Joe Bologna's Restaurant & Pizzeria

This place was amazing. My 1st trip to KY and I went here twice. Food was great, service was great. Bring Sicilian, really good Italian food is hard to come by that isn't on the same level as Olive Garden or Carrabba's. This was amazing. Will definitely be coming back on my next trip up!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great 30 plus years old place in Lexington I have been corrected and I'm sorry they have 53 plus years of service. And it has all been good

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Joe Bologna's is a restaurant that sits inside what used to be a church/synagogue which makes for a unique atmosphere. Past that, the restaurant experience turns terrible.

I had come in on a Friday night at around 6-7PM with a party of 3 and the place was packed. It took 1 hour for the server to finally bring food for one guest (salad and breadstick). Although she had additional breadsticks, she went to the next table and gave it to them for some reason. It wasn't until another 30 minutes until we all got the food which came out at once (we had ordered appetizers as well as entrees).

Looking at the tables around us, this was clearly happening with everyone so definitely not a case where we were forgotten.

When my food did come out, the linguine with white clam sauce was visibly dry and cold since it had sat for so long. When this was brought to the attention of my server, she took the dish back and came out with a fresh serving 10 minutes later.

The pasta dish was rather disappointing (aside from being frustrated at the long wait). It had a small amount of minced clams which were clearly from a canned source. For $22, I expected at least a larger amount or better quality.

I had previously dined in before but we had ordered pizza. The service and food was much better in comparison to this visit. I hope this was a one time issue but I won't be coming back for a good long while.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 1

Great pizza and breadsticks. Wonderful value. A staple for pregame meal!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 4

First time at this restaurant since the change in owner...as far as I can tell everything was just as good as before. The garlic breadsticks are just as large as before and just as good. I went with my wife and some friends...we all had different things off of the lunch time menu...we all cleaned our plates.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We try to make it a point when traveling through Lexington to stop in for a much needed giant bread stick fix. This time it was a trip from Cincinnati to Mammoth cave with a slight detour to Joe’s! Pizza is good, pasta is great, but it is the bread sticks are what keep us coming back

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 4

I rate Joe Bologna’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria a 3/5. This place is located in a repurposed church building that is tucked away, so, at first glance, you would never know that within the church is a cozy pizza joint. Not only does the physical structure add to the character of this place, but so do its customers and staff. When I first entered this restaurant, I noticed that a large majority of the customers were mainly older couples and families with kids. An interaction I had with a woman there made my experience especially memorable. When she first came up to my friends and I, she first started complementing our appearance, telling us how pretty we were. Then she went on to ask if we were in college, and when we responded yes, she gave us a spiel about living in the moment. She told us to enjoy the next 4 years because they fly by. She also put an emphasis on being selfish now and trying new things while at college because after that, we’ll have many more responsibilities and a lot less “me time”. She told us that Jesus loved us and wished us a good night before she left. Given that the interaction happened inside an old church, I felt that this was a very fitting and wholesome way to end the conversation. Aside from this social interaction was the food itself. My friends and I ended up playing it safe and getting their Sicilian Pan Cheese Pizza, which is essentially just a thick crust cheese pizza. This pizza was the perfect size, but I didn’t necessarily love it because the sauce was a bit on the sweeter side, which I don’t typically prefer. We also ordered the “cheese sticks,” which we thought were going to be some sort of cheesy bread, but instead they just turned out to be regular mozzarella sticks, which were pretty disappointing. Also, there were only four of us who went out to eat, and the table we were seated at was very crammed with very little leg room. I’m not sure if we were just seated at a bad table, but this took away from our enjoyment of the experience. The dinner menu was also very dirty, which I thought was kind of gross. Overall, I loved the ambiance of this place, but I’m not sure if I will be returning due to the food quality and discomfort of the seating arrangements.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 5

My parents ate here when they were UK students. I ate here when I was a UK student. I just brought my kids here for their first time. They asked that I do a review of the restaurant. They my 9yo gave it a 5 out of 5. My 5yo gave it 10 out of 10. They love the breadsticks, especially.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Went at lunch and the food was good. The breadstick was fabulous as always!
It was slammed so there was a wait for beverages and food but no fault of our server!
Staffing looked to be overworked but give Joe a try if you’re new to the area.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Recommended dishes: Breadstick with Garlic Butter

Friendly staff, fun environment, good food.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 5

Great old time local restaurant. Great food that is always consistent

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

JBs was a favorite of ours, we haven't been here in a while and we're so disappointed with our food. Our alfredo was mostly pasta water and the sauce was so flavorless we had to add salt, pepper and parmesean to even make it edible.

Not to mention the cost, prices going up and quality going down is not great.

Our waitress was kind and attentive though.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 3

Need to be rich movie Stars, bring the real owner back 😀

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

The old Joe B's.....awesome, now not so much. I could have visited on a bad day, but a Saturday meal should be on point, especially with 13 people in the afternoon. My pizza was really bad, bad enough to leave a review. We were there for 2.5 hours when it should have been 1.5 tops! I love you guys, but I don't think I'll be back, stinks....

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 3

Joe B’s HAS GONE TO HELL. Now they’re undercooking the pizza and charging a packaging fee, $4.05 for a sandwich and small pizza. They suck!!!

Food: 1

Service: 1