had everything planned to the T. Cindy and I had a conversation over the phone a WEEK before my event to go over the same things I did with him and her tone and attitude was VERY unprofessional. As we were setting up for my event she had a problem with almost everything we did, but it was already approved when i booked the location. As guest were arriving some heard her yelling from the back, she was VERY rude to my guest. Lots of my guest told me the day after that she refuse to give them eating utensils as well as other things. She was completely UNPROFESSIONAL and she RUINED my day. I would not recommend anyone in the future to have an event here...