First I would like to say when walking into JJ’s I felt like I was entering a parallel universe that was anything but parallel. I was instantly transported back to my mid-west youth, almost hearing my mother’s voice, informing me how the lighting changed right before a tornado would hit. I felt the need to run into the basement and hide as soon as I walked in. This “bizarre pre-tornado-like lighting” messed with my equilibrium to the point where I was so disoriented I almost fell. I felt like I was entering my buddy Steve’s basement after taking the AMAZING hits of acid his brother sold that were so potent they had to be wrapped individually in aluminum foil. I was even more confused as I looked around trying to discern which foods were real and which were fake. In my altered state I found myself wanting to place my fingers in the different food items to find out if they were, in fact, real. The paradigm shift continued with the “Stepford like” waitress’s apparent perplexity regarding the splitting of a 2 order check into 2 separate bills. After a repeated interrogation to confirm our legitimate desire to split the check, and a brief tip solicitation….our cards were charged; one at a time. My associate and I then signed our respective 1×2 inch credit cards slips and left with our lunch.

The food ain’t bad. It’s like a diner…..but not.

I had eaten at this restaurant several times, each time I came in with my 2 year old daughter (almost three). I kept getting nasty looks and comments from one of the waiters about my daughter getting crumbs on the floor. (Remember she is two and this is a diner) The last time I ate there, we sat for about fourty five minutes and the girls were quiet and sat in their seats. My daughter had some crackers and some crumbs got on the floor. She had finished eating and she was getting down from the table to play peek-a-boo with her four year old friend under the table, while the moms were taking care of the bill. The same waiter came over to the table and made a big deal about the girls getting crumbs on the floor and congregating under the table. She then told me that next time we came in, she would put NEWS PAPER under the table because the girls had gotten crumbs under the table. She then became very rude and started to talk loud enough for several tables to hear, that she was going to have to clean up the crumbs and that basically children were not welcome unless they were robots who did not drop food and sat in their seats not moving. I told the server that my daughter was not yet three and she was not a dog. I also pointed out the fact that I had waited tables in the past and I had never seen children not drop food on the floor and occasionally get up from their seats and check out the underside of the table. The server then informed me she was the owner and if I did not like it I did not have to eat there. Needless to say I will not be eating at J.J.‘s ever again. I have taken my daughter from diners to Mortons and have never received such horrible treatment as I had from the owner of J.J’s. Secondly I had waited tables in my youth from diners to five star restaurants and I had waited on plenty of children, some who were down right obnoxious and all who dropped some food on the floor. If I had treated those customers as J.J. treated me, I would have been fired. My review, if you have children or just have respect for parents and children, don’t eat at this restaurant. Also the food is just as the name implies diner food and so-so at that!