Joe’s of Avenue U

Ahhhhh, The classic riceball special !!!
Honestly I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and I can’t remember ever eating or ordering anything else besides this pene with fresh tomato sauce dish which was also super fabulous.
Please please please, if you go order the riceball special extra hot – you will not regret it ^-^

I really have trouble understanding what some people like about this place. Ate there a few times and was never impressed. The prices are eye-​opening high in comparison with the rather stingy portions they serve. Went there two days after the NYC blizzard and with Fiorentino’s having closed a week earlier, decided to give it another try. Not a single customer at dinner time. The chicken parmigiana with stewed potatoes is how they served it. Want pasta instead, (wouldn’t substitute) add another $ 11. I’ve eaten at countless Italian restaurants all of the city, country and in Italy. I’ve never had a watery, and rather tasteless, chicken parm in my life. I’d rate it a 4 out of 10 at the very best. The owners seemed, …for lack of thinking of a better word. disinterested. So I’m disinterested too. I’ll spend my money elsewhere.

As a vegetarian there are so many good options here! It’s hard to find non meat rice balls so I am obsessed with the ricotta rice balls they make on Fridays during lent or you can special order a tray for a party. Also the panel are like they make them in Sicily. Seriously amazing!

I might be biased about this place due to the fact that I am Sicilian and I think all things Sicilian are delicious. When deciding on where to go for dinner tonight we decided we wanted comfort food — so we headed to Joe’s of Avenue U for some Sicilian comfort food. And that is exactly what we got. We started off with the purpu e calamari salad (octopus and squid) which had a great flavor. Then next we ordered the pane panelle special (fried chickpea dough on a bun with ricotta and Parmesan cheese) and the riceball special (meat and pea stuffed riceball drenched in tomato sauce and topped with ricotta and Parmesan cheese) and a stuffed artichoke. The panelle special does not come with tomato sauce we had to ask for it separately but the waitress brought it to us promptly. You could tell all of the food was very fresh and homemade. The food was delicious by the end we were too stuffed to even think about dessert. Joe’s is a Brooklyn staple and we will definitely be coming back.

The rice balls are the best in town. Try the sausage and potatoes dish too. Delicious!

First off it’s too pricy a plate of shrimp Marsala that has MORE garlic cloves then shrimp it’s NOT worth it! Maybe the chef was having a bad day but MY order looked NOTHING like the photos of previous orders! Hardly NO marinara sauce I couldn’t soak my bread! And it tasted salty as HELL! Not to mention the shrimp AND the spaghetti was hard!
I don’t think THIS was worth $ 24.00! So this was my FIRST visit and my LAST! See my photos YOU decide!
Where the hell is the sauce??? I give it ONE star for the Italian bread it was hot and soft! So out of this $ 24.00 meal I ONLY enjoyed the bread!
Next time I will go to the pizza place down the block!
Thanks for nothing!

Went on recommendation of friend. She said it was better than Fiorintino’s. Not even close. Terrible service, bland food (at best), overpriced.

Maybe my hopes were too high because I recently fell in love with Sicilian cuisine while on a work trip to Sicily but this was a disappointing experience. I could care less about décor and service because I was at Joe’s for the Sicilian food I just learned to adore — arancini, caponata, innovative seafood based pastas. I dragged my husband along with the promise of the foods I had salivated over — unfortunately, the pasta was way overcooked, one was obviously prepped the day before and just reheated to be served to us, and everything was bland, none of the extremely fresh, vibrant cuisine I was expecting. Worst of all was the calamari, limp and definitely not fresh. Now I am realistic, I wasn’t expecting the same EXACT experience one would have in Italy but New York has some pretty amazing Italian restaurants. However I WAS expecting at least really good homestyle food. It just feels wrong for an establishment that touts itself as truly Sicilian to have low quality ingredients and cut corners, which was the reason why the food was a let down. This made me sad. I redeemed myself with my spouse by going to Coluccio market immediately after, buying white anchovies and expensive bucatini and cooking him a fennel and saffron spiced bucatini the way I learned in Sicily. Moral of the story is, stay home or troop out to Manhattan for much better iterations of Sicilian food. I noticed that most people there were eating sandwiches, which probably supports my point.

Authentic Italian food from a place that is a staple of Brooklyn. Best rice ball you will ever have!

Just like my Nonna’s cooking! Sicilian food and they know how to do it right. I come here to get a taste of home when my Nonna flies back to Sicily, Italy.

I don’t understand the hype, I had the panelle special it was bland at best, eggplant parm was greasy yet no Bread crumbs. Also tried the mussels in red sauce that was pretty good, fried calamari was ok. The best part of my meal was the hot bread they put on the table with butter.

Authentic one of a kind Sicilian style family restaurant. Have greatly enjoyed mussels marinara, rice ball special, stuffed artichoke, lasagna with meatballs.

When you walk in, its like a pizzeria. Glasses with ready to go food. To the left are several booths set up like a diner.
Our waitress had some trouble understanding us. Got a special rice ball which was pretty good but far from amazing. Fried calamari was white. Not fried enough. Chicken parm sandwich was okay. I’ve heard a lot about this place being very good but was quite disappointed with very mediocre food.

Yummy. Casual dining. We were there for lunch. Many delicious looking choices. We ordered the panelle — delish with a mixed salad and escarole. Quick and efficient service. I will definitely go back.

Décor = hideous & confusing.
Bathroom = Tiny and armed with a hand written request to not throw paper into the toilet. (I did not ask what you’re supposed to do with used toilet paper.)
Staff = Uncertain & uncaring. Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
Food = we ordered one of their «famous rice balls.» I found it to be bland and struggled with what would make it famous. One fork was plenty for me. They had shrimp marinara on the menu and my boyfriend asked if they could do a shrimp parmigiana, the hospitable waitress said «no.» We asked her to ask the chef. Keep in mind, they have other parmigiana options on the menu. The answer, as per the chef — no. So shrimp marinara for him, and I went with the most simplest of choices — broccoli rabe and linguine with garlic and oil. The shrimp were puny and served in a sauce that makes jarred sauce look upscale. This dish was served with microwaved string beans — and I’m not exaggerating. You can hear and see the microwave humming and buzzing throughout your meal. Mine was meh at best. The waitress never checked in on us to see if we needed or wanted anything. As a former waitress & bartender, I’ve never doled out a 1 star review. This is a true zero in my book, however zero is not an option, so I’m giving them a very generous one.

Go. Try the adventurous stuff (Panelle, Pasta con Sarde, Squid Ink, Bacala), try some wine, and appreciate that a place like this exists in America.

Guaranteed to curb anyone’s Italian food craving.
I feel like there is not enough Italian places like this around anymore, but that’s okay since I live close enough to Joe’s that I don’t have to go to any other.
Interior is very lax atmosphere and the service is great here.
The food:
–Panelle Special is a must, I have rarely seen this on any menu. Perfect ratio of ricotta to fritter to cheese on a bun, see anything wrong here… No…I thought so
–Rice ball here is delicious, tomato sauce is great the the rice ball huge.
–The pasta with seafood was delicious, spaghetti was perfectly al dente and the seafood was fresh with a very clam sauce
–Chicken Parm was delicious, great sauce and good chicken
Really great food overall, a must stop

Stay Away!
I gave this place a star because zero star was not an option.
Let’s start with the most important issue. Joe’s is supposed to be an Italian place, right? Problem is they don’t have Italian sauce!
We ordered chicken parm and it was the worse! We have ever had. The sauce tastes like it was canned sauce, and the chicken was like a frozen chicken cutlet that they just warmed up and melted cheese on.
We also had the ‘lasagna’ and don’t even get me started. There were black things in the meat and it was just gross !! No cheese of course. Till this day I am not sure that was lasagna.
Maybe the pizza is good, so call yourself a pizza place and stop selling the other junk.
Olive Garden is real Italian next to this place.
Tell-​tale sign, Russian shows playing on the tv.
By far the WORSE food I’ve ever had! Save your money and go somewhere else.

Joe’s has definitely changed since I was younger, the food was better than.
We ordered the rice ball special to split, and that was really good, but our lunches were just okay.
I wanted grilled chicken with mix vegetables, but I was only allowed to choose one vegetable, so I choose broccoli. My lunch was good, but that’s it. My boyfriend asked for the grilled chicken sandwich but they gave him fried chicken instead. The pieces of chicken they put on the sandwich were so small.
The prices of food and waitress service go hand in hand, as in they’re not too bad, but definitely could be better.

I practically grew up on this food! The food seems to never change. Good old fashioned Italian «comfort food». It’s a very casual, laid back kind of place but very down to earth. I haven’t had anything on this menu that I didn’t like. Try the meatloaf… you would never think it being that it’s not an Italian dish, but some how they made it into an Italian dish! The octopus salad is phenomenal… Try it! Baked Clams, potato croquettes, panelle, the list goes on! Come enjoy what still is old skool Brooklyn & won’t be disappointed! By the way, RICE BALL SPECIAL ALL DAY LONG!!!