P.J. Whelihan's Pub + Restaurant - Oaks — Restaurant in Upper Providence Township

PJ Whelihan's is not messing around. I couldn't care less about all the TV's and don't necessarily count that as theming. The atmosphere is nice otherwise: it has that clean but industrial look. The hostess asked if we minded sitting outside even though their outside area was fully enclosed and inside, so they're clearly hyperextending their service to overcome some negative reviews. That being said, I sat perfectly happily in this same restaurant two years ago. I'm chalking up the bad reviews, if they were real, to the same wave of incompetence that washed over every business as the pandemic eased, that same wave that kept everyone inside when it was reasonably safe to go out. Clearly PJs has refined their staff.

Hailey was the best of the PJ Whelihan's waitstaff I had experienced on this visit, however all were far above standard. PJ's was 90% full when she said she would bring some waters, but I cut the small talk and ordered my drink. Going outside of the table flow is normally going to add a couple minutes to an order, but my drink was delivered, perfectly made, within a minute or two. At this time she gave me the option to order food if I already knew what I wanted, though my party had only been there for a couple minutes. Having read the menu less than two days ago, we were all prepared. This now 100% full restaurant had our food on the table within 15 minutes from being sat.

The food was amazing. I got the upcharge famous fries, and I’m glad I did. They had a great crunch to them and the included cheese sauce was seemingly made from real cheese, and not some velveta-y concoction. There was a blackened char of Old Bay and some other spices that gave the fries a real nice kick. I ordered the Beyond Burger, which I’m not a huge fan of. When I make these at home, they seem to have a gnarly texture and flavor compared to the superior, though more expensive, Impossible. PJs managed to cook this burger better than I can at home on the grill, and I actually quite enjoyed it. The bun was fresh, likely homemade, and had an amazing outer crust that imploded into a soft yeasty dough. There was none of that sponginess to the bun that store bought bread has. The crust was paper thin, and didn’t have that hardness that bakery rolls have that makes hamburger eating difficult or even painful. I know I’m talking up the bun quite a bit, but it is one of the best I’ve ever had.

From our vantage at the end of the restaurant, the machinery of servers moving as quickly as possible without rushing bordered art. No PJs employee could be seen participating in common restaurant pitfalls: checking their phones, getting angry at kitchen staff, acting flustered, telling customers “I’ll tell your waiter/waitress”, or counting their banks at the pass bar during dinner. Many restaurants overstaff during rushes, which leads to a mix of competent and incompetent employees trying to squeeze in the same small service areas. PJ’s clearly staffed based on quality rather than quantity, and this tends to lead to a better experience for everyone.

Often waitstaff tend to interrupt a table’s conversations to fulfill some hidden temporal requirement, rather than let a table breathe and enjoy themselves without feeling like the server is pestering the customers. Hailey, on the other hand, had a keen sense - despite being very busy - of when to stop by the table, when to walk past and ask if we’re ok, and when to start up a conversation. We never felt interrupted nor a lack of anything during our visit.

Based on my three visits to this restaurant during the week (with Saturday evening being the best experience), I don’t know of many restaurants, local or not, that I could...

We’re not one to write a bunch of random reviews however, we’ve agreed it was time for the PJ’s in Oaks Pa review. We’ve started coming to this location shortly after it opened. Service has always been good to great for the most part however, we can’t say the same for the cook / cooks. In the past couple of years, it has been especially extremely bad and has only gotten worse. For one, we’re huge French Onion soup fans and one day we noticed that the soups were drenched in salt on top of salt with a little more salt! Now we typically visit at least one restaurant per week and I have to say, the amount of salt this cook puts into the French Onion soup could take paint off a wall. Now we’ve also been to every other PJ’s in the sounding area for instance, Downingtown, West Chester, Plymouth Meeting and even to a couple in New Jersey and didn’t have a single issue. For some strange reason, the Oaks location has kept one of the same cooks in question for way too long which leads me to writing this review. Recently, we’ve only been visiting the Plymouth Meeting location since they’ve been great every single time ( service, cleanliness, food etc. ). The last time we went to the oaks location was a couple of months ago specifically since it’s been so bad the past couple of years. Well tonight, we were too tired to drive to the Plymouth Meeting location especially since the Oaks location is closer to us. With that being said, we agreed to give them another shot ( after a thousand chances ) and to our surprise, they took the disappointment to a whole new level. I ordered the French dip sandwich which was blood red ( not cooked at all ) and was dripping blood onto my plate. My wife and young daughter each ordered a burger which came out rare. They both prefer their burgers medium well to well done, not rare etc. Now our waitress McKenna was extremely kind and a wonderful server. She was very apologetic and immediately tried to fix the issue with reordering new burgers. Well the new burgers came out even less cooked not to mention a ton of salt on everything. Once again, our poor waitress McKenna was left apologizing when it wasn’t even her fault. I couldn’t help but to ask her if one of the main cooks has been there for a couple of years ( knowing it’s the same cook ) which she did confirm. I’m just beyond surprised this one specific cook hasn’t put this location out of business yet. This particular cook in question should not be cooking period and he / she is absolutely terrible. We ended up sending all our food back since everything was ruined. Needless to say, this past visit was the nail in the coffin for us. If we’re craving PJ’s from here on out, we’ll drive past this location ( Oaks PA ) to either visit the Plymouth Meeting or Downingtown location. The Oaks location is as good as closed to us now. Again, the service has been great, it’s the cook that’s the problem here. Trust us, save yourself the stress and disappointment, visit the...

I am admittedly bias as a regular of 10+ years, but that should show you how great this place is. Even after the turnover of staff through the years, this is my go to sports bar/restaurant and I don’t foresee that changing anytime soon.

The food is above average and often delicious. If rising food prices are an issue for you, they offer one of the best deals in town on wings. The famous wings are half price on Tuesdays after joining the club, but they are regularly a buck a piece during happy hour which is Mon - Fri 4pm-6pm and Fri-Sat 9pm-11pm. They also have drink specials during happy hour as well as daily draft specials. The beer selection is top notch regularly featuring local breweries. There is also an extensive seltzer selection as well as beer bottles and craft cans. They also have nonalcoholic beer.

The menu offers an ample selection and can be modified a bit to fit special diets and to those seeking new combinations. Kat heads the kitchen which caters to your every culinary delight and need. The kitchen staff have very rarely made a mistake with my food that I can count on one hand the number of instances in 10 years.

There are plenty of TVs for sports viewing and they have every football game you can imagine. Usually sporting a fashionable good look is Kari Ann the TV wiz who can find any televised sport you seek. She is the most active GM you’ll meet out of any establishment. Never hiding from the customers and assisting the rest of the staff no matter how menial the task may seem. RJ and Jenna make for good backup managers and you can tell the Keri Ann magic has rubbed off on them.

The waitstaff features all-stars that work hard and make up a great team to make your experience a memorable one. Sidney will crack a joke and fill you in on any Philadelphia Union updates you need to know. Laura is a good team player that the other girls can rely on. Aubrey will delight you with her top notch service and eidetic memory. Karinna is cued in to your needs and requests. Ciara will kill you with kindness and adorableness.

They are supported by a top tier bar service. Maddie can banter with the best of them. She’ll put you in such a good mood that time will skip and you’ll wonder how you stayed out 2 extra hours. Harley brings earthy wisdom. She’ll keep you grounded when you’re off on a tangent and feel like you’ll float away. Victoria brings the class and cool. You think you’re cool… not unless you’ve met Victoria. Morgan is the Sixers’ biggest fan. She also is sweeter than southern sweet tea and can talk bball with anyone.

Do yourself a favor the next time you’re trying to decide where to eat or watch your favorite team, go to...