Reviews for Michael John's Restaurant (MJ's) in Bradenton, FL
Fine dining? No! The ambiance was nice, the service was excellent and the food was tasty but not well presented. The mixed... vegetables served with the entrees appeared like a pile of mush, which they were. While the vegetables themselves do not offsetthe positives mentioned above, all of the food is overpriced. That, coupled with men seated with baseball caps (when will theylearn and/or “fine dining” restaurants require them to be removed?) , means that I won’t return and cannot recommend thisestablishment. Read more
Beef tips were incredibly tender and delicious. My date's meal was great too. A lovely esspresso cup sized sip of soup was... provided while we waited. Reservations are highly recommended. We were not in a hurry so we were able to wait the 30-40 minutesuntil a table was available at the bar. The only problem I had was the person who delivered my food insisted the onion ring wasa cornstarch based tempura batter when I said I had a wheat allergy (which our waiter knew about). It was not, or contaminatedenough that I reacted to it. I had one bite based on her insistence it was safe before our waiter rushed over to take it sayingthe chef was gone (at like 730) and he wasn't sure. I will be back but just be extra cautious with different people deliveringthe food than the waiter. Read more
The escargot was tasteless. It was supposed to be garlicky. It was in some cream sauce with no garlic. Crab cakes were only... fair. Baked cod dinner, I had to ask for salt. I don't think they use any salt, much less garlic. The beef medallions with thesweet sauce was tender, but not much of a taste. The sauce was sweet. For the $100 spent on dinner with no drinks, extremelydisappointing. Read more
Quiet atmosphere. Very friendly and attentive service. The blackened jumbo shrimp appetizer was very good. I subbed for... Brussel sprouts with my marsala, incredibly delicious. Excellent experience. I'll have to go back again to try dessert, we weretoo full. This is fine dining, expect to pay higher end prices. Read more
Decided to take the boss lady out for a nice dinner on New Year’s Eve so MJ’s it was. Pros: the service was outstanding... from start to finish. Plenty of attentive and friendly staff. They were engaged, but not in the way of a nice dinner to closethe year and kick off a new one. Drinks were tasty, appetizers were well portioned, but not too much. Salads were delicious. Infull transparency, we filled up so much on our appetizers and salads, we could hardly make a dent in our entrees and dessertswere absolutely out of the question, sadly. At no time during our visit was there more then 30% of the tables occupied, whichwas awesome. Things were very nice and quiet. More on that in a minute. Cons: it’s just the little things that stuck out andI did have two beefs. When they went to seat us, we were presented a 4 top table. Immediately next to the table was a 2 personbooth. We asked if we could have the booth instead. The staff member checked and came back and declined our request and citedsomething about a 4 top later reservation. It was a real head-scratcher. I can appreciate a business with a system so we justlet it go. As an aside, there were several other 4-top tables they could have put the later reservation at. Also, at no timewere more then 30% of the tables occupied. Such an easy yes to be a hero that burns in my memory. This is the other bafflingdecision. I asked to exchange a sauce on one of our appetizers, and my request was gladly granted. When receiving the check, Inotice they hit us with a $2 sauce fee. Now, the $2 isn’t going to change my life, and I’m guessing it won’t change MJ’seither, but really? Two easy things that should have never been issues at a place like this, IMO. But heck, not my business toturn the petty-dial on. All in all, the only thing hotter than their delicious buffalo dipping sauce was my date. She wasstraight smoking and would have gotten a Mickey D’s happy meal 5-stars. ???? Read more
Just a wonderful dinner. I ordered oinion rings, they were perfect, I never had escargot before, super delicious. Blackened... shrimp was OK. Brea with honey was extremely excellent. I had filet mignon it was perfectly done medium rare, and gorgeous cutof meat. Wasn't as fond of spinach as Ruth's Chris, but overall the meal was really excellent. Read more
BEAUTUFUL place. Love the cherry wood furniture and color scheme. Very Italian decor with blues Brothers and gangstas. Would be... nice with soft Italian or classic music in background. Indoor and outdoor seating available. Had a drink at bar after theysuggested as we were early for our reservation. The place was half filled and we noticed only one server for the room so maybethat's why we couldn't be seated early. The bar area wasn't busy so it was very nice.. The drinks delicious! The mojito wascrisp with such nice flavors. My husband ordered the French Connection which contained Grey goose, lemonade and elderflowerliquor. It was also prepared well. I had the French onion soup and my husband the pot stickers for apps. Both were tasty. Theyalso serve a bean sauce with bread that was different but flavorsome. I ordered the chicken Cordon Bleu dinner and subbed themashed potatoes for sweet potato fries. There was a $4 substitution. My husband ordered the filet and subbed his mash potatoeswith risotto... that was a $12 substitution. The steamed broccoli and carrot were eh..... it was probably the only thing Ididn't eat. The dinners were really good otherwise. We ordered a chocolate mouse type dessert with caramel that wasaverage. This was one of the more expensive restaraunts we've been to. Two drinks each, two apps, 2 dinners and a dessert over$200. The food was good and the place was really nice. Our server Jennifer was attentive and you could tell veryexperienced..... We may go back for a special occasion in the future but not just for a date night .... Read more
Chose this place for an anniversary dinner since the menu looked great and definitely made the right choice. The food, drinks,... and service were all great! The drinks were strong but still tasty. The appetizers made it hard to leave room for dinner. Andthe dinner made us want to try and find room for more bites. By the end, we took a lot to go which they boxed for us. Best ofall, THEY LABELED THE BOXES!!! The atmosphere was nice as the seating isn't all in one big room that can get loud during a rush.All the food we had is pictured but we ordered mostly off the "specials" menu so go soon! (Except the crème brûlée cheesecakethat had to be taken to go... and that I'm eating while I write this!) Read more