J.D. Fitzgerald's

This place is a looker. I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for red tones and I wanted to go inside just because of the outside. Yes. I did judge the book by its cover. It was a great cover, okay?
The interior did not disappoint. We entered from the hotel lobby and if you remember White Spot's claim of the space.......well, they didn't claim the way JD's people have.

There is an entry hallway leading to what I call the Library Dining Room. There is some great attention to detail along the wall. Check it out.

However, although about 20+ people can be seated here, that's apparently where the creativity and money stopped flowing. Put up a few half-wall dividers in there so people can still experience coziness without having to go to the pub side. Please.

The pub side. Much more exciting. More more money on this side. Every surface has been looked after. The ceilings are my favorite. I felt like I could have been eating somewhere underground in Europe....but, like, a clean version. There was also a (very small) spot for the live music that night. Still cool.
The staff we dealt with were nice. But really, what is with the trend of boobs and legs all over the place? Didn't know we accidentally arrived in Hooters or Earl's. Yuck. Unappetizing. And where are the equal rights in that dress code?! For once (or twice) I want to be served by a male server in short shorts. Leggy hair and all.

See my point?

Onto the food (seeing as how our appetites have been thoroughly whetted) and the menu. Short and concise. Not too many things to choose from. The restaurants with a menu BOOK already have a problem. Too many menu items= too much inventory, too many flavours overlapping, too much overhead, too many things to micro manage, problems with quality control. Not to mention that a chef (I use that term very loosely around FSJ) probably CAN'T produce excellence with too many menu items.

That being said, we decided to be part of the entire experience and order from the JDF's "favourites" section. None of the dishes had been experienced previous. Order up for Bangers and Mash, and Yorkies. We also tried an Asian chicken appetizer. Pretty spicy for the average person, but delicioso still the same--a nice touch with the shaved green onion.

Side note: Sometimes I like to ask the server questions like, "What's the best thing on the menu?" or "What is the most ordered?" or my favorite: "What would you suggest?" Open-ended questions will tell me how much training and knowledge the server has. The response I have the most disdain for is, "I've never had that, so I don't know."

Dear Management, How in the world do you expect to sell lots of product with uneducated staff? Inform them, let them taste samples-especially the big ticket items and popular items. Wait staff should be able to describe the dish and answer questions about it. This really annoys me as a consumer. ~~Upset in FSJ

Nothing sells better than knowledge and confidence. It would greatly help if it tastes excellent, too.

Back to the Bangers and Mash. That's 'fancy' for sausage and mashed potatoes served with a side of beans. The dish was mediocre, the sausage being the spotlight of the entree. The beans were so shameful.....I would bet my first born they opened a 'No Name Tomato and Bean' can and squirted a bit of BBQ sauce in it. I didn't know The Wholesale Club offered Restaurant In A Can.

Not off to a great start.

Every item on the plate is part of the presentation and must taste incredible on its own.

Next in the line up was the overdone Yorkshire pudding with a tablespoon of Shepard's Pie within each of the three breads. Quite possibly the most expensive beef I have ever purchased. A girlfriend of mine makes a knock out Yorkshire pudding. Recruit her immediately, JDF's.

I really, really wanted this experience to be awesome. I wanted a favorite place in FSJ that did everything wonderfully and I could brag about to my friends.

GRADE: C. Did JDF's run out of money for menu development? The place looks great, but so far, the food isn't so hot. However, because the decor is so rockin', I'll probably give it another shot in the future...but not too soon.

J.D. Fitzgerald's
9830-100th Avenue
250.787.0521