The Joint Sushi & Tapas — Restaurant in San Diego

I always have trouble trying to review a place like the joint, I'm happy it's in my neighborhood, it's good for a snack especially during their happy hour, but I have trouble giving it five stars.

There's just something kind of lackluster about it. It's a nice sushi restaurant and they're happy hour prices cannot be beat, but you certainly could not say that this place is authentic. That being said what is an authentic sushi restaurant in Southern California it doesn't really mean anything .

This bar wants to be a tapas bar and it feels like they haven't figured out that you can have very small portions for less money the portions on the menu are decent but the price is too much for shared plate tapas.

The happy hour is an incredible deal it's also every day of the week currently so I can't recommend it enough I think it's actually from 12:00 noon to 6:00 p.m. so it's pretty easy to get a well-priced plate. There's also a lot of different selection on the happy hour menu and this is one of the few places in our neighborhood that serve soup of any kind (miso).

I personally really like their hand rolls I usually end up getting two cut rolls a spicy tuna and a vegetarian roll The vegetarian roll is just very good and is an undersong menu item, I think it does a good job of filling out a sushi order without becoming over stuffed.

Really nice place to come to with your friends for a short meal but I think that if you're coming for a more substantial meal it can get expensive very quickly some of their roles are $20+ if you are not getting happy hour pricing.

The wait staff, and the bar staff are incredible they're always very friendly and they have good suggestions about other things going on in the neighborhood if you're someone that's visiting they can really help guide you to some other places that you may enjoy.

It should also be noted that this place decided to put a chopped cheese on their menu. This is an East Coast staple of hamburger meat chopped, American cheese with onions served on a roll it's very delicious but it is a very particular thing. It is not a Philadelphia cheesesteak it is a chopped cheese it can help make a sushi lunch into something a little bit more...

40th bday blues. Great looking food with some not great vibes. People there are probably beyond tired or something (look it sucks out there right now)...either way, we felt it. I rarely write reviews but just had a really bad experience. We made a reservation for my brother's 40th birthday. We reserved outside since we're trying to balance a good time COVID risk with upcoming, hard to rebook international flights. In order to reserve we had to pay a $45 fee.

When we arrived we waited nearly 10 minutes to check in - not fun but it happens (there was one couple in front of us, I kid you not haha). Problem really started when they tried to seat the three of us at a standard 18"x24" table for two. There were multiple two top tables open and we asked if we could move one to combine them. One was even in the back corner on its own. They refused and told me "we've sat these as three without people complaining." That's kinda a low bar if you ask me haha, akin to what must be the customer service goals when increasingly shrinking economy seats on flights "well, people deal with it, don't they?" We saw two guests at every other two top and looking at all the long, multiple plates per course I can't imagine fitting more on the table.

They said the only other option was indoors. I get that restaurants are struggling and trying to make things work but there were simple solutions that wouldn't have affected other customers that weren't even entertained. The feeling was they were just busy and didn't want to deal with us. They didn't have to try with a line out the door, right?

They did refund the $45 fee, but man, to have paid it on a site like Tock, a website I know for a disproportionate level of expensive, michelin star restaurants, I expected something truly more pleasant surprise for my brother haha. What a hard damper on...

The short version: Good food, strong beers, large selection, friendly crew. Stop in for a bite and a brew, you won't regret it.

The long version: Wow, what a night! Stopped by with my boyfriend around 10 looking for a quick bite at a dog friendly spot. Menu looked nice so we decided to try them out.

About 10 minutes or so in a rude patron was ejected from the establishment, but after lingering and shouting in front of the restaurant, both employees and patrons began chasing him away from the place. When he persisted to linger and berate the waitress, a customer came out and decked him in the face causing a crowd to quickly form between the two. After a lot of shouting, passers-by also joined in and the man was finally chased off.

Later we moved inside (no alcohol outside after 10:45 policy) and they had no problem with us leaving our dog tied on the patio as we finished our beers. We stayed past closing time without realizing, but the crew said they didn't mind waiting for us to finish as they cleaned up. As they closed up shop we got the full story from our waitress about how the belligerent man spat in her face causing all the ruckus we watched out front.

Despite the incident, the crew was so friendly and when my boyfriend asked if they had a military discount they told him they did not officially, but one of the bartenders poured us a touch more to drink as a thank you for his service. Great place, great people,...