New York Daily Photo Analytics

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Joe Jr's

Many New Yorkers enjoy comfort food as much as their suburban brethren and in America, the restaurant of choice for comfort food is the diner. These places appeal to Americans for so many fundamental reasons - large portions, low prices, long hours (many are open 24/7), fast service and typically an enormous, extensive menu of virtually every staple in the American diet - even breakfast items can be had all day.
Of course in New York, we just love those legendary places and iconic diners are no exception with places like the Market Diner in Chelsea and Moondance in SoHo which made big news when it was sold and completely moved to Wyoming in 2007.
Food reviews at diners are mixed - much depends on individual tastes and also the type of dish ordered - food quality can vary more than in a typical restaurant - a place may be good for burgers and breakfast but not great for filet of salmon. The safe bet is to go with simple, low risk, "standard" fare.
Joe Jr's Restaurant gets rave reviews with numerous patrons calling it the "best diner on earth" and other superlatives. I have only eaten there a couple of times so I leave you to be the final arbiter. Joe Jr's has two locations - the one in the photo is at 482 6th Avenue; the second location is at 167 3rd Avenue in the East Village. These establishments have been around since the 1930s and have stood the test of time ...

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Joe Jr's stands strong in the diner genre. I have eaten hundreds of grilled cheese sandwiches here in my year, and never been disappointed.

Writing Practice said...

Every once in a while I will check back to see what is still "left of the old neighborhood. Harvey's Chelsea (gone); Balduccis (moved); Jefferson Market must still be around. Joe Jrs crossed my mind just the other day. I hope it is still there I thought. Thanks Brian.

Lorelai said...

You should do a blog on Sarabeth's restaurants/bakeries! I have been to 3 out of the 5 I believe...because my name is Sarabeth :).

• Eliane • said...

It is, as you pointed, cultural - very american. I must admit that when I am dining/lunching/breakfasting out, I never think of the diner. I should expand my horizons! :)

Unknown said...

OMG I just left NY after living there all my life to live in VA with my fiance....I am so homesick and ur blog just made me realize just how much more I miss NY...=( It's the best place on earth!!!

Anonymous said...

Whenever I am visiting New York, I stay at Hotel 17 and have breakfast a couple of times at Joe Jr on 3rd Av. I love the food and the people. It´s one of my cherished NY experiences. Thank you for this post!
Cebe from Austria /Europe