John’s Italian Restaurant II

Before coming here, I showed hubby the other John’s Italian restaurant in the area but he plugged in this restaurant’s on his iPhone GPS because of the same name and boom! we got here instead. I started to look around because it didn’t look like the one from the website. We first walked in to the bar area and saw very different atmosphere because no one was eating there, everybody’s drinking. So we went to the other wing. Confirmed, we went to a different John’s restaurant. They have the same name because they used to be «together» and now they separated (John left John). As long as I eat, I’m OK! We ordered calamari (hubby’s favorite), pizza and seafood pasta. Everything was in the «no complaint» zone. It was good. They added slices of conch in the pasta dish. The pasta had a little of acidic taste in it. Our waitress Linda was so nice. I couldn’t say no to her so I let hubby order what he wanted although I thought it was a lot of food. They need a major renovation to attract outsiders. The restaurant and bar areas are connected thru entrance and another door inside where the patrons can go in and out to both sections but they both look very different, one side is so dark with noise and music and the other side is quiet and bright. Which is better, drinking or eating? The place was not very appealing from the outside. That’s when I knew we went to the wrong restaurant because I saw different pictures on the web site. But that’s OK, we had a good dinner regardless. Hubby thought the food was great, I thought it was good. We liked Linda and seafood pasta. At the end of the night we stopped by to play a pinball machine at the corner space because hubby had to let it out of his system by playing his favorite pinball machine. Woohoo, he’s a brilliant player! The restaurant satisfied both the hunger and the needs.

Stopped for a quick bite on a road trip. Fast service, decent pizza, and right off the highway.

The salad was delicious. My ziti was way to heavy with the red sauce. Hubby’s burger was so greasy, the bun would not hold together. He had to eat it with a fork. We are travelers, so we will just remember this place as not somewhere we stop again.

Today was so gross. My husband had undercooked chicken. I ordered fish n chips. It came out on a bun? The tartar sauce was seriously so thin it was like water and tasted nasty. When we got the bill we were charged for the fries in the fish n chips? Couldn’t quite understand. Will be a while before we go back. We used to get pizza from there once a week but it has gotten so greasy we found a new place.

My husband ordered the Chicken Parmigiana with Spaghetti & I had a Calzone with Meatballs. The two pieces of chicken were very different from each other. One was fork tender the other like a piece of rubber; How does that happen? Spaghetti cooked Al dente heavily topped with pizza sauce. The bread served is only a sub roll heated up. My Calzone, had it been served hot would’ve been very good. Also they charge one Dollar extra for a side of sauce. We had good service & a very nice waitress. Four stars for the service, three Stars for the Calzone & One Star for the Chicken Parmigiana.

This place needs a major renovation. So weird when you walk in. It feels like a cafeteria and what’s up with the stained faux stained glass windows and curtains? Let some natural light in.
All I can say is that they make pretty good pizza. I’ve stayed once for breakfast and we were there for an hour a half waiting for our check. You can’t really screw up eggs but it was good. Service was terrible.
I rather go to lakeside pizzeria with a nicer atmosphere and very nice service with delicious Italian cuisine. I’ll stick to this place for breakfast and pizza to go.

Service was pretty terrible, outr waitress was not friendly and rude. Didnt check on us, didnt even smile. My son asked for ketchup and mustard and she rudely just gestured to where it was located. Food was just ok… definitely never coming back here!

Food was average, prices were good, service was terrible. Two person order took an hour and a half.

Stay away from this place!
If I could give different ratings for the restaurant vs bar I would. but the difference wouldn’t be that great.
THE BAR GETS NEGATIVE STARS.
I’ve NEVER had a good or even neutral experience at this bar.
1^st off– it’s always full of pervert truckers and rednecks (not the bars fault, entirely, but it tells the atmosphere).
EVERY bartender here, except Amanda I think her name is, has either lied or been a complete ass.
I asked SPECIFICALLY for Absolut Pear to be used in a drink. I SAW with my eyes this girl make the drink with Ketel One unflavored vodka. (She used other sour mix, blue curaco & other stuff to make it taste «fruity»). I asked if she used Absolut Pear. She said yes. I told her I SAW YOU MAKE THE DRINK. YOU USED KETEL ONE.
She blatantly lied and said ‘No. I didn’t.” AND THE bitch still charged me a premium price for that drink, even though the Absolut was UNTOUCHED. This place has no problem lying to customers. And that bartender was like 18, barely. Maybe family of the owners.
However… the «regular» bartender is some skinny blonde old hag shrew who is the rudest bartender I’ve EVER encountered. I suspect this place employs her because she flirts with the dirty, disgusting, perverted truckers and will «keep them in-​line».
She makes terrible drinks, is always an asshole to me (I’m assuming because I’m female-​1, and 2– because I have the nerve to ask her to do something more than pop a bottle top). And she will kiss the butts of any male patron, but I have to flag her down to get a new drink… which she huffs and puffs about anyway, because shaking a martini glass is manual slave labor or some shit to this hag.
The food: Large portions— THE ONLY POSTIVE. It’s edible. I’ve had better, though. Most recently, I had pizza here. It was good, but overpriced.
MOST WAITRESSES I’ve had here were nice.
**The bar staff IS NOT nice. And the drinks ARE NOT CHEAP HERE. ***
Just… DON’T GO HERE. Seriously. I don’t often leave negative reviews.

Ambiance/​Décor/​Atmosphere: Half diner-​like and half pizza kitchen. It’s pretty bare bones inside this place, but the staff does it’s best to make it as warm and inviting as possible. And, the floors, the windows, the rest rooms all needed a good scrubbing.
Noise/​sound level: Average noise level, no reason to complain about it, and nothing that will ruin your evening.
Menu: Too big; typical diner style of menu with an additional pizza menu on top of it. It will take some time to decide what you want unless you’re set on a particular item or a regular and order the exact same thing every time.
Service: I went on Christmas eve one year and the service was as good as it could have been given the holiday. The wait staff is attentive, friendly, and quick to check in on you.
Food: Here’s where John’s goes down hill super fast. The food is seriously diner food; from a can, or the freezer, or a box, or a bucket, or something not freshly made, and even then probably nuked by Chef Mic. I ordered Veal Milanese because honestly it’s not something I see often around these parts. It was paper thin, super soft, and super pliable. It was accompanied by graying «green» beans and canned mashed potatoes. I couldn’t eat all of it because I was upset I paid for food I could have made at my own home.
Bar: Full
Price: Moderate, but considering it’s frozen food the prices should be lower.
Overall: This John’s for some reason is always packed to the gills, but it fails uberly in comparison to the John’s in Hamlin. The food is not good here in Greentown at all, and if you fall prey to the positive reviews that’s simply because those people grew up eating in Greentown. Do yourself a tremendous favor and drive fifteen more minutes to Hamlin and enjoy the John’s there.

The spaghetti is great Italian sausage Parmesan is great steaks are okay services is super fast and it’s just a good place to eat breakfast lunch or dinner. They have a bar as well, can’t go wrong!

Stopped here for dinner during our first night in the area. The food was decent, the server was fantastic, but the hostess put us in the side room where it was drafty and cold. Place needs some work. Other than that, there were no complaints about the food, but we’ve all had better.

Couldn’t find The original Johns on Unilocal,so ill add their review here. Some of the food is decent, some is downright terrible. The service was friendly, but slow. The fried calamari is gross as was the scallops… actually, come to think of it, anything with seafood was pretty bad. What was good? The bread, salad, pea and French onion soup, hamburger and the wings… which we were pretty sure we knew exactly how they made them. We won’t spoil it for them. We most likely wont be back when back in the area.

The food is OK, and we have been going there for quick pizza for several years. However many of the staff there now are less than helpful and even downright rude. A few miles away in Hamlin there is a different John’s Italian (the two are not related) that is much better and worth an extra few minutes drive.

The menu is big. The portions are huge. The prices are alright. We came in feeling very hungry and left full. The food was fresh and good quality. The service was quick.

Our favorite restaurant in town. Friendly service, nice atmosphere, good food.

A truck stop with a good Italian restaurant, or is it a good italian restaurant with a truck stop?

John’s is handy. The pizza is usually decent. The food off the menu is always good. The décor is a little dated, I suppose. What I dislike is that I’m usually cold when we go there to have a sit down dinner.
Most of the time we are calling to order take-​out pizza. We have rarely been disappointed.

This place looks like a truck stop, which is probably because it is. The food is very good, and the menu is HUGE. I advise against ordering a hot or cold sub because the bread they use is really crappy. Otherwise, we’ve eaten there about two dozen times over the years, and the bottom line is that they do a very good job.
Oh, and since the posting of Michele’s review, John’s now has a full bar.

So, you’re stuck in the sticks with nothing but… well, nothing around that’s appealing. You drive by an unassuming Italian restaurant and think, «I am so not up for a plate of Ronzoni and Ragu». …
Open your mind, young Padawan… John’s is out of this world, better than your momma’s Italian food. Everything is fresh and homemade. The sauce rivals some of the best restaurants in New York {and many of my friends’ Italian moms who pride themselves on their sauce”. The staff is friendly. The food takes awhile to come, but that’s because it’s cooked fresh. The prices are not bad.
Be prepared to bring your own hooch-​they don’t have a liquor license… yet…