Confirmed: The Islands will relocate to 671 Washington, former site of Janelle's

eastbloc

Are they actually open? Are they taking phone orders and at what number if so?

whynot_31

Did anyone go? (photo not by me)

whynot_31

This evening Ms Whynot and I had dinner at the new location. As one might expect, the owner/chef was onsite and remembers me from my 10 years of patronage. And, it while there is a menu, it is wise to ask "what is ready?" before ordering. ...food was yummy. She had a veggie curry dish, and I had the jerk chicken.

Vanderbilly

Also there last night. Food and price point unchanged. Cheap and Delicious!! BYOB currently, which makes the super slow service a feature. Plenty of time to drink your wine. My only gripe: I can't believe how little thought they put into the look of the place. And not in a old school homey type way, it's just thoughtless red and blue walls. People may disagree with me, because of their godly status, but the cheap look is whats gonna hold them back from being an hour wait kind of place, a date place. I'm not complaining, I'm just sayin.

whynot_31

It did have the feeling of it being slightly not yet ready. The bar does not have liquor, and the space lacks music or TVs. However, both are clearly in the works. On a similar note, I had a conversation with the owner re: when they will be ready to start delivery and she replied that she was aware she needed to have the kitchen fully staffed and all items available before taking that step. She does not want to suffer bad Yelp reviews, and instead wants to slowly scale up her business to meet the desires of the neighborhood. She seemed to understand that the marketplace is very unforgiving.

eastbloc

Pickup experience is unchanged. You can call ahead and pretend to put in an order but it will only be prepared once you arrive. Fortunately the food is unchanged and well worth whatever it takes to get it. The place was full and they don’t need to do anything to the aesthetics to keep it that way as long as they can cook like they do. It’s authenticity not romance that makes it work. Bonus running into whynot and mrs whynot while waiting for the food. They were there to enjoy a sit-down meal.

whynot_31

Indeed, I had not seen @eastbloc in years. It is clear that The Islands is still figuring out how to prep for a dining area that seats 50. ...the most popular items were not available. While about 6 staff members were present, it may be time for the owners to delegate a few tasks.