John & Maria's Pizzeria-Restaurant — Restaurant in East Haven

Sat., June 10, 2023... First, we are not from the East Haven area. Second, we had a couple of hours "to kill" in between sessions of a bodybuilding competition at East Haven High School; and we chose John & Maria's to have lunch. There were 9 of us, and we sat outside on their covered patio; very nice ambience. We ordered one large bacon, onion pizza and then each ordered a salad or a sub/grinder. I got the STEAK BOMB... oh, my goodness, that sandwich was out of this world...and I seldom eat red meat! The roll was crunchy on the outside, soft, light and sumptuous on the inside. The steak was was chopped, hot cherry peppers, cheese, mayo. tomato and lettuce... but that bread.. WOW, the perfect sandwich, took half home and had it today (yum!). Mom got the sausage & peppers, raved about it completely. One son got the chicken parm grinder, raved, too. Another hot the turkey melt, 2 thumbs up... but again, the roll was the star! The pizza had enough char on the crust to be delicious without being too over done....just perfect. Two members got salads and the portions were plentiful. If we are ever back that way, I will definitely stop back in! Highly recommend this restaurant. Oh, and our server... (oops, forgot his name!) was personable, kind and attentive. 2 thumbs up for him, too! [Photos... was in Steak Bomb heaven and forgot to take initial photo of that or anything else! but here it is...

Me and the family went to have dinner shortly after we flew into CT. It was already a long day and everyone was tired and hungry. That being said, the hostess was very nice and we were seated right away. Our waitress tho was so rude and dry. If we weren’t recommended to eat here we would of left due to her attitude and face, it really ruined the whole mood. She didn’t know how to address my son, simply bc he has long hair, she was looking at us weird bc we were speaking Spanish to my mother in law translating what the dinner plates were, we asked for our appitizer to NOT have mushrooms and we got mushrooms. When she came back to pick up plates she noticed the mushrooms piled high and all she stated was I told them, that’s all I can do.. No apology, no compensation, no care in the world. Long story short, I get people have bad days but at least have good customer service, make suggestions, conversate. It’s your line of work. Our family is dealing with a lot, we flew in for a funeral and her service was not appreciated. Thank god the food...

Words can barely express how delicious the food is here, but I’ll try. Staff and owners are super nice, like a small family. They have the BEST FOOD, it’s all made by hand, they make their own sausage, anything with the sausage in it is amazing. Best stuffed mushrooms I have ever had hands down, best pizza, everything I have ever ordered has been super delicious. It’s owned by a brother and sister, John and Maria, the first time I came in, they walked me through the hole menu, and when they handed me my food, I got it to go, they said, “ this is a meal made with love” and you can tell. 👍 I will absolutely be coming back here if I’m ever back in town. I was in town building a local dispensary, here for about 2 months and ate here about 3-4 times a week for dinner, couldn’t get enuff! Well done John And Maria! I travel all over America for work, and you have been one of the top places I have...