Original Joe's

Reviews

• KP

  Katrina Tostowaryk Phillip

  Feb 24, 2026
  1.0
  This happened a long time ago but it has been eating at me so I think I need to share. To preface, I am a service industry vet. Started at 15, finally left at 34. I can often understand why bad service happens and why bad food happens. I have never given a restaurant a bad review in my life. But this location... holy smokes. It was like something out of a movie, it was so bad. My cousin and I went for a late lunch and decided to share some nachos and drinks. Our drinks took ages, and the nachos even longer. Yet there was absolutely no one else in the restaurant, except for a few regulars sitting at the bar. When the server finally brought us our nachos, she just dropped them off and left. I said "OH excuse me" to get her attention back but she completely ignored us. Our drinks we're empty, we had no water, and no extra napkins. We tried eating the nachos. Impossible. They were somehow cold in the middle. Like refrigerator cold. The meat had been piled in the middle in the shape of a serving spoon still. A bunch of cheese was unmelted. It was sincerely surreal to me that a server would bring this out to her table. We could not eat them. They were truly disgusting. When the server finally returned, she asked if we were done and we said yes and we didnt want to take them, she placed down the bill and she took off from the table again. She didnt ask any questions about why we didnt eat them. She never did a quality check. And as soon as we said we were done and not to pack them up, she took off again. We had to go to the bar and ask the bartender to get our server to clear up and talk about the nachos. We explained everything and she asked why we never told her. I said, point blank, "you never came back to our table." She said we should have gotten her attention then. We never saw her!!!! She went to "speak to her manager" in the back and gave us 20% off our bill, but I did not want to pay for a plate of nachos that were practically untouched. She was extremely rude about the entire thing and told us no, her manager was too busy. Being that we were much younger and less bold women back then, we paid the bill and even naively left her a small tip because I couldn't stomach the idea of her paying to serve us. While we were paying, she also asked why we were in town. We told her we were going to a concert a bar nearby, and she grimaced and told us "wow that place sucks, its only sketchy people there." Truly astounding and this service has lived with me for years. I feel slightly bad leaving this review now as im hopeful it doesnt reflect any of the staff there now, but it has stopped me from going back to OJs even once in the last decade - and I used to work at an OJs in Edmonton! I sincerely hope this location has had a management and staff overhaul. I'll never try it again when I am back in Red Deer but be warned, their is potential for the most neglectful service and poor food at this location.
• SS

  Scott Slimmon

  Feb 20, 2026
  5.0
  Great food, server Rauri was amazing!
• DD

  Daniel

  Feb 12, 2026
  5.0
  We were looking to have a nice chill night out and we decided to go to Ojs. Our last experience here was far from good and we were told to come back to make up for our experience. When I say this experience was a complete 180, its no joke. Our server Kylie was absolutely incredible!! Very attentive to drinks and made sure we had a great time, she cracked jokes and was everything you want In a server. So thank you!!!
• SD

  Sophia Desrosiers

  Jan 27, 2026
  5.0
  the people there are very friendly and respectful they make your stay wonderful food is awesome and i love being at ojs
• MB

  melodie brauner

  Jan 8, 2026
  1.0
  Went for supper last night, our server was Shilo, my husband and I walked in waited to be seated, was told to find a seat anywhere, Cool no biggie, we sat for about 10 min, when I'm guessing the MOD came up with menus tossed them on the table and said our server would be right with us. No talk about the menu or the specials, after about 10 min our server came up took our drink order, we watched as the bartender made them, about 10 min later she picks them up, brings them to us says I'll be right back, still no introduction of her name or specials, another 10 min past and she comes back takes our food order by saying, what can I get you, we order our appys and our mains. When our appys came the table wasn't marked yet so we waited for cutlury and side plates, Shilo did walk by once and asked if we were done and went to grab the plate with very much food on it still that we were currently still eatting,My husband glass was empty and wasnt offered to have another one. She walks by a few times, with the empty glass still on the edge of the table, the manager walks by and we ask her if we can order refills through her, she looks around for our server, she acts like she wasn't ready for us to ask for this request says very unprepared like, ummmm, yes sure, we then watch our drinks one of them being a blended one sit on the bar for 12 minutes! And we had to stop the server as she was walking by again if she could grab them. She apologized and said no one told me they rang them in. I get it, but the lady that took the order, or even the bartender himself could have ran them considering we watched him bite his nail behind the bar while swaying back and forth, being board. Our mains come DELICIOUS! the bartender ran those though, we had one Quality check at about the 2 min mark, which good on you. Never seen her again still don't even have water service at the table yet. When we were done she cleared our table, no pre-bussing at all which would have been great cause we would have asked for another round of drinks. When clearing our table we then ordered 2 cheesecakes to go (which were huge) she asked if we wanted to pay the bill as we are waiting for our cheesecake, as we are paying she stood there and put her hands through her hair put it up in a bun, asked if we wanted a copy and walked away. I understand dropping the ball on a cpl steps of service, but it was constantly dropped over and over by several team members, I don't know if we will be back again. We only knew her name cause the bill has it on it. I hope this review is used as a coaching lesson. So the team can grow.

Frequently Asked Questions About Original Joe's