The service was good but I dont recommend this place for anything else, food is not good and it looks like it needs more knowledgeable people in how to run a restaurant! read more

This was one of my favourite places to go when I was in town until today.. They have delicious wings and today they were on the happy hour menu, you have to purchase a minimum of ten wings to get the offer. Unfortunately I can't eat that many, so I asked if I can order them and take the remainder home.. I was told absolutely NOT repeatedly.. I could understand them saying no if 1) I didn't order a drink (I would've ordered more if I got wings) 2) I didn't come here regularly (I come here a minimum of once per week and order off the regular menu) But to not even make an exception for me to bring home leftovers, that has turned me off this place, so today will be my last visit. read more

Today was a bad one, and it's costing two of the five stars I've happily bestowed for years in the past. My companion ordered a steak sandwich with clam chowder on the side. I ordered Greek ribs. After waiting quite a while, my guest asked if he could have his soup before his sandwich arrived. The manager came to our table and told him he would not be allowed his soup delivered early. She said she was the manager and that was the rule. It was Original Joe's "Me Tarzan, you ain't." When his meal finally did arrive, the chowder was weak and watery, altho I was told it tasted all right. The steak was fine. My ribs were greasy, and I suspect they were deep-fried. They were tasty but had a lot of fat on the meat, on top of the grease from cooking. They were more like fried pork belly than Greek ribs. Given the Management's arrogant ("the customers are always wrong") attitude, neither of us will be back, regardless the good meals of the past. Sorry, OJ'S, but we are done with you. read more

I don't think I would classify this place as Italian. The place has a high-end bar food theme to me. The good news is the food was quite pleasant. Staffed properly and if we're honest that's a rarity today in the middle of Covid. Everything from tacos to pasta and just about anything in between. read more

Too Pricey! Over cooked! Fries were awful! Gravy was ok. Dill dip was good. Service Questionable. Teriyaki Bowl was soaking in sauce, more of a soup, thereby making it too salty!! Really bad! Didn't offer discount or free meal as we didn't eat it all. read more

Worst dinner and service ever. Ordered a nachos for appetizer and got this giant boat liking dish. It was made greasy cheese and deep fried chips. Ordered some calamari and some drinks and cost us almost 50 bucks. The server never cared about how many food we order for just two people. Did not even care to remind us. Will NEVER COME BACK. read more

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Overpriced food with surprisingly poor taste and presentation. Service was polite the few times they showed up. They rushed us and dinner to get table rotated. Wasn't all bad. I'd give dinner a 2 out of 5 and the beer 4/5. Definitely a low tier dining option. For the price you can choose a better place and enjoy a meal. Not recommended unless you're there to drink pricey beer and listen to 70s music. read more

Sat at the table waiting for someone to take our drink orders for 15 minutes there was maybe three other tables and several waitress talking at the bar. Me and my boyfriend walked out while a waitress watched and didn't say anything. Fair to say we will not be coming back! read more

Arrived. Was greeted very promptly by a very pleasant greeter. Was sat and was served very quickly. The food was amazing and the price was reasonable . Very happy with this Original Joes. I would definiatly recomend coming and checking this place out read more

Original Joes - Had the Saigon Sub. It was awesome - Italian Near Me - Nanaimo, British Columbia

Had the pulled pork sandwich for lunch today and thoroughly enjoyed it. The selection of side dishes offered is very diverse and I ordered the quinoa salad and potato salad. Quinoa salad lacked seasoning and needed more lettuce but I was happy with it otherwise. The service this visit was where the rating could be improved here. Waiting for coffee and asking for cutlery a few times gets old as it was between lunch and dinner and they had ample time. Our server was nice otherwise and I definitely will drop by again for another look at their menu and hopefully add another star or two. :) read more

Prices aren't bad. Both locations that I have been to though have given poor service and food. Nanaimo I was served something I didn't order and they wouldn't do anything about it. Duncan the food was cold, it was to loud and the service was poor. read more

Visited Wed May 25 in the evening and 2 previous visits I usually don't bother reviewing franchises, but this is a favourite of mine. Pros - One of the few restaurants open until midnight in Nanaimo Wings special $5.50 per pound - They have an extensive craft beer on tap selection - At Country Club so lots of free parking and lots to of shopping available - Got the fish and chips for $16, delicious and crispy Cons -A franchise, depends if you like franchises or not. - Classic Mojito for $8.75, priced a bit high Protips - Famous for their exclusive Original Joe's Blonde Ale and extensive craft beers on tap, over 10 at this location -Half-price appetizers after 9pm Damage $45 pre tip read more

So... We've been here many a time before... For drinks. Always good, except for horrible service from the same person twice, the other 20-25 times were great, no complaint. The other day, we had our 2 older children of 11 and 12 without the 9 year olds and decided we would try Ojs for lunch as it's more grown up than our usual for family adventures. This was a mistake.... A big one. Our daughter ordered the Mac n cheese which arrived 5 mins before my son's beef dip, and it was cold... Literally cold. Coagualted and whatnot... Seriously? We ordered my sons beef dip plain, just beef and bun.. They said there was a complication with it only to realize they made it with all the fixings and decided to scrape them off which explained the 5 mins later. However, they left all the horse radish sauce on, which was the main reason we ordered plain. Too much time had gone by, 45 mins since we ordered (there were 2 other tables in the entire rest. at this point) to return again, he had half and couldn't get it down. My turkey wrap was absolutely terrible, tasted exactly like the wraps they sell at saveon foods across the way. But 10 dollars more. I was shocked. The only meal they got right was the chicken strips and fries which are nearly impossible to foil. No apologies... Paid full price... Never again. I'll take my 60 dollars anywhere in the city and put it up against this meal, and I'll win everytime. Chain restaurants are a nightmare in Nanaimo, this is absolutely no exception. Drinks yes, food... Just run, I promise you, you won't regret. read more

This is a great Original Joes. Appies, food and drinks are usually really well done. Been here many times and continue to go back.

Ali, is so amazing. She wasn't even my server,, yet she came up to make sure I was taken care of. She made me feel quite comfortable and also like a valued customer. Service it seems to be hard to find these days, so I'm giving massive props to Ali and the crew for a job well done. Thanks peeps!! read more

The food here is to die for. I had the sicilian burger and was just blown away. The burger platters seem expensive at first, but after seeing the amount of food you get plus not one, but 2 sides of your choice, it really works out in the end. The service was really good and the food came out quicker than i would have expected given the amount of people there, and was cooked perfectly. Will definitely become a regular. read more

We got into Nanaimo after 10pm, so finding a good place to eat wasn't easy... when we came across Original Joes's we jumped on it! It was still a pretty hopping place at 10pm. The service was excellent and the food didn't take long. The drink specials after 9pm were a bonus ($3.50 for a pint). I got a Kona burger, which had a very thick and juicy patty. The pineapple made it a bit sloppy, but the taste was so good! I appreciated that the meal came with 2 sides (I can never decide between fries and salad!). I left absolutely stuffed for a reasonable price (most entrees were around $15). My husband is always on the search for the ultimate chicken club, which they didn't have... but instead he tried the salmon club alternative.... He isn't as wordy as me... He simply said it was "just ok":) read more

My wife took one bite of the fish and said there was something wrong with it. She didn't eat anything else as it spoiled her appetite. They offered to take half off the price. My wife later had extremely bad food poisoning. Will never return. Had to put minimum one star for my review to show. Doesn't even deserve that. read more

Our waitress ali was awesome. Food was ok ordered steak and prawns. Prawns were really good. Steak was over cooked and under seasoned. Other members of the party got a good beef dip. Brussel sprouts were excellent. Salmon and steak bits were really good. Over all not bad. A little expensive for what you get. Atmosphere is pretty good but can be a little loud. read more

Went here a few weeks ago and the food was okay but it took a really long time and it didnt seem too busy. Our waitress was nice enough but seemed like she was really down maybe the bad weather had everyone down. its a good casual spot to get some good basic food though! read more

Meh, mediocre at best. Wings were outright nasty - no meat, no flavour. Burger looked like it was cooked last week & warmed up. Greens in the soup bowl were brown at cuts, probably old, and soup stock tasted like it came from a Mr. Noodles package. Cocktails were watery. Yes, the food came quickly but maybe that's not such a good thing considering how lame the dishes turned out. Service was okay, but place appears to be staffed entirely by greenhorns with no idea about menu - food or drink. We won't be back. read more

I've been to a number of restaurants from this chain, and this one is really good! It's not too dark in there during the day... Which I was expecting. Super friendly service!! read more

Good spot for lunch! I had the miso ramen bowl, not expecting it to be anything special (some of their other takes on asian food are not great, like the Saigon Sub or the lettuce wraps) but it was actually really good! I'd say it was on par with my favourite ramen spot in Victoria. They also have good drink specials. read more

Great setting and atmosphere. Amazing food but extremely limited menu. I'd give it a 3.5 but I'll round to 4 because of the appy deals and attentive staff. read more

it was one of the worst dinners i have had out in a long time. to start it took over an hour to get our food and when we did my burger was burnt black on the bottom, my moms fries were stone cold and my sisters calamari was so over cooked it looked gross. our waitress was never around she hit all her other tables but always skipped ours. i heard her at the table behind us offering refills on their drinks well they waited but she never offered to refill our drinks i had to wave someone down to get a refill. after finally flagging down our waitress to tell her what was wrong with our meals it took not even 10 minutes to get replacement food. but it took over an hour to get it in the first place. and all the waitresses are very good at running by and not looking at the customers who are trying to get there attention. over all it is one place i will not be going back to. read more

Service was very good, but the food left a lot too be desired. Most everything on the uninspired menu, which could be found in a million mediocre pubs ( and for mush less) was boring and swimming in cilantro. All I could find to eat was french onion soup, which sadly turned out to be VERY unacceptable and sad, This soup should have a slice of toasted bread on top. Instead, it was three quarters soggy, disgusting croutons. I took the time to pile them on a plate and ended up with three quarters of a cup ( if that) of soup remaining. It was a soggy disgusting mess. As I previously stated, the menu is completely cookie cutter and uninspiredCBORING AND GROSS!!! read more

My husband and I stopped for lunch as we had never been to it before and were disappointed. The service was very good, but the food was sadly lacking. Yes it is great that you get a choice of two sides with your sandwich or burger, but the food is just okay. The caesar salad, although did have real bacon, was not very flavorful. I had the turkey club wrap it was dry and very cold, I can only assume it was premade and held in the fridge till someone ordered it. My husband had the pulled pork and said it was tasty, but again dry. We would not bother to come again. read more

Great spot for a really filling lunch - try the lettuce wraps or fish tacos. Reasonable prices, lots of good food and good service.

My review gives this restaurant 4 stars for it's food, we all agreed it was excellant, but the service was not up to par. We enjoyed our meal but had to finally wave someone down to place another drink order. After we received our meals it was very difficult to get attention. Trying to achieve eye contact proved impossible. Not sure if it was because they were busy or understaffed,or what??? read more

Went there for a celebration dinner, ordered the drunken noodle bowl, and it warns that it is very spicy but it wasn't mixed properly and I love love love hot spicy food and My first bite was pure chilli paste and it physically is still burning in my mouth hours later, was impossible to eat, mentioned it politely to the server who asked if I would like something else instead and ordered a desert to try and get that burn out of my mouth. When the bill arrived it was not removed from the bill so I asked to speak to the manager who basically said sorry about your luck. I and my work colleagues frequently went there but with them not removing that from the bill we will never go there again. Wow could not believe the manager would keep arguing about that, if you can't eat something because it is not prepared properly and they don't comp you it , that's just rediculous!! Such bad management!! I work in customer service and I would never treat a customer that way. Totally ruined our celebration. read more