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Been here twice, look forward to returning. Surprisingly for its size, the restaurant does not feel cramped. Frisee and lardons, duck rillette, shrimp and grits are all outstanding.

stopped by today for lunch after reading iffy early reviews and more recent-- and much more promising-- takes on JL, and am totally enamored with the place. had a pulled pork sandwich with pickled onions and bloomsday cheese that was ridiculously good -- the meat was so flavorful it drowned out the onions a bit, but was so good that i didn't care. the service was attentive without being overbearing and the atmosphere felt great. should be interesting to see how a trip during dinner hours plays out, but lunch, for sure, is a big winner here.

Beef tartar: luke warm and ground up in a meat grinder instead of hand chopped. The tartar came with a hot poached egg on top that cooked the luke warm beef just enough to turn the top gray. The fried onion rings were the coldest item on the plate. The thing is, the tartar was seasoned perfectly, the poached egg was perfectly cooked, and despite the onion rings being cold, they were still tasty. JL, please hand chop your beef, chill it, and put either a raw egg (quail maybe?) or put the poached egg on the side and send the onion rings out hot. The flavors were great but the dish was poorly executed. Peach Salad: Great. No complaints. Cauliflower Gratin: Great. Just don't put a fist sized florette along with pea sized piece. flavors were great, presentation was poor. Shrimp and Grits. Shrimp was very over cooked, grits had a half centimeter thick skin on them that reminded me of chicken skin. Again, flavors and seasoning were good, execution was very poor. Atmosphere was great. Chairs were very uncomfortable. I get the whole reclaimed/recycle thing in regards to decor, but if it's not comfortable, it doesn't matter. The place could be really great if they fine tuned the food. The ideas are good, the cooks are not. might give it another try in a few months and see if they worked out the kinks.

I am excited about Joseph Leonard coming to our neighborhood. While the opening days seemed to bring a few kinks with it (to be expected), I have full confidence that this place is going to be amazing. The food was delicious - I highly recommend the mussels and oysters - and the cozy comfortable atmosphere cant be beat. I will be back soon...