Friends ask us to accompany them to A.J.’s Seafood Grille. Clyde and I haven’t eaten there before, and the television ads paint a picture of an elegant restaurant with excellent service. After eliminating a dozen other places for various reasons — we’re still turning down Chinese food, for example — we go for dinner at A. J.’s.
To look so elegant in the advertisements, A. J.’s is, in fact, spartan. Aside from the framed art prints (all for sale) on the walls, there is no decor to speak of. The chairs are the most inexpensive and uncomfortable cafe-style seats available (I know, because I’ve ordered the exact same chairs for deployment in a SkyTel facility). The tables are covered with butcher paper. So much for elegance!
Our friends had visited A. J.’s once before. On their earlier visit, they found the food good, but the service uneven. We get off to a good start, though, being seated quickly.
The real issues begin when our orders appear. The expensive fillet arrives undercooked, and must be sent back to the kitchen. (Once returned, it’s tasty.) Clyde’s red snapper is tender and flaky, but my scallops possess a disturbing metallic taste, as though they’ve been laced with suntan oil. Clyde samples them and agrees — the scallops are bad.
Apparently, it’s a problem in the kitchen. The man at the table next to ours has also ordered scallops, and he remarks to his date, “These taste really sour.”
Our wait person appears. She notes that one of our friends has polished off his steak (“Must not have been very good,” she jokes), but either fails to notice or does not comment on the fact my food has not been touched. At this point, I just don’t have the energy to register a complaint, so I munch rolls and the crispy potatoes and let the issue slide.
Only one of us orders dessert. The three milk cake is light and sweet and cold — delicious! The price tag associated with it, however, is not a treat: a two-inch square block of cake cost our friend $7.00.
That kind of egregious overpricing unfortunately typifies A. J.’s Seafood Grille as a whole. At $20.00 to $25.00 per plate in the Jackson area, we have some exquisite options. That amount buys great atmosphere, an attentive staff, and excellent cuisine at Bravo or Bruno’s. As a result, we can’t really justify spending that amount for cheap cafe furnishings, uneven service, and — the real issue — bad food.
I leave hungry, adding A. J.’s the the list of local restaurants where “Once is Enough.”
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