Joe's Stone Crab

Being a man of the world, I'm not completely new to this kind of establishment. One that lives and thrives on its previous achievements and somehow, Joe is still alive despite its many, many flaws.
First of all, in order to not have to wait up to three hours (!) one has to bribe the host greeting you as you arrive. Normally 20 or so dollars will suffice, depending on how many people are waiting in line. First I didn't realize this and spent at least 45 minutes watching other people sailing by, when I noticed the contributions I just promptly asked a guy next to me if it was at all possible and my suspicions were confirmed. This is a horrid practice that I've seen in Russia, China and other developing countries and always in restaurants of lesser fame. Long story short, I too handed a generous contribution to the host and was promptly seated next with our entire group of no less than eight people.
The waitress was very keen on us ordering the very most expensive on the menu, with no or little regard to our specified interest. Sadly, the food turned out to be quite disappointing. Three in our group work with food in restaurant industry so they were very surprised that Joe still seemed to do so well. But if the food was simply good, the service was completely unacceptable from the first bribe on. I'm sure that waiters aren't born rude, but that they are formed by their ambiance and Joe's seems to be one of the worst places to work in, they all seemed rushed and eager for us to choose the most expensive items without being able to motivate or describe them in any convincing way. We felt stressed during the whole meal and seemed all but annoyed with us at times. I paid my bill and felt obligated to tip 20% despite the very steep prices. I'm curious as to why TimeOut recommends this place, it's not something I do.