Food fight on Third Street

Counter culture: Joan's on Third

It's hard to believe the old Joan's used to end about where the dude in white is standing. As you can see, the extra surface area along the wraparound counter is being put to good use. The expanded cheese selection has a new home. Charming flower displays make us struggle to remember if there were flowers in the previous incarnation. Who can tell when you're crammed in like sardines?

But with multiple cash registers, knowing where to pay for what is a comical—read, irritating—challenge, especially the odd business of ordering prepared items on the absolute opposite side of the deli cases.

Point to both LND and JoT for packed-to-the-gills counter display. But we're taking both points back for the perplexing ordering "systems."