jean-pierre's three16 — Restaurant in Tumwater

As many others have said, JP's food does not disappoint. Rich flavors, everything perfectly cooked and seasoned, and generous portions. The food is absolutely exceptional. Unfortunately, everything else is mediocre at best. I'd love to see this local, family owned business thrive so I will say what I have to say as constructive criticism and hope that the business owners will take it to heart. The service: It depends on the server. We've had both an attentive, professional server and a slow, chatty server at JPs before. I appreciate a conversational server sometimes, but if there are other tables waiting I'd prefer to keep conversations short so that other guests don't have to wait for service (as we did, when our server was having a leisurely conversation with another table while we waited 15+minutes for our drinks). I appreciate that the servers sometimes chat you up and that they even seem to have friends come to their restaurant quite a bit. But I've noticed slow service, waiting for a wine menu, waiting for water to be refilled, and guests waiting 2+ minutes at the door to be greeted while servers are chatting absentmindedly with their tables. Additionally, the servers attire is uncomfortably casual, so much so that it takes away from the "fine dining" atmosphere. I have seen servers in old tank tops, flannels, jeans etc, and it really makes me feel like it's not a fine dining experience.

The ambiance: unpretentious, cozy and comfortable, but maybe too much so. Just last week we were seated uncomfortably close to another table even though other tables were open across the room. On top of that, the music was loud enough that we needed to speak up to hear each other, so I could hear the other table's conversations painfully clearly.

The decor is a bit cheesy (which I can get over) but more concerning is how run-down the place seems. Especially the bedraggled patio and the trailer parked in the parking lot... I don't mind an unassuming building and the garden-chic vibe; but the dirty cluttered patio and the out-of-place abandoned-looking trailer in the back gave us pause and made us feel weird.

Lastly, paying via Venmo. I get it, credit card fees are astronomical, so I'm happy to pay via Venmo. But I'd prefer to pay a "business" account in Venmo, not the server's personal Venmo account as we did last week. It made us worry that our payment would not make it back to the business.

We visited JP's for our anniversary dinner last week, dressed to the 9s and ready for a fancy night out. However, after our second experience here, I can say that while we might be back for the exceptional food on a "casual" night out, we will seek a true fine dining experience elsewhere until things turn...

We’re one and done, here.

We’ve been looking forward to trying this place out for a while - we’ve always loved finding local spots that are truly special and we had such high hopes after reading reviews and hearing the recommendations. We don’t agree and we won’t be recommending for several reasons.

Service: It was rather poor. First, the staff is incredibly hard to identify because they are by far the most casual in the room. Flannels and tshirts took away from the professionalism we expected walking into a fine dining place. Orders were taken on good ole fashioned diner pads. And then we heard from a server every 10-15 minutes trying to box up our stuff and move us to the next thing. It was rushed - to the point it felt like flipping tables was the top priority. We don’t typically linger - so this was odd and deeply disliked.

Food: Once we got our food, it looked phenomenal. But there were issues with it, too. My husband’s first bite out of his ribeye had a “crunch” factor - a small piece of bone jutting out of an otherwise edible piece of the meat. Yikes. The hollandaise on my Oscar style filet was so thick it didn’t move like a sauce. And generally, the sides were just okay. Rather unseasoned. In context, I’m not sure the menu was particularly “French.” That’s what brought us in, but aside from escargot on the appetizers list, I’m not convinced this menu represented the cuisine intended.

Aesthetic: Some reviewers call it cozy, I think that’s generous. We were in the main room with the fireplace that you see upon entry. It was just so dark in there. Dark paint, dark tablecloths, dark chairs, and nothing to break the darkness than a few mirrors to reflect the few lamps. That room needs some attention - color and light to be specific. The bathroom was also notably old and I’m not sure it was clean. Then the outside… as others described, it was quite messy. Another way this place just misses the mark.

Price: To cap off the disappointment, we’ll end with a summary of the pricing. As expected, it’s higher end of the spectrum. Expect $50-60 per entree. And $15-$20 per drink and app. Keep track of your order because the bill is weird. Instead of being itemized, everything reads “custom amount” and then there’s a number attached to it. We’re still unsure we got the right bill. But on top of it all, use a card and get stuck with an undisclosed 4% card fee. We expected a $200 bill to not have petty fees like that attached.

So overall, this was a huge bust. We won’t be back absent some major upgrades to the service, facility, and better quality control...

I would like to give a HUGE thank you to the staff and Chef! As a fellow culinarian I have to rank this as one of the best meals I have had the pleasure of enjoying in my foodie travels!! Oh and did I mention the amazingly affordable price on locally sustainable and fresh products farm to fork!! The atmosphere was picturesque and romantic yet not stuffy and the personal service and explanation of the dishes and origins of the food and wine are exceptional! Now let's get to the amazing (and I do mean amazing) cuisine, we started with the stuffed mushrooms, the slight changes and spin that was put into these were over the top!! Even if I didn't get the secret bread ingredient lol. We then decided on trying both soups, the very traditional French onion soup was delicious as one would expect but oh wait, if you haven't tried the Chefs signature Roasted Garlic and Mushroom soup you have done yourself a serious disservice, I have found my favorite soup by far and the gigantic slice of artisan cheese was the perfect topping!! Now let me tell you about the amazing entrees that crossed our pallets! I had the three16 cap steak, to say anything derogatory about this chunk of spoon tender deliciousness would be a waste of breath, the steak butter and added silky tender lobster tail were the perfect combination! The recommendation and pairing of the 3 degrees pinot noir make for a magical unami experience in my mouth!!! My lovely girlfriend chose the halibut olyimpia, now if you don't know what halibut that is fresly caught, cleaned and cooked to perfection right out of the ocean then u need to imurse yourself in this plate!! Fresh, salty and clean! If one was to choose the perfect fletch of halibut it is found in Chef Jean-Pierre's establishment, in my humble opinion! Finally, albeit we are not huge desert folks, we agreed we could not pass up a single course at this table, so we chose the duo of chocolate torts, one orange the other raspberry, pardon the explanation but these were just as if you died and went to some chocolate heaven, get out of here delicious. With all this being said ( and trust me I could say so much more) just know I highly recommend this culinary establishment and will be back many times in the future! From one Chef to another, cudos to you Chef and your team!! Thank you for an amazing foodie experience one will never forget!! Can't wait to come again and try the rest of the menu!!

Bon...