Bobby Jo’s

Fantastic little diner! Great vegan options too! Friendly staff, clean and quirky vibe! Normally end our day at Southend with a trip to Bobby Jo’s Diner!

Tried this place one evening on the off chance, and was thoroughly impressed with the food, service, and the well appointed authentic getup.
The milkshake was my favourite thing by far.

Saturday afternoon was spent with family at Bobby Jo’s Diner at Southend Sea Front, and it was rather lovely!
After getting a parking space which took a few goes around the car park due to the sun shining and Southend being full of things to do, we managed to get the last table in there!
Myself and the partner in crime both had Rodeo Burgers, cheese, bacon and onion rings on top of a 6oz. burger, which was amazing! I got curly fries and he got normal fries, and we left our plates empty! One of our party was veggie and she loved her veggie fajitas, so we were all very happy with our food choices!
The atmosphere was really nice and it’s great to see a local family business doing so well.
I’m sure the stunning Cadillac parked outside may have something to do with it, there were constant crowds around it taking photos as it shined in the sun!
I can’t wait for my return.

I liked the atmosphere at Bobby Jo’s, the food was tasty, though a tad slow (granted we did have a large group at a pretty busy time). I enjoyed that they have a crème soda. The burger was a little drier than expected and the onions not caramelized but I did enjoy the burger. Very friendly staff.

good place, lovely but the food wasn’t to good. the ribs tasted like fish.

visited southend on a cold, windy sunday with my boyfriend and one of my most favourite friends. we decided to walk down and back on the world’s longest pleasure pier, and were chilled to the bone and in need of something restorative to eat — a quick google search threw up bobby jo’s diner. being a fan of all things american, kitsch and 50s, we knew we were on to a winner!
we arrived at 3pm, but even so, this is a small place and it was full — in order to get a table or booth we were looking at a 45 minute wait. we ended up sitting on bar stools at a counter (which is at the back of the diner, so you’re not exposed at all) which was great as it meant we got seated straight away and we had a perfect people watching position of the whole place, including the counter where two girls were busy churning out freshly made milkshakes.
my boyfriend and friend opted for one banana and one strawberry milkshake, whilst i opted for wine (i’m a wino, what can i say!), but i got the best of both worlds cos i also got to taste both of theirs. YUM! fresh strawberries/​bananas, two scoops of icecream, blended together with whipped cream and a cherry on top. they were two very happy bunnies.
i decided to go with buffalo wings for my food as i have recently discovered that i have an obsession with them (i go through phases… olives, peanut butter, plums, cherries, ribena, diet coke…). i also ordered a side of curly fries. they delivered me a side of fries, and i’m not a complainer so i took them, and they were good, and a ridiculous (huge) sized portion. my buffalo wings came with BBQ sauce, but i would have been so much happier if they came with bleu cheese sauce instead — much more traditional! to be honest, my wings were dry and not spicy at all (despite being advertised as such) but they were edible and i enjoyed the vibe of the place so much that it’s all good.
my boyfriend and friend both had the rodeo burger with curly fries. curly fries are just great. they both liked their burger but commented on how ‘meaty’ it was. like more meaty than a burger normally is — weird!
two more things to comment on: 1. everyone in the world would like a peanut butter milkshake, please and 2. the wait staff were really great, adorably rockabilly/​50s-​esque, friendly, quick and efficient. good place, i will definitely return if i am ever in southend again!

this place looks and feels great only problem is the food is disgusting un-​edable fries! they get your order totally wrong and they are way to expensive, a real shame because its the sort of place id like otherwise!

I’m a big fan of retro-​themed outlets done well, and the bosses at Bobby Jo’s definitely know their stuff. The décor and uniforms, old posters and photos and period music throw you straight into 1950s America. It’s such a shame the sea wall opposite obscures the view of the sea!
As far as food is concerned, the Bobby Jo’s team also know their stuff when it comes to burgers. Their offering is made on site to a Bobby Jo’s recipe, and it’s fantastic. Good beef has been used, and the patties are fat and well seasoned. Each time I’ve dined here, the burgers have maintained their standard and flavour. You can have a classic burger, but their San Fransisco option is equally delicious. The standard fries eaten on my most recent visit weren’t up to the previous standard, although my companions adored the curly fries.
The milkshakes are out of this world, and come in all sorts of flavours while worth the wait, I did feel the service was a bit slow when it came to the shakes. We didn’t get them until we’d started eating.
Also, I felt the young waitresses could have done a better job of throwing themselves into the spirit of the place. They were quite lacklustre in their bearing, and a bit sloppy our table was not laid until we were served our food, and there were no condiments until requested, despite every other table already having them. I’d have given an extra star if the girls were as good at service as the main man (I believe him to be the owner). He was fun, cheeky and clearly loving his job.

The place is lovely, good atmosphere, very friendly staff! but the food wasnt great, typical pub food with a stone cold, wet hot dog straight out of the jar

A nice little American style diner opposite the Sealife Centre.
I love quirky or different restaurants so was delighted when Bobby Jo’s opened as at last it was something different in Southend, and I have probably visited it now about 4 times.
The food is delicious (although nothing fancy) and the home-​made burgers have got to be my favourite so far! All of the waiters and waitresses are dressed up and they have completed the look with an old fashioned juke box.
Their milkshakes are fabulous and I have tried to work my way through the menu and haven’t been disappointed with any of them yet.
The menu is a little limited but my main issue is that they can be busy especially at the weekends and so sometimes service can suffer because of this (it took nearly half an hour once for us to be served!).
Overall it is nothing fancy but makes a change from the norm.