Joe's American Bar and Grill - @@@

Last Monday the 21st, my coworker and I went to Joe's due to both curiousity and convenience.  Driving to work Monday morning, the restaurant was spotted while waiting for the stoplight to get to the freeway.  It is also extremely close to the hotel and I could probably see it if I looked out the window now.

The simplest way to describe Joe's is to name off a common mall restaurant and picture that except with chandeliers (upscale?).  Applebees, TGIFridays, Ruby Tuesdays, etc except the theme here is obviously America.  I remarked during dinner that the server had to wear a not-too-sweet American flag tie as part of the theme.  Clearly I am not anti-American, but no lie American flag ties are ugly. 

Since I had to drop off my car rental, dinner was a little later.  Being always hungry, spinach and artichoke dip was ordered immediately as an appetizer.  Very interestingly, as dipping items were the normal tortilla chips, pita chips, but also carrots and celery?!?  Since I like carrots, I had to try it with the dip, which I can only assume is what it is for.  I would not recommend it.  The refrigerated carrots did not go well with the dip that came straight from the oven.  Too much of a contrast.  The tortilla and pita chips also seemed stale, but it was saved by using the free bread provided as opposed to anything that was provided with the dish.

For my main course, I ordered the ribs.  They were spectacularly average.  Nothing special, just decent food.  The baby back ribs were again very tender, leading me to think they were only finished on the grill.  The full rack here did seem larger than the rack at Outback, so that was a plus.  The sauce was ok as well.  Sides were broccoli and fries, which as you can guess were average.  It was steamed broccoli so pretty straightforward and did not have anything special added (the menu said garlic but that was marginal at best).  The fries were somewhat crispy and thicker-cut.

As if that wasn't enough, we decided to get a dessert as well.  I forget exactly what it was called, but it was a large slice of ice cream cake piled high with whipped cream.  The crust was Oreo crumbs and the body of the cake was coffee ice cream.  Drizzled with chocolate sauce, it was a favorite at the table.  The best way I can describe it is chocolate mud pie.

As you can guess from the theme of this post, this restaurant was average at best.  Nothing spectacular, just a regular place to get food as you shop or stay close downtown.  Though rated a 3 of 5, I would equate it to the Outback 3 rating as opposed to the Andino's 3 rating.  In closing, I noticed an odd menu description ...the "Joe's Prime Rib Challenge".  This was described as a double cut of prime rib (24 oz) served on the bone.  My main complaint here is: whats the challenge?  It did not indicate anything special you could win if you finished it or a name on the wall or something like that.  That is not exciting.  Oh well, not that I should try it, but I am confident that I would have dominated it regardless.



ribs, fries, and broccoli.  also notice leftover carrots from spinach and artichoke dip




mud pie desert - pretty good

 148 Providence Pl
Providence, RI 02903