jean-pierre's three16

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 around at JP's!