Joan's in the Park - Restaurant in St Paul - 631 Snelling Ave S, USA

This was was such a delight! I absolutely love the food and how appreciative the chef/cooks were with the ingredients. Waiter Dan was so warm and provided exceptional service. Definitely would come back

This place was absolutely wonderful! The staff was incredible! Our server was Jen who was phenomenal, and the other was a delightful man who even took our coats when we were seated and also took the time to compliment my hair that I was earlier questioning to my boyfriend. :) The food was delicious! I don’t have a very sophisticated palette but I still really enjoyed my food! The filet minion and the brown butter pudding were both to die for! The drinks were great as well. But I would go back for the service alone. Every person we encountered was wonderful and attentive. All in all, we had a fantastic date! 10/5 stars! Highly recommend!

This is my 5th visit in less than a year! The family atmosphere is apparent. Between Joan, Susan, Dan, and Jen, it's clear that they all want you to have the best experience. They work together well as a team, super caring. Family feeling for sure. We went first on a chance, we searched for the best restaurants in Saint Paul, and Joan's in the park came up. I took my mom and were treated with superb food, amazing wine pairing, bare in mind though, they have one set price for food, then you add, if you so choose, a wine pairing. I recommend doing so. They are so good at pairing the wines. The food is out of this world, don't expect huge portions, when you leave you feel perfect, not hungry, not super full, just perfect. We liked it, and my mom, 80 years old, coming in from Sweden, here to experience Joan's in the park. She liked it so much that she wanted to come back 2 weeks later! She was so taken by the service, the friendliness, and the atmosphere. It's a great place to spend a couple of hours, eat, talk, and just be. If you have a special day that you are celebrating, they will take your picture, not for social media, just for you, and give you a printout. A printout! How cool is that?!? A great memory for your fridge. Do you have a birthday, anniversary or just a special day for you, like a sunny Tuesday, go there! I highly recommend this little place to anyone who wants to experience Saint Paul at its finest. The menu changes often enough, so there is always something new! Although I don't want them to remove the filet mignon. (I just left, and I want to go back already!)

This sounds so cliché that I kind of hate myself for writing it, but it's the most accurate way to describe my experience: they treat you like family. From the minute I walked in the door until I left I was taken care of in the most professional and friendly manner: the service was second-to-none. It was, however, was slightly overshadowed by the amazing food. Delicious food. Fantastically delectable food! Oh my gawd the food. I cannot stress enough how meaningful this statement is coming from me, but every opportunity I get to dine out will henceforth - when under my control- be at Joan's. I cannot wait to go back, and if you're on the fence, frankly you're wasting valuable time when you could be drinking beautiful wine and eating gorgeous handmade delicacies with genuinely warm, smart, friendly people.

Everything from the cozy ambiance, the service, and the flavor combinations were spot on. What a great meal and anniversary celebration!

My husband and I recently celebrated our wedding anniversary at Joan’s. Our food, drinks, and service were phenomenal. We especially enjoyed the savory eclairs, beef tartare, duck breast, and brown butter pudding along with the intimate atmosphere. Highly recommend Joan’s for special occasions or just to enjoy an upscale dining experience.

Wow. 100/10. I'm having trouble writing this review because I have so much to say and feel simultaneously speechless. I knew I wanted to treat my partner to a coursed dinner for his birthday this year. I did a quick Google search and saw that Joan's in the Park was a highly rated restaurant in St. Paul that served a coursed menu. St. Paul is a short drive for us so a quick glance at the menu and reviews and I was SOLD. We arrived at this quaint, local, corner restaurant early for our reservation in hopes of being able to grab a round of drinks at the bar top while waiting to be sat at our table. The building radiated warmth upon walking up and we were greeted promptly and enthusiastically by a lovely woman at the host stand. We were lucky to be able to be sat right away and were so happily surprised to see that the host read our reservation notes (that it was my partners birthday and our shellfish allergy, etc.). They sent us a complimentary round of champagne to celebrate while our server Dan welcomed us in and answered any initial questions we had. Service, from start to finish, was a proper experience in real hospitality. We were so attended to the entire time. Dan did an exceptional job, we can't say enough. It is so refreshing to receive such care as a guest. It was refined, upscale, and truly fine dining, but it felt as cozy and loving as being in mom/dad/loved-one's dining room. The dining room was full, which is always a delight to see, and the energy of the space was upbeat and lively. The way a bathroom is kept says a lot about an establishment and the bathrooms were clean, they smelled nice, and were clearly well maintained. The menu was absolutely divine. First of all, it was SO fun to look through each course and see dishes that we've never had before, think about what we wanted to try, what we might share together and what we were most excited about individually. Then to receive each course and to be completely blown away by the flavors, textures, plating, and overall harmony of all of the ingredients... It is *abundantly* clear that whoever is leading the BOH/Kitchen is creating from a place of love because we could feel it in every bite of our evening. Each course was such a beautiful experience; however, my particular favorite was the poached shrimp for my second course. We shared a couple of desserts and a bottle of wine and had (EASILY) the best meal of 2023 at Joan's in the Park. The only TINY thing that came up for us, not worthy of knocking down any points or stars, was that when we first sat down at our table, because the dining room was so full, it was quite loud and very difficult to hear each other across the table. After a party or two left it was much easier to hear but some kind of sound proofing might do this intimate space some good :) There's a saying in the industry that goes something like, "guests will go to a restaurant for the food, but they will come back for the service." and I am thrilled to suggest that Joans in the Park will have you enthusing about both, for hours, possibly days or weeks, after leaving. We cannot wait to go back and we cannot wait to invite our friends and family to come with. Please do yourself a favor and get here ASAP.

I cannot express how wonderful my experience was at this restaurant. Our waiter, Dan, was fabulous. We were treated like royalty. The food was magnificent. Overall, it was definitely one of the best dining experiences I have had in years. I will definitely be back!