Joe's Caribe Restaurant and Bakery

The server we had needs more training on the menu. There were only two of us and she messed up both orders. Then said oh I didn’t hear you say that.. I said you did because you told me it was up charge and I said that was fine. She didn’t offer to fix our food and was rude when I told her I wanted mine fixed.

I ordered two jerk chicken dinners, beef empanadas, and a kid's ham and cheese sandwich. The jerk chicken for both meals tasted gamey, old, and dry. The kid's ham and cheese sandwich had one slice of deli ham, and one slice of cheese, similar to a middle school cafeteria sandwich. None of the food came out warm nor was anything memorable. The icing on the cake was when we went to leave and saw metal tins of raw meat sitting out with no cover in the kitchen. No, I didn’t complain to the manager, no I didn’t ask for a refund, and yes I still tipped the server 20%. Just a warning to not go here. Talking to the manager would not fix the obvious lack of skill/knowledge it takes to cook a decent meal. Read the reviews that say they know what authentic food tastes like, those reviews matter most or you’ll end up like me, who spent $74 for the most mediocre food I’ve ever had.

Very nice staff. Really friendly they explain things very well. Puerto rican food. I love immigrants that come to america and bring there culture and food.

The only reason I gave it a four is because the pastelitos de guavas was not what I’m use to. We were visiting the area and I looked up Cuban bakery, because I love pastelitos de guava, and Joes popped up. Besides that everything else we ate was amazing, I definitely recommend it.

OK

Dissapointing. I lived in PR for several years so I know comida criolla - tradional Puerto Rican food. Unfortunately, Joe's Caribe attempt to deliver authentically seasoned PR fare just falls flat. And I WANTED to like it since the staff and Jose are so friendly and I traveled over 40 miles from Alabama to eat there. I tried 5 different dishes before writing my review. Joe's was just OK. The Pollo guisado with Arroz con Gandules was served with chicken that was so salty, almost to the point of being inedible. And the gandules were barely present in the rice. The Carne guisado dish and pork Mofongo were pretty flavorless. Overall, the taste and texture are not what you would expect from properly and well seasoned Puerto Rican cuisine. I would not call the empanadillas fluffy at all. They were what you could get from any random Latin restaurant. The Media Noche was well presented with ham and pork. It was probably the best tasting item aside from the fried plantains. But again, for a $15 sandwich, you're expecting more than the basics. The restaurant is clean and well maintained. Several beers - including PR brewed Medalla Light - and soft drinks are available. They also have a small bakery counter up front, but I did not purchase any pastries. They also had a special Vegan menu. Vegetarian options: They had a special Vegan menu.

Love the jerk chicken

My grandma would have a heart attack seeing these sticks of alcapurrias ciegas y quesitos mongos que saben crudos. Places like these are supposed to cure the missing of your isla, but it makes you miss its real lovingly made food all the more. First, their "alcapurrias" are described as "stuffed plantains with seasoned ground beef" but they are mixing yuca in their masa— not okay— also not okay is how ground beef is rarely seen in every bite. I would charge $1 for the quality of these— not $5. We bought like 4 different pastry items and neither of them tasted fresh, but stale. I'm extremely disappointed.

The staff works really hard to provide the best and the food is simply delicious.