MJ's Bar and Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Owego

I definitely recommend this restaurant for your next dinner out. The food is high quality, and the cuisine creativity is of a much higher caliber than most places in the area. I felt like I was dining in a high class restaurant in an urban area, rather than sitting by the river in the country.

I came here by myself while passing through the area on Monday afternoon around 3 pm, expecting the place to be completely empty. Yet there were still families eating, and people relaxing at the bar. The staff made me feel welcome, and were very knowledgeable about the menu. They were very understanding about food allergies, and very accommodating. The restaurant appears to be a local favorite, as the waitresses appeared to know most of the patrons.

I ordered the firecracker fries and authentic mexican sopes. The fries were fantastic and a definite must try dish! They are fresh cut and crispy and served in a very generous portion on a sizzling cast iron skillet. The pork on top is moist and beautifully flavored with a savory salty and sweet marinade. The kimchi adds a great level of spiciness to the dish. The sour cream and "special sauce" didn't contribute much to rhe dish but did help with fun appearance.

While tasty, the sopes weren't as "authentic" as the menu would have you believe. The tortilla is fluffy and crisp, but lacks the zing of lime in a traditional sope. The thinness of the tortilla also prevents the eater from picking it up. The refried beans and steak were well seasoned and piled on generously for a small plate dish. The choice to use goat cheese in the dish is a strange one, as cojita/queso fresco would have been more consistent with the "authentic" sope. The sopes are served with a fantastic pico de gallo. The tomatoes are fresh and the cilantro is plentiful. I only wish the dish would have come with more pico, as it really helped balance out the dish. The accompanying hot sauce was too spicy for my taste, but has flavor that is sure to excite hot-sauce-enthusiasts.

All in all, the food is delicious, the prices reasonable, and the staff very friendly. I will...

Yesterday evening 11/23/19, My husband and I decided to try MJ’s for the first time. We arrived around 4PM and they were not busy. After being seated it too at least 10 minutes for our server Briann L to approach our table. By that point we were ready to order, so we placed our drink order and food at the same time. I specifically told her I needed my meal GLUTEN FREE. My husband and I both ordered the Cheesesteak, his regular, mine GLUTEN FREE. After another 10 minutes, she returned with our water and no Beer/Cider. After placing our waters on the table, we watched her go over to the bar and put in our beverage order. Not five minutes after our beverages arrived, our food was delivered by a runner. It was Delicious! We were very happy with our meals and talked about returning another time to try something else. We paid our bill at 4:52 and drove back to Binghamton. By 6:30 PM I was doubled over in HORRIBLE PAIN! My body was drenched in sweat and I felt like I had ingested RAZOR BLADES. Since I generally do not have a Cross Contamination issue, I am convinced my GLUTEN FREE needs were not relayed to the Kitchen. Something obviously contained GLUTEN. Something in the flavoring of the Cheesesteak ( Soy or Worcestershire Sauce ) or perhaps the Cheese Sauce on the Cheesesteak. Maybe it was the Dipping Sauce that came with the Fries. I’m not sure, but I never have a reaction this bad unless I have ingested GLUTEN. MJ’s came highly recommended to us by a friend that works at The Lost Dog Cafe. We were told the owners of MJ’s worked there previously. After hearing that, I trusted I would be able to eat at MJ’s without issue. Apparently, that is not the case. Now I will be in gastric distress along with headaches and joint pain for the next two weeks, as that is how long it takes my body to rid itself of the contamination. Thanks.. Happy...

It seems like the menu here is trying too hard. The menu options are all over the place,without a unified theme of any kind. Each item is quite complicated, all with an eclectic list of ingredients... so it took forever just to read it all and take it in, let alone make a decision. The first time I went there, I ordered the house specialty, filet mignon...I ordered it medium, and was served a RAW piece of meat. The jasmine rice was tasteless. And the edamame beans were too spicy and too much work to enjoy. For the first time in my life I sent the entire plate back and ordered something else. I got the cajun shrimp, thinking it might arrive quickly bc shrimp cook fast. It took 20 minutes to arrive, and i got a bowl with 4 pieces of sliced white bread balanced atop the bowl, completely covering the rest of the food...underneath, I got a whole bunch if creamy cajun sauce that was pretty good, but the shrimp were the little frozen salad shrimp, which was really disappointing! In my opinion, anything other than prawns is unacceptable for an appetizer or entree. The firecracker fries I got for appetizer were decent, but the focal ingredients were buried u der the fries amd cheese so you couldn't see what you were getting till you started digging...and they were not user-friendly as far as trying not to make a mess of myself and the table while trying to eat them. So two thumbs down on presentation!! The second time I went there, I got a bacon cheeseburger and fries, which I got by ordering the burger on the menu and specifying to the server to take a few I gredients off the burger and adding the bacon. I ordered it medium, and it was cooked just right...so my 2nd visit here was much more satisfying than the 1st time, which was a disaster. In conclusion, I'd say it's a roll of the dice...