(no subject)

[gookalockgeek.livejournal.com]

Reviews of Johnny D's? How's the food, atmosphere, clientele, service, entertainment? Are they high volume or slow?

They're hiring and I'm interested, but I'd love to hear reviews from locals before I go in for an interview.

Thanks!!

Comments

[inahandbasket]

The folks there seem quite friendly and cheerful most of the time. Seems like a pretty good restaurant to work at, from my side of the table at least.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

best brunch ever.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

Johnny'Ds is A-OK. It's an all-around dependable, good place for a meal, and the live music is of course great.

If you want to work there, the shift you want to go for is Sunday brunch. It's packed to the ceiling all morning on Sundays, and is surely a gold mine for tips. Weekend dinner are also very busy, especially when there's a popular band playing that night.

Good luck with the interview!

[marphod.livejournal.com]

Brunch is high volume. As has any musician I've been there to see, but I'm generally only there for their bigger name performances.

Brunch food is good, and I've never had a real 'miss'. My fiancee is really annoyed that they don't have much in the way of the brunch food that she eats that doesn't come with eggs (which she doesn't). Sometimes they'll let her get things a la carte, but that seems to be random and based on the server.

The oatmeal is notably good.


Dinner/lunch is less impressive, semi-upscale bar food. Good, but not as notable.


Clientele is fairly entrenched in the bougoise. Good mix, though.

Service is fair, but being busy they can be hit or miss.

Enternainment is loud and frequent. Its a small space, with brick walls and hard floors, so sounds isn't absorbed. Usually good choices, though.

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

Their brunches are very popular, but the last time I went, my pancakes were half raw and the sausage was cold. Their half-price dinners are quite nice, but every time I go, it seems that the menu is different (maybe I don't go often enough!). All in all, I think they're a pretty good restaurant (I would not call them fantastic), and they are quite kid-friendly, which works for me! The servers have always been cheerful and friendly.

[komos.livejournal.com]

It always surprises me when folks gush about brunches at JD's. Enough of my meals there have come with issues like these that I've come to expect cold eggs as the norm.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Man, I'm with this small crowd on how awful JD's food is in general, the brunch in particular.

[davis-denizen.livejournal.com]

I had raw pancakes too. The waitress did take care of it (removed from my bill), but I haven't been back.

[schpahky.livejournal.com]

Good atmosphere, good food, and much of the waitstaff seems to stay a long time, which bodes well for you.

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

I've only been at times when the live music hasn't started yet, and only at dinner. At such times the volume is lower. Service is good. Food is certainly tasty, but nothing spectacular. Not enough variety IMO. Atmosphere is casual. It's a good place for when you're in the Square and decide to go grab dinner, and you don't want any particularly ethnic food.

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

Very high volume, every time I've been there. Food is good (especially the sweet potato fries—addicting), music is generally very good. I will say, however, I've had consistent problems with the service—ESPECIALLY on Sunday brunch. If you get there past about 10 am, they're out of almost everything, and I've often not discovered that until well after I've ordered it. I stopped doing brunch there the 3rd time it happened to me.

[kglue.livejournal.com]

On Mondays the kitchen is closed, but there is trivia at night where people come to get free pizza and order some drinks ... and play some trivia I suppose. At times it can get quite packed in there, but other times really empty. In short, not sure if Mondays are the ideal day to to work there. On those nights it's usually the bartender and one wait staff person.

[herrsatan.livejournal.com]

The food is OK, but I've had consistently bad service there with the exception of someone I know who works there.

[out-2-lunch.livejournal.com]

I love it. I've been there dozens of times and have only had bad service maybe once...the brunch is tasty and they have some of the best music around, IMHO. Brunch is super busy and it's also busy before more popular local bands come on (like Beatlejuice).

[gookalockgeek.livejournal.com]

Sort of weird question, but what is the "look" of the servers? Like, clean cut TGI Friday's style, edgier Bukowski's types, nightclub cocktail teases?

[out-2-lunch.livejournal.com]

Definitely not nightclub cocktail teases...the waitstaff wears t-shirts, I think. I've never eaten at Bukowski's so I can't make that comparison but I wouldn't say they're clean cut TGI Friday's style. Sorry, that probably wasn't overly helpful. :-) I guess I'm not too observant. Maybe you should go there to grab a drink or some dinner to check out what their look is?

[fanw.livejournal.com]

Totally casual. Last I was there it was jeans and black T-shirts. The people themselves look like your standard Davis-sq types - youngish, possibly hip, but not too concerned about appearances.

[ron_newman]

I enjoy everything about this place. I haven't had the bad food or service experiences that other people report.

[fanw.livejournal.com]

Good food at an excellent price. It has a low key atmosphere and the waiters are always nice. I've never had any problems and I've gone several times.

If you don't want the craziest of shifts, Saturday brunch always has a lot of people but doesn't have the lines-out-the-door of Sunday brunch.

[ravenword.livejournal.com]

More reviews of Johnny D's on Yelp.com: http://www.yelp.com/biz/sWOdpSyvSf5jFKO78yJFlQ

[laynamarya.livejournal.com]

I work there! Brunch, specifically. And I love working there. There are good people, and they give you free food and coffee before AND after your shift.

[gookalockgeek.livejournal.com]

Amazing, thanks. I am going to stop my tomorrow to apply - as the ad on craigslist instructed - but want to go at a low-volume time when a manager will still be there. Do you think late afternoon would be ok?

[laynamarya.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'd say go at about 4, and you'll be able to meet Jamie and/or Carla. I don't think they do lunch on weekdays, and 4 is too early for most people to be having dinner.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

My friend used to be a bouncer there on Sunday nights ... he liked it lots.

[elements.livejournal.com]

I love the music they have. Some of my favorite bands, often pretty obscure groups, get to Johnny D's. And Johnny D's encourages dancing, even tho the space is small... both for evening gigs and, at least when I went more often severla years ago, during Sunday brunch. It's a really nice place, though I wouldn't go for the food alone, personally. I go often for the music/atmosphere.

[siderea]

I like it lots, and while I've had some bobbles in quality of brunch food, I've generally been pretty happy with it, and the service has generally been very good. Perhaps more importantly, I've never encountered a cross/stressed staffmember, even during the super high-volume times.