Just Cooking Rustic Italian — Restaurant in Lincoln

UPDATE: Owner is a real peace of work. Beware if you have an opinion that differs!!!

I have read the reviews online and like always there are good and there are bad and then there are fair. My review was fair.

However, you sir (as you can see from most of your replies) anytime someone says anything you disagree with, because you think your perfect, you flip out and bash the people that pay your lifestyle. I may not be a happy customer, but I am still a paying one.

I mentioned lots of positive things in my review, and then one glaring negative. Instead of just being gracious that people take the time to be fair and reflect on the service as whole and give an honest report of their experience, you would rather sink your teeth into the feedback you don't like.

Your server did do everything possible, and i never bashed her. I just didn't like the food so, yes I lost my appetite.

You should take some lessons on biting your tounge and saying thank you for the feedback. Thats what good business owners do. Then they reflect on the feedback and make descions on wether or not they want to explore these as possible issues in their organization or not.

Instead of just being a keyboard warrior from behind the curtain of uptight restauranteur shielf of protection.

I have since lowered my score, and that is 100% on you! I will never eat at your restaurant now, becuase of this...and I know that makes you happy...but eventually I hope it has a trickle down effect.

Have a nice day, and I will stick to all the other wonderful restaurants in our region that actually know how to treat people that have a differing opinion. Had been looking forward to this restaurant for some time, finally went for a Friday night dinner.

Staff was friendly, service was decent and fairly prompt. There was a good atmosphere about the place, live music outside but we were placed inside.

The food however, was very disappointing.

Started off well, they served a warm focaccia bread which was fresh and delicious. But it fell flat quickly afte that.

I ordered the Penne Salsiccia, it sounded delicious, but was far from it. Probably the worst pasta dish I have ever eaten in a restaurant.

It was so salty, and tasted like it was scraped from the bottom of the pot that had been simmering all day.

I couldn't even get through half of it.

My wife said her dish was okay, but not great. Friend of ours had the braised beef which did look very good and he said so as well.

I gave 3 stars because the staff was nice and did offer to make me a new dish, but after this dish I had lost my appetite.

I might go back again one day, but...

We went with a larger party for a birthday dinner. My rating reflects the opinions of some of the other diners in our party as well. The restaurant was busy for a Sunday night, and the service was great. Attentive and courteous wait staff. We had calamari fritti for an appetizer which was very good, served with lemon mayo and salsa verde. The lemon mayo was unexpectedly very good with the calamari, and something I've never had. The calamari itself was good, not greasy or chewy, with a light crisp batter. My main dish, Penne Salsiccia (penne pasta with red wine tomato sauce, sausage, caramelized onions, and bacon) I thought was spectacular. Just the right amount of spice, the sauce and the sausage were delicious. The pasta was cooked perfectly. Portion size was just right for me. Other diners felt it was a little salty. I have posted pictures of that dish and the arctic char, which I was told was very good. The specials were quite diverse and sounded amazing. I saw the pork chop dish come out of the kitchen and it looked impressive. It is obvious the chef cares about presentation, and it was done very well.

There is a small selection of bottled and local canned beer, and a nice wine list by the bottle or glass, however prices I felt were a little high for wine by the glass. I expect to pay more for wine at a higher end restaurant, I just thought it was on the high side. Perhaps a house wine by the half or full litre would be a welcome addition to the menu. There is also a small selection of nice cocktails like a negroni, chocolate martini, lemoncello wine spritzer.

The restaurant itself has a cozy decor with a comfortable ambiance, also a great patio out front. There is a big window that looks into the kitchen from outside where you can see the chefs at work, which I thought was a great feature. The bathrooms are very nice, super clean and well appointed with a selection of hair products as well, which I've never seen before!

We had some young kids in our party ages 6 to 13 and I would say this is not really a place for young kids. But I am not deducting points for that as we knew this in advance and did not expect chicken fingers and fries 😉. Just for those with young kids, something to consider.

Overall I had a great dining experience and the majority of our party did as well. For an upscale Italian dining option, this is a great one. It is obvious the staff and the chef care about your experience both in the food and the...

We had a great experience at Just Cooking.

First I'd like to say that there are not a lot of nice restaurants in the area so this was an especially lucky find. We had a very annoying experience at the Lake House; they wouldn't take reservations before 6:30pm and we were taking my mother-in-law out for her 80th birthday. She likes to eat early. We wasted a lot of time getting over to the Lake House and by the time we got there, they didn't have any room. It was a total waste of time and very annoying after we had just called them.

We felt extra lucky to find Just Cooking. The staff welcomed us and everyone was very friendly. The ambience was really nice. It's a great nice restaurant without being stiff. We considered going to Inn on the Twenty, as an alternative, but we knew it would be too stiff and uptight for my mother-in-law. Just Cooking was the perfect balance of nice and personable.

My husband and I each had Ceasar salads which were nice. My mother-in-law had a nice butternut squash and fennel soup that she liked. They brought very nice, fresh foccacia to the table along with a fresh herb olive oil. I wish I could have had more of the olive oil but I knew I'd be too stuffed. It was really tasty.

Then we each had pasta dishes. I had the gnocchi, my husband had a spicy Italian sausage something or other, and my mother-in-law had the mushroom. They were all great. I love gnocchi and this was very good. Extremely creamy, so it was heavy, but it was nice. I'm in love with the gnocchi dish at N'ata Costa in St. Catharines which is one of the best gnocchis I've ever had so this wasn't quite as good as that, but it was tasty. The next time I'll have the mushroom penne that my mother-in-law had which looked and smelled awesome. There's also an eggplant dish that looked great. (I'm vegetarian.)

They also had a nice wine list. We each had a different kind of wine, to suit each of our tastes.

We didn't have dessert since we had a cake waiting at home, but the desserts looked nice too.

I thought it was a great meal for the right price point.

I'll definitely go there again and would...