San Rafael Joe’s

Friendly staff. I enjoyed my carbonara, which came in a big portion. My son got the roast beef with mash potatoes and vegetables.
It is a bit pricey. Their entrees were around $ 20 each but it was good.

I have never had a bad meal at SR Joe’s. Perfect whether you are dining as family, a date or single! Can sit at a table, the bar or the counter in back where you can watch the kitchen. I usually order the Sole dinner, but the Ravioli is also excellent, as is the Seafood Platter. Also yummy calamari fried — not everyone knows how do it right. And did I mention the bar? Great bartenders, and the Martinis are perfect on a night when the live band is playing a bit of Bobby Darin! Oh yes, Lisa is a wonderful server and don’t forget the bread pudding with caramel sauce for dessert

San Rafael Joe’s has been a long time favorite of ours for both lunch and dinner. We usually have our date night on a Saturday night when we can get out. Last week we ended up going on a Friday night. The lady playing the piano was wonderful and totally made for a great dining experience! While beautifully playing a show tune as we walked in the door she even turned to personally greet us! I ordered a hamburger which Is a favorite of mine there. The fries were excellent and not at all greasy. My husband loves their Minestrone soup and Spaghetti and Ravioli in meat sauce. Meanwhile the person at the piano was taking requests and could play each of the three songs we requested. It seemed like she could play everything from show tunes, TV songs, classics, and much more. There was a group next to us celebrating a family birthday and there were many smiles and claps as the piano music shifted to a fun version of «Happy Birthday».
The service by our waitress was «fair» and I almost gave this 4 stars due to that. She seemed rushed and inattentive and it felt like we were «bothering» her by sitting at her table. I ended up giving 5 stars though as the good food and the kind piano player balanced things out!

Had a spectacular event full of a multitude of favorite appetizers. Too many to eat if your counting calories!!!

My fiancé and I came here while visiting on the recommendation of our hotel clerk. We were hungry and ready for a good meal. The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice, wine glasses and folded napkins quiet atmosphere so we thought it would be great. We were wrong! The menu was plain and did not describe the dishes so you had no clue what you would be ordering. Joe’s special. What is a Joe’s special? My fiancé asked and the waiter gave a generic answer. He went ahead and ordered that while I chose spaghetti. My spaghetti had the flavor and texture of the canned spaghetti you feed your toddler. It was disgusting. My fiancée wasn’t sure exactly what his was as he tried to eat it and it was equally awful. The prices were higher so I was very disappointed at the food quality. I ended up eating bread for dinner and going home hungry. Do yourself a favor and eat at McDonalds.

Don’t let the décor fool you! When we walked into the place, we were immediately impressed by the decoration. The restaurant was decorated elegantly with beautiful white linen, sparkling wine glasses and folded napkins. The place says FINE DINNING! Boy, were we wrong!
The menu was terribly complicated and confusing. The unusual item names were listed but did not describe the dishes so you had no clue what you would be ordering. What is Cannelloni a la Romana? What is Fettuccine al olio? What is Penne Neapolitan? There was a dish called… Joe’s special. What is a Joe’s special? There was no descriptions! I asked the waiter and here was his description: «It’s the house’s specialty. They fry some meat, spinach, eggs, mushroom and onions together. Everyone loves its.» Really?! That’s a specialty item? I could make that at home. Anyway, we were vacationing so I decided to be adventurous and try it. It tasted bland and watery! How do you mess up fried eggs?! How is some fried hamburger meat, spinach and eggs so good that it costs $ 20.00 per plate?!
My Fiancé chose the spaghetti with meat sauce. It had the flavor and texture of the canned spaghetti you feed to your kids. Noodles, bland tomato sauce and some hamburger scraps. The tomato sauce was so watery that you could see the clear liquid separating from the sauce. It was simply disgusting!
The service was equally distasteful. Our waitress was a cranky old guy that spoke barely above a mumble. We saw him exactly 5 times:
1. When he took our order. No greetings. No smiles. He simply said…“what will you have?” and promptly left. When I asked him to describe the Joe’s Special, he looked so pained like I made him do more work than he needed to.
2. When he delivered the food. No comments. He just dropped the food off and left.
3. When he poured some water. No words.
4. When I asked him to get us the bill
5. When he delivered the bill
You may thinking that we are being overly critical. I would agree if the restaurant was not one of these fancy restaurants. When you pay over $ 80.00 for your meal, you expect some courtesy and respect. This restaurant is a fraud. It fools the tourists into thinking that this is fine dinning, except, it delivers disgusting food and horrible service that is worse the Denny’s. They «look fancy» but the food and service are atrocious.

Best corned beef and cabbage EVER! I forgot how awesome this place is. Attentive servers and busboys… an overall wonderful experience. :)

I came here for dinner on Sunday. I had the Mom’s Roast Chicken special. It was ½ of a chicken roasted to perfection, juicy and tasty. It is served with a wonderful mushroom gravy, mashed potatoes, and sauteed vegetables. I come here for dinner on Friday nights, I wish they had this dish on Friday nights too. I also have recently tried the calamari steak parmagiana which was excellent and perfectly prepared.

drinks– very good. service– very good. entrée of lamb chops, polenta and veggies– very good. overall experience– very good.

This place USED to be so good! The food was good and the atmosphere was fun, but now the food is so bad and cooked carelessly. The management did nothing to help with the service even after we had told him our food wasn’t cooked according to what we had ordered. I hate to say this, but as long as our family has been going to joes… I won’t be back.

Visited this restaurant while on vacation in San Rafael. This place is outdated and severely lacks in so many ways. I had chicken parm with side of raviolis with meat sauce. The chicken parm was decent sized portion. The sauce was just ok. Not great but I’ve had way worse. The breading on parm appeared to be premade and not a typical egg wash light breading like authentic parm dishes should be. The raviolis tasted like Chef Boy Ardee out of a can. Reminded me when I was a kid. My daughter scarfed them off my plate and she’s the pickiest eater of all. She happens to love Mac and Cheese and pasta out of a box which should tell you something. I’m sure this place has lots of repeat local business and history but I wasn’t digging it.

We went to San Rafael Joes only because we had a $ 100 gift certificate, otherwise I probably wouldn’t have. Prior to going I looked up the reviews of recent patrons and upon seeing the low reviews because of the food I was preparing my family for the worst.
I have been living in Marin for about 10 years now but San Rafael Joes, apparently, has been a neighborhood staple since 1947 according to their web site and when you see it from the outside it looks nice and inviting. However stepping inside is like stepping back into 60s, it is truly the restaurant that time forgot. The carpets and the booth backs looked dirty and had a slight hint of mold, the exposed brick walls were adorned with old dusty paintings and large paper mats were covering up old dingy white table cloths. On top of that the menus must not have changed since the 60s in both the content and the menu cover, the prices however were right in the 21^st century, average dish will run you $ 20. To say this place needs an update is an understatement, it needs a complete overhaul. If they are trying to cater to their current clientele, they don’t have much time left because 99% of the people there that evening were 65 and over and probably have been coming there for years.
The service as a whole was pretty good. Our waiter was a nice older gentleman who was prompt, courteous, and attentive. That’s why I gave them 2 stars.
The food??? I had several questions about the food but didn’t ask at the insistence of my wife. When we got our calamari appetizer, it came with a red sauce, (marinara maybe) and a white sauce (some kind of garlic aioli) but when I went to dip the calamari into the white sauce there was a gooey, gummy crust that covered the top of the sauce. This gummy substance gently bent but did not break as I attempted to dip my calamari in the white sauce so I had to remove it with a knife. If I had to guess if I’d say the sauce was kinda old and kept on ice for a little too long. Then my kids got their grilled cheese and chicken tenders. The tenders where ok, (from a frozen Tyson bag maybe) but the grilled cheese must not have been very good, it looked dry and the cheese inside was barley melted, my 9yr old didn’t even finish one half of it and she loves her grilled cheese.
My wife ordered the shrimp and mushroom sauté and I had the meatballs and ravioli. My wife thought her dish was ok, nothing special, but not worth the $ 22 they charge for it. I thought it was a little bland and the shrimp were overcooked. My ravioli came with two big meatballs and covered in a meat sauce that was a little warm in one place and a little cold in another. It didn’t taste bad but it was a little bland, not a $ 17 dish. In fact the whole dinner made me wonder how much of our food was fresh and how much of it was frozen and then microwaved before being served to us.
We didn’t have desert and and still have $ 30 left on our certificate so we may come back and have drinks at the bar and hopefully strike up a good conversation with a cute old couple about how San Rafael Joes used to be great in the 50s and the 60s but that’s about it.
I really hope the management reads these reviews because I am not the only one who thinks San Rafael Joes needs to be updated. The interior needs an update, the menu needs an update, the prices on the menu need to be updated and they should be trying to attract the 30s-​40s crowd instead of the 60s-​70s crowd or they are gonna go the way of the dinosaurs in the near future and that would be a shame.

Nice old school feel, actually had great service, but just not the quality you’d expect from a nice Italian restaurant.

I’ve been going to one Joes or the other for many years. Marin Joes, San Rafael Joes and even the Joes on Greenwich in SF. Back some years ago the Sweetbreads were pretty much the same in all the Joes, and yes I know that they are owned by different families but for some reason they all used the same Sweetbread recipe. A light butter and wine sauce that was really good. Well, I went to San Rafael Joes last night and ordered the Sweetbreads and was unpleasantly surprised. They were cooked in a rather tasteless brown sauce, nothing like the old Joes. What happened?
New Chef? Lost recipe? Someone in the kitchen thinks they have a better idea?
Well I’ve got news for you Joes. Your Sweetbreads suck and now I’m wondering if you can even make a decent Hamburger anymore. You lost me.
I’m now going to have to try Marin Joes to see if they still remember how to do Sweetbreads.

Very expensive for the quality of food and presentation. The prices on the menu are between $ 15-​$ 30 from items as simple as a salad. For that price I didn’t expect a paper table cloth and stale sourdough bread. Very old restaurant dirty carpet and floors and old furniture.
Save your money and go to a pub!

Great food and service. Yes, the décor is outdated, but that does not matter to us. We always come for the food.

Good for a walk back in time, a several decades ago. This restaurant has a certain reliability to give a classic, family-​style, Italian dining experience. It’s been a long time since I ate there, maybe 10 years now, so I hope they are still good. Long-​standing community favorite.

WHAT has happened to you, San Rafael Joes?
Your food is still pretty decent, but why would you tell us that the waiting time for a table for 2 is 30 minutes, when you have a room full of empty tables at 8:00 on a Saturday night? I seriously don’t understand. And you watched us walk out because of that and your attitude about it was that you could not care less… Wow, that speaks volumes to your customers.
Also, I was there the week before with 3 other girlfriends and we moved from the cocktail tables to nearby tables for food service, but the (nice) waitress who waited on us kept on telling us that «she had to leave soon» and was rushing us to finish so that we could pay her??? WTF??? What good restaurant does that? Why wouldn’t you just let her leave and have another wait staff handle our table?
I am a San Rafael native but this really bad attitude you have displayed that last two times I’ve been there makes me wonder if I need to come back ever again.
My question to your owners and Managers would then be, do you _​really_​care at all? Precisely …

I’m not one that relishes writing a poor review but sometimes management just about begs one (by their inaction). Wanted to take mom out for Sunday brunch fresh crab (season has just started) — I call ahead the night before and ask if they’re serving fresh crab.
Here’s how it played out. We order wine, mom’s glass comes with cork floating in it. the replacement glass has a baked on lipstick smear. We order — mom Crab Benedict, my wife Crab Louie and me broiled salmon. I request medium rare — waitress replies no worry they always cook it right.
Food arrives (promptly) and my salmon is medium well. I get finally get her attention and she takes it back to the kitchen in a huff. Ten minutes goes by, my wife and mom are almost finished and I get a new plate with a seared salmon, but raw. This time I take the plate to the manager — tell him what’s transpired. At this point I’ve lost my appetite (but not my temper — ;-)), I get a sorry and he walks off with plate to the kitchen. Meanwhile my wife reports the crab was less than fresh, and really shredded head lettuce on $ 24.50 salad?
We get the check — they took off the salmon and one glass of wine. Nothing more, and the lame sorry was it. Eat here at your peril.

Can’t give more than 3 stars simply because the place is horribly out-​dated, it’s like you’re in a time warp. Had only been there once several years earlier, but now came in for dinner on a Monday night after striking out with 3 other places that were all closed on Mondays. What’s up with that?
The service was fine and the steak I had was not bad but pretty pricey at $ 25.00. Won’t be going back.