Joe Bologna Trattoria

Went In with 2 of my dear cousins to show them a good authentic Italian sit down. We waited 20 minutes for our order. We left before she came. Wonder how long we would’ve been waiting. Do not recommend.

When I’m in the Detroit area I almost always go to Joe Bologna. Always a treat. The chicken piccata is my favorite but the eggplant parmesan is great too. They’ve changed the menu a little bit but that’s never a bad thing — shake it up!

My favorite Italian restaurant. Food always good with good service. This was my Birthday dinner do my wife, daughter and son in law were there. We all enjoyed our dinner.

My family has been eating at Joe Bologna’s for years and I even hosted my twins’ baptism luncheon here. We are Italian and have always enjoyed the food (even raved to friends about it!), service and atmosphere at Joe’s…until recently. Over the last year, our meals just haven’t been as good, and gone is the friendly, timely service. We were willing to overlook these things, since overall, over the past 10 years or so we have had great experiences. We were also aware that they had lost their long-​time chef, so we figured it would take some time for the kitchen and staff to get their groove back. However, after our dinner there a couple nights ago, we will not be returning for a long time, if ever. We were a party of 10 celebrating my birthday. The owner knowingly sat us at a table underneath a leaking roof, despite being told by the waitress not to seat us there, and available tables in another area of the restaurant. We were seated near the kitchen, and could hear the kitchen staff yelling that they could not keep up with the orders, there were only three waiters/​waitresses working, so we sat waiting long periods of time without drinks being re-​filled and had to listen to them giving excuses to other patrons about why they hadn’t received their drinks (one lady asked, «are they stomping the grapes?» to which the waiter replied, as he walked away, «There are only three of us!»); we witnessed the owner admonish our waitress for something, I couldn’t hear, but she was working hard and it was uncomfortable to witness. Our food took an extremely long time to come out, which with young children is extremely tough, and it wasn’t even that busy in the restaurant. My 1 year old nephew was the last to receive his food, a full 10 minutes after the rest of the table, and the order was incorrect. My dad, sister and I all ordered the gnocchi… and the palomino sauce was… ugh, not good. (My husband and mom enjoyed their meals, however.) Finally, we get through dinner and only to find the bills are messed up, so we had to have that corrected as well. The owners were very friendly with us and one of them was definitely doing her part pitching in by helping with re-​fills and helping correct the issue with the order, but unfortunately, we felt like we were on an episode of «Kitchen Nightmares.» A very disappointing evening. Joe Bologna’s…I hope you guys get it together…

The food was mediocre and the service was sub par. The waiter was all talk but forgot half of our order. The minestrone soup was bland but tasted better with some Parmesan and salt. Chicken piccata was very watery and had little taste. I would probably never come back.

Well Joe Bologna has turned the coner, I had the worst kalamari ever last night, everything was terrible, 20 yrs never a problem now they are completely horrible, the white fish with shrimp and peppers, not even good very dissappointed, never to return, I guess management was looking to increase profits with the changes, didn’t work with me

I go here occasionally for pizza as it decent both the round and square. Unfortunately, they messed up my order the last two times AND i had to wait an extended amount of time for the carryouts. When you place an order and they tell you it will be ready in 20 minutes and you get there and have to wait an additional 30 mins, its just unacceptable. To make things worse, a customer walks in after you, places an order and gets there pizza before you. And finally when you get home it looks like they made two small square pizzas and tried to pass them off as a large square. I’m pretty sure jets is the only place that has an 8 corner pizza.

Great Italian place, here for 30 years! That’s staying power. Specials always original and pretty authentic. Food’s good and reasonably priced.

Food is okay. But the service is very «Italian». First it won’t split the bill of the appetizer. Then it took an hour just to process the card. We didn’t make our concert just because the slowness. I don’t understand how someone can’t figure out such simple task.

I must share with you, my foodie friends, the most amazing food I had last night! The creamed mushroom and spinaci soup was literally, without exaggeration, the best soup I have ever had in my life! It’s taking every fiber of my being to not go and get the soup again today. The Butternut Squash Ravioli topped with the most unique «sauce», it tasted as if it was a mixture of maple syrup, walnut oil, and a smidgen of balsamic vinegar, complimented with caramelized onions and other divine elements. My only piece of criticism would be their service, it was ok, not very prompt, many looks from the staff without anyone acknowledging us while waiting for a table, took a while for us and a couple of other patrians to get a server. Hope you try the place out! Bön Appetit!

The pizza is great and I love the traverse city chicken, it’s amazing! They have a great Sunday lunch, good service, good value. I also like the pasta sauce.

The food was okay, but the service was comically inefficient. Our waiter was a friendly clown who did everything wrong. I really wondered if we were being pranked. The minestrone was good, salads mediocre. Veal dishes were good, the pasta (arriving late) was cold with a thin tomato sauce. The tiramisu was dry. Don’t dine here unless you have a sense of humor because the service was horrendous in every way.

This is a hidden little gem at the end of a strip mall. We just moved back to Michigan from North Carolina and really missed our great Italian place there. When we found this quaint little place we fell in love. We have been there many times recently and never had a bad meal. Prices are very reasonable, staff is very attentive and friendly and good wine list. Not top end but still very good wine list. Small and clean inside. A real must try.

We’ve eaten here for 9 years and loved every meal. Last week we had dinner there again and got a loaf of bread that HAD to come from Kroger. No crustiness and the inside had no texture resembling an italian bread. Told server. She said each of our cooks make different bread, Not a good response. RIGHT? So we got the bad bread cook, Fix the bread Joe, and reinstitute the side of angel hair you use to automatically serve with a full dinner meal. (you still make the BEST meat sauce in the world!).

I’m sorry, but your calamari stinks.
«Calamari banana peppers, onion, lemon, white wine $ 10»
— Rings: Some overcooked, overall fairly tender.
— Tentacles: None, as to conform to scaredy cats?
— Batter: More than a dusting, but not overly thick. Appeared to be seasoned.
— The lemon white wine sauce: eeek.
The sauced ruined your calamari. The batter was sopping wet as it drowned in a puddle of whatever white wine lemon thing was going on. It added no flavor. The 3 obligatory banana peppers on top was a joke.
I can understand not wanting to have just another breaded calamari with ‘ranch and marinara’. Your breading seemed seasoned well, but it turned into wet junk. Maybe we adapt that sauce into a thicker dipping sauce.
Your house bread was nice. The olive oil and seasoning tasted just like olive oil only. I noticed no other hints of flavor. It also had a weird gooy quality that put me off.

Good, not great food. Fair prices. Very good flavors for everything. Calamari appetizer’s sauce flavor was excellent but calamari was a bit overcooked. Kids pasta was al dente– not kids favorite texture. Also my Steak Siciliano was burned on the edges. Waitress could have been more attentive– she actually forgot to bring the appetizer initially– and they only had three tables filled during our visit.
Overall the place is alright. Hey, my sister even worked here for three years during college.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE THIS PLACE!!! We don’t eat here often. If we saw more coupons for this place we could make it more often. Between all 4 of us in my family there isn’t something we don’t all love.
The antipasto salad with their house dressing is fantastic. Mixed with a little ranch is even better. My family loves their pizza. I am partial to their gnochhi with palamino sauce. OMG, Palimino is like golden deliciousness. Don’t even know if that makes sense but all I’m trying to say is that sauce is AMAZING! And if you get the build your own pasta with garlic, they are HUGE pieces of garlic. Anyways, we love this place and athough we only stop in for carryout a couple times a year, I would eat here weekly if I could!

I visited here again for Thanksgiving. What a fine experience. As a vegetarian, I was able to get suitably rich Eggplant Parmesan, well-​roasted Brussels sprouts and a pumpkin pie ice cream full of pumpkin and cinnamon flavors and little pieces of crust. My meat-​eating friends also enjoyed their turkey, mashed potatoes and sides. It was just the right amount of food at a reasonable price ($ 16.99 per person).
The atmosphere was convivial and welcoming. Our waitress was very pleasant. Joe Bologna himself walked through the restaurant, shook our hands and talked about the photos of his father that adorned the walls near our table.
In short, it was the best dine-​out Thanksgiving experience I can recall.

«Yous need to come to NYC»
There are a small handful of really good Italian restaurant in Detroit. Let me spare you the suspense, this isn’t one of them. This is pseudo, Midwest Italian at its worst.
My first clue was that no one here even looks Italian. Second, the décor. Is there anything real in this restaurant? I mean the ceiling has fake plastic tiles that are supposed to look like tin. Really? Really???
The menu was a quick reinforcement that my worst fears were realized. Coconut encrusted chicken with pineapple??? Is that grandma’s recipe from the old country? How about the chicken with the Michigan cherries and cream? Not from Mario Batali, that’s for sure. After sifting through the menu, we identified some Classic dishes, but of course that didn’t save us from the food train wreck.
— Caesar salad: If the lettuce was alive, it surely would’ve never survived the swim it had to endure to in the dressing.
— Minestrone: Slightly more flavorful than herb infused dishwater
— Chicken Piccatta: A little too sweet, and the canned artichoke wasn’t a good touch, but the real offence was the accompanying vegetables which were bland, saturated with butter and waaaayyyyy overcooked.
— The Angel Hair pasta met the same fate as the lettuce in the Garlic and Extra Virgin Olive Oil sauce. Enough oil in this dish for all of the «Angels» in 8 mile strip clubs to sex wrestle.
I won’t do pluses and minuses for this place as it is an exercise in futility. Our server was exceptionally pleasant and nice. However, it still would never make up for the poor food.
*My tip for the owner*: Cut the accordion player and spend the money on a better chef.
I am a big supporter of my homies. When you come to NYC, look me up and I will show you some real Italian food.

Delmonicos was average on all fronts. We repeatedly had to ask our server for things he should have gotten on his own. Crayons for my son. Shredded cheese for our dinner. In fact, when one in our group asked for cheese he brought some to the one then ran off without offering anyone else! I had to call him back because I’d wanted some too. The best part of our meal was the awesome HOT loaves of soft bread brought out with your order. AND, you can get more loaves! Yay! Too bad my whitefish dinner wasn’t as good as the bread. It was bland and soggy. I liked the décor with the wooden church pews but overall it was a three star experience.