Average Joe's

I had the pleasure of dining at Average Joe’s, and it was anything but average. The food was excellent especially the crab cakes, which were perfectly cooked, flavorful, and honestly some of the best I've had. I didn't remember to take a photo. Stephanie, our server, made the experience even better. She was absolutely amazing, friendly, attentive, and genuinely welcoming. The view? Just astonishing. Whether you're inside or on the patio, the atmosphere is hard to beat. If there's one area for improvement, it's the welcoming process at the entrance, which felt a bit unorganized. But once you're seated, everything falls into place beautifully. Highly recommend for a relaxed meal with top-notch food and a stunning lakeside backdrop.

First time trying this place and it was really good. My only complaint is the prices are incredibly steep. Myself and another ordered 2 entrees, no drinks, no desserts, and no appetizers; and the bill including tip was over $100. Pic attached of the dinners we ordered. I don't think I'll ever be back due to the expensive menu items. My husband and I made a reservation and he ordered the burger ($18) while I ordered the prime rib special ($53). Portion sizes were good and the food was delicious. Service was great, speedy, and the place and scenery were beautiful. Perhaps the high price tag is for the views (pics attached). Although the food, service, and atmosphere were 5/5, I give rating an overall 4/5 as the menu items are crazy expensive and don't expect to bring home leftovers when dining here. Great place to celebrate special occasions!

Beautiful lakeside view of Trout Lake! You can park on the street and walk in or moor your boat at the dock. Large picture windows all around. Delicious food, generous portions, friendly service. We ordered the 1pc fish and chips and it was enough for two people to share. A North Bay favourite

We were in North Bay for a quick getaway, and found this excellent restaurant for dinner. A great experience, starting with our hostess, Anna's greeting. We had a lovely table overlooking the lake. Our server, Jamie, was quick with the drinks and taking our order. I had the Joe's Burger and my husband had the fish & chips, both were served hot and quickly. My burger was great, had to share with hubby because I couldn't eat it all. The fish and chips were also very good, well cooked. Jamie was very attentive and made sure all was good. He had to leave before we finished and brought Joanne, who was taking over for him, over to introduce her to us. Again, a lovely server. We had a surprise when she brought us sticky toffee pudding without charge. Delightful. All in all, a great experience, thank you Jamie, Joanna and Anna!

First time at Average Joe and service was slow (45 minutes to get our food) but waiter was apologetic. My drink tasted great but my Joe Burger did not. The bacon was undercooked and the patty was burnt. I thought a burger would be a safe choice but could be an just an off night. Good thing they have the best views.

We made reservations ahead of time and our table on the patio was ready when we arrived. Our waitress was very sweet to the kids and was very friendly in general! The only critism is we wish she came to check up on us and ask if more drinks were needed a little sooner but it did appear that she had a lot of patrons to take care of- she was super busy! We all enjoyed our meals, fish and chips were 🔥 as usual! We'll be coming back again very soon!

I’m disappointed to write this after loving Average Joe’s for years. I have brought many people here over the years from out of town and this time was super disappointed in all the food we had. We ordered French onion soup to start however, the onions seemed raw in the soup, and the soup was overpowered by parsley. For dinner, we ordered the chicken and it was smaller than usual, very little stuffing, and we ordered the risotto. I was super excited about the risotto as I have ordered this chicken supreme multiple times however, the risotto seem like white rice with parsley and huge chunks of uncooked onion, rather than the delicious taste it used to have and the chicken supreme was very dry. As much as my family has been here for years, we will not be returning. This restaurant was always good for pricing before, however this meal was not worth the price tag this time. Our server was nice, however, seemed very un knowledgable about the products, and was hard to track down when we had requests.

We had a baby shower today aug 16 and were in the downstairs room. The food and service was excellent . Our waitress/bartender was so good and on top of everything would recommend this place anytime. Thanks again for the great service

Average Joe's got a makeover! During the pandemic they closed and put in some major renos and from what I hear, changed the menu! We boated in from our cottage on trout lake for dinner and had a lovely time on their covered patio. Finding the unreserved boat slips for restaurant customers was a bit of a challenge so they could benefit from some extra signage to make it a little more clear. I will say the menu prices were a bit shocking for us considering we're from Ottawa and pretty regularly eat out at fine dining places. But maybe these are the northern prices? Overall though, the food was excellent and you can tell they put care into each dish, everything tasted fresh and flavourful. We only got appetizers because I couldn't bring myself to spend 27$ on a burger that sounded pretty standard. But maybe I'm just cheap lol We will go back for sure- especially for half price Caesar's on Sunday's!

Soup, mimosa, clubhouse, fish tacos, fish&chips all excellent. First time I've seen donuts given as appetizer. Service by young man excellent. Would return if we lived closer.

I travel to North Bay for work regularly and this is the only place I'll eat! great food and great service! Katie was very helpful and pleasant. the Austrian lady is a delight as well, didn't catch her name, but "I'll be back"! Thank you

I was there for dinner with my family last Sunday, I found the food mediocre at the very best. Price to quality are far apart. $38.00 for linguini noodles was way over priced for the quality of restaurant, food presentation and taste. Just a regular table with paper napkins, and the usual not cleaned floor from last customer. I understand price have gone up but this is a poor excuse to gauge people. The the standard 20% tip on a 300.00 bill does not cut it. Sorry, will not be going back there any time soon. Save you money and select a better place to eat out.

I've been coming here for years and today was probably my last time. Food 6/10: It all tasted good but certainly average and nothing that stood out as being extraordinary or worth the price point they had for it. They gave us complimentary biscuits which was nice. Service 8/10: Lots of servers and they are really nice so nothing to complain or nitpick about this. Maybe a bit slow, but that's expected on a Friday Dinner service. Price 2/10: This is why I have to say my last. I am not sure if it is because of inflation or what. However, if you were to come here and get 1-2 drinks, main and desert you're looking at 80-100$ with tip. The food I did not think warranted such a high price point. Ambiance 9/10: Yes, it has the best views of any restaurant in the city. Maybe that's worth the price for the experience. Overall, its a hit and miss restaurant for me.

Not sure what happened but food went from good to excellent to mediocre while the prices went up about 20%. Valentine's Day so expected slow service, but it was exceptionally slow. Also just noticed Wednesday's wine is 1/2 price but was not offered that option. The fish and chips, which used to be excellent, were terrible. No value for money here.

The cook is arrogant,, refused to cook my steak blue rare. Came out medium well! For someone who likes steak, this is a first.... in my life! A cook refusing to cook a steak the way a customer requests! Could not let this one go

Good food and nice location. Been going for years. In the summer the have the patio also.

if i could give 0 i would. my husband stopped on his way home from work to pick up an order. now i knew this was a fancier place but i figured if he was just picking up it was fine- he was told to wait off to the side out of sight (the literal words were "can you just wait around the corner tucked away there for a minute") where he was forgotten about. he witnessed another worker yelling at a bus lady to "stop filling peoples waters and let the waitresses do their job" all of the tables were cleaned off and picked up. they actively gave him dirty looks the entire time he was there, maybe 10 mins in total. and again, i understand that this is a fancier place, but he was wearing nice jeans and his work shirt. he wasnt dirty or dressed like a bum. in addition, if i'm paying close to $200 at your establishment there is no reason to act like that. the food was 6/10. prime rib wasn't tough which was nice but wasn't worth $57 either. my mother asked for rare, "rarest peice you can find me" to be exact. she got medium. i just had a baby, and my husband wanted to get us a nice dinner to celebrate that and thank my mother for all the help. will not be eating or ordering from here again.

Vegetable risotto - $16 Loaded with vegetables and topped with goat cheese! I really enjoyed the large pieces of portobello mushrooms and asparagus in this dish. House cab (red wine) - $6 Decent red wine, what I would expect for a house wine Other entrees are in the price range of $15 - $25 for steaks, chicken and pastas. Burgers are $10. With a name like Average Joe's, this place was a little fancier than the title, but not by much. I imagine the view is much better in the summertime since the restaurant faces a lake. In the winter, it's covered in snow and you may occasionally some snowmobiles go by. The service was friendly and quick. We were seating in a booth that comfortably accommodated a group of 7. The complimentary bread was warm and delicious.

I was so excited to finally go out for dinner (has been a long journey and have not dined out since before covid) We chose to go for the Thanksgiving dinner. We had made reservations and were immediately seated, table was dirty with water marks from a drink and also sticky, we had to request server to clean our table. I had the Thanksgiving dinner and my dining partner had the Prime Rib. Our server was very awkward and seemed to be having trouble with time management. When our meals finally arrived (delivered by another server) We had to ask for salt, pepper and butter - given 2 pats of frozen butter. Both our meals were warn but not hot. Frozen butter would not melt on the potatoes. Prime Rib was tough. We waited a while for our server to come back and ended but ordering desert from another server. Overall we were both disappointed with our meals, since server did not come by very often we ate our meals without complaint. Which is retrospect we should have said something at the time.

Under new management I would have expected higher quality. I ordered the gnocchi it was like a soup more than a meal. Cold, and the extra shrimp were more like "reheated from two days ago" For the price I should have got it on a gold platter. Not impressed.

Food was fabulous. Our party ordered Arctic Char, Chicken Supreme and appetizers. Everything was delicious with generous portions.

I would like to give this place 4 stars but my first experience here was a bad one. I ordered a steak medium rare more on the rare side and received a steak that was dry and stringy. It was like eating an over-cooked roast it was terrible! I went back about a year later and had a much better experience though. I'm not a big seafood fan but I do like calamari and I can tell you that the calamari here is some of the best in the bay. I took a chance and ordered the same steak I ordered upon my first visit and was lucky enough to receive it the way I wanted it this time. And not only was it cooked right but it was f'ing delicious! We washed all that down with some deep-fried ice cream and Guinness. Both were incredible (Don't need to speak for Guinness since we all know how delicious it is!). Visit it is you got a big food budget. The place is a bit pricey. But the atmosphere is worth it. If you can get reservations for sunset it makes for an awesome romantic date location. The restaurant is situated overlooking Trout Lake and has big windows across the whole side of the restaurant facing the lake.

Waited over two hours for a take out order - only to be told they were busy and we need to wait another 30 mins after the time they promised

We came here on a Saturday evening with my in laws and had a reservations at 7:30 I tried to hang my jacket up but there were no hangers. When I asked for one the wait staff told me " they were all out". She then sifted through the rack and was able find one. She handed it to me and I hung my own jacket and my father in laws on the same hanger. Premium prices on the menus don't necessarily reflect premium service at the door 8/10 on waitress. Our waitress's was lovely. She was as accommodating as she could be considering the poor product she was serving. 3/10 on the appetizer . We all ordered French onion soup and all had to send it back. It was served cold in a warm bowl. When returned we all got each other's bowls back. 5/10 on the main. Too much dressing on the salad and the "special" had to be sent back because it was over done. 9/10 on desert. At this point you figured it should have almost been complimentary considering the experience but never the less this was the best part of the meal. Pudding was great and the brûlée was fantastic. I tipped 15% because it was not our servers fault. I am providing a 2 star review as this will be the last time I attend the restaurant. There are many more suitable establishments in town that I would prefer to attend.

This is always an amazing place to go and eat! It is great for big groups and the view is spectacular! It's great any time of the year to see how the water on trout lake is. The food is amazing and pricey but worth it! They have a large array of fish, but if you're not a fish fan they have other amazing dishes! The desserts are amazing! The cheesecake and the deep fried ice cream are to die for! The staff is also extremely friendly, and Very accommodating.

This place is a hit or miss, when the food doesn't take forever and isn't cold it's good and the price is appropriate.The summer is nicer than the winter but either way ask for a table by the window as the view is rather nice. A reservation is recommend. Wow, this is tricky, I just went back the food was ok, nothing amazing, however the restaurant was disgusting, there was so much dirt, food, crud, hair dust on the window ledges, the table was wobbly, and the servers looked sloppy with food and grease stains on their clothes. The service was very slow and not overly friendly. Some would think this is a great restaurant but maybe at one point it was but now its dirty, dated and not worthy of the hype.

Myself and my fiancé were passing through North Bay on our way back to Toronto and, after some recommendations from friends to try Average Joe's, we decided to make a reservation for 7:30 on a Saturday evening. Upon arrival, we noticed that the parking lot was extremely busy (not sure I was suprised, given that it was a Saturday night after all with a restaurant near the water). It's a pretty good sign when the parking lot is almost entirely full. The restaurant itself is nice and cosy, with hardwood flooring and some nautical-themed touches. We were seated next to a giant window overlooking the lake, which was nice. The only unfortunate part about our entire visit was waiting for a server to come by to take our drink orders. I think we had to wait for almost 10 minutes for service, but after that we were seen pretty frequently. Again, I'm just attributing this to it being a warm evening and other customers wanting to eat by the lake (on the patio as well). The food was delicious. I ordered the Chicken Supreme (stuffed with goat cheese and roasted red peppers), while my fiancé ordered the steak. Each came with a side of potatoes and grilled seasonable vegetables, which were amazing. I kind of wish we had saved room for dessert after hearing about the rave reviews, but we just couldn't eat another bite. I would definitely come back again.

Their name says it all...average...For a drink it's an excellent spot. Located right on Trout Lake; the scenery is great as you enjoy your beer. Keep in mind that their parking is atrocious. Seems like they built a restaurant and completely ignored the fact that their patrons would need somewhere to park.

Had better experience in previous years. It became really average in food and service. Last time I have visited, the salad was not fresh (to say at least!) and even though they unwillingly replaced the salad with another one, they charged for both arguing that this is kind of vegetables they receive and it's not their fault they are what they are. Nobody else complained (!) Medium steak was really overcooked (we did not have guts to get it replaced too) Waitress did not appear often and we had to walk off the table to ask them every little things. We had 2 kids and they did not bring crayons for kids unless we asked a few times. Overall, very disappointed this time.

The food is a bit steep for the quality, it's not bad but just the same as if Mamma made it. That being said, they do give large portions which is nice. The atmosphere appears to be romantic by the lake. I can't figure out why they promote a 10% discount to snowmobile's and not promote something for everyone. That is business 101. Apparently, the mode of transportation dictates your cost at this restaurant. So, if you drive a car, bike, walk, or take a taxi to this restaurant expect to pay 10% more than someone that takes a snowmobile. I really can't see a bunch of snowmobile's saying let's go to the romantic restaurant by the lake to get a 10% discount.

I've been to Average Joes before and I find the service is great but the food is hit or miss. Tonight was just bad. The Caesar salad was piled high and squished on a small side plate and leaves were falling off the plate. The salad dressing was weak and I was overall disappointed. I ordered the evening special which was described as a currie seasoned catfish served with yam fries and fresh veggies. Again the heaping amount of food arrived on a narrow plate piled high. Two big pieces of deep fried battered fish which were greasy and undercooked. Round 2 the fish was overcooked and the yam fries were covered in grease from the fish. When I removed the overcooked batter, the fish was not seasoned and tasted bland. The steamed veggies were excellent and the creamy mustard dip was very tasty. Because the service was great I gave them 3 stars but tonight was not a great experience. I don't think I will return. On a side note they did give me 50% off my meal so kudos to the server Dianne. In addition, they call pretty much every guy "young man."

we came here on a recommendation from a guidebook. i had a greek salad which was pretty good, and my boyfriend had some fish that he enjoyed. the service was nice, and we liked our beers too.