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The Jewish Mother
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- No
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
10 reviews for The Jewish Mother
I went to TJM with a few friends over Labor Day weekend and the first thing we all noticed is that it is old and dirty. Perhaps that adds to the appeal as the classic dive, but it's not something I look for in a place that is serving food. Old is fine. Dirty is not. Anyway, it was nearly 1 pm and we were hungry, so hunger won out over cleanliness. I ordered the Turkey sandwich with avocado and sprouts and was pleasantly surprised to find the turkey was roasted instead of some nasty deli meat. The bread came out toasted, which I didn't want, but was too hungry to complain about. The avocado was a bit brown on the edges, but again, I was too hungry to care.
My friend ordered an omelette, which looked a bit greasy to me, but he said was pretty good. His wife ordered the corned beef hash, which honestly, looked like dog food. For some reason, their hash doesn't have potatoes in it. It was ground corned beef and onions. Weird.
I doubt I would go back here for the food, but the bar scene looked worthwhile.
Oy, where do I start? The 'in-laws wanted to grab a quick lunch here when they were in town and spending the afternoon walking on the beach, so of course I agreed like a good daughter-in-law :) I had also heard my husband, who grew up in VA Beach, reminisce about "Jew Mom's" as he affectionately calls it, so I kept an open mind. But I had been warned. The first thing one notices upon entering this restaurant is that it's dirty. And run down. Now I don't mind eating at dives or places that have that worn-in look. In fact, I quite enjoy them. However, Jewish Mother was a little too worn for my taste. It made me nervous that I was about to consume food in this environment -- bad sign!! The floors were disgusting and I was scared to touch the table because it didn't look clean. I'll do you a favor and leave my description of the bathroom out. After (literally) falling into our springy booth, we ordered the Penicillin Soup (their name for matzo ball soup) and sandwiches. The soup was so-so and not very hot. I had a pastrami sandwhich which was basically dry shaved meat on burned (yes BURNED) toast with no cheese or dressing. So meat and bread. I guess they thought that I wouldn't notice the burned toast if they faced the burned side towards the inside of the sandwich!! The 'in-laws seemed satisfied with what they got (although not impressed) so I just swallowed my sandwich down and kept my mouth shut, all the while vowing that I would never return.
This is a review of both the food and the space as a venue, which rounds out to about 3.5 in my book.
We had just spent about 7 and a half hours in the car getting down to Virginia Beach for the Against Me! show that night. We probably could have strolled around the surrounding area to find some options for food beforehand, but I was only dreaming of getting my hands on one of those huge pastrami sandwiches so lovingly displayed on their website. My boyfriend and I decided to split one with onion rings, while our friends got some ribs, latkes, and matzo ball soup to take back to the hotel room.
For the price we had just paid, we all felt like the Jewish Mother had exceedingly failed to deliver on taste or portion size. The pastrami was fine but nothing exceptional, the latkes were tiny, and the ribs were beyond dry. Good thing we had alcohol to cheer us up!
A couple hours later we headed back over to rock our faces off. Grabbed a beer from the bar as the opening acts were finishing up, and then got positioned in the crowd. Moments before the band came on, I found myself right at the stage. No barriers or big meatheads standing in my way - I could have collected the sweat dripping off the bassist! The acoustics were a little warbled at first but it was straightened out by the second song, and despite having a low ceiling, the management let crowd surfers do their thing without hesitation. I have a great appreciation for venues that allow patrons to enjoy themselves to the fullest without it becoming a safety issue. Definitely a well spent 10 dollars for the show.
But seriously, the bruises on my thighs from being pushed up against the edge of the stage are the best battle scars I'll ever have from a show.
A few weekends ago I was presented with the opportunity to travel with a few close friends to Virginia Beach to see a favorite band perform at a tiny venue.
That venue was The Jewish Mother, a local restaurant on the strip at Virginia Beach. It had a good atmosphere for a concert venue; a well stocked bar, the acoustics were surprisingly effective for such an enclosed space, and it brought me back to the days of seeing local bands play at tiny dives back in New Hampshire. As a concert venue I'd rate The Jewish Mother much higher than two stars, but I'm here to interview it as a restaurant.
Not knowing much about the local restaurant scene we decided to get food from there while we went to make sure our tickets were waiting for us. Their menu had some nice variety to it and it took me awhile to come to a conclusion on what to order. Being driven by a carnivorous appetite I decided I'd give "Scotty's Famous Ribs" a chance. The price was fairly hefty at fifteen bucks, and my expectations was that I'd receive a rack of ribs slathered in sweet, smoky BBQ sauce, tender meat, and an overall satisfying dining experience
What I received was nothing short of a slap in the face to the good name of ribs. The ribs that cost fifteen bucks were little more than five thin strips of pork meat with what I imagine was residue of BBQ sauce. Now, boneless ribs aren't an automatic death sentence to a meal as long as the meat is at least tender and juicy. These ribs were more dried up than VH1's current roster of Celebreality programming.
I wasn't alone in my disappointment either. My friend's order of potato latka's were also overpriced, while delivering a shoddy amount of food. Apparently he liked the motzaball soup though.
Yay! I can pretend to be Jewish New Yorker at the Jewish Mother.
Great food at a pretty decent price, good service, ultra fab choclate cake!
This place was supposed to be torn down to make room for another hotel I guess, but with the economy...the block is still there. I used to go to this place before I was legal for drinks and such...almost got caught! I didn't get to finish my drink and the waiter chased me out to pay for it. Now that is messed up! That was in the late 90s though. I haven't been there since then really. It is kinda dirty. I remember hearing a bunch of swearing from the kitchen at the hostess stand...and you don't want pissed off cooks making your food. The menu was cute and all, but not that much of a fan.
Had been a few years since I visited. I think last time was before Yelp was around. It would have been 3-4 starts for my taste back then, but now they get one star for at least delivering food to my table.
A brought an old buddy to eat here because it caught his eye when he was visiting the beach. I told him they had pretty good prime rib so we both got one. One medium and one well done. I got the medium.
We'll mine was still frozen in the center and hot on the edges. Now I never send food back except I was only two or three bites into this so I sent it. Ten minuets later I got it back and it was still raw in the middle. Cook didn't want to cook for me I guess. They had a total of 6 other tables so I know they were not busy.
Ruined my whole meal. Recommend die hard locals only. That way they can try and earn your business back over the winter. On a good note...desserts are still some of the best in VB.
This place definitely looks like a dive and could use a bit of interior cleaning and upkeep. It looks like the booths closest to the entrance are a bit newer and cleaner than the ones in the back. The one we sat in towards the back was a bit dirty and starting to fall apart in places.
I had the grilled cheese with fries and my boyfriend ordered the lox and cream cheese bagel. My grilled cheese was nice and crispy and on a marble rye bread with swiss and american cheese. Very tasty! My boyfriend said his lox bagel was very good and a nice light brunch for him. They also had Cel Ray soda which made him super happy.
I got a piece of the spoonful chocolate cake to go for later that day and it was delicious. It looked like it would be overly rich but I was pleased to find it was more like a sweet mousse.
Service was friendly and we lucked out with parking in the small lot behind the building. I think I'd prefer to get brunch or sandwiches at the Purple Cow because it's a little nicer inside and the parking is a bit easier but this was a nice alternative.
To give this place the benefit of the doubt, I only ordered breakfast and I didn't get to experience the atmosphere that a live band might have added.
From what I read, this place is definitely somewhat of an institution in this area. It definitely would classify as a "dive". I ordered the "Jewish Mother" omelette. This consisted of a large omelet filled with avocado and mushrooms. Unfortunately it did not taste as good as it sounded. I was not impressed.
I will have to stop by for a sandwich next time I'm in the area. I hear they are pretty good. The desserts in the glass case near the entrance also looked rather tasty.
Very unique place - been coming here for 20 years.....menu is excellent - where else are you going to find this sort of stuff. main attraction is the music - they get some well known acts in here at times....sightlines and sound are great.......