Jay's 108 Kinston

A quality Asian fusion restaurant in downtown Kinston. Wide variety of sushi options, great rice bowls (very generous!), a nice selection of burgers, beer and drinks. I strongly recommend the crack chicken rice bowl, bulgogi rice bowl, and the salad with ginger, but the miso soup is good too. Portion sizes are quite generous and the cost hits that price-to-quality ratio just right. When it gets busy--like a Friday night--be forewarned that depending on your party size, there might be a wait. Quality also goes down when the kitchen is slammed, which is somewhat to be expected. The seating area can feel a little cramped but overall the atmosphere is comfortable, rustic with a brick and chalkboard vibe.

Seems how trying to fix it privately, doesn’t work. I will share my experience online, then come in for my money to be refunded. Food should be cooked the same no matter what. Hit or miss, depending on what chef you get. This could have fixed when I reached out, but of course not. That would have been professional. If you want takeout, go elsewhere.

Jays is somewhere my family and I are regulars at and always enjoy coming in. The food and service is always outstanding but last night we went in to eat and sat on the patio we were told by our server that they are short staffed and there’s only 2 of them running the restaurant. Everything was amazing as always but as we sat outside, we overheard 3 employees talking about wanting to quit due to the fact that the GM hasn’t stepped up to help at all. A few minutes later, the GM is outside hitting his vape while there’s a full bar and dining area. I love coming in but it’s sad to watch these servers struggle and the GM is outside smoking instead of helping. I get being under staffed. I have served and bartended and I am the most understanding customer you could have sit at your table when it

Mocktails are good here. I did have an occasion once where it was a different bartender and they weren’t as good as the usual. Berry Basil Blitz is our favorite, fresh and herby. Also highly recommend the Red Samurai. Blue Hawaii and Pineapple Express were good as well.

The drinks, appetizers, miso soup, burger and sushi were all outstanding! Our waitress was amazing; she was very friendly and helpful and made us feel like it was her pleasure to assist us. The Patron margaritas were made from scratch and were wonderful, as was the Appletini Martini. The Bugogi wrap was unique; the wrap, the crack chicken and miso soup were awesome. My husband loved The Burger, it was cooked perfectly and the coleslaw was great. The presentation of the 6 rolls we ordered was a work of art; everything was perfectly arranged and easily accessible. The Goldsboro was good; the Drum Roll, Kinston Roll, Patron Roll, Snow White Roll, and Sumo Special roll were phenomenal.