Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab — Restaurant in Washington

This place is terrible. We really WANTED to like this place but I have a really hard time finding anything good to say about it. Anyways, here we go.

Please keep in mind when reading this that this was almost a $400 meal and think about where else you could go and the experience you could have at a different establishment in this city.

We came here on our honeymoon for one of our many "nice" dinners on the trip. We were sadly disappointed immediately when we were seated. Let's get into why....

First off the ambiance of this place is more so a sports bar than a steakhouse/seafood restaurant. Non secluded dining area with TVs visible from all tables, extremely loud environment (hard to hold a conversation and they don't control their guests), and after you and your party have dressed up for a nice dinner you'll be sat next to someone in sweatpants and a hoodie hollering about the game that's on the TV.

Now on to the service. Our waitress was nice but wasn't what I would call "good" at all. My wife barely touched her bisque and she didn't ask about it at all when removing an entire bowl from the table, I sat without water for 15 minutes, drinks took too long. Asked what seasonal cider was in, was told rose, she brought out an apple cider and was already pouring it in my wifes glass before telling us it was something different than we ordered. LAST BUT NOT LEAST!! OUR TABLE WAS CLEANED WHILE WE WERE STILL SITTING AT THE TABLE BEFORE WE EVEN GOT OUR CHECK!! This may sound nice like oh wow a clean table that's great, but I'm talking about crumbs flying on us, picking up our drinking glasses and moving them around with dirty gloves, and then leaving clorox/lysol all over the table as they literally were treating our table as if we weren't sitting there anymore. Now we have crumbs all over us, can't touch the table because it's wet with clorox, and have dirty drinking glasses because they were touched with disgusting cleaning gloves. I HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED SUCH AN UNPROFESSIONAL ACT AT ANY STEAKHOUSE AROUND THE ENTIRE WORLD!!!

Now to the food. BLAND BLAND BLAND. The food here was atrocious for the price. I was told the bone in ribeye was, "the best in the city" yet it was so uneventful and unejoyable eating it, I didn't even finish it. I would compare the steak I had to a Texas roadhouse quality of steak. My wife's filet was much better however. The Calamari was TERRIBLE!! Seriously you'd be better off getting Calamari from almost anywhere else. The breading is terrible, Calamari very stringy, and not the typical sauces you'd recieve with Calamari either. My wifes baked potato was possibly one of the worst things I have ever tasted in my life. Im not sure how you mess up a baked potato but it was so unbelievably bland and flavorless it was hard to swallow. The four cheese mac & cheese was horrible. It was so flavorless it was like chewing on wet noodles after a second or two. We took one bite and set it to the side. Crab cake was OK. Looked nothing like the pictures they have. Much more filler in the crab cake than advertised. Crab bisque was blah. I love bisque and really didn't care for it, my wife hated it with all of the little scallions or whatever it is they added to the mediocre bisque they make. Everything was just so bland it was mind blowing. How can I eat a big bone in ribeye and not even really enjoy it? I didn't think that was possible. Maybe some of it was just the irritation with the service and atmosphere but my taste buds would still notice flavors but they just weren't there.

All in all we hated this place. So much so I was very tempted to confront the manager until I realized how long the conversation would have to be to air out all of my grievances and it wasnt worth my time. It's one thing to have a bad meal for $100. It's a totally different story hating your dinner you paid almost $400 for.. At the end of the day, I will never be coming back to this establishment and any time I hear anybody talking about it or considering going, I will strongly urge them...

My husband and I decided to go on a little Thanksgiving getaway last week from NYC and one of the reasons why we also wanted to go was because of this restaurant, our most favorite in DC and admittedly in our Top 3 in the US and especially coming from NYC where there's a plethora of excellent food and excellent steakhouses. This remains to be a favorite and since the last one was in 2019, this definitely deserved an updated review because this visit, Friday the day after Thanksgiving was absolutely flawless, from start to finish.

First off, our table wasn't actually due for another 30 mins and since we practice fasting and OMAD (One Meal a Day), we just thought to arrive around 25 mins earlier to our 5:30 PM table and we were prepared to wait it out. I did kindly ask the hostess, who happened to be Imani, if there's a possibility to sit us earlier should there be a table but did ask for one of their best ones and boy did she deliver. Within 5 mins, we were seated on the other side of the restaurant with the main bar which was honestly way more preferable vs. where we were seated the last time and Imani also made sure we got one of the best booths. Incredible start, thank you so much Imani!

As for who attended to us, it was definitely elevated this time around as we met Erika and she made everything soooo much better. She was warm, welcoming, kind, and attended to us perfectly without being overbearing, she knew when I needed another glass of champagne, etc. She really delivered fantastic, five star service, and hopefully she'd be the same person attending to us next time we're back. Perhaps we can request for it? :) Anyway we decided to just hand her a generous cash tip for taking such great care of us. She was that good. Erika, if you're reading this, thanks so much again and it was a pleasure to meet you.

As for food and drinks, we definitely knew our way around here and wanted to have most of what we ordered the last time: Dry aged prime rib (this one was almost $100 at market price), Grilled seafood platter (still the best grilled fresh seafood medley of lobster, scallops and shrimp), crab cake of course (the very best so far!), a shrimp and crab appetizer which was similar to a crab cake in texture and was oh so heavenly, and I also tried the delicious crab bisque for a change plus their mac and cheese which was sooooo good. And btw, their bread alone is so good, perfect with the butter. We paired all of these food wonderfully with champagne and an excellent Malbec from Argentina. Given the pandemic's impact to changes in businesses and staffing, I was initially worried if everything would be as good as before, but they actually became even better. Everything was absolutely perfect. This is one of those splurges where everything was worth all of it. It was so good we didn't even have any room for dessert.

Overall, if we're coming back to DC anytime in the near future, Joe's will definitely be part of the plan. Our compliments to the Chef and the entire restaurant management and staff for delivering an amazing experience. Thank you and we really hope to be...

Last Visit

As a longtime local in Washington, DC, I’ve had my fair share of dining experiences—from iconic dives to celebrated establishments. Joe’s has always been on my rotation of “special places” to celebrate occasions and have business dinners. I’ve always appreciated the polished, upscale experience. But what I hoped would be a memorable evening turned out to be a disappointing reminder that reputation doesn’t always align with reality.

Let’s start with the portions. For the price point Joe’s commands, you’d expect generous servings and plates that reflect the menu’s premium positioning. Instead, what arrived at the table could only be described as modest—at best. The portions were noticeably smaller than expected, particularly for a restaurant known for hearty classics. It felt less like fine dining and more like an attempt to disguise cost-cutting behind white tablecloths and ambiance.

Speaking of cost, it was the surprise addition of a 3.5% “operational fee” that truly sealed the experience for me. This fee, tucked into the final bill with little explanation, is nothing short of a customer fleece. Let me be clear: my responsibility as a guest is to pay for the food I ordered and tip accordingly for service. It is not my job to subsidize your business overhead—unless, of course, I’m being offered equity or dividends in return. Sneaking in fees under the guise of vague operational expenses insults the intelligence of patrons and undercuts the very trust on which restaurant hospitality is built.

This added surcharge might be more easily overlooked by a visiting tourist or a lobbyist throwing around a corporate card. But I am neither. I am a DC local, someone who chooses where to spend not just money, but time and loyalty. Joe’s, unfortunately, has lost mine on both counts.

The service? It was fine—courteous and professional, but certainly not extraordinary enough to justify the premium or compensate for the lackluster value elsewhere. For the prices charged, I expect not only impeccable food, but a transparent and respectful customer experience. Sadly, Joe’s delivered on neither.

To be fair, I understand that restaurants face rising costs and staffing challenges, particularly post-pandemic. But honesty is the bare minimum. If prices must rise, build them into the menu. Don’t disguise them as backdoor fees. Restaurants are a business, yes—but so are the decisions of your customers.

In a city brimming with culinary options, diners have choices. I, for one, will be exercising mine elsewhere from now on. Joe’s Seafood may have carved out a reputation among tourists and steakhouse traditionalists, but as far as locals like myself are concerned, that reputation is starting to smell more like yesterday’s fish than...