"Bay Area Top 50 Restaurant"
San Francisco Examiner, July 11,1999 "Even "real men" may not be able to finish off the "oversized and undercharged portions" of "basic Italian food" at this Downtown "landmark" "
- Zagat Survey 1999

"Very Retro, Very Fine" - Herb Caen

"Once you've eaten one of Original Joe's famous three-quarter-pound hamburger steaks gently formed from coarsely ground, house-butchered beef, coated in chopped onions and cooked medium rare on the griddle, you'll brave the haute Tenderloin neighborhood to eat here. I do twice a year, when my 83-year-old father-in-law comes to town. We're never disappointed."
- Patricia Unterman SF Examiner from top 50 Bay Area Restaurants

"Everything about Joe's is substantial, traditional, cool and welcoming to people who don't make most opening nights on the celebrity chef circuit"
- posthoc