Feed me, Seymour!

TAFKA Purple Parrot's comment to yesterday's rant is prompting today's blog entry. I respond:

By "Joy Grill" do you mean "Joy Express"? I've had only good experiences with Joy Express (one time at each location). While I agree with you that Joy is starting to look like an evil empire, it will be hard to drop them completely, considering that their style of restaurant is rare in Jerusalem: somewhat upscale, kosher, meat-serving, desirable location, good food, (generally) good service.

The common person in Jerusalem gets screwed enough on a daily basis (banks, taxis, politics, etc) to make me very upset when the "simple" things like dining out go awry. I always try to avoid crowds at all restaurants, as the staff usually can't handle the details, and I hate waiting in general.

I don't think my avoidance of Joy will have any impact on them, nor will my boycott last terribly long, considering the place's popularity and utility among friends. But I was very happy to make my rant public in the hopes that people will take note, particularly with the long-term view of being blessed one day with good customer service, public decency, and civic design in Israel in all aspects of life.

I would encourage entrepreneurs to open their own restaurants similar to Joy to create competition. They would almost certainly thrive today. I would support those restaurants. I also encourage people to complain loudly when not getting the service they deserve. I have issues with: Masryk (overcrowding leads to poor service), Sami's (great food but they doubled their prices), Burgers Bar on Emek (too crowded, and I still lament the loss of the great Jack's MiniBar), and New Deli (NEVER order delivery from them; they really screwed up my order one time and didn't make up for it as they promised).

Finally, here is a list of Jerusalem places that have served me well every time: Lugar, El Gaucho, La Guta, 1868, Olive, Norman's, Al Dente, Kohinoor, Pollo Loco, Cafe Hillel, Big Apple Pizza, Rosmarine, Tmol Shilshom, Pizza Meter, McDonald's, Burger King, Taverna, Yossi Peking, King David Hotel, Sheyan, Canela, Coffeeshop, Ragu, Marvad Haksamim on King George, Goldie, Blue Hole Pub, Almora, Vaqueiro, Corusin in Malcha Mall, and O'Connells (I prefer Belfast Irish pub for service and intimacy but they no longer serve meals). I really miss Mike's Place food! I'm getting hungry now...