Pros and cons...
Tried AJ's tonight (Saturday) about 5:50, for the first time. It was packed!! We are visiting, and wanted something casual but delicious.
It was hard to find a parking spot but we got the last one a minute later. We walked in, and saw a sign that said "Please seat yourself". Hmm from my past experience with the restaurant industry, that is a hot mess for a slammed Saturday night... they need to hire a hostess.
There were no tables, many people waiting, crammed in the small space by the front door, trying to stay out of the way of people leaving, while still watching tables like a hawk, to see if anyone was getting up... and jump on the table. It was stressful lol We almost left.
We got a table after about 10 minutes, sat there w the dirty dishes and last person's check. It took a few minutes for a bus boy to come and clear it, and they were really nice and helpful. Soon after a waitress came, and she was very friendly and apologetic for the craziness. They cleaned the table, for us menus, waters, and let us know their wings deal for Saturdays.
We studied the menu a minute, and I saw that the salad I was excited about-- the Buffalo bleu-- that I saw here on their Yelp-- was just taken off the menu 2 days ago lol. Nooooo... so it was back to the drawing board for me. I am trying to eat semi healthy and it's hard lol.
It was very busy and they seemed short staffed. It took awhile for her to come back and take our order. And it took a bit to get someone's attention to let them know I was given a dirty fork for my silverware eek. They got me a new one.
Our server was sweet, attentive, but stressed and too slammed. I felt bad for her and the others.
We ordered: I chose the eggplant rollatini (the non breaded and non fried eggplant, rolled up w sauce and cheese and baked.) Sooooo good!! And it came w two garlic knot rolls (I couldn't resist one of them lol gah!) so good! And came w choice of a house salad or cesar salad. I asked if I could upcharge it to a side southwestern salad. She said yes ($2.50 more I think- perfect). It was delicious and really spicy! It had shredded spicy chicken, corn, black beans, tomato, shredded carrots, bell pepper, fried tortilla strips, and I drizzled on some of the spicy ranch it came with (you can choose other dressings also). The dressing is very spicy. It was filling and so great!
My son ordered the kids Alfredo fettuccini pasta. It comes w one garlic knot. It was a smaller kids portion. He said it was good and ate it all. But it wasnt fettuccini noodles lol. More like a thick spaghetti ($6.50).
I loved that they had some amazing entree meals, not just pizza, pasta, wings. They had a variety of gourmet subs, calzones, eggplant parm, chicken parm, sausage items, chicken alfredo, the baked eggplant dish I ordered, and many other more unique things that I can't remember. As well as a large selection of tasty salads, appetizers, etc. So grateful they had some low/ no carb / non fried options for me!
They also have pizza of the day, Italian desserts, kids menu, lots of beer (they have a bar area and sports on etc).
But my favorite part? They have a variety of sauces! I'm a sauce and dip girl! They had many you could choose from for all your entree / pasta type meals: creamy pesto Alfredo, sundried tomato Alfredo, regular Alfredo, marinara, and you could upcharge your sauce for $2 for meat sauce.
I got a side of the pesto Alfredo for dipping mmm so good! And I took the rest home lol .
We sadly waited 50 minutes from the time we sat, to when we got our food. We were hangry for sure... but I have patience since I worked as a waitress many times. But many wouldn't have been so patient. My kid really struggled. Thennnn, we waited another 15 min to get anyone's attention to get our check/ to go boxes. And another 5-10 before we got it..... yikes... not good, guys.
The food was great. Friendly, down to earth, helpful staff all around, fun family atmosphere, great menu, comfy booths.
But managers.... You gotta do better at staffing your Saturday nights/ your sections properly. I thought this was a fluke.. maybe 1 or 2 people called out sick... but from many other reviews, and from the staff saying tonight that this is a normal Saturday night.... You gotta do better. Hire a hostess, and a few more staff for Saturdays.
This place could easily be 5 stars w no issues if they fixed those things. I almost gave 3 stars, but I know it's a owner/ manager issue, not a staff or kitchen issue. They all did amazing! We'll try again, thanks! read more