Italian Jim’s Pizzeria

We had dinner with Tiffany’s glass bead artists club here and enjoyed the food as well as watching the glass artists next door blow glass vessels. The service was great even though we were a large party, and the food was good.

Holy smokes that was bad. Slow service (nice kid though), horrible pasta, no free refills on «complimentary» bread sticks, no booze, bad elevator music… dare I go on? Wife’s meal was so bad, she let them know and they said they could NOT take it off the bill… what?!
Oh, but the kids did enjoy watching the glass blowing… no food involved here.

Our go-​to local pizzeria. Not only delicious pizza, but great italian dishes as well at affordable prices. The environment of blown glass hand made by the owners is charming and unique.

I used to eat at this place when it was in Yukon. Come to Italian Jims and you will see what happens when a bunch of high school and college kids run a restauraunt. I have to say worst eating experience I have had in Edmond. I cannot believe the audacity of putting this place next door to Othellos. For starters we had to seat ourselves. Next we ordered the tomato bruchette. I could taste how it did not seem fresh. It had a fermented taste. Next up was the chicken sandwich on a hard roll. In yukon, they used to serve it with fresh green and red pepper. That has been replaced by those red peppers from a jar. I ordered the tomato and gouda soup. I swear it came out the consistency of a thick spaghetti sauce. I showed my wife how I could hold it upside down on a spoon. I just had to send it back. $ 40 for me, my wife, and 4 year old son. Wish we had gone to zarates or othellos. Oh, almost forgot. The table next to use had bread with their meal. The waiter straight up asked if they wanted more bread and told them it would be 30 cents per breadstick since they already had some. Wow. What a joke. I hope they make money blowing glass because the restauraunt will be failing soon.

This place is realer than real. The food is excellent. The staff are friendly and eager to please. The built-​in glass-​blowing studio is AMAZING. This is our very large, very picky family’s favorite place!

Was not expecting an atmosphere like this in the OKC area. Being able to watch the glass blowing while you eat, a live violin and cello player, and a NYC loft type dining area was cool. The food itself was pretty good, but nothing out of this world. The waitstaff we had seemed relatively new and not sure of himself but he was definitely polite. Not too bad overall. Just wished they had a wine menu! No alcohol is served here.

If your looking for an alternative to The Olive Garden because you are in search of freshness ams flavor, Italian Jim’s is for you. We had the spinach artichoke dip which was fantastic. It was freshly made and the consistency was a bit different than the canned /​buffet stuff I’m used to (I’m moving up in the world).
The food can take a bit longer to come out, but that is simply because its being cooked and prepared fresh in the kitchen. This is not really a negative but just something to keep in mind if you are looking for a quick bite to eat.

The glassblowing shop next door is the best part of the restaurant. The blown glass pieces for sale inside are cool to look at. The food is not that great.

The food was all pretty good. Service was great. No alcohol? Pretty big drawback. As a true American, I like to wash down my pizza with a cold domestic pilsner. No beer at a pizza place a deal breaker.

Not a good experience and it was our first time in! My family was seated for 10 minutes, on a Friday night and no one ever came to take a drink order or tell us, «I’ll be with you in a moment.» Two people were seated next to us and were waited on within minutes.
Needless to say, we left. We won’t be going back. We went to Hideaway.

I wish I could give less than one star. We arrived and immediately told waitress that we were limited on time. Asked what we could order that could be delivered to the table in 15 – 20 minutes. At the 45 minute point we still did not have food. (Except the flavorless ceasar side salad that had been delivered) at this point we told the kitchen that we needed everything packed to go. Once I finally got to try the food (meatball sub) it was atrocious! The meatballs were soggy, the sauce had a weird flavor. Threw it out after the second bite. Pretentious without the food quality to back it up.

I had eaten at the Yukon location several times before it closed and was always impressed by the Super Pepperoni. If you love pepperoni, you have to try it – not an inch isn’t slathered in crispy slices! Since moving to Edmond, I have truly come to love this location. The waitstaff is always super friendly and service is great. The salads are great and bread sticks are wonderful. All set in downtown Edmond – a great place to eat! Love the specials posted on Facebook and the selection is really good. I haven’t been disappointed yet! Keep up the great work!

Italian Jim’s is my Favorite Restaurant in Edmond! We dine in and use the TO GO service a lot. I have also used Chris (Italian Jim’s) for Catering! Food is always great and Chris goes out of his way to make sure service is perfect! The restaurant is very hip and trendy and a great family place. It’s a treat to watch him and his son in the Glass Blowing Studio adjoining the restaurant. Pizza is some of the best in the state!
Great People and Great Food!

On a whim, thinking we were going out for our Friday night pizza, decided to try Italian Jims restaurant in downtown Edmond, OK. We were pleasantly surprised to find a beautifully upscale, artsy, Jazz venue. The owner is also a Glass blower and has His art located throughout the restaurant. Italian Jims, formally Jim’s pizzeria in Yukon, has fabulous Italian cuisine. We ordered the Chicken Parmesan $ 11 and the Chocken Veggie Capellini $ 9, both were outstanding. This new favorite of ours also serves Pizza, which they are famous for, sandwiches, under 600 cal entres steaks and fish. We will be returning. .. Soon. Also, the crème brule (homemade) is. Outstanding.

Italian Jim’s is the kind of place you can easily mistake for one type of restaurant when it is very clearly another kind entirely. Yes, it is actually Italian food. What caught me off guard is that upon entry, I thought business casual wear might be a bit under-​dressed. Truth is, it’s a family restaurant with open ceilings and blown glass displays. The staff is very friendly and open, quite eager to show off their glass blowing. The studio was closed by the time I dropped by, but they have more regular evening hours on the weekends.
As for the food, the short version is that it was mostly great. First things first, I got a Lost Trail crème soda, which they provide a frosty mug for. Quite tasty stuff, a nice little change of pace. The breadsticks aren’t all that exciting, but they are served with an olive oil and balsamic vinegar mix with a tiny bit of shredded Parmesan. That’s a nice touch there. For my entrée, I had penne sausage al Forno, rather tasty although the top was a touch too crispy and the vegetables leaned very heavily on the onions. As for dessert, a crème brûlée, a nice finish to the meal, although I recall it having a very crispy edge as well.
I like the place well enough, but I’ll really need to go back for the glass blowing. That may change my mind on the clashing atmosphere which feels like it wants to be two places at once and neither really fitting the fare. I hate to be so picky on that but it genuinely threw me off the entire time and the restaurant is otherwise better than that, especially in service.

We were drawn to this place because they have an attached glass blowing shop. Unfortunately, seats that let you see the glass blowing require reservations. The blown glass decorations are a bit over-​done — but I guess that’s what they do.
We expected romantic italian but the atmosphere reminded me more of bucca de beppo with open seating, vaulted ceilings and loud chatter. It’s also obvious this is a converted warehouse because they hung the cooling ducts from the ceiling and it doesn’t circulate properly. Halfway through our meal the kitchen had created a really smokey atmosphere and because of the poor A/​C, it just stayed there. The next surprise was that they don’t serve alcohol… waaa? We ordered ice tea and they promised us some bread sticks. The bread sticks kept getting delayed but I assumed it must be worth it since they were taking so long. But when they finally came (15 minutes later) they were your run of the mill pre-​made frozen bread sticks that you pop in the oven — kinda embarrassing.
For dinner we ordered the chicken vegi capellini, bruschetta and caprese. The capellini was unexpectantly good with fresh vegis and a nice sauce. The bruschetta was about average. The caprese was disappointing because it only had 1 leaf of basil — not sure how a chef can think that’s ok.

I had been looking forward to trying Italian Jim’s for several weeks and it did not disappoint. I called ahead for a party of nine on Tuesday night. When I arrived, I was greeted first by the hostess Mandy, who was lovely and very helpful. Then the owner Chris came over and talked to my parents and me about the history of the restaurant, it’s humble beginnings, and its transformation into the very cool downtown Edmond space it is today. He has to be one of the nicest restauranteurs in the metro as it is rare to have someone spend that much time visiting with you and answering all your questions.
Jim’s is adjacent to a glass blowing studio also owned by Chris, we were able to watch the artists work while they got our table ready. The artistic theme carries throughout the restaurant with local art on the walls and handblown glass lights and dishes everywhere you look. I think this is such a cool concept and it works really well.
The food was excellent. As we always do, we ordered a lot so we could share. I got to try the pizza, and if you grew up here and loved Crystal’s Pizza, this will take you right back! In addition to my sweet parents, our party included my aunt and uncle, (the famous Uncle G, my dining partner in crime!) my cousin and his wife, and Mr K and his mom. My cousin and I practically grew up at Crystal’s and he’d already had Italian Jim’s pies, so he was excited to see if I thought they reminded me of childhood, which they totally did! I would definitely get a pizza for table to split as an appetizer, even if you’re having something big for dinner.
The caesar is a cross between a casar and Applewood’s Green on Green salad– so good and a really nice departure from most of the caesars in this town (and I’ve had lots of them)! The casear earns 5 stars, handily. I was able to try the baked eggplant (4 stars), the chicken parmesan (5 stars) the eggplant parmesan (3 stars, a special, perhaps not perfected yet), and the lasagne (4 stars). I wished I had ordered differently, as I had the shrimp linguine in a pesto cream sauce. It was not bad at all, it was just too rich for me, and in the end, I didn’t really need anything since what I really wanted to do was try a bite of everyone else’s. I agree with Jeff M’s review that the marinara sauce is wonderful, in part because of a hint of sweetness that was unexpected and really nice.
Our waiter Ron did a great job with our large group, and Chris came by to check on us several times, so that part of the experience was perfect. They seem to be well-​versed and comfortable with large groups since our food came out all together, in a timely fashion and at the right temperature. There were several other large groups there at the same time, so the kitchen must be a well-​oiled machine.
So– some notes:
Call ahead, just to be on the safe side. They don’t take reservations but work hard to get you set up when you call ahead.
They also do not sell alcohol. Not to fear: Vin Dolce is across the street. I’d start there, have a glass of wine, eat at Jim’s, then go back for a second glass of wine and share a dessert. You guys know I like my wine (and beer, and vodka, and…) but this place is so good I didn’t even mind that I couldn’t have a glass of wine with it. (Vin Dolce is great, review to follow!)
The prices are very fair for what you get. The lack of alcohol really keeps the price down, but I was pleasantly surprised when our check for nine came to 175 after tax, and we had ordered a lot of appetizers, salads, two pizzas, etc. If you were being careful, this could be a budget date night, (though it’s not necessarily romantic, more family oriented).
I will definitely be back– in fact I already know I plan to order the caesar and the chicken parm!

I find it odd that an Italian restaurant doesn’t offer Caesar dressing. Or maybe that just wasn’t an option for our limited menu (we were there for a business-​related event). Breadsticks are standard Fazoli’s-equivalent fare. The lasagna that I ordered was good. In fact, it was better than I was expecting it to be. The sauce had a slight sweetness, and it worked well with the cheese, and seasoned sausage (I’m assuming sausage).
My brother ordered the tiramisu for dessert while I ordered the crème brûlée. The tiramisu arrived fairly quickly, but the wait time for the crème brûlée bordered on ridiculous (something like 20 – 30 minutes of twiddling our thumbs while trying to figure out when the aforementioned dessert would arrive). I tried a bit of the tiramisu, which was average and not anything mind blowing (not bad either). It was also surprisingly small compared to other restaurants. The crème brûlée was a satisfying end to the meal. Service was decent; they kept the drinks full all the time, and they were prompt (except for dessert).
The glassblowing studio next door is pretty neat, but It’s not exactly set up for viewing while dining. You have to actually walk next door to the studio. Because there was a fairly large crowd there for a (previously mentioned) business event, the owner and his son decided to show us how they make some of the glass sculptures. It was interesting, but the demonstration dragged on for well over 40 minutes and I got bored and walked back in when I realized that they were still nowhere near completion (it’s very repetitive work, and a smaller sculpture might have reduced the time but they chose to go for something complicated). Also, I might have shown my immaturity by giggling at some of the glass blowing jargon. «Blow on it to make it bigger» and «glory hole» are words I normally wouldn’t use in the same sentence. I’m sorry, I’m such a child. If you’re confused, ask your parents.
Random fact: The restaurant’s namesake, Jim, is the father-​in-​law of Chris (the owner). It turns out that Jim is only half-​Italian, and half-​Irish or something. I suppose «Half-​Italian Jim’s» just doesn’t sound as good.

The food is terrible. I love to cook Italian food from scratch and have been to Italy. So, I may be a little more brutal when reviewing. I was disappointed that they didn’t have wine. It is just cruel not have a wonderful glass of red wine with Italian food.
The glass blowing experience was unique. Although, the glass was a little too expensive, but it does make it for a unique dining experience.

A few weeks ago I discovered Italian Jims. I met the owner and had a quick tour but did not eat. I thought the concept of combining the glass blowing with the restaurant experience was pretty cool. I was so intrigued by it, I even wrote a quick blog about it.
Tonight we decided to give it a try. I wish we hadn’t. It was me, my husband and daughter. We were seated right away and the hostess was very friendly. But the food and service on the dining side was awful!
Looking for Italian in Edmond, head downtown to Othello’s. It’s just a few doors down from Italian Jims!