John’s Italian Restaurant

We had wings tonight for the first time. When I tell you they were the best wings I’ve ever had, it would be an understatement.
Pizza was on point tonight. Definitely made up for our last visit

Very disappointed. One of the few choices outside the Hideout. Red Clam Sauce was horrible. Baked Clams tasted like they were spoiled. Calamari was disappointing, obviously frozen at one point. Kids wouldn’t eat stuffed shells. Chicken Parm and Veal parm were good but, when isn’t it! Would not go back. Try Trio’s outside the Hideout. Or nearby BBQ place.

Not a great Italian restaurant. Stick with their pizza. Had the cod and spinach. Cod was ok but the spinach was just a watery pile of wilted spinach with no flavor. Egg plant parm dinner was a failure too. Sorry. This place should consider picking it up a bit.

It hurts when a place you used to love goes to absolute rubbish. Such is the case with John’s.
I have tons of family in this area and I really grew up frequenting and enjoying my meals here on our family get-​togethers. Tonight’s experience proved that this establishment is hanging on by a thread — evident not only in the quality of the service AND food but by the empty tables at 7pm on a Saturday.
Tonight I ordered a dinner special: «Parmesan Encrusted Chicken.»
The salad was so unspectacular it bordered on awful. The lettuce appeared fresh but was room temperature and it had no crunch. Throw in a couple (misplaced) black olives and a few sad red onions and well, it was a travesty.
After our server took the salad plates, we wouldn’t see her again for another half hour or so when she would bring the entrees.
The entrée… Oh. Where should I begin. I told my server that instead of the «garlic potato wedges» and vegetables that I wanted a side of fettuccine alfredo. So what did she do? She brought the fettuccine first and then I waited another 5 minutes for the rest of my meal while my family indulged. The fettuccine was quite a disappointment. It was completely drowned in alfredo sauce (which was not fresh or homemade, by the way). When my meal did finally arrive, the first thing I did was try the potato wedges which I did not order because hey — why not? Not good. No flavor. Definitely not garlic. A shame, because with a little salt and pepper they might have been edible.
The chicken. Just no. NO flavor whatsoever at all. And because it was poor quality chicken, it wasn’t even remotely appetizing. It was covered in stale breadcrumbs without a hint of parmesan or garlic. It was dry and tough. It felt like I was eating chewy cardboard. I suffered through about four bites and set it aside.
When our server finally re-​emerged, she asked if I wanted it boxed. I told her in fact that it was «Not good. Actually, it was quite bad. It should be taken off the menu because really you couldn’t pay me to eat that again.»
Not my proudest moment to deliver my ire on to a waitress, but because the service was so awful I really couldn’t help it.
In the end, that entrée did come off the check.
The only enjoyable part of this meal for me was the delicious garlic bread. Good job, John’s. You managed to get one thing right.
I really hope they clean up their act before they end up going out of business. It’d actually be pretty sad to see their downfall but at this rate it’s almost a surety.

First things first — this is the John’s Italian Restaurant that is located in Hamlin, NOT Greentown. The Greentown location is on the AVOID AT ALL COSTS lists, and I may or may not review it in the future. Again, this is for the John’s Italian Restaurant in HAMLIN.
Moving on.
John’s does everything competently, some things very well, and nothing poorly. If you are in the mood for Italian food that does not stray from the beaten path this is an ideal place — prices are reasonable, the environment that of a typical family-​run-​down establishment, the wine decent, the beer boring, the service above-​average. To say it is stereotypical Italian is to describe it perfectly.
And often that is just fine.
Food highlights start appropriately enough, with appetizers. Get the wings — they are really delicious, and the best thing on the menu. Soups are reliable and tasty, but the rest of the appetizers are mediocre and forgettable. The pizza is quite good, with a chewy thick-​enough (but not thick) crust, a slightly sweet sauce, enough cheese and a wide variety of toppings. I pick this up regularly to-​go, and there are nice pickup only specials. Dinner entrees are also reliable and by-​the-​book family Italian, but especially good is the Spaghetti Carbonara (creamy bacon goodness), the baked ziti (of note only because it is PERFECT, with nothing special about it aside from it’s perfection), the Haddock Scampi (you will want more bread to soak up the butter-​garlic bath it’s resting in), and the Chicken Parmigiana (also perfect, also by-​the-​book). Sandwiches are solid, if unremarkable. Steaks could be of a higher-​quality, but done to order.
Wines are mediocre Italian wines you won’t ask for to be sure to buy later at a liquor store. Beer selections are basic at best — beer snobs will be dissapointed.
Service at John’s is friendly, attentive, competent and casual. This is NOT a fine-​dining establishment, but a «lets go for Italian» kind of place — no need to change out of jeans. Prices are very fair, portions on the larger side.
While nothing on the menu shines as unique, new, or particularly interesting John’s Italian Restaurant satisfies when what you want is a big ol’ plate of pasta and sauce in a place you don’t have to dress well to go to.

Good Italian restaurant in an area lacking in quality restaurants. They have been around for over 35 years and serve solid standard Italian meals. Service is friendly and the restaurant is clean. Wine menu is limited but OK for the area.
On Wednesday nights they have great deals for the over 60 crowd. My dad got the filet mignon special for $ 12.95 and he enjoyed it. I had the calamari fra diavolo which was good and a nice serving.

So I was a little hesitant coming here after reading the other review, but I always like to try things out on my own to see what it’s like.
Food was pretty good, kids had spaghetti and meatballs with chicken soup, we had chicken florentine and the meat ravioli, everything was cooked really good and we have soo much left over. Didn’t try dessert yet, till next visit.
For Hamlin it’s a great spot to come with family, get great portions, service was good and fair and reasonable pricing. We don’t really eat out when we come to the hideout, but this will definitely be one spot we go back to again.

One of the most awful experiences of my adult life. The wine list is very poor. I ordered Cabernet Sauvignon; it came chilled with the glass filled to the top.
I should’ve left then but I didn’t.
I was really hungry. I ordered the veal Marsala; it did have veal and mushrooms, however the sauce was far from Marsala. It was more like a brown gravy. I don’t believe there was any wine in the recipe. The vegetable of the day was corn, not something I would expect to accompany veal.
Next time I’ll go across the street to Dunkin’ Donuts and order breakfast sandwich.
Five yucks. :-(