Joy’s Restaurant

My boyfriend and I go here for breakfast at least twice a month. Friendly service, above and beyond. Very clean and a large menu to please everyone. Actually the first place, we’ve been to in a long time where a spicy breakfast omelette is actually spicy! I enjoy the French toast to the amazing waffles! GO… you won’t regret it!!!

I was attracted by the reviews and pictures and dine in with high expectations, but no, I will not go back again.
I can cook better than what the restaurant could offer.

And it’s Joy’s Restaurant for the win! This little place is amazing. Excellent food! Excellent staff! Our waitress was so sweet and on top of things. The atmosphere was great, small quaint restaurant, not too loud, high back private booths. A wonderful experience all around!

The best omelets! Service is fast and friendly. Love Joys!!! Great place to just go have some yummy breakfast and chill on your day off. Not a whole lot of parking but it doesn’t matter cause the food is off the hook!

This place is my favorite restaurant! Amazing food, such friendly fast service, and cute environment. My only complaint is that its a little small so seating can run out really quick some mornings. But other then that little thing its great. The menus huge but they know how to cook everything on it. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ love it. Why go to gross Arogas when this place is down the road.

I was craving for some mexican food… I look it up on Unilocal what was around and Joy came up. I was a little skeptical because the name don’t match the culinary… How good could that be? Long story short I decided to stop and give it a shot. What a good decision i have made. Every time I’m in town or driving by i have to stop to eat the steak. Everything taste very fresh, homemade, friendly staff, fair price and free fast wifi (much faster than McDs or Dunkin Donuts). You can ask anything on the menu all day long and they will cook for you, from bacon and eggs to a steak with rice, beans and salad.

Love joy… yummy basic text mex… awesome breakfast and reasonable prices… staff is awesome. our favorite is there tacos and salsa Verde sause…

Absolutely love Joys delicious tasty savory breakfast definitely makes my morning ! The Italian omelette is by far the best and their strawberry pancakes are to die for !

My husband and I wanted to try a new breakfast place and we were in Norwich running some errands so we decided to try this place. The funny thing is we ended up getting lunch instead but it was very good! I had some deep fried tacos with steak, beans and rice. And my husband got the burrito and it was a nice size along with beans and rice. The appearance on the outside is nothing special in fact we drove by it on accident trying to find it. And on the inside its about the same. The service was alright it seemed like they were understaffed so it took a while to get drinks and our food. But at least the food was good. I would say overall a decent place to eat but nothing special.

What a great find thanks to some fellow Unilocal contributors. Ate breakfast here while staying near by. It’s a small no frills diner but the food was really outstanding. I had huevos rancheros and subbed the red sauce for green. I was an honorary Texan for 8 years and this could have easily been served at any place there. Rice and beans were good and the salsa verde was really great. Coffee was good too. My sister had the corned beef hash which well done also. Our waitress was attentive and sweet. Don’t hesitate to stop in and eat here.

We chose this restaraunt because it had at least 4 stars and was open for breakfast before 7am. The food was a lot better than I expected. My boyfriend and I shared a Belgian waffle with strawberries and bananas and a bacon, broccoli and cheese omelet, both were excellent. Prices are very reasonable and we got our food within about 10 mins of ordering. Service was great, I’d definitely go back!

I come here often and the food is never dissapointing. The mexican caserole is delicious. Mixed of mexican and american dishes. Staff is friendly and I can assure your cup will never run out of coffee. It is also budget friendly.

Excellent food. Mexican inspired with traditional dishes. Also all the standard favorites. Highly recommend it. 2 mins from casino.

My family goes to Joys 2 – 5 times a month, typically for breakfast or dinner.
They have the usual American /​‘Mexican’ cuisine. Nothing very unique or exciting, but it’s still a good place to eat for some simple food. It’s styled like a diner, that is to say, don’t expect the the food to be _​outstanding_​but if you’re looking for a casual, family-​friendly place to eat, I recommend it. The restaurant is family owned.
Week nights are usually slow. Most of the time when we go at night there are only a couple of tables used (sometimes none). Saturday and Sunday mornings you have to wait in line. I’ve never been for lunch so I can’t speak for that.
Waitstaff is very nice and remember you. I see there is one very negative review especially regarding the waitstaff. I have never had a problem with communication at Joy’s. Not sure what it was like on the day said reviewer went; it sounds like it was a busy morning and who knows what else was going on. Possibly they had someone filling in for another waitress? My guess about with the money is that someone on the kitchen staff came out to help for a moment and I will admit that most of the guys in the kitchen do not speak the best English. On the other hand: this is a Spanish friendly restaurant.
I hate to just reply to someone’s review, but I feel the need to defend Joy’s a bit. They do not use egg beaters/​whites by default. So the egg portions are small if you get just plain eggs. Omelettes on the other hand are rather large, especially if you get one of the stuffed ones. They also do not bring lemon out with the water usually unless you request it.
Anyway. I love the Mexican offerings. The flautas and tostadas are amazing. Tacos are always good. My stepdad enjoys the burritos. My mother an I are both gluten free. Joy’s is not celiac friendly, but if cross contamination is not a major issue, they are fine. If I get something that usually comes with toast I just ask for soft corn tortillas.
Fun trick I do: I get eggs, sausage links (or bacon), home fries, and the tortillas. Wrap the eggs, meat, and potatoes in the tortilla, season to taste and enjoy!
Dinner specials change throughout the week. They have a delicious pork dish once in awhile.
I think the biggest thing to remember is that the ‘American cuisine’ is very typical. That includes the ‘American’-Italian and such. Don’t go expecting it to be something it’s not. I think very highly of the American-​Mexican options.

Great Corned Beef Hash, good sausage, prompt service. Coffee was okay. Satisfied with portions.

We got a late start leaving the casino & still wanted breakfast. We picked Joy’s because of the good reviews…
What a horrible excuse for a restaurant… I gave them 1 star because you had to rate to comment but they DO NOT EVEN DESERVE ONE STAR…
their wait staff doesn’t speak English so they must guess at your order & when you tell them it’s completely wrong they just smile & say OK! OK! & walk away!
We started by ordering water with no lemon… she brought us 2 waters WITH lemon… when we told her that was wrong, she only replaced 1 water…
My bf ordered the American Breakfast… simple 2 eggs, scrambled, bacon, white toast & french fries instead of home fries… easy enough… he also ordered a grilled cheese sandwich to be brought with his meal… complicated I know…
I ordered the American Breakfast, 2 eggs over, hash browns super well done (I even said, «when you think they a burned, put them back on the grill & burn them some more»)… rye toast, no meat…
We also ordered 1 pancake…
My bf’s grilled cheese arrived… with my full breakfast which arrived with home fries that were barely cooked & white toast… normally I just go with it… it’s just breakfast… the pancake also arrived at that time… she dropped it all & walked away, we figured to pick up the rest of his breakfast.
In the meantime, I was buttering my pancake and there was hair on the butter packets… I should have just stopped there but didn’t. We also had to share our creamers with the table next door who ordered coffee but had no creamers…
10 mins later, after he was finished eating his grilled cheese, & my breakfast was cold waiting for his… his eggs finally showed up… his 2 egg portion looked more like ½ egg portion… when she brought his breakfast, that was my first attempt at telling her my breakfast was wrong… she smiled said OK! & walked away.
When he was almost done with eggs & fries. she finally brought his toast… I thought she said, rye toast as she put it down… I said «Oh rye toast?» Thinking she just mixed them up… she said «no that’s white, you ordered rye.» I said, «exactly! But I got white, I also asked for burned home fries, I didn’t get that either.»
Granted I didn’t say it mean so she had no idea I was not happy because SHE DOESN’T SPEAK ENGLISH“
She said, «Ok, you want me to take it away?»… wouldn’t the fact that it was untouched be a universal sign that it was undesirable??? So I chuckled & asked, did you even hear what I said… she said, yes but I don’t understand English… we just laughed & said that explains it…
So we go to the register to complain to the person in charge of money figuring they can at least speak English enough to count, add etc… so we tell her our tale & explain we are NOT paying for my $ 5 breakfast… which, normally, I really would have just paid for it because it’s not worth the hassle of complaining but now it’s become a principle… so the waitress came over & told us & the other employee there is no charge for the grilled cheese because the fries took so long… so our entire bill should have been $ 7 but neither one of them could figure out the bill, the mistakes or what we were paying for so it ended up $ 9 & change it was worth the extra $ 2 to just get out of there…
As we sat there with our meals in front of us, different staff members came out to sit with different customers which explains how they received so many decent comments, they are all friends and family doing them a favor…
Do yourself a favor & find somewhere else to eat…

I have been a long time regular of Joys. Everything from the staff to the speed of service to the prices are all excellent.
Typically my husband and I order the Mexican dishes because you can’t beat their dishes anywhere in town. Often though I do order some classic American dishes and those never disappoint either.
Breakfast favorites include the chilaquilles, their waffles and the grilled cornbread (you absolutely must try!)
Lunch and dinner favorites include the enchiladas suizas, California wrap, and a good old grilled cheese and fries (which I had today)
For appetizers you must try the guacamole and the nachos.
I love that they open so early and that I can order dinner for breakfast and breakfast for dinner especially working crazy hours myself– being able to order a meal I want and not restricted to «breakfast times and menus» is pretty great. Joys is always willing to accomaccommodate and that is why we always make a stop when we can! I should mention that I am a vegetarian and they have limitless options for me and make frequent modifications to make me exactly what I want if something I want has meat in it.

Well worth the trip! Great food, fast friendly service and breakfast served any time. Will be back for sure. If you’re near the casinos stop in you’ll be glad you did.

I thankfully no longer live in norwich, but when I come to visit friends and family I frequently go out to breakfast at Joy’s. Staff is friendly and efficient, restaurant is clean, and food is always good. They’re usually busy and parking is tough… but it’s because everyone loves this spot. Glad Joy’s is doing well!

Joy’s Restaurant is an unassuming building on 32; just minutes from Mohegan Sun. Upon walking in on an early Saturday evening, we were greeted by a lovely waitress. We decided to sit at the bar and got a good view of the place. It’s really clean in here. Just sayin’…
To start, we had some tortilla chips and salsa. The chips came out nice and warm. For the main course, I had the flautas. You know how most places have really bland and stale rice and beans? This place was not most places; it was flavorful and fresh feeling. The lettuce on my plate was crisp and cold. My little cousin got this BLT style sandwich, enormous and packed with bacon. The fries were good.
Basically, the food was good, the place was clean. But our server though. She was knowledgeable, attentive, and always there when we needed her. She seemed to be the only person on, which is incredible, because there seems to be a lot to do, but she could clearly handle it.