Joe's Italian Bistro — Restaurant in Allen

I am sincerely disappointed in the food here. It was bad. Like, so bad I will remember this meal for the rest of my days. I ordered the Chicken Jerusalem ($13.99), a creamy sauced dish. I am still baffled at just how bland and poorly cooked it was, but here is the breakdown. I opted to "mix in" my pasta, which apparently means "spoon on top of the meat". The meal came with a side salad, which was about a single handful of iceberg lettuce and a half a tomato slice with the house-made "tomato vinaigrette". The meat was very tough, especially for a piece of chicken! Also, they did not season the meat or cut the meat into pieces, which really drove home how tough the meat was. The sauce literally tasted like straight cream, no seasoning. I'm sure it's not even as good as a store bought jar (yes, I know, and yes, I really mean that, mama forgive me). The dish has mushrooms and artichoke hearts and it didn't even taste like they were cooked in the pan together, but rather scooped out of a jar and set on the plate. Finally, the spaghetti noodles were well overcooked, mushy, and still no seasoning. I even spent the better part of 5-10 minutes trying to desperately season/mix the food at the table myself, but it just couldn't be saved. I can't believe I'm saying this, but y'all, this is the worst Italian food I've ever had. Not just because of the poor cooking quality, but the sheer lack of effort in the recipe! I really hope the owner reads this review and tastes the food to verify what I've said. I apologize for the negative words, but this whole experience was just unacceptable and a big letdown. I don't understand how such a highly rated local place has food this bad, but...

Update 5 years later: The bread changed from a long toasty garlic bread to some really delicious rolls. They have garlicky basil melted on top, and are light and fluffy. The stromboli had a delicious beef flavor and the mushrooms were cooked well. I will say the marinara sauce has a deep bitterness, seems like red wine is added. It wasn't our favorite. Atmosphere is calm and dimly lit, but not too dark you cannot see. It was kind of chilly inside with the fans, but someone must've shut them off and that made the experience better. The cheesy garlic bread was crispy with a lot of flavor. I ordered a stromboli with hamburger and cheese. It came with a side of marinara. I will say the hamburger seemed possibly partially soy based ? It was more mushy than regular beef. Which is okay, because the flavor was still nice. I just didn't expect it. The large pizza was huge and my friend only ate half of it. Definitely took it home though. Our total was a little over 30 bucks which included: large one topping pizza, my stromboli, a soda, breadsticks (came with 2), and a small slice of cheesecake. (The cheesecake tasted like butterscotch, not exactly New York style, and the price being 3.99 wasn't exactly ideal for the price). We will most likely come back again, as there is a lot to choose from that isn't pizza related. The staff was very attentive...

This used to by my #1 go to for yummy food. Not anymore and super disappointed in the phone call I just had. We picked up to go. The mozzarella sticks, garlic rolls and manicotti are all undercooked. The manicotti has a weird aftertaste that just isn't right. I called to complain about this and was told... "Can you call back later, right now we are really busy." I told the person I was calling to complain about food I just picked up. The person again told me they were busy and to call back later. This is my dinner!!! So, I'm starving and cannot eat what I was given and have to wait until they aren't busy to get my food resolved. Sure... I don't mind waiting to eat my dinner. SMH!

*update... I called back to let them know I was headed up there with the food I bought that could not eat and spoke to the manager. He was very apologetic and refunded the money. He said he wished I had gotten the name of the person who answered the phone but I didn't. He sent pic of the refund. If I were him... u would definitely speak to cooks and anyone answering the phone. Both let him...