JNA Institute of Culinary Arts

My husband and I went last night. It was French. Simply delicious. Sharon was our waitress, Very friendly. Started with soup. We had French onion and potato leek, very good. Then escargot, delicious. Then the pork and fish, they were perfectly cooked. The desert, omg. We were so full and just had to eat it. Had the bread pudding. The best we have ever had.
We brought our own wine and simply enjoyed the night.
We highly recommend this place. We will be back. I told about 20 people today and half went right on the web site to review the menu. I know they will be down.
Bön appetit !!

Went to JNA for the first time last week to attend their Plant Based Thanksgiving Cooking Class. The class began at 6:30 pm and our instructor said we would eat at 8:30 pm. However, we didn’t actually start cooking until 7/7:15pm and the dinner wasn’t finished until 9:20pm. We were starving by then and it was hard to even enjoy what we had helped cook. Chef Christina was a knowledgeable and skilled instructor, but we were disappointed to hear that normally a class held 10 – 16 students, but that night they were trying to accommodate 30 people. It was particularly obvious that our class was over-​crowded when the food was portioned out to each with nothing but a few bites on the plates. It was also a let down that we didn’t get to work on cooking each course, but were rather instructed to chop vegetables and then mostly just watched one person stir or sauté. I honestly couldn’t say that I 100% understood how to make or exactly what ingredients were in one of the dishes. Thankfully a pamphlet with the recipes for each dish were given out, but I would’ve appreciated more organization and instruction in a cooking class.

We had a great experience here. The menu changes four times a year, and this summer it’s been a tapas menu. You choose two appetizers, one entrée and one dessert for $ 25, and you also get a beverage. There is a wine list also.
We had spicy potatoes, roasted red peppers with goat cheese, croquettes and flatbread; pork tenderloin and chicken; rice pudding and chocolate mousse. Everything was delicious, even the pre-​dinner bread.
The service was friendly, attentive and well-​timed. The décor was okay.
Located on Broad St. just south of Washington with lots of parking and a Pep Bowl right around the corner. Great night out!
We will definitely be back!

We had a great experience at JNA Culinary Institute. They were offering their spring menu with a Mediterranean theme. We started off with grilled pita and fresh hummus (very flavorful) and tzatziki sauce. My second course was polenta gnocchi topped with fresh tomatoes and cheese. Third course was a lamb and pepper dish (which I didn’t care for but had good flavor). I had the Greek pastry for dessert which was phenomenal (very similar to a churro).
They were short on student servers so one of the professors was our server. She was incredible!
Also, they brought out fresh roll of bread with each course!
Great value for 4 course dinner for $ 25 (Amazon local).

great deal

Came back for a second round since my first time was such a great time. This time I came with a total of 4 people. They changed the menu to Mediterranean which I was excited to try some new dishes!
Unfortunately both food and service were lacking this time, much different than my first visit.
The service — although she was very nice — she was incredibly awkward. truly not trying to be mean — but as a server she was not very professional, was unsure of herself and stumbled a bit on her words and descriptions — just needs a bit more confidence, makes the experience much better! Keep at it – I mean for this to be encouraging, not to be demeaning
Food was a bit sub par this time. Last time I was truly blown away. But this time, it was more apparent that these were dishes cooked my students.
The hummus was bland — the yogurt dill sauce was great though.
I enjoyed the «gnocchi» made with polenta — enjoyed the texture but it was a bit bland as well could use some seasoning.
I was excited for the cod dish — which was well cooked nice and flakey — but again really lacking on the seasoning — I had to put a decent amount of salt on the fish which I almost never do. It lacked flavor completely.
I will say I tried my boyfriend’s chicken which was delicious, well cooked and seasoned.
My dessert was okay — the fried dough. It was just overly sweet and not much else to it for flavor profile
I’d be back to try other dishes though the next time their menu changes!

Everything was absolutely amazing. The student who served us was fantastic, and the food was delicious. The courses were properly timed and well matched. Dessert was perfect (I had a dark chocolate bread pudding with white chocolate drizzled over it). I had a Groupon which made it a great deal ($ 25 for $ 50), but I would gladly pay full price to go again.

I went to JNA for the first time because my friend had a groupon (the 4 course menu for 2 for $ 30). It is normally $ 25 a person, which in and of itself is a great deal! I went when they had their winter menu and everything was delicious and fresh tasting.
I had butternut squash soup to start, an herb crêpe filled with mushroom and chicken confit (this had an odd smell which probably accompanies confit but I was not used to it– however it did taste good), salmon in brown butter sauce with potatoes and string beans, and their dark chocolate bread pudding. It was all very good and I am definitely interested in going back for another seasonal menu. Everyone who worked there was extremely nice and the french inspired menu was accompanied nicely by french music. Overall it was a great experience.

I really like the food here. They have different cuisine each season. It is a good deal getting 4 courses is it for $ 25? Service is good. Overall I enjoy coming here. The only draw back is making the reservation, which I have to do months in advance. Sighs…

Enjoyed our experience here. Our server was very nice and attentive, as were all of the other students we had stop at our table to fill our waters or ask how things were. I had the mixed greens salad (standard), gnocchi with basil and tomatoes (delicious), eggplant served with mashed polenta (delicious), and cheesecake topped with blueberries (delicious and HUGE). Love that it is BYO — however they do have wine available for purchase as well. As other Unilocalers have mentioned, the décor is a bit dated/​odd, however it didn’t bother me much. We had a Groupon which was also great to use on our first visit there. We would certainly return because the location is convenient and the food was quite good for the price.

Our server, Patty was flawless, as were her helpers, some of them instructors. All the food was delicious, only concern was that the food could have been hotter when served, and the pork chops were somewhat overcooked. Street parking in the area is tight.
We will be back.

My friend got a groupon for JNA and she invited me to come with her. Apparently, making a reservation at JNA is pretty epic but based on what she told me but I am glad I got a chance to go there. I had a very pleasant experience and the food was pretty yummy! My meal started off with the soup special which was pretty similar to a chicken noodle soup but it was really yummy. Next, I had the Gnocchi with tomatoes, basil and parmesan. I wished there was a little more basil in there but it was still a good plate. Next came the
Cacciatore di Agnello which is lamb over some polenta. I loved the plate but I just don’t think the polenta was made right. I had a lot of Italian polenta homemade and the texture, the taste and the color was not on point. The lamb, however, was very good. For the dessert I got the Vesuvius di Cioccolata which was on point and very yummy! The meal without groupon comes up to 25 $ which I find pretty reasonable given the amount of food we get.

My mom is a former culinary school graduate and I thought she’d really like this opportunity so I had a mom-​date Friday night.
Although I’m rating this a generous three stars, I did enjoy my experience here. It was fun eating in a restaurant where the staff are students at a cooking school. Because of that, I’m not going to write a critical review where I would nitpick all the issues I had with the food because it is a learning experience. I left some commentary on the comment card instead. I will say though there were major problems with nearly every aspect of the food. I don’t know what type of oversight is happening in the kitchen before the food comes out, but that needs to be improved.
The service was very friendly and I got the feeling that our waitress Victoria was proud of her accomplishments, her school, welcoming to feedback, and overall very happy to serve us which was a nice feeling. I did come on the first night of the new menu which probably was a contributing factor to the three star review.
I came with a Groupon and enjoyed the outing. Had I paid full price, I would have left feeling very disappointed. Don’t forget to BYOB. There is a wine and spirits store 3 blocks away.

Excellent food! It was a Belgium themed menu. Favorites were an egg, bacon, potatoes salad, mussels, frites, and steak dish. Hats off to the pastry chef. The décor was dated, but kitchy and the staff was friendly and attentive. So cheap for such great dishes.

The servers were nice – they get a ⁴⁄₅.
Ambience, so-​so – 2.5/5.
Food was awful. Bread – tasteless; mussels and pomme frites were okay; steak entrée appalling, needed to be sent back twice to be cooked; I passed on dessert because I could not stand the incompetence anymore, but my dining partner tasted it and found it awful. We doggie-​bagged it and left it in the trashcan outside.

Wow! This is our second time going here, and the food is yet again super consistently well-​done. Each course was delicious! The service was good, too.
It’s byob, which is always nice (though they do sell wine by the glass and the bottle, too).
As everyone says, the price is a fantastic deal for the quality and quantity of food. This is, honestly, much better quality food than you would find at many non-​student-​run restaurants.
My only complaint would be that the décor is not the best, but the food and service more than make up for it.
We will be back!

I loved JNA! This was the third time i went there with a groupon which allows you to get a 4 course meal for two people for $ 25. Regular price is $ 25 a person, but for that you get a 4 course meal and its BYOB! Its all run by students so i was skeptical at first but after being there three times i was plesantly suprised at the really good quality of the food.
Usually the first course is soup or a light apptizer, second course is a salad or another light app (depending on the night) and the third course is the entrée and they have a wide variety to pick from (chicken, steak, fish ext and they even have vegiterian options). The fourth course is dessert. The staff was really pleseant and they have background themed music depending on the night. Good for a nice romantic date!
One thing i would reccomend they change is to have larger water glasses because they were very small and i had to refull like 5times other than that i would definitely reccommend this place!

Due to traffic we arrived a half hour late but we were still able to get a table. The dining area is sort of make shift restaurant, keeping mind this is a school. After placing our orders, the bread with olive oil arrived nice and warm. We chose the pita with hummus and yogurt dip. The hummus was a lil bland but the yogurt dip was great. Next was the appetizers: polenta dumplings and shrimp. The polenta dumplings weren’t in a dumpling shape but it tasted great with the diced tomatoes on top. And the sauce that came w the shrimp was very was very flavorful. There was a noticeable lag waiting for the entrees. I got the cod and found the fish to be quite good. The lamb was a lil too gamey for me. It was the groupon that drew me to this place ($ 25 for two) and I would def come back.

PROS: Decent food at decent prices
CONS: Nothing out of the ordinary
The food here is comparable to a lot of restaurants in the city, but comes at a cheaper price. Nothing we ordered particularly stood out, though. The menu has a pretty standard French selection (ie. onion soup, escargots, crème brûlée). The ambiance is not great (you can see the office rooms in the restaurant school), but you can tell they really tried to make the dining area pleasant. The level of professionalism is pretty low (lots of nervousness and ordering mishaps). Overall, not too bad, considering it is a restaurant school training ground.

What an interesting little experience JNA is! It took me weeks to get a Friday evening reservation here due to their Groupon deal. We decided to keep a very open mind going into it, because it is a culinary school and $ 25 for two, four-​course meals was incredibly inexpensive.
The décor is a little on the kitschy side, but it was quiet and a good amount of space between the tables, which was great for privacy. I enjoyed the mix of simple vs. complex items on the menu. The stars of the night were the escargot, butternut squash soup, the sear on both main proteins, and the desserts were both above average. We both felt the chicken confit crêpe-​like appetizer was lacking in taste and was heavy. Both main courses were cooked perfectly, but were completely under sauced.
It appears that you can BYOB here, even though they serve wine and beer. We’ll have to check on that before our next dinner. If you’re looking for an interesting, lower price night out, give JNA a try.