Pal Joey's

Chose Pal Joey's because they moved back to their old location with a nice outside venue along the Fox River and local musicians. When we arrived we asked for outside seating and were told they had none so were seated in their enclosed deck (very noisy) overlooking outside. I noticed there were several vacant outside tables so wanted to ask the waitress if we could be reseated. For the next 25 minutes no waitress arrived at our table to take our order! Meanwhile I watched over 15 people being seated outside after we arrived. So we moved to an outside table on our own. A waiter took our order within 5 minutes, delivered our drinks in 15 more minutes, and then came back and informed us the kitchen was backed up for at least an hour and a half so wondered if we wanted to cancel our order. We did cancel our entres. He asked if my wife still wanted her cup of minestrone soup but I would not be able to get my baked onion soup because it required a chef and was therefore subject to the 90 minute delay. A picture of my wife's minestrone soup is attached which is unlike any we have experienced at any Italian restaurant. While we waited for our check, I ordered a pizza from Riverside to pick up on the way home so at least we did get to eat that night! Needless to say, this was our last visit to Pal Joey's!

The food was okay, the service was very disorganized. We had a reservation for a small group, about 12 people, it took a long time to get the drinks and salads/ soups, bit they tasted good. The entrees almost came out together, but again, it was delayed for a few if the group. The food tasted good, would have liked it hotter. Would probably go back. The folks might have all been new since the labor shortage has most places struggling. The bathroom was clean.

I arrived later than the pickup time and still had to wait 30 min for my order. Unfortunately, gotta give this place low stars because of the disappointing first experience. Ordered five things - no coleslaw with both beef sandwiches, wrong salad dressing for 2 salads, and I had to go back in to get an order of soup. Employee at carryout counter was overworked and stressed. Food is good but not fantastic. In the future, maximize the resources and assets that you do have - working to improve communication between members of the team might be a good start.

We love that they are back at this location. We hadn't been there since they moved to the other location for a few years. The patio experience is great and the pizza is the best anywhere. My only suggestion moving forward would be to update some of the patio tables as they wobble and shake as you try to cut your food. That said we will be back.

Food was very good, and the portions were large! We were an hour early for our 12 person reservation, but they were able to seat us very quickly! As with many restaurants currently short staffed, service was slow! The waitress updated us on the delay, and small groups were waited on quickly. The place is huge, plenty of room to spread out customers, and we visited and laughed while waiting. Food arrived hot and tasty, one order was forgotten, but they did a good job of getting it out as quickly as possible! We did enjoy our visit to Pal Joey's, Batavia,, and enjoyed the food and pizza's!