We ate at Joe's for the first time almost 25 years ago and then again 10 years ago and had wonderful memories of a fine dining establishment. We spent Christmas in Miami and decided to visit on Christmas eve. We arrived just before 5pm, enjoyed a drink at the bar and were lucky enough to be in the first seating after getting our names on the list.
After hearing our names called and being seated, our experience went downhill. Our waiter was not friendly and not interested in our dining experience, and this was not how we remembered the restaurant. And we noticed that there seemed to be more wait staff than customers in the restaurant while we were there. We began to feel that it seemed to be a race to see how many people could be rushed through their meals and how quickly the tables could be turned for new customers. For what we paid for this meal, rushing and a complete lack of service should not have been what stood out the most. Not sure if we will ever go back after watching the revolving door of service(or should I say lack of service) just to make a buck!

November 2112.
Outbound flight plans forced me into a 7 hour layover in Miami's airport. Traded in a free rental day certificate, grabbed a rental car & headed to Joe's Stone Crab.

The layover timing was perfect. Only took about 20 minutes to get to the restaurant location (leaving airport at 10:30am on a Friday morning) and put us there just before they started lunch service. Bar was open & gladly served cocktails.

Getting there early is recommended. The place filled in very quickly between 11am & 11:30am.

Service was wonderful. All of the wait staff seemed cheerful and genuine when it came to wanting everyone to enjoy the experience.

There is a small outdoor patio area that was perfect for what we were expecting from Miami Beach... sunshine & umbrela covering for shade. Rough guess looking back puts the outdoor table count at/around 12 tables.

Street out front was undergoing serious repair work (November '12), response was that the work was to continue thru 1st quarter of 2013.

Inside seating options were a lively bar seating around a very large bar or lots of tables in multiple separated rooms.

Pricey.... couple of cocktails, bottle of wine, good size sampling of crab claws, two family style side dishes & desserts cost us just shy of two bills. Go without the wine & cocktails and you could probably do a very nice lunch for two at a reasonable price.... realize that this is Miami Beach and you're Joe's Stone Crab... location, location, location.

Would I go back? Yes, because it's not something I can get back home in central Illinois.
Would I go often if I could? No because of the price.

As an fyi... there is more of a deli style version of Joe's RIGHT NEXT DOOR. We did a walk thru on the way out & it seemed to be very popular as well. Prices were a bit more down to earth but the fare was more focused on sandwiches and such.

Made it back to the airport by 3pm & back thru security with time to spare.

Overall excellent! We got there a little after 5pm. They were already mostly filled. Service and meals were excellent no complaints!

We had lunch on New Year's Day , we had jumbo stone crabs which were outstanding . We also had the fried chicken and has browns, everything was terrific including the service .