Joe's Pasta House

I am sad to say that the beloved Joe’s Pasta House is no longer the establishment we’ve all known to love. Apparently, Joe sold it earlier this year. It seems the new owners do not have the same passion to continue in his legacy.

Our family of four went to Joe’s Pasta House Tuesday, 11/7/23. I was really looking forward to the fresh made mozzarella wedges and the lemon pepper chicken pasta. My husband and 10 year old son were looking forward to the lunch specials and our 6 year old daughter was looking forward to the Ravi’s Alfredo pasta.

When we entered the place was quiet. Not the usual happy atmosphere. I’m sure if I hadn’t come straight from physical therapy I would have noticed earlier.

We were served the usual bread but the oil lacked flavor. When the beloved mozzarella wedges arrived we were disappointed to receive store bought sticks instead. We discussed what a shame it was for the change in quality but assumed it would be the only one. When our food arrived we realized the lower quality food extended to the entrées as well.

The usually vibrant lemon pepper chicken pasta was dull in color, had no flavor and the chicken was so overcooked it hurt my teeth. The usually spectacular pesto sauce was drenched in a weird food colored green oil. The usually decadent Alfredo sauce was congealed and lacked flavor. We also added shrimp and chicken to the lunch specials and the first shrimp we received was raw. The second was hidden in the sauce and was extremely hard to cut into. The only thing that was edible was the Parmesan chicken sandwich and fries.

We honestly should have complained but we, like so many people, have difficulty criticizing the food quality. We sat in silence and looked around and no one was enjoying their food. We ended up taking it all Togo after spending $80.

By the time we got home, we were all feeling iffy. I threw all the food in the trash and called the restaurant to let them know how we were feeling. Within the hour we were all feeling really sick. The worst of it was my husband, who ate the most so as not to waste our hard earned money.

My husband soon took a turn for the worst. He started to throw up and then the diarrhea came. He had to get in the shower on all fours because it was coming out of both ends. This lasted 4 hours until he was grey in color and exhausted. I had to call my in-laws over to watch the kids who were huddled around buckets of their own on the couch to take my husband to the ER.

By the time we got to the ER my husband was so dehydrated he couldn’t hold himself up or communicate. We were triaged immediately and an iv was put in. Unfortunately the ER had no beds available right away so they sent us to wait in the waiting room with the iv and intravenous nausea medication. By the time we left the ER it was 1am and he had received 2 bags of iv fluids, nausea medication and pain medication for his poor body and head.

We are all honestly so hurt and disappointed that our bodies had to go through all of this but most importantly we’re really upset at the cost of it all. $80 for food that went in the trash, an ER copay and whatever bills are sure to come from a 7 hour stay in the ER. Plus missing 3 days of work to recover. We are also upset at the new owners for putting Joe’s beloved name in the gutter.

The new owners seriously need to call Kitchen Nightmares or just sell the place to people who actually care. You couldn’t pay us enough to ever step foot in that place again.