Josephine's Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Fruita

We were SO excited for a new restaurant here in Fruita! Bummer to say, we were incredibly disappointed through and through. Overpriced, poor, undertrained service. Compared to Fidel's (their sister restaurant) it is NOWHERE in comparison.

When our cocktails came, the runner came to the table and said, "I don't know what's what, or what these drinks are." So we divided among the table (and luckily come from bartending/restaurant backgrounds so we know what we ordered and didn't give ourselves the wrong drinks.)

We added the bread (which is $5 extra) and it was served cold, with only olive oil and salt and pepper. We ordered balsamic vinegar to go with it, and were charged $1.50 upcharge for it. We expected the bread to be warm.

The ceaser salad was dressed poorly, with minimal dressing not equally distributed across the salad. The server also said, "Do you want THOSE THINGS on the salad?" She meant anchovies, and we said YES, though we didn't expect them to come whole. The salad serving size was also incredibly small.

The carrots were undercooked, almost raw, and incredibly spicy (for a family that LOVES spice).

All three entrees were lukewarm, at best. We will say the noodles were FANTASTIC and the lasagna was great (we would have loved to have been offered parmesan cheese with it). We were not thrilled with the polenta and mushrooms - consistency was rubbery; it was overly spiced and it was $22 (same price as lasanga) for zero protein.

Finally, it was a bizzare way the manager handled a mix-up with our check and the fact that we returned a glass of wine delivered 25 minutes after we ordered it. They offered to deduct something from our bill, and returned with an "updated" bill and a box of cookies. The item deducted was the carrots we sent back because they were undercooked. The cookies were not even good.

I could go on, but I'll end by saying your money is better spent at other restaurants in the valley unless this new spot can improve on a...

Service was great don’t remember the lady’s name but she was very sweet and very nice and also very fast love love loved that! The food on the other hand genuinely tasted bland. We tried a few different things on the menu to truly get a feel for the new restaurant in town we were excited to try. But each thing was as bland as the next. Also no options for non alcoholic drinks so if you’re sober or want a plain drink this is not the place to be. Also no kids menu, no kids drinks, DO NOT BRING KIDS unless you want a broken dish or cup thankfully we had our children’s cups in the car so we didn’t risk breaking a glass. Hopefully this place offers more on their menu eventually and is more accommodating to chilren. Would love to give another chance but in the mean time Olive Garden still taste better than the...

What a welcoming space from a seasoned hospitality team for Fruita’s community. Beautifully designed with affordable options this new restaurant is sure to have a waitlist moving forward. The vegetarian Beet Tartar was excellent and beautifully plated with a fresh zip. We also enjoyed the Fennel & Sausage pizza which had a deliciously unique flavor combo I have never tasted before. It was awesome to see them stretch the pies out and fire them before your eyes in an authentic Italian forno. The backbar was exceptionally beautiful and everything just seemed very curated. We continued on with entrees and I really enjoyed my Lasagna, due to a delicious sauce. Also their meatballs are not...