Joe Mamas

Came for dinner and had a great time.
It was very busy and we had to wait for about 15 mins for a table — but that was better than any other restaurant on Queen street that night!
We all decided to do the 45 $ set menu — great idea, bc with too many choices, I can never figure out what to have…
I ordered the pistachio and goat cheese salad to start and the jerk chicken alfredo — dessert I can’t actually remember, but I’m sure it was delicious!
The chicken was just the right amount of jerk and the Alfredo was perfect! Portions were huge tho, so I ended up taking some home with me :)

It’s located on restaurant row on King St West. We visited for a few drinks and a snack at a fairly quiet time in the late afternoon. The service wasn’t the greatest but the server seemed like he was in charge of serving all on his own. The mixed drinks seemed a bit watered down (we ordered martinis) and the appetizer platter we ordered was quite a small serving given the $ 30 price tag. As it got later, they had live music which was ok but we kind of felt sorry for the guy as nobody seemed to be paying attention at all. They sometimes have food/​drinks specials although I can’t see myself frequenting this venue.

We arrived at around 9pm it was busy but not packed. I should mention the hostess was extremely rude, the rest of the staff were great but when your first introduction to a place is someone being nasty, that’s not a good look for your business.
We ended up getting seats at the bar, and ordering food, now here’s where the food matches that nasty hostess’ behaviour. One friend got the catfish sticks and that catfish was not fresh, as in they should not be serving that for human consumption. She took two bites and did not eat the rest. My other friend ordered the bbq chicken breast. The chicken breast was huge but when she bit into it it was rubbery, tasteless, and wet (???) she didn’t finish it either. I had the calamari, which was tasteless but surprisingly not overcooked, it was the best thing out of the three things we ordered. Oh and the fries are good if not a little over salted.
The live music was okay, if not slightly boring. The demographic that night was 40+, I can speak to that being the trend every night since this was my first and last time at this place but the scene was a too mature for me (late 20s).
If you’re looking for live music and southern cooking go to N’awlins down the street, better food, better service, and better music.

Came here for dinner for a friend’s going away. Décor was nice. Very chilled vibe. There was a live music which was pretty good. That was the best part. It goes downhill from there. I found service was slow. There was one guy servicing the place it seems and he was running all over the place. Ordered Jerk Chicken Alfredo and my wife ordered the catfish. Both dish were disappointing. I found the jerk chicken hardly tasted like jerk. There was ample chicken, but not enough pasta oddly enough. There were a lot more sauce for the pasta. You would figure that’s where they would have sufficient serving for, but I guess this place would be good if you are watching your carb. This is the same with the catfish. They didn’t serve it with enough rice. The catfish had a nice crisp, but again, bland. I left the place pretty hungry. Further to that, they tacked on 18% service charge probably because there was 8 of us, but I guess 18% is the new 15%? The service didn’t even reflect that tip. Very disappointed.

Looked interesting but was told we couldn’t sit for dinner with our 12 and 10 year old at 9pm. Went to Nawlins a few places down. Very friendly and had a great time. We will just go there next time and not even bother with this place. Very rude.

I checked this place out as part of their Winterlicious promotion. Their Winterlicious menu really appealed to me and so I decided to check them out. The customer service was really good, but the only complaint is that it took a while to arrive (usually wouldn’t not be an issue, but there were only like 5 other customers there). Aside from the wait, the food was amazing! I got the pulled pork plate and it was so good! For the main, I got the JD Bourbon Ribs and they were great as well. I’d definitely recommend this place.

Very rude hostess!!!
Food is OK. We went back to celebrate our anniversary and the hostess was so rude, impatient and not friendly at all! We never go back!
That’s not the way to treat returning customers who booked a table 3 weeks in advance!
You lost a customer! McDonald’s treat the customers better!

Visited this restaurant on a regular Wednesday night. The restaurant was empty except for 2 other tables. Most of the food was good. (don’t order the étouffée! it is gross) the prices are very high! and the music very very loud. this explains the empty dining area. The service was pitiful. Incredibly slow service even though there were only 3 tables.
I would go again because of their good food… but I would first check to see how loud the band was and how longer until the musicians ended their shift… or I would go with someone I found boring… this way I wouldn’t get to hear their conversation!

What did you say about my mama?!
Hey Tiff, how was…
The Reason:
I was in Toronto for a girls weekend and we were looking for a late night spot to grab a drunk after a long flight. To our delight, we were told to stop by Joe Mamas. The best advice, EVER!
The Scene:
Very chill, laid-​back vibe. Great for casual conversation with friends or hell strangers at the bar. Great for an intimate dinner or out for drinks.
The Playlist:
Live R&B music
The Drinks:
Good but not craft drinks
The Food:
Sorry guys, I was went for the drinks and music
The Service:
The bartender was nice but slow
The Dam$ge:
Responsibly priced — 10 — 15 dollars
The Location:
Toronto’s entertainment district off King Street
The Parking:
There’s a parking lot a few meters (look at me converting to meters vs. miles) down, short walk
The D’Over?:
100% — yes
Because you asked…
#WhereToGo #WhatToDo #WhereToParty #Toronto #Jetsetter @joemamastoronto
#RealMusic #TorontoNights #NightLife
#curatedlife #Toronto #Ask_​Tiff
Where is Tiff?
TripAdvisor: Ask_​Tiff
Unilocal:

Instagram: Ask_​Tiff
Twitter: @Ask_Tiff

I was very disappointed in this place. If I could give minus a few stars I would! We heard they were having a live band so we go in to check it out. When you walk in to the right are tables and the bar area to the left very small. We were told we couldn’t sit at any table because it was only for dinner. It is 11pm not too sure who’s having dinner that late. The waitress that explained it was extremely rude about it! We were told we had to stand in the bar area. Well it was so packed it was no room. Because of the rude worker & no room to stand we decided to leave.
This is were I have the big issue. The rude worker follows us out and proceeds to yell at us asking why we yelled at her. My friend exchanged words with her. We didn’t yell anything at her. But all I kept thinking was it was a so called manager right by the door. He did absolutely nothing! What a horrible place that allows their employees to harass customers who have no where to sit or stand & decide to leave.
I guarantee I will never return and tell everyone I know how horrible we were treated.

No longer impressed by their guacamole bruschetta which used to be the best in the City. Now it’s a 3 piece, semi soggy $ 12 mess. The waitress was kind enough to offer a new batch but we didn’t have the stomach to bother. The Chardonnay seemed watered down and the calamari, although fried, seemed grilled. Service was slow and we constantly had to flag down the waitressing staff for service!
The music is fine however the acoustics aren’t the best, making it very difficult to have any sort of conversation without having to yell to the person sitting next to you.
Perhaps the demands of TIFF 2015 have made Joe Mamas cut various corners, or the chef has changed. Whatever it is, go for the loud music or because you’re a poser, not the overpriced, low end food.

Pulled Pork can be sublime. Here, just pedestrian at best. Limited sauce (which was good) but pork was not fork tender.

The food is not good, I tried the steak and shrimps and my husband ate ribs and there was no flavor at all, for that price, I expected better food.
Also the service is bad, I asked for a glass of water and the waitress completly ignored me.

We came here for our one one and only summerlicious dinner and it was great. There were 9 of us so it was a semi large group. I had the goat cheese and pistachio salad which was so good and it was a very large portion. My co-​workers had the pulled pork which they said they enjoyed. Everyone had ribs has their main course and we all had different sauces. I had the Carolina sauce which had a bit of kick and my ribs were very saucy exactly how I liked them. The ribs were a bit on the small side but they were cooked to perfection. The Jack Daniel’s sauce and the house sauce were also good… just not quite as good as the Carolina. We all had a chocolate mousse cake for desert which was also very yummy.
The ambience here was very cool and they had a live singer during our meal. He was amazing and took requests. They had Delerium on tap which also made me happy since it’s one of my favourites. Overall, an excellent dinner and atmosphere.
My only complaint was that it took our server 40 minutes to get our cheques but I’m going to chalk that up to the fact that she had initially put it all on one bill and then we asked her to split it all out at the last minute.
I’m definitely coming back here for all you can eat ribs. Great find.

Friday night Summerlicious dinner.
Awesome live music.
Quick friendly service.
Our group of four was impressed with the bourbon ribs and strawberry cheesecake.
Definately coming back

excellent music great look. the food not so great. the waitress took way too long to serve and had an attitude collecting the food. Didn’t even ask if we liked the food. my friend ordered a chicken gumbo and the chef forgot the chicken.

If you’re in the mood for live music this is the place to go. Food ok, nice atmosphere and good service.

I love joe mamas. They are a funky little spot on king west. They have great martini deals on special for 5 dollars for two oz of alcohol. On most nights they have a live band playing mellow music making it a very nice environment. Only thing is since it’s a small place the music is quite loud making it hard to have a conversation. It’s perfect for a night out. Super easy to get to via king streetcar so it’s worth checking out.

Came here on Friday night around 8:30 PM for a friend’s birthday. Overall experience was alright, but felt like something was lacking… mediocrity all-​around in my opinion.
I ordered the Seafood Soul Pasta, which was underwhelming to say the least. The portion was a lot smaller than I expected. I will say there was a decent amount of seafood in the pasta, with scallops, tiger shrimp and lobster claw meat… however, that was pretty much the highlight. The Jack Daniel’s bourbon tomato sauce was okay… you could kind of taste the Jack Daniel’s, but for the most part it just tasted like regular tomato sauce. It was overall not a bad dish, but was disappointing for $ 24 because it felt like something I could have just thrown together at home myself.
I didn’t order a drink myself, but I tried some of my friend’s drink (Gladys Knight — Absolut Mandarin, triple sec, Malibu rum, grenadine, and pineapple juice) and it was QUITE strong… definitely a very strong alcohol flavour. I guess you do get your money’s worth in terms of quantity of alcohol, but I wouldn’t say it was super delicious or anything.
It was super super loud while we were there. Apparently there had been a band playing before I arrived, but the whole time I was there they were just blasting music from their stereo system. Kind of like older music. To be honest, I wasn’t too much of a fan, since I felt like the music was too loud to have enjoyable conversation, and left my ears ringing a little.
Given the other positive reviews, I’m thinking maybe I just ordered the wrong thing? I wouldn’t be opposed to potentially giving this place another try in the future, but my personal experience with it was just kind of meh.

I loved this restaurant!!! I was staying at the Hyatt Regency for the Fan Expo and my boyfriend and I got hungry so, we decided to check out the restaurants across the street. We stopped in our tracks when we saw a sign outside Joe Mamas for «All You Can Eat Ribs.» We high tailed it through the door and asked for a table. The waitress was so nice and helpful when it came to choosing a sauce for the ribs. They had probably 7 or 8 different home made sauces. The honey garlic was sticky, sweet, and delectable. Each plate contained a half a of a rack of ribs… not too shabby!
The restaurant was dimly lit except for some spotlights on the stage where a blues band had been playing. The walls were dressed with photos and memorabilia from musicians throughout history. I felt very comfortable and relaxed in this environment.
The only thing I did not like was the fact that I had to walk down a flight of dimly lit stairs to go to the bathroom. Other than that, I really enjoyed my experience here and I would definitely come back if I visit Toronto again.
Here are my ratings for Joe Mamas (1 – 5, 5 being the highest):
Location: 5
Décor: 4
Parking: 2 (street parking)
Bathroom cleanliness: 4
Restaurant cleanliness: 4
Wait staff: 4
Food: 5
Price: 4