P J’s Restaurant & Cocktail

Saturday May 21, 2016 7pm
O buggers, Nancy is gone. :-(
Olivia is now the Queen Bee. :-)) She’s excellent, always gets things right, great sense of humor, super fast and very smart.
Food, like always, is to die for. My wife doesn’t cook so we go out to dinner every night. PJ’s is our favorite Italian place.
Just a side note, they don’t take credit cards so if you leave your green cash at home, you’ll be washing dishes or sweeping the parking lot. Their motto, «Cash is King.»
Plenty of free parking.
Free wifi.
So John, whatever you pay Olivia, you should triple it, she’s that good.
Signed,
Randy O.

Well my wife and were in the area, and I saw PJs, I haven’t been there in over 25 years and from what I remember their breakfasts were awesome, always a line out the door on weekends. We were there on a Saturday night around 6 o’clock and I figured it would be packed, we pulled into the parking lot and it was packed, lots of cars. We went inside and it seemed like everybody was at the bar. There were only three couples at tables in the restaurant. We were told to sit wherever we wanted and we sat at a table for four, tables are clean with paper tablecloth covers and nice white napkins. I sat next to the window I noticed the windows were quite dirty on the inside around the frame but that didn’t really concerned me though. I didn’t see any pizza or steak on the menu but it was very dark and I had to use my iPhone flashlight to see even though we are by the window. They brought us bread which is very nice and the pesto olive oil mixture thing was pretty good, so far so good The waitress Jill was very nice and helpful. I ordered the chicken Alfredo and my wife ordered the tortellini. We both had salad which was OK, nothing special, the croutons tasted kind of fishy. Well my chicken Alfredo showed up and so did the tortellini. It looked great! Took a bite and it tasted kind of funny but then it got hot very very spicy, like they are taking the chicken from some other dish and put it in my fettuccine. it made my eyes and nose water but I ate it anyway because I was starving. The tortilla was undercooked and very bland. All in all it was OK. That’s all

Great Italian food in an intimate setting. This is a special hideaway for local folks. White table cloths and friendly service without the formality. Plus, they have a full bar filled with regulars on the other side. My favorite Italian restaurant in the area. It’s one of those places that you’ll return to again and again over the years.

Very good food and drinks. You can’t go wrong here in my opinion, with the entrees on the menu. The Chef is awesome but, the service is slow and the ambiance is needing a lot of attention. I have been a longstanding customer, I can appreciate the challenges of investing in the business when business appears to be down but, zero in equals zero out… At least do some low cost improvements and clean up the place, improve curb appeal and ambiance. Lastly, I think it’s time the owner take a hiatus and let someone else run it. Sometimes stepping away is the best improvement one can make with undoubtedly the greatest impact. The food is great and the pour is generous, the upside could be very significant with the right person running it and with a new set of eyes to attend to details. Come check this place out and see if you don’t agree!

Hahaha strong drinks at the bar and I like that. had food here and that was pretty good too…

Delicious food and good customer service, my husband and I had their bruschetta and their pasta calamity and was very good, big positions and very tasty. Pice was affordable and i would say cheap, other restaurants charge a crazy amount of money for food that doesn’t even taste that good.

Food was really good, BUT the place is dirty. Meaning the cutlery, tables and restrooms. Their place has so much dust and dead mosquitos laying around. This place has all the potential but they aren’t putting effort On their cleanliness.

We just moved to the area and came here after a long exhausting day as «a treat».
When we got here I noticed right away that this place is really dark and it’s cold as well. I left my jacket on the whole time
Before we got to order they served us bread which was REALLY GOOD. After we had ordered the waitress came to the table with the wrong food (not for us but for another table) twice. All in all we had to wait for our food for about 45 minutes (there was only two other tables taken) and the food really wasn’t that good. I had gnocchi with Gorgonzola which I always order when I have Italian and this was was so salty I couldn’t finish it. It was fresh but they should have cooked it a little longer they were too soft and just like dough. I was very disappointed but since I had already waited for soooo long I didn’t want to send it back either
Not coming back to this place, lesson learned. Oh and bring cash — no credit cards excepted!
But 3 stars for the bread and the nice but a little confused waitress

So it’s Saturday 8 pm and it’s kinda empty.
1 waiter 1 host 1 cook (apparently) on a Saturday night.
Bread was pretty good and replenished. Clam chowder was good too, nothing crazy. And pasta was good.
Every entrée comes with either soup or salad
During my time here a family came inside and got seated and left within 5 minutes because service was slow.
If this place has better management it would be a lot better. But my visit here was ok.
Would I come back? Probably not.

UPDATE: Went back to this restaurant recently and it wasn’t good… Me and my Boyfriend walked into the restaurant which was extremely covered with plates that had been left over from recent customers. Come to find out there is NO BUSSER! So the poor waitress was working alone! The food was decent and over priced. Not only do they not except cash! (smh) they need atleast TWO waitresses and a busser! Unfortunately, I will not return to this restaurant due to slow service (because of one waitress and no busser) and the fact that they still do not except credit cards. The waitress was awesome btw, which is why I gave two stars.

Simply Excellent!!!
Like many of the other reviews for PJ’s, my lady and I passed this place a countless number of times and finally took the opportunity to stop in — it was totally worth it. Our waitress Kimberly was phenomenal, she engaged us while managing to maintain our privacy. The food came fast and was visually well presented. The sourdough was amazing, salads were on point and food was exceptional… and actually really reasonably priced!
This is a must if you live in the East Bay and are a fan of good food and service.

This is the best kept secret in west county! Just get past the funky dive bar sean and get ready to be blown away by the food.

OMG! Hidden gem.
My fiancé and I love this place, hesitate at first due to the outdoor bar appearance, but actually were pleasantly surprised with our meals.
My favorite is the Chef’s Insalata-​salmon, shrimp and capers in a white garlic sauce.

We tried it for the first time this past weekend, based in part on the reviews here. We were prepared for their ‘cash only’ policy, but given that there is an ATM in the bar — with reasonable fees — it’s hard to understand why that issue so exercises some reviewers. It’s their loss.
Four stars for now, but with maybe it’ll go to five after more visits. Very much an old school El Sobrante hole in the wall. I’m glad we finally tried it!
My wife had the spaghetti carbonara, and I had the pasta rustica. Both were very good. The salads were kind of ordinary. The bruschetta we had for an appetizer was as good as any I’ve ever had, maybe better. Service was friendly. Meal prep time was appropriate for the quality of the food. Prices were CHEAP! We’ll be back.

Great local dive bar and has food too on most days but the kitchen usually closes around 10pm. The food is fresh and locally purchased.
The bar is not exactly a full bar in my opinion since its only got 2 – 3 beers on tab, but they do long necks too so its not terrible.
The customers there are locals that frequent the bar religiously

Does NOT take credit cards! Really? Who doesn’t take credit cards these days. Lost my business and I’m sure many more.
That’s why I gave 1 star. Food might be great but I’ll never know.

The stuffed pork chop is the BEST EVER!!! I’ve been looking forward to this all week! It’s a special, so call ahead and check! The specials are always fantastic fresh like the Petrale Sole Mom is having tonight! Call ahead for a reservation! Especially on Friday nights! Credit card not accepted… ATM located inside though!!! The crab pic below is coming in Oct!!!

This the best place I’ve ever had Rack of Lamb and Cioppino! Great find, great prices and it’s local!

Me & my boo were hungry so we looked here on Unilocal & found this place. Read the reviews decided to give it a try. When we first walked in we thought Ummmm… okay should we leave or not. This place needs to be remodeled bad. Glad we decided to stay, I got the Rack of Lamb dinner (medium well) & he got the Stuffed Pork chop. Both were really delicious. We will definitely be back to try other items on the menu.

This place is great. I get that a person can make pasta at home for cheaper, but PJs puts so much more love into it. Drinks are less than 6 dollars and you can actually tweak it to your preference. I loved my experience here. The waitress was friendly and funny. The drinks were strong, the food was delicious, the atmosphere was calm; it was perfect.