Critic's Review
Every once in a while this place posts their daily special on Facebook, and most of them don't look good enough to gain my interest. I wanted to do lunch SOMEWHERE today, and they posted that they had "Lentil with Spicy Sausage" special soup, with no photo. They have a good but inconsistent version at Carrabba's; I hoped this would be better than that.
What had baffled me was that I could have SWORN that the building housing the Mason Jar had been torn down. They still have a picture of it on their FaceBook page, and they're still posting. So perhaps I was mistaken. When I got there it was in fact gone. Just an empty lot. Oh well. I knew that Hibiscus was out of business, so I made a right turn and sure enough; the Mason Jar has moved around the corner.
Free Parking and no creepy back entrance. The outside seating didn't look too fancy, plus in August eating lunch outside isn't a pleasant thing.
They also have a blackboard on the sidewalk confirming the specials. Kind of strange as there's no foot traffic in this strip.
Inside is a cozy little room; smaller but nicer than the original mason jar I think. There was an open booth in the back but I wasn't offered that; I took a table in the corner. There's a second room with a bar; a nice setup for a small operation.
I ordered an iced tea; my server actually asked if I wanted lemon; can't remember the last time that happened. I didn't ask for extra today; it's served in mason jars. Get it?
I ordered a cup of the soup while I pondered the menu. They have a lunch menu which is just salads and sandwiches, and you can order from their dinner menu as well. I must have flipped the lunch menu 10 times hoping to find something else. Why can't I get food for lunch? The salads and sandwiches are all over $10; there are no bargains here. I didn't want bread but I also didn't want a dinner plate with 2 sides; I was just about to order a meatloaf sandwich (hoping there was enough meat to justify the $10 price tag), when I remembered the wedge salad. Hadn't had one of those in a while. A wedge salad it would be.
A guy at the next table said out loud "The lentil sausage soup sounds good" just as they brought out my cup. I wasn't very impressed.
I don't know, but this didn't look like "home made" soup to me. Mushy lentils and mushy vegetables are a sure giveaway of canned ingredients. Either that or they made it last week.
The sausage also wasn't spicy, in fact it had little taste at all. The soup was a real loser; I'm glad I only ordered a cup.
Music playing was low and moody; nothing I could recognize but it was better than nothing. The salad came out in 9 minutes.
Lots of onions and blue cheese crumbles. This would be MUCH better with slices of beefsteak tomato, but almost nobody gives you good tomatoes in restaurants anymore.
Just as I was digging in, a chicken pot pie was delivered to the table next to me. Holy smokes, look at the size of that thing. "That's a lot bigger than the Swanson one's I remember", I said, which got a snicker from all.
While there was a lot of other stuff, there wasn't much dressing, which is a peeve of mine. The blue cheese crumbles are more visual, but you can't just eat a fork full of blue cheese. I asked for a "wee bit" more dressing.
$11 for a wedge is no bargain, but it's the same price as the last time 2.5 years ago and I think I got more blue cheese and red onions than the last time. They call their blue cheese dressing world famous and it was good; but not as good as mine. Good enough for me to finish the whole thing.
My server offered me dessert, but anyone who eats dessert after this is as fat as some of the people that were in this restaurant for lunch. Plus when you eat this much blue cheese you need to get home as quickly as possible. I just asked for the check.
No POS system here. They're still operating in 1995 mode. As she delivered the check I told her that I almost didn't make it because I went to the restaurant and it was gone. She said "It's been 9 months, where have you been?"; I mentioned that they still had a picture of the old place on their Facebook page; of which she denied any knowledge.
Over $20 for lunch. Same old story no matter where you go.
Conclusion
This place has changed hands since my last visit; new location, new owner, same menu. The chef bought the place, so it's really the same. I think the old owners, the former owners of Las Olas Cafe, were more cost conscious; the prices here are the same as 3 years ago and they're still too high for the low rent district, but the portions seem larger. Ernesto has let the web site lapse, has no menu on facebook as well as a picture of a torn down restaurant, and his specials mostly seem like overreach. That being said, it has a loyal following and it's a comfortable place to grab a big salad or a monster pot pie.
Review 12/31/13
I drive by The Mason Jar a few times a week, and I always think the same thing. "Are they Still Open"? From the street, it never looks like anything is going on. There are just a 4 spots out front, and usually just 1 car. They have papers stuck to the door and window, which is what happens when a place goes out of business and doesn't pay the rent. They made a good investment in the Open sign; without it I would have kept on driving today.
When this place first opened I stopped in; I didn't give them much chance. This location is a disaster; no place ever lasted more than a few months. I thought the menu was interesting; the low price point would have appeal in a dull economy, but I had my doubts.
I parked in the rear, and the rear entrance has been spiffed up a bit. It's still kind of dreary, but not as bad as when they first opened.
The first thing that surprised me was the number of people in the place; it was dead empty the last time I was here. It was maybe 1/4 full, but for lunch in this part of town, that's not bad.
It's an attractive place, decorated for Christmas.
The tables are attractive also; there's mellow Christmas music playing.
Now back before 9 other places started serving drinks in mason jars, there was this place; hence the name of the restaurant.
Extra lemon, they have Splenda. So far so good. They have a lunch menu, but you can order off of the full menu as well. I've had my eye on their wedge for a while. I almost went for the Cobb, but given a choice between a Wedge and a Cobb, I'll take the Wedge every time.
The menu they have up is old; the wedge is $11, which is at the high end of prices in town.
They must have given me 6 oz of blue cheese, which is like $5 all by itself. A very large wedge, with red onions and cherry tomatoes. If you like blue cheese and iceberg, you'll like this. The only minor criticism is that the bacon was too finely crumbled. I prefer a very well done strip or 2 roughly broken up into bite size pieces.
I thought this place was dead, but it's not. If you like comfort food, give it a try.
Review 8/3/10
Paula Pace is back. The longtime owner of Las Olas Cafe, which was forced to close on May 30, has teamed up with her Wilton Wings business partner Scott Kraft to open The Mason Jar Cafe. The new restaurant features upscale comfort food in a comfortable cafe setting. Many from the staff at Las Olas Cafe have come to work here. Drinks, in my case Iced Tea, are served in mason jars with handles.
The previous occupant left the place in a total state of disrepair and there's still work to be done, but they couldn't wait any longer. If you wander in between lunch and dinner you may be sharing space with a contractor; but they'll still serve you. The dining room has a eclectic charm; they have some round tables and some square, ceiling fans and soft soothing music playing. There are no TVs here; you don't come here to watch a game.
Their menu features soup, sandwiches including grilled cheese made with Texas Toast and 3 cheeses, and a selection of comfort entrees that include pot roast, meat loaf and chicken pot pie. For a light lunch, I sampled "Ernesto's" Seafood Stew, which is more of a chunky soup with mussels, shrimp, carrots, tomatoes and chicken. The tasty tomato broth is flavored with Bay Leaf and Basil, and is quite soothing even on a blistering summer day.
The mason jar is not without their initial kinks and without a full staff I can't comment on the service. But they do need to get some splenda. People want their yellow.
Parking is an adventure and you must persevere to successfully get here. There are 3 skinny spots in the front which are likely to be taken during lunch or dinner. There's a "driveway" to a back parking lot, but its before the restaurant so if you miss it you can't get back to it, in which case you can turn into the next lot, go all the way through to Middle River Drive and go into the back lot. If you have a big car; park in the back lot and walk through the archway to the front of the building. If you have a smaller car you can try to navigate around the small apartment building; the mason jar rear entrance is right behind it and there are a couple of spots.
They plan on putting in a nice arched door here at some point, but for now this will have to do. If you're viewing this on a real PC I suggest you flip the map below into satellite mode and zoom in to see how to get into the back lot. Its difficult to describe and its somewhat complicated.
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