Not Worth the Time or Money
This evening (Apr. 18, 2004), my boyfriend and I decided to dine at Joe Greensleeves for a change from the usual steakhouse chain restaurants we frequent. After our experience, I prefer the chains.

The menu was minimal and that is being polite. 9 items to choose from on the dinner menu. Plenty of salads, but I didn't come to a steakhouse to spend the bill on a salad alone. After being seated and waiting almost ten minutes for the server to acknowledge our presence, I ordered the 8 oz. filet mignon ($32), medium rare, no sauce. My boyfriend ordered the chicken Umbria(?) dish.

When the food came, I realized I did not order a steak, but a hockey puck. For that was the size of the meat. Yes, it was tender, but it was also medium well, a sin for steak as far as I am concerned. The outside was carmelized in some seasonings, and although it smelled great, it tasted like a charred Reebok. The dish came with a miniscule amount of mashed potatoes. I was finished eating in 7 minutes.

For dessert, we ordered a twice layered strawberry shortcake. I was under the assumption the dessert would be made fresh for us. No, it was cut from a cake that had been sitting out in the open the entire time we were there and was dry on the exposed parts, yet creamy on the inside.

For a bill that came to almost $70, Joe Greensleeves gets a strong D. If you want good food in Redlands, do not come here.    [19 Apr 2004 03:56:16]

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     ­Melissa Thurman   wineface1111 at hotmail dot com

The Best in the West
We had the best time. What an experience it was.    [11 Jun 2004 02:38:07]

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Recommended Dishes: prime cuts of ribeye steak

     ­RONNIE   

Let's put it this way - I really miss Gigi et Jean's! Ugh, this place is dreadful. Overpriced, mediocre atmosphere at best, very average food. Yuck. Save your money and go somewhere else.    [06 Feb 2005 00:49:36]

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     ­Anonymous   

Won't Go There Again
Anniversary Disappointment

We have always enjoyed spending our anniversary having dinner here since the early '90s. We were usually served a meal that we talked about for days...until last night (Feb. 2005). My husband ordered the ahi tuna ($25)and it was not edible! He took 2 bites and I also took a bite and agreed. When we told the waiter how bad it tasted he brought over the hostess who said it was absolutely fresh. Then she said sorry and walked away. They never offered to get another dish for my husband or adjust the bill. Needless to say we won't be back...ever.    [06 Feb 2005 14:10:18]

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     ­Anonymous   KWMozart at aol dot com

Less Then Impressed
Why don't they just close down?

My wife and I went the other night for a romantic evening (our 25th). We were counter offered a 7:30p seating for an 8:00p reservation request. We settled for 7:45p, walked in to an almost deserted place.

Three tables including ours were seated. And there were no other bodies.

Bread was nice; the flavor oil was wonderful with peppers and roasted garlic and rosemary. That is until the small flecks of crushed pepper that were left unstrained made their way onto the bread. Caused coughing for a majority of diners.

Appetizer: Special for the evening, the zucchini flower stuffed with artichoke and mozzarella. Unfortunately it was mostly void of any flavor except the puddle of grease the heavily (not heavenly!) battered pieces sat in when served, never spotted any artichoke within d'flower. The bed of arugula that it was served on was wasted due to the fry grease swamping throughout.

Main #1 special of the night "Mixed Seafood Grill Platter" (operative word grill) all appeared pan fried, no grill searing marks and no orangewood smoking that we were told this place was famous for. Monotonous seasoning across everything, the one shrimp, the fish, and the bunch of calamari, which she quickly passed over to me, since the calamari was like sneaker sole (although I think most sneakers would have been better seasoned).

Main #2, Chicken Umberto was relatively void of any memorable flavors. Chicken wrapped around spinach with a blandish white sauce.

Side 1, Mixed Vegetable Grill, this is the only thing that looked like it saw a grill. Very nice overall dish, all things considered this was the best bargain of the night, but somehow $15 to get some veggies - ugh - when ordering two main courses seems ridiculous!

Oh, did I mention that we were sweating during the meal? Seems that that they start prepping for close a little before 8P (removal of wine glasses from unused tables) and by 8:30 the place was roasting hot like they had just completely turned off the A/C back at 8p.m. I think they would have opened the front doors, but there were too many helpers going continually going out the front door for a smoke. (Standing within 2-3 feet of the front door so that it wafted throughout each time another helper went outside.)

2 espresso's served lukewarm, don't think the demitasi was preheated.

Cannoli - Finally something that my wife enjoyed, except for the little pieces of citron. We specifically asked what the cannoli was stuffed with and twice the reply was "Just Ricotta.” Well, it had other ingredients in it, and made it very nice, except she would have passed on the lemon gummy bears :) Overall she rated this desert better than her gramma's (who owned numerous restaurants in NYC and CT, so that’s saying something.

Desert 2: Upside apple something with pecans. I love pecans, and this had a bunch. Too bad it also had more brown sugar (unmelted, undisturbed clumps) than apple. Overall pretty nice piece of pie. For a diner! At least at a diner they usually have the pie and cakes under glass or refrig'ed. This was served from the item on the cart.

Total damages with a bottle of cheap white ($28), $149.85

Yikes!

Ambiance would have been much higher if I could've paid for them to run the A/C for another half hour. Kinda romantic if they just tried a little bit more.

As a result we were both sweating by the time we got outside and had to go home to change before spending more time out enjoying the evening.    [25 Jun 2005 04:23:21]

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Recommended Dishes: bread, cannoli sans citron

     ­AR   

26th Anniversary Was Memorable
We toasted our event with a couple of glasses of Zinfandel. The bread was nice and crusty on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside. The flavored olive oil was very good for dipping the bread. The salads were good. My lobster raviolis were excellent. My wife said that she enjoyed her grilled shrimp. Our dinner cost over $100 but we liked the restaurant, we liked the service, and we liked the food.    [30 Mar 2006 18:11:25]

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Recommended Dishes: lobster ravioli

     ­Robert Raul   

Our daughter was celebrating her birthday, and we wanted to take her somewhere "special." Unfortunately, we chose Joe Greensleeves. Our family arrived, two little ones and five adults. We waited and waited and waited for the ONE and ONLY large booth they have. We thought, oh well, the food will be wonderful ... it will be worth the wait and money to have a "special" celebration. WRONG!! When we were finally seated, it was another 20 minutes before the server acknowledged our existence.

As we were ordering our various meals, my daughter-in-law ordered shrimp for her selection (from the appetizer section). The cost was approximately $16.00. At no point did the waiter say, "Madam, this will come with only one shrimp ... not several." You can imagine her astonishment when her "meal" arrived and there was only ONE prawn. ONE! When we asked the waiter, once he finally reappeared ... what the heck was this all about ... he was at best rude. He pointed out the menu said, "Shrimp" ... as in one ... not multi shrimp. The rest of our meals were okay ... nothing spectacular. The only thing I found impressive was the two tone soup. And that was because I had never seen two soups appear in the same bowl, not because they were fantastic in taste. We had brought a birthday cake with us, and asked to have it served at the end of the meal ... we had to ask four times to have it brought to us, and when it arrived it looked like someone had put their finger in it. If you have the choice of going somewhere else ... even to McDonalds ... take it! Avoid a MEGA BIG dollar meal that will leave you feeling robbed of a good experience and food.    [25 Jul 2006 13:32:35]

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Recommended Dishes: NONE

     ­Anne-Marie Mitschell   

This Used to be Our Favorite Restaurant...
We have lived in Redlands for twenty years. This was a marvelous restaurant when it first opened and for many years after. The management has changed a few times over the years. Currently it is owned by Chef Umberto (formerly of Umberto's in Redlands and before that Umberto's in Fontana).

The past couple of years the prices keep going up and up, the quality and quantity has gone down, there is only one server there that is consistently pleasant, helpful, and efficient. He has been there for years. Everybody else seems to have an attitude and not much knowledge of the food or wine that they are serving. Chef Umberto either stands in the kitchen looking out on his patrons with a scowl on his face or sits at a table with some of his family and scowls at them too. The menu keeps shrinking. I guess the reason for the prices increasing may have something to do with the addition of a "wine bar" upstairs and a new restaurant opening in downtown Riverside. Well, the restaurant in Riverside has closed already. Must be the high prices and so-so food? Or the competition in the neighborhood of "Mario's Place" and "Duane's" which is in the Mission Inn? Both are excellent. They have some high prices as well, but you at least feel that you are getting your money's worth and have a memorable meal. Too bad we now have to leave town just to get a decent meal that isn't a chain restaurant.    [16 Aug 2006 14:14:18]

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     ­Susan from Redlands   

A RESPECTABLE RESTAURANT
I have eaten at Greensleeves with my family on several occasions, and each time is a memorable experience. The food is always delicious, and the service is great! I have reservations there for me and the love of my life for Valentines date and I can't wait to see the look on her face when I take her there. I am proud to be eating there for the most romantic holiday on the calendar.    [02 Feb 2007 00:39:47]

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Recommended Dishes: ANYTHING

     ­hundinman   

Fantastic
My son and I shared a fantastic meal together. We split a grilled prime rib chop. The wines by the glass chosen by the waiter were top notch. A fine dining experience.    [27 Mar 2007 20:41:05]

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     ­Anonymous