J’s On The Bay
My husband and I have gotten into the habit of ordering out, probably more than we should. As such we’ve figured out our favorite spots and tried a lot of new restaurants. We have an unwritten rule that once we’ve had more than two unsatisfactory meals from our “go-to spots” we cross them off the list and don’t order from them again.
Here is where J’s On The Bay comes in. They were one of our go-to restaurants because the food was always tasty and we would almost always have leftovers for another meal. Well, one day we order breakfast from them and it is a disaster. It takes nearly two hours to get to us, the restaurant is a 30-minute drive on a bad day, the food is cold and the flavor seems to be missing. Now that is strike one.
Strike two came about three weeks later when my husband decided he wanted a burger from a restaurant, not fast food. So we decided on J’s because their burgers were great last time. We start going through the menu on Door Dash and realize that they’ve changed a few things and that some of our favorite items are no longer on the menu. When I Google them it no longer calls them a gastropub but a “gourmet eatery”. Still, we decide to try it out, maybe it won’t be that bad.
Obviously, we were wrong. Here’s what we ordered:
Vodka mozzarella battens
Stacked House Burger (the only burger left on the menu)
Shrimp and Grits (because I hadn’t had that in a long time)
Birthday milkshake
Nutella banana fluff milkshake
Everything showed up pretty cold, except for the milkshakes which we had to put in the freezer to cool off while we ate. Let’s start with the appetizer, the mozzarella battens, which are just larger mozzarella sticks. These were ok, nothing to write home about, they were really your basic mozzarella stick appetizer just slightly larger, definitely not worth the $14 they charge for them. The vodka sauce that comes with it, for dipping is probably store-bought, nothing different from what a pizzeria would charge half that price for.
The burger was severely overcooked and had no seasoning on it at all. My husband called it the most flavorless burger he had ever eaten. Honestly, it didn’t even look appetizing, it was messy and burnt. The shrimp and grits were also disappointing. The shrimp were not that bad, but the grits were undercooked and there were about 3 full cups of grits sitting at the bottom of this to-go container. It was a good thing the shrimp were seasoned because the grits were unsalted, bland, and only slightly cheesy.
The milkshakes, we were hoping, would be the saving grace of the meal. Here’s a shock, we were wrong. The best parts of the milkshakes were what was stuck to the cups. The birthday cake was all at the bottom of the vanilla shake, so my husband used a spoon to eat those. He said the rest of the shake was like a simple vanilla milkshake. As for the Nutella banana fluff milkshake, the best part was the fluff I had to scrape off the sides of the cup. The milkshake was clearly a banana milkshake, in flavor and color, there was no trace of any Nutella. Trust me, I’m Greek, there’s practically Nutella in my veins.
After this absolute mess of a meal, we agreed that J’s On The Bay was off of our ordering list. This was really upsetting because they really were one of our go-to spots. Now, this was a delivery order, so I cannot speak to how they are in-house, the store is small and we have never eaten in the restaurant. That being said, I will not be eating here again.