J. Alexander’s Restaurant

Called this place to get a wait time quote so we know whether to make the drive or not. Lauren answered the phone and refused to give a wait time stating that we have to be at the restaurant to get one. Wanted me to drive 30 minutes to get a wait time quote. Thanks Lauren ;)

All the staff were excellent, and while it was not the best service, or the most friendly, I have ever had, it was very good. I drink heavily (of water) while eating and I always get annoyed if I run out, i never got close to running out.

I’ve been here many times, especially since it’s close to home. They are usually always busy in the evenings, especially on weekends. I have never been disappointed with my food. It’s always fresh, tastes good and have good size portions. Some of my favorites are the calamari, entrée salads, and steak. I’ve never had better calamari elsewhere and they also make the best dirty martinis with blue cheese stuffed olives. It’s equivalent to 2 drinks, they bring the remainder in a small bottle for you to drink at your leisure. Great place and great atmosphere.

Lucky me! Last week-​accompanied by two very good-​looking men-​I tried this place for the first time. My cousin (okay, so it wasn’t a date!) was surprised that I’d never tried the place, since it’s one of his favorites.
Surprisingly, this place had the ditziest hostesses I’ve ever encountered. Although friendly, they were quite addled for being the ones in charge of seating. When we first arrived, I wanted to know if my cousin was there yet. They couldn’t find his name on the list and didn’t remember his imposing six-​foot-​five frame coming through the door. No biggie… except that when I texted him to find out where he was, he was right behind me, at the bar.
Speaking of bars, it was standing-​room-​only. It looked like a «sit and stay» sort of bar, where unaccompanied women might last only a couple minutes before being approached (since I was there with my cousin and fiancé, I did not try this. .. but you should and let other Unilocalers know).
Once seated, we ordered appetizers of artichoke dip and calamari, both of which came quickly and were delicious. I ordered the Thai Salad. It was «meh» and had too much chicken. I know, no one ever says that, but I was in a salad mood and would never have dreamed that it would have that much meat on it. .. I realize that for most, this would be a good thing. My fiancé ordered the French dip, which was too rare for his tastes, but otherwise good.
Dessert for us was the Key Lime Pie. It was delish!
This place was a tad pricey – not for the area, but overall. You’ll like the ambiance and the menu had a lot of variety, but be ready to pay for it.

J Alexander’s turned away our business tonight. They apparently have a policy of not accepting take-​out orders over the phone during dinner hours, because they «don’t have a system in place» to handle such a complex undertaking. I’ve never heard of such an asinine policy in my life. Needless to say, we took our business elsewhere, and we won’t be going back.

Had lunch with a couple of friends and ended up with diarrhea after consuming the salmon. Called the restaurant and the response from the manager was «that’s unfortunate, I will have our insurance company contact you»…what? The manager didn’t even apologize, I had to prompt him to do so. Terrible customer service!

Very good food. Dining here (or the Troy location) for lunch or diner is a treat.

I’ve been craving J’s for a few weeks and I finally indulged there tonight. As usual it was amazing! Started out right with some hot sourdough bread and butter and followed with a juicy, perfectly cooked Salmon. It was served with their awesome orzo and a superb fish sauce on the side. This place always does it just right. The service was great, the food came out quick and the atmosphere was dark and comfortable. A+

Went here on a Friday night 9 pm. We were told 15 min wait. 35 minutes later we sat. The table next to us had a bunch of screaming kids. Literally they got out of their booth and started dancing and screaming in the aisle. No one, waitstaff or parents said a thing. And now I don’t mind dropping 80 dollars for dinner, especially when the food was good, the evening was ruined due to the atmosphere. I will never go again at night.

I’ve been to J. Alexander’s several times and several different locations in the area. The service is always excellent, and the restaurant has always been full when I’ve been there but I’ve never had to wait to be seated. The calamari, rattlesnake pasta, chicken tenders, and carrot cake are my favorites. We’ve also tried the Tuscan steak, Prime rib, Gumbo soup, Not Your Ordinary Mac N Cheese, and Smashed potatoes. These were all ok but I don’t have to have them again. This is a great restaurant and a nice go to for a dinner date.

I ever upset when I come here. It’s my go-​to local restaurant that never fails to meet my cravings. Everything here is great honestly. The carrot cake is to die for!
Some quick favorites:
— Alex Salad
— Mexico City Con Queso Dip
— Calamari
— Steak & Fries
— Filet Mignon
— Salmon
— Loaded Baked Potato
— Chicken Pasta Soup
— Carrot Cake

I was in the area for work for a few days and requested dinner and lunch suggestions from my client. This place came highly recommended. Initially when I looked at them menu I wasn’t excited because it seemed typical and not unique… but then I ordered!!! I ordered the cilantro shrimp, acorn squash and rice. it was fantastic!!! The service here was great! The ambiance was nice!
If I am ever in the area again I will come back!

J Alexander’s is a great restaurant, but the service lately has been horrible. I’m a frequent J Alexander’s customer. (if you couldn’t already tell from my pictures.) The service at J’s has been disturbing. Within the past 6 months the service has been getting worse and worse. I usually don’t have to send back my food to make it hot, or find a piece of eyelash hair in my food (multiple times) — without receiving an apology or deducted from the bill. *At least a decent apology without being rude to me about ME finding a piece of YOUR hair.* I sent back my potato 3 times today because they didn’t get it right. The waiter should’ve made sure it came out right the 2^nd time he brought it out… Oh… & their frier has been broken for over two weeks??? I’m confused as to why it wasn’t fixed right away. I ordered a carrot cake today with a side of ice cream for 3 people –as usual. When a server came to bring plates and silverware she brought 2 spoons and a fork… 1 large dirty spoon, 1 small soon, and 1 fork. I asked the waiter to decide which person should get which and he had this clueless look on his face. –I will post a picture of the spoon
Management needs to train their staff better. It’s ridiculous. I received a text today from my friend Corbin saying «You love J Alexander’s, you’re always there. It’s great but shitty service.» I’m not the only one whose been thinking this lately.
I’m so upset that I have to write a review about J’s like this. I don’t like the treatment lately and it’s not a good feeling when you’re trying to eat at your favorite restaurant.

Love this place. Definitely my go to restaurant when I’m hungry and can’t decide what I’d like to eat. The options are great because there is a little bit of everything. Staff is very helpful but service is usually a hit or miss.

Worst service I have ever received for a 4 year customer. I will never in my life done at 14 and orchard lake Jays. Go eat at any other Jay’s just not this one believe me.

I wanted to give 3 stars because of the service at this location, but the food is always excellent at any Js. Came here the other night and the apps, salads, fries, dessert, and tea were amazing! First time having tea here and I was amazed by the presentation!
My only hesitation is I don’t think staff was trained correctly — at least our server wasn’t. She continued to remove plates from our table although there was still food in them and we were clearly still eating from them. Why would we request an order of something and not want to finish it? Other then the staff, everything else was great!

This J alexanders has had it’s up’s and downs over the years. I have had terrible service and I have had amazing service. When they mess up, they for the most part would try to make it right. I would have given them 5 stars but I don’t feel I should because they keep messing with a working system. Not only do they keep changing their service methods, but they also keep shrinking portions and increasing the prices.
Safe to say, J Alexanders is not what it used to be when they first opened up in Troy in the late 90’s. I was at the grand opening and I was hooked since. But since, I have noticed how much J Alexanders has decreased their level of quality and service for their own profitability. Long time customers like me notice these huge changes.
Back in the day, they used to have individual mini lava cakes freshly baked, for their «very best chocolate cake» They also used to have home made milkshakes and the server would turn em upside-​down when they brought them to the table to show you how thick and delicious they were. Now the so called «very best chocolate cake» is microwaved to order and is a slice of sugary fudge cake, the portions of the fries, burgers and salads have all shrunk.
The servers no longer bring you quick refills at any location. It is clear the company has purposely slowed down the refill service.
I hope if someone at corporate reads this, they will understand that the old Jay’s is missed terribly.
I would pay more than I pay now to have the old j’s back. But you cannot increase prices and decrease quality over all for your own profit. People notice.
Anyways, end of that rant. This is still a good restaurant, but nothing like it used to be.

WORST FISH TACOS EVER! They should be called SLAW TACOS with fish. When I showed my waitress the amount slaw and missing fish, instead of bringing me more fish a manger brought another taco explaining the size/​portion of each taco should all be same, blah blah blah. I had already used the fish from taco 2 in taco 1 with little fish in taco 3. Poor customer service.

Very good. Kinda hard to describe this place. It’s not fancy, but not too casual like your local bar. Kinda in between.
Regardless, the food was very good. I had the crab cakes for my entrée. It was full of crab meat and the sauce that came with it was awesome, a little spicy, but so good. I also had to try the Mac&Cheese. Wow!!! So good. I could have made that my meal.
I will definitely return to try something new!

I don’t know why everyone enjoys coming here. It’s an opportunity to overpay for mediocre food. Everything is mediocre.
My friends love coming here, so I’ve tried a variety of items, hoping for something good. So far, I’ve «eh’d» at their not-​great veggie burger, dry turkey burger, and mediocre mac and cheese.
The service isn’t mediocre. It’s sub-​par.

J Alexander’s is definitely one of my favorite restaurants. The ambiance is always nice. I never have to wait very long for a seat. You definitely get your money’s worth here.
We always always always order the calamari. I am not exaggerating when I say that it is the best calamari I’ve ever tasted. The marinara sauce that comes with the platter is perfection. I order calamari at other restaurants and it NEVER compares to J Alexander’s.
The steak Maui is also a favorite of mine. The steak is cooked to perfection and the mashed potatoes are an added bonus. Honestly I have never had complaints about any of the steaks on the menu. The only complaint I have from this place are the fries. They’re smaller than shoestring fries and very crunchy; no added flavor at all really. I can do without.
I would recommend J Alexander’s and this specific location to anyone. Definitely a good time.

Service here is excellent and makes the higher price than I usually go for worth it. Our wait person on this visit was excellent. She was attentive without overreaching and made good suggestions and conversation as we ordered.
I mostly go for lunch, but recently visited for dinner. At lunch, I tend to stick with one their delicious salads (hello, Thai Kai) and share an appetizer. This time we had calamari, drinks, and full meals. The calamari was good, but the marinara served with it was pretty boring. I was surprised by that as I have come to expect some creativity with their sauces. Still the cosmopolitans were plentiful and beautifully presented, if rather bland, so we took full advantage of the calamari.
My companion had the crab cake dinner, which came with french fries. He should have paid attention to the menu because he’s not a fan of fries, at all, still he ate quite a few of them, so they must have been delicious — or he was hungry because he was very disappointed in the crab cakes. In fact, he barely finished one whole one. I had a small taste, and to me they were overly sweet.
My dinner was solid, though. A large cut of trout that was beautifully cooked an served with well-​seasoned rice and coleslaw. It was so good that my companion was happy to take my leftovers for lunch the next day! We shared a huge slice of carrot cake, which could have easily fed four people. It was delicious warm with a cream cheese frosting.
I like the atmosphere at J. Alexanders and love the service, but will probably continue to stick to it for lunch as the price is too high for bland and hit or miss dinners.

Went for the first time with a friend. Not a bad experience but not really good either. The whole thing seemed really impersonal and weird. We walked in and asked for a table. Without smiling or any type of warm gesture, the hostess said «walk around and she’ll show you to your seat».
So another hostess took us to a table. We perused the menus and a male server came over. He explained the specials and took our drink orders. He had a hard time understanding us because the place is extremely noisy, really bad acoustics. Then five minutes later a female server shows up. She says «I’m so and so, I’ll be your server». Okay…
My friend asks her about two menu items, which is better. She responds, «well, I don’t like fish, so I can’t tell you». I mean, at least make something up or ask someone else. I ordered the steak brazzo. It was $ 33, btw. You can’t ask for it cooked any way than the way they cook it. Well done, that’s what you get.
Yet another random waiter came to deliver our food and we never saw our waitress til the end of the meal. Was she our waitress? Maybe it was the first guy? Or the last guy? I mean, who really knows? My wine glass sat empty for quite some time and she did pass by at least twice without acknowledging it or checking on us. The meat from my dish was tasty but overdone. The potatoes were good. Overall, I felt like everything was way overpriced and the service was lacking. I’d rather go to Prime 29 and get a badass steak for $ 2 more than what I paid for my mediocre dish.
I guess I’d come back to try something else but I’d probably shy away from the steak dishes.

Perfect.
NewYork Strip and the Maui RibEye.
Great waitress: Candice.
A perfect dinner.
Smiling and Happy.
Good grief! Then they brought the carrot cake! Hot, and amazing!!!

The only thing better than a good product is a consistently good product and this location is exactly that. I have been here a handful of times over the last two years and never been disappointed. I am a creature of habit and get the New York strip steak every time. Served with a 3 cheese baked mac and cheese this is an instance where the side is as good as the main dish, and that is saying something because I consider this steak to be the best in the area. Service is typically top notch but when really busy (and it is typically really busy on the weekend after 6 pm) service can lack a bit despite the best intentions of the wait staff. I will continue to go back but will be cognizant of the clock and go a little earlier.