Tahoe Joe's — Restaurant in Visalia

An expected festive dinner RUINED by Greed and Horrible Service. My family and I had come here for my birthday dinner after I had gotten off a busy restaurant shift. Our server SEEMED helpful and attentive through the ordering process. My wife asked about a smaller cut of meat as she doesn’t eat much, and our server suggested Joes steak 6oz portion. My wife smiled and said I’ll have that. My mother-in-law stated she would like the same with asparagus as her side. My son ordered 20 oz ribeye MEDIUM RARE with asparagus and mashers. My mother requested the 10 oz prime rib. And I followed with 14oz prime rib with asparagus as my side. Our server read back our orders then left to get our food started, hardly to be seen again. 3 of us requested asked for asparagus, and not once was it mentioned there was a $3 up charge for the item. After a long delay we received our salads. Then after a much longer delay a different server brought most of our entrees. Our 2 prime rib dinners both had similar sized cuts of meat and each came with a baked potato. I took the one that might have been slightly bigger since I had asked for 14oz and my mom 10oz. Though it was hard to see much difference as I’ll explain later. We asked this server for a few corrections and requests. My son needed a new knife as it was not clean, my wife asked for a new potato without bacon, we needed water refills, and I said my side should have been asparagus not a baked potato. This server said it would all be taken care of. Later our original server brought out the remaining entrees and handed me a dish of my asparagus informing me there was going to be an additional charge. I politely corrected her saying that it was the side that I had asked for. We reminded her of water refills and another utensil setup. After it was apparent that she wasn’t coming back anytime soon, my wife GOT UP AND WENT TO THE BAR TO GET A SETUP AND WATERS. We ate our food in silence as the mood had been steadily darkening. The taste in general was pretty good, save for my son steak being overdone (not to the fault of the cook) and our upcharged asparagus which was hardly edible at the bottoms as they were not trimmed properly. We then got the bill, which I looked over, seeing many faults: My son’s steak was entered as MEDIUM; my prime rib( listed as 10oz not 14oz) showed the asparagus side, but an extra asparagus was charged at the bottom; and my wife’s and mother-in-law’s orders were both listed as 14 oz ribeyes NOT the 6oz Joe’s steak, inflating our bill by $25. I spoke with the manager to point out these errors and let her know of our dissatisfaction with the service. She placated us by comping one entree. I was too upset to argue, so we paid and left. So if you want a decent steak, below average sides, TERRIBLE SERVICE, and don’t mind being charged for things YOU DIDN’T ORDER. This is your place. However I don’t see my family returning here any more. It WAS an nice...

Tahoe Joe's used to be our favorite restaurant anywhere. That's until it moved to Visalia. To be fair, they did a really nice job with our son's rehearsal dinner 18 months ago. It was pre-scheduled early on a Friday when we knew they would be slower. My wife and I decided to give them another shot last night. Our service was beyond slow. Our waitress was having a bad day. Im not sure whether she was overwhelmed or what, but she definitely had a hard time keeping up. She was sweet so that was not a problem.

We ordered the Dinner for 2. We did not want to rush, but we also didn't want to dawdle. When age came to take our drink order, which took about 10 minutes longer than the promised "I'll be back in just a minute", we told her that we were getting the dinner for 2 and wanted to start with the onion skins. Our waters and their fantastic bread (the main reason my wife wanted to try again) and the appetizer came quickly.

When she came to take the entree order, she offered a choice of potato and asked if we wanted salads. We did. We had been there for a total of an hour and had only seen our waitress when she was dropping food off for other tables, our entrees came. We had to ask about the salads, since they had not been delivered yet. My wife's plate had green beans on it, which was not disclosed in the menu or by the waitress. There is a major allergen for my wife in the green beans. So we had to return the plate, asking them to completely remake the plate. Which they did and included broccoli this time. My plate (prime rib and mashed potatoes) was lukewarm at best. We did not want to extend our visit any longer, so I did not bring it up. Her new plate was hot and definitely fresh. They did that right. She dropped off our bill and said there's no rush. She meant it. I put our credit card on the bill almost immediately, but she did not check with us on either if the next two times she visited near our table. After waiting almost about 5 minutes for her to come back, we got up and went to the front with the bill to try and pay. The first person could not help us and it took a moment for her to decide to go get the manager. I was surprised there was a manager. He certainly had not visited our table to see how things were going and it seems he was not overseeing what was going on with his wait staff and the kitchen. He did get us checked out quickly, but he did not even ask us how our meal was. I don't really blame our waitress for the problems, I just expect more from the management. The did fix the problems as soon as we brought their attention to them, but most of the problems never should have happened in the...

The food really isn't bad, it's actually quite tasty. I had steak sliders and what appeared to be almond wonton crusted shrimp. The sliders are great, the shrimp were frozen and boiled, which could be tasted unless you dipped them in the soy dip they provide, which balanced it out. I had tea, which I sweetened with sugar. After I had finished, I looked across at the glass of water that was provided, and noticed what appeared to be mold residue. I easily flaked it off with the straw. I looked at my tea, which I had finished, and saw this film. I tore a corner from my napkin and confirmed my fears: the glassware is poorly washed. If you come, I suggest anything not in a bottle be served in a to go cup.

Follow up

I was contacted the very next day about this review from someone claiming to be the owner. In this message, they requested that I write on their corporate help page. I did. No reply for three days, so I write again, and get a call maybe five minutes after from who I recall as being a regional manager. In this call, she was apologetic, but was explaining how she couldn't understand how my glass could have any film as I described inside of it due to how they are cleaned. I told her the photos speak for themselves. She then went on to state that she was going to be making a trip up there a few days later, and would be looking at their processes. For me, she requested that I return again and that they would comp a meal, and I informed her that - good or bad - I would give an honest review of my food and experience. She said she would send me something for it. End of call. Here we are, several weeks later, and I still have received nothing. I gave my address, email, and my phone number on the corporate site. Makes me question if failing to follow up is a corporate-wide issue that needs addressing.

Second follow up

I received a letter in the mail from corporate offices, with a $50 voucher included. I figured I had nothing to lose, so why not see if they have changed? Long story short, the food was actually pretty good, didn't taste like it was frozen and reheated. Unfortunately, my glass had yet another film in it. It wasn't a mold this time, it looked something else. Needless to say, I don't feel that this location lives up to my...