A wonderful dine-in experience. Food was excellent, the broshetta was top shelf, and the pasta dishes outstanding. Nice wine & beer selection too. Chloe our waitress was phenomenal. Ask for Chloe when you dine.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
Angel “JCA” Acosta
I love Joe's Italian Restaurant. The mussels are amazing, and my kids can't get enough of the pasta and Calzone. I highly recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pizza, Fettuccine Della Casa, 5 Layer Chocolate Cake
Lynnette l.
My family and I have been coming to peppinoes and then here for over 20 hours and I can't tell you enough how amazing the food is and how amazing the owners are! I get the pasta fajole soup and it always makes me better when I'm sick and or when I'm in any type of pain. It's my miracle soup. Now that I am keto they make it for me without the pasta so I can still enjoy my favorite stuff. My daughter loves the Alfredo pizza and everything is homemade and so fresh! I love love this place and you won't be disappointed. What are you waiting for go put in an order, I know I am! ? ?????
Best Italian restaurant I visitedTheir dishes are crazy good and deliciousCobb salad is amazingMacaroni with Meatballs I loved itAnd pizza and supper goodWe eat at joes almost weekly
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Ellen H.
Joes Italian Restaurant is such a wonderful restaurant. Not only are the drinks and food delicious the entire staff is so attentive and courteous. I had arrange to have a large group of woman at the restaurant during the happy hour and Joe personally called me to confirm up the details. Each time I spoke with the hostess on the phone they were so engaged and ready to please. Thank you Joe and staff for make our event on 2/8 fantastic.
Andrew M.
Two stars for Joe's unhinged responses to other reviews. Was ignored in the reception area for what felt like 15 minutes but was probably 10. The food was ok. Don't like blaze pizza Joe...sorry! Terra Mia is pretty good though! Not a big cocktail guy but Costco is fantastic. If you need 2 cocktails to enjoy the food, it's probably not that good.
Chad Sorenson
Great food and great people..."homemade" style Italian food, arguably at its finest!
Big fans of the owner's previous restaurants, going back to the 80's. He opened Joe's Italian a while back. Ashamed to say, we didn't make it there until last night. Took my MIL there for her birthday. There were 8 of us. Between the group, we ordered gnocchi, tortellini with olive oil & garlic, baked ziti, lasagna, and sausage & peppers with spaghetti for the birthday girl. Everyone loved what they ordered. My MIL's plate was huge and will probably feed her for several more days. The wine list is more extensive than expected. Great offerings. They also offer corkage. They brought out desert for the birthday. Raymond, and his team, provided excellent service. The "new" restaurant is very nice, yet casual, with a patio. Congrats to Joe, the owner. Be proud; you have a really nice place. Can't wait to return.
Whitney D.
Per my husband, who doesn't have a Yelp account "I was raised by a Sicilian mother and Sicilian grandparents on Long Island. We moved to California 6 months ago and tonight has been the best experience eating out since I left NY. The Chicken Marsala was simply delicious and legit, the meatballs amazing and eating the cannoli was basically sexual bliss on a plate. My kids almost had to watch me cry tears of joy eating this dinner." The service, food, and atmosphere were all amazing. We'll definitely be visiting Joe's again soon.
K N.
Great food and service highly recommend for an enjoyable night out in Ladera. Give them a try
Used to frequent Peppino's back before COVID. Frequent visitor of both the MV Lake and Foothill locations. My family and I have fond memories of the original location in Lake Forest. After hearing Joe's is roughly the same recipes, with a revamped ascetic and modern touches, my family was excited to give it a try. Our initial thoughts were the location is good, plenty of patio space, although the inside can get loud due to the high ceilings. Not necessarily an issue, just keep it in mind if you want to have an intimate meal, best to pick the patio. Patio seemed nice, plenty of seats and heaters. Our family wasn't too hungry, we had an early dinner to make a show later that evening. Upon arrival, no wait and sat almost instantly. Menus were clean, silverware and waters came very quick, along with bread. Good bread, slightly different from Peppinos recipes, but familiar. Only thing missing to me was no offering of oil or balsamic to dip. Not sure if they actually had it and its by request only. Regardless, a miss in my opinion. Same with salt, pepper, red-pepper flake, and cheese. All of which we had to ask for. Our food was exactly as expected. If you blindfolded me, I would have told you this is Peppinos. Good pizza, we opted for thin crust. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a good, solid, pizza. We also each got a dinner salad. Nothing extraordinary, a little pricy ~$7 for a salad. But otherwise, tasty. Our main issue was the service. It was fast, but not professional. Our waiter's demeanor was great, right until we told them that we were splitting a pizza. It was clear they looked at our group and thought (nice, four people, gonna earn a decent tip when each plate is roughly $25-$30). The second we said a pizza and salads, everything changed. They kinda got snappy with us and made us follow a specific order when ordering. Joe's uses Toast (one of the handheld payment & ordering platforms you see today). Instead of writing your meal on paper and inputting elsewhere, they do it at the table. I personally hate this, as it slows service WAY down. I have a feeling our waiter was "snappy" with us because he hated the platform, as it was clear he was struggling. When we asked for red pepper flake, it felt like an inconvenience. Finally, after our meal, we paid with credit card. After inserting our card to the handheld reader brought to our table, and tipping on the device, the system said, "Remove Card". As instructed, I did. It seemed this waiter had and issue with that as they snapped at me to not remove my card. I found this odd as he directly counteracted what the system said to do. Once I handed it back, they did some scrolling and digging to go find my order. It almost felt like they wanted to see what I tipped before we left. They then asked do you want a receipt, which I already answered on the device, no. We then promptly left as the entire encounter with that waiter was, odd, borderline rude. I have no problem with the food, it was exactly as expected. If I was rating food on it's own, ~4 stars (its not a 5 star restaurant, its your local neighborhood Italian spot). However, this service interaction gives me cause for concern. I've sense gone back and had both good and bad experiences. Overall, I go to Joes with my family when they want to a few times a year, but I wouldn't take a client there at the risk of poor service.
The drinks are way over priced, the food is just ok and it's very loud no music zero ambiance. Service is good
Joe M.
The food at this restaurant is average and not worth the value being charged. I could not recommend this place to my friends and coworkers. To be balanced, their pizza was good. So that could be a dish to consider. The service was average. Had to ask for things multiple times. But the staff is friendly. The atmosphere was open and clean. You do not feel cramped.
Karn R.
My favorite place to go when I travel to Southern California. Their house salad with creamy Italian is the best.
A wonderful dine-in experience. Food was excellent, the broshetta was top shelf, and the pasta dishes outstanding. Nice wine & beer selection too. Chloe our waitress was phenomenal. Ask for Chloe when you dine.
Atmosphere: 4
Food: 5
Service: 5
I love Joe's Italian Restaurant. The mussels are amazing, and my kids can't get enough of the pasta and Calzone. I highly recommend it!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Pizza, Fettuccine Della Casa, 5 Layer Chocolate Cake
My family and I have been coming to peppinoes and then here for over 20 hours and I can't tell you enough how amazing the food is and how amazing the owners are! I get the pasta fajole soup and it always makes me better when I'm sick and or when I'm in any type of pain. It's my miracle soup. Now that I am keto they make it for me without the pasta so I can still enjoy my favorite stuff. My daughter loves the Alfredo pizza and everything is homemade and so fresh! I love love this place and you won't be disappointed. What are you waiting for go put in an order, I know I am! ? ?????
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Lasagna, Pizza, Meat Sauce, 5 Layer Chocolate Cake, Chicken Parmesan, Sauce
Best Italian restaurant I visitedTheir dishes are crazy good and deliciousCobb salad is amazingMacaroni with Meatballs I loved itAnd pizza and supper goodWe eat at joes almost weekly
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Joes Italian Restaurant is such a wonderful restaurant. Not only are the drinks and food delicious the entire staff is so attentive and courteous. I had arrange to have a large group of woman at the restaurant during the happy hour and Joe personally called me to confirm up the details. Each time I spoke with the hostess on the phone they were so engaged and ready to please. Thank you Joe and staff for make our event on 2/8 fantastic.
Two stars for Joe's unhinged responses to other reviews. Was ignored in the reception area for what felt like 15 minutes but was probably 10. The food was ok. Don't like blaze pizza Joe...sorry! Terra Mia is pretty good though! Not a big cocktail guy but Costco is fantastic. If you need 2 cocktails to enjoy the food, it's probably not that good.
Great food and great people..."homemade" style Italian food, arguably at its finest!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Caprese, Fettuccine Alfredo, Chicken Parmigiana
Big fans of the owner's previous restaurants, going back to the 80's. He opened Joe's Italian a while back. Ashamed to say, we didn't make it there until last night. Took my MIL there for her birthday. There were 8 of us. Between the group, we ordered gnocchi, tortellini with olive oil & garlic, baked ziti, lasagna, and sausage & peppers with spaghetti for the birthday girl. Everyone loved what they ordered. My MIL's plate was huge and will probably feed her for several more days. The wine list is more extensive than expected. Great offerings. They also offer corkage. They brought out desert for the birthday. Raymond, and his team, provided excellent service. The "new" restaurant is very nice, yet casual, with a patio. Congrats to Joe, the owner. Be proud; you have a really nice place. Can't wait to return.
Per my husband, who doesn't have a Yelp account "I was raised by a Sicilian mother and Sicilian grandparents on Long Island. We moved to California 6 months ago and tonight has been the best experience eating out since I left NY. The Chicken Marsala was simply delicious and legit, the meatballs amazing and eating the cannoli was basically sexual bliss on a plate. My kids almost had to watch me cry tears of joy eating this dinner." The service, food, and atmosphere were all amazing. We'll definitely be visiting Joe's again soon.
Great food and service highly recommend for an enjoyable night out in Ladera. Give them a try
Restaurantji Recommends
Used to frequent Peppino's back before COVID. Frequent visitor of both the MV Lake and Foothill locations. My family and I have fond memories of the original location in Lake Forest. After hearing Joe's is roughly the same recipes, with a revamped ascetic and modern touches, my family was excited to give it a try. Our initial thoughts were the location is good, plenty of patio space, although the inside can get loud due to the high ceilings. Not necessarily an issue, just keep it in mind if you want to have an intimate meal, best to pick the patio. Patio seemed nice, plenty of seats and heaters. Our family wasn't too hungry, we had an early dinner to make a show later that evening. Upon arrival, no wait and sat almost instantly. Menus were clean, silverware and waters came very quick, along with bread. Good bread, slightly different from Peppinos recipes, but familiar. Only thing missing to me was no offering of oil or balsamic to dip. Not sure if they actually had it and its by request only. Regardless, a miss in my opinion. Same with salt, pepper, red-pepper flake, and cheese. All of which we had to ask for. Our food was exactly as expected. If you blindfolded me, I would have told you this is Peppinos. Good pizza, we opted for thin crust. Nothing out of the ordinary, just a good, solid, pizza. We also each got a dinner salad. Nothing extraordinary, a little pricy ~$7 for a salad. But otherwise, tasty. Our main issue was the service. It was fast, but not professional. Our waiter's demeanor was great, right until we told them that we were splitting a pizza. It was clear they looked at our group and thought (nice, four people, gonna earn a decent tip when each plate is roughly $25-$30). The second we said a pizza and salads, everything changed. They kinda got snappy with us and made us follow a specific order when ordering. Joe's uses Toast (one of the handheld payment & ordering platforms you see today). Instead of writing your meal on paper and inputting elsewhere, they do it at the table. I personally hate this, as it slows service WAY down. I have a feeling our waiter was "snappy" with us because he hated the platform, as it was clear he was struggling. When we asked for red pepper flake, it felt like an inconvenience. Finally, after our meal, we paid with credit card. After inserting our card to the handheld reader brought to our table, and tipping on the device, the system said, "Remove Card". As instructed, I did. It seemed this waiter had and issue with that as they snapped at me to not remove my card. I found this odd as he directly counteracted what the system said to do. Once I handed it back, they did some scrolling and digging to go find my order. It almost felt like they wanted to see what I tipped before we left. They then asked do you want a receipt, which I already answered on the device, no. We then promptly left as the entire encounter with that waiter was, odd, borderline rude. I have no problem with the food, it was exactly as expected. If I was rating food on it's own, ~4 stars (its not a 5 star restaurant, its your local neighborhood Italian spot). However, this service interaction gives me cause for concern. I've sense gone back and had both good and bad experiences. Overall, I go to Joes with my family when they want to a few times a year, but I wouldn't take a client there at the risk of poor service.
Yummy menu!
Atmosphere: 5
Food: 5
Service: 5
Recommended dishes: Baked Ziti, Lasagna, Caesar Salad, Pizza, Two Meatballs, Meat Sauce, Chicken Marsala, Caprese, Tiramisu, Fried, Sausage, Lina Rolls, Fettuccine Alfredo, Baked Ravioli, Antipasto Salad, Gnocchi, 5 Layer Chocolate Cake, Chicken Marco Polo, Fried Calamari, Chicken Parmigiana
The drinks are way over priced, the food is just ok and it's very loud no music zero ambiance. Service is good
The food at this restaurant is average and not worth the value being charged. I could not recommend this place to my friends and coworkers. To be balanced, their pizza was good. So that could be a dish to consider. The service was average. Had to ask for things multiple times. But the staff is friendly. The atmosphere was open and clean. You do not feel cramped.
My favorite place to go when I travel to Southern California. Their house salad with creamy Italian is the best.