Josie’s Restaurant & Pizza
9670 Mentor Avenue
Mentor, OH 44060
440-392-2629

Over the weekend I finally made it in to check out Josie’s.  I have driven past it at least a dozen times and thought to myself, "I need to check out that place soon."  It’s a little family owned restaurant located across the street from the new Target in Mentor.  By the way, I am assuming it’s mostly family run because the 16 year old running the oven kept yelling "Mom!" across the kitchen.

The wife and I went there around 8 p.m. on a Friday evening and they were somewhat busy.  The inside of the joint  looks like your basic, small, family-ran Italian restaurant.  We were promptly greeted, seated, and served some  cold beverages.  Our service was good and everyone was very polite. 

Even though I didn’t order any beer that evening, I want to mention that they have bottled beer and draft beer.  This is something I was completely not expecting as most small family joints don’t bother with alcohol unless it’s really a bar that happens to serve food.

The menu consisted of some pasta dishes, sandwiches, and of course pizza (just think typical Italian menu).  We decided to share a pizza and since I was in a good mood, I lived dangerously and let the wife pick  what  type of pizza  we would devour.   She ordered a white pizza with Artichokes and Chicken.  Cringe!   It turns out that it was frickin’ great!  I really need to start carrying my camera with me everywhere as a picture would have done much more justice.  Great crust, tons of cheese, and the toppings were loaded on.

I do need to mention real quick that we ordered a side salad to split with the pizza.  It was edible.  Nothing fancy, just ice burg lettuce, onions, croutons and cheese.  We ordered their "House Italian."  Now when I think house Italian, I think fresh with great seasoning; it usually makes the whole salad.  This was like generic bottled Italian emptied into individual containers.  I really hope no one spent too much time making it.  Next time there I will skip trying to be somewhat healthy and go straight for the pie.  I like pie.  All kinds of pie!

When we were leaving the nice lady at the register said they took over ownership this past January, and made the official change in March.  She also stated they are trying to incorporate more family type dishes, but will definitely be keeping the pizza.  The pizza recipe they use is the same recipe the prior owner’s used for over 15 years (formally known as Petti’s Pizza) . 

When all was said and done we got out of there pretty cheap and very satisfied.  I will be going back soon for another pie (this time something with a lot of meat and toppings) and will definitely throw down a pitcher or two with it.  By the way, they also deliver!

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