When the folks at The Jones decided to rent out the seemingly destined to fail location at 203 SW 2nd Ave, I was somewhat concerned. I feel like such a huge part of The Jones' charm is the intimate location on NE 23rd Ave, so I was worried that they'd lose some of the magic. Certainly I'm in favor of a place growing beyond its humble beginnings. I mean, success is a good thing, right? I guess I was mostly concerned that they'd close the old location (which they have done for dinner). Also, even though I believe if anyone can make a restaurant succeed in such an ill fated location, it's The Jones, it's still a horribly ill fated location.
So, now that I've had four lunches and one dinner at B side, I felt obliged to write a review. I'm including the explicit disclaimer, however, that I'm still waiting to formulate my final opinion. The jury is still out so to speak. I'm also cautious to be completely honest. The reason being is because I love The Jones. I don't want to say anything mean about it. So, I'm going to do my very best to be honest, but tactful here (I'm guessing you can already see where this review is headed).
I still have hope and confidence that B Side will end up being a pillar of the dining community, and here's why. (I know this is going to end up being a backhanded compliment, but hear me out). When the original Jones opened for breakfast and lunch, it wasn't that good. The service was terrible and the food was just OK. But they got their shit together and ended up being the best in town. Then, they branched into the dinner arena. Likewise, at first, the dinners weren't that good and the service wasn't much better. Again, however, they ended up being my favorite restaurant in town by far. I could eat any meal there multiple times a week and never get bored of it.
So, the moral of the story was, it always worked out in the end for The Jones, it just took them time.
A while back, I started to hear many grumblings via the internet and the local grapevine that the owners felt the tiny kitchen seriously limited their quality and production at the old location. The move to the bigger place would help them out with much needed space, equipment, and the overall quality level. I could be nothing but hopeful.
As we all know, the move took place and the new location has been open for a few months now. Despite having run a restaurant for many years, the new location didn't open without its share of difficulties. Overall wait times were in the 1.5-2 hour range (for a table and food), the computer system would crash, forcing them to send diners elsewhere (not sure why computers are needed to cook food and accept currency), and the food was still trying to find its own identity.
Finally, the service started getting whipped into shape and the place started functioning as an efficient restaurant. It was at this point that I decided to check it out. My initial impression of the menu was "there isn't alot on this menu." For both lunch and dinner, the menu seems a bit smaller than the old location. This obviously makes me wonder about the gripe that the old kitchen was significantly limiting their production. I also noticed that the menu was extremely similar to the old location but with a few tweaks to old favorites. I had heard from reliable sources that the B Side menu was to be different than the East Side one. I guess that didn't work out. I don't honestly care, but when the new place is offering up my favorite sandwich from the old place (the Veg Out), don't change it. It was great the way it was!
Pictured above is The Veg Out and The Alice. Both sandwiches originated at the old Jones. I had half of each sandwich. The Veg Out had some sort of sundried tomato aioli instead of the pesto veganaisse. To me, this was an unfortunate change. As I said above, the old Veg Out was my favorite sandwich. Why change it? They also forgot to put avocado on it and the bread was barely toasted. The avocado issue was fixed pretty quickly, but the bread was very sad. The Alice seemed to be the same as the old location and was pretty good.
I have also eaten the steak and egg sandwich which came with gruyere cheese and pickled onions. I'm not sure if it was the cheese or the onions or the combination of both, but the whole sandwich had an overall unpleasant stinky/sour taste about it. There was certainly at least one ingredient in the sandwich that was killing the whole thing for me. If it was the pickled onions, I'm going to have to insist that people in town stop putting pickled vegetables on everything. It's a very specific application!
Finally, we went for dinner. I hadn't seen the dinner menu yet, as it's not included on the lunch menu, so I didn't know what to expect. I always applauded the old Jones on having a very diverse menu with several healthy, vegetarian, and vegan options. I also believed their chefs created some truly great food that wasn't what I otherwise call Gainesville Gourmet (fake fancy) or blatantly derivative of somewhere else. You could really get an excellent meal at the old Jones. So again, I was surprised to see the seemingly smaller dinner menu. Prices were up a bit and the variety seemed reduced. There were significantly fewer vegetarian/vegan friendly dishes as well.
Also, many old favorites from the old location were gone (with the old location closed for dinners now, those favorite meals won't be available anymore). My dining partner chose the tempeh wellington and I chose the shrimp and grits. I know that these items are a little out of the box, but we thought they looked pretty good and decided to give em a shot. Both ended up being somewhat representative of a general theme. I think the new Jones is trying to be The Top. The Wellington recipe was nearly identical to one The Top has served for years. Also, both dishes relied heavily on a cream sauce crutch, something The Top is notorious for.
The Wellington was fine and the shrimp and grits were tasty enough. However, both meals left us with strong feelings of regret. I don't mind eating a rich meal if I leave it feeling satisfied and full. I don't like one that makes me feel like I just ate a whole box of butter. Here it is 15 hours later and I'm still not hungry again. I also feel like I needed an after dinner blood thinner. You can actually see below how the grits were literally swimming in thick cream sauce. Also, the shrimp were tiny. The roasted vegetables that came with the Wellington were varying degrees of cooked. Some were quite chewy and raw while others were more cooked through. You can also see they're not winning any awards for the presentation.
The ambiance is OK. Honestly, The Jones should be set in a simple setting. If they went way over the top with the decor, it would be wrong. I think they did a fine job fitting the place to their needs. I'm not sure, however, why they have tables that could accommodate two football teams. The inside and outside area each has a table that can seat 20+ people. I'm sure it's handy when a big group comes in, but when you need to seat 40 people of varying size parties, they might not want to sit so close to strangers. I know it's very European to do so, but we're not in Europe. I also don't understand the outside tables that are at shin level of the 3-4 booths farthest from the door.
If I had to sum up the new place in one sentence it would be this: It's very similar to the old Jones, just not as good. I feel like The Jones lost its independence somehow by moving downtown. It's like they're trying to fit into the already established Downtown dinner scene by emulating others and not making their own point of view heard. I'm even more broken-hearted that the old location is now closed for dinner.
To be honest, I really had a hard time deciding whether or not to write this. I knew there would be no way it would come off not sounding negative. If you've followed me for any period of time, you know how effusive my praise for the old Jones was. I'd ALWAYS call them the best restaurant in town. That's why I'm holding out hope that the new place can improve.
I want the Jones B Side to succeed, and I think the easiest way for them to do it is by doing the exact same thing they did at the old location.
