JF Restaurant -- a review

[Penny]

Last night a friend and I ate at the new JF Restaurant close to Mike's Global Grill in Boquete. Don't know what the "J" stands for as the two principals seem to be Ruben and Frank. They are still learning the ropes about advertising but at least they're trying to advertise unlike most Panamanian eating establishments which are clueless about advertising to foreigners.

The restaurant is located across the side street from Mike's in a building that was once Barbara Rabkin's art studio as well as a couple of other failed restaurants. They call this neighborhood "cemenerio". The guys have done extensive remodeling and opened up some outdoor eating areas so the place is really quite roomy and the windows are great for watching the world pass by on this busy intersection.

They have a full bar including their house specialty drink which is some kind of combination including vodka and curacao to make it blue.

The prices are more than reasonable. I had a hamburger and fries which cost a grand total of $4.50. The burger must have been 3/4 lb of beef and had all the fixings including cheese and bacon. The two of us could share and not finish it all. They have steaks for $12.

There was an abundance of staff and the service was prompt and mostly bi-lingual. Their grand opening is today, March 25. Maybe some of you would like to go and try it out.

The down-side is a lack of parking.

Edited March 25, 2018 by Penny

[Bud]

Thanks for posting. We will give it a try in the near future.

Agree with your comments about the lack of marketing skills. Just seems so basic to me, but I obviously don't know how things work here. Duh!

Encouraged re your comments about the food service, sizes of the servings, etc. Nowadays Marcelyn and I typically order one main dish and then split, and there still is food leftover.

Re the parking, there must be a law that requires new restaurants to open without providing any parking.

Will post a review after we have visited the new JF Restaurant.

We wish them well, and there is reasonable expectation of success given your comments about pricing, service, food quality, and serving sizes.

[Penny]

2 hours ago, Bud said:

We wish them well, and there is reasonable expectation of success given your comments about pricing, service, food quality, and serving sizes.

Given the low price and the huge quantity of food, I don't know how they can make a profit. Maybe if they attract a huge quantity of diners -- which seems unlikely given the lack of good advertising and the parking situation.