Mona Lisa's Gelato & Cafe — Restaurant in Johnson City

I've been coming here for their AHHHHMAZING homemade Gelato for YEARS! Never have I realized they also have a full menu!!! This particular day, my son's & I ended up here because my car overheated on our way home for dinner. We were all super hungry so we'd decided to walk to Mellow even though none of us even wanted pizza, and I was just saying to my oldest how I wished Mona Lisa's had a food menu too! It must've been fate because Mona Lisa's had a sign out sitting in front of their door that said something like "Come Try Our Delicious Sandwiches"... which we immediately were sold!!! We all got a Half each of the Cheddar Chicken Bacon Ranch panini. When I tell you that my oldest is picky but ate that entire panini saying Mmmm after every single bite & my 2yr old did just the same! They're the 2 that will fill up on a drink while eating if I let them- but they both turned down drinking anything til the entire sandwich was GONE! I've never been too big a fan of panini bread, everywhere I've ate one was hard as a brick-just too hard to chew but MONA LISA'S PANINI BREAD 🍞 was the absolute PERFECTLY SOFT BUTTERY CRISP on the outside... and warm and soft inside-just melts in your mouth! Served hot 🔥& fresh! Need I even mention the absolute fantastic dessert~homemade Gelato 🍨 which neither of my son's were able to eat because they actually filled up on their meal 1st!!! This is truly THE hidden gem 💎 of the Tri Cities right here!!! Get you some!!!!!...

I took my family here for some Gelato on a rather hot ,early afternoon. Upon walking in we discovered that they serve lunch there as well. Sandwiches, soups and salads. The choices are not significant and the food is not that great either. The Gelato is also not all the good in my opinion. However the part that has me reviewing this place at only 2 stars is the price of "everything". For what I paid for a chicken bacon ranch, I should expect a Gourmet sandwich with the works on it and a good size salad. Instead we got toasted ,what they call paninis, with some chicken and barely any bacon. I couldn't find the ranch either. The side consisted of a pixie cup with potato salad in it. You could actually lick it empty in one go, that's how little we got. The actual salad was so hard to eat because there were SLICES of Parmesan cheese on it and dried tomato that were so bitter it was impossible to swallow. The flavors are absolutely nothing to write home about in our opinion on any of the food. Now to break it down. We ordered 3 half sandwich meals with salads, a side and 3 single cups of Gelato. We paid $75 dollars and change including a minimal tip. A single cup of Gelato was 6 dollars and the cup had room to spare after it was filled. You would think for 6 dollars, they would cram the cup full. We won't be going back simply for the lack of quality and amount of...

Truly one of the best lunches in the Tri-Cities, and I haven't even had the Gelato yet! Start with the "creamy chicken and celery soup." It really needs a majestic name because it is truly fit for a king! Served piping hot and so full of chicken that it was a meal all by itself.

I paired the soup with the ham, goat cheese and apple sandwich which was out of this world. They don't skimp on ANY of the ingredients, and the everything on it was so fresh, all the way down to the mixed greens.

Hubby had the Hearty Italian salad with what turned out to be the very best Balsamic dressing I've ever tasted. (Honestly, I even dipped my sandwich in it. His chicken bacon ranch sandwich was also tops.

Getting long-winded here but all I can say about the Gelato is, 'come hungry!' Their idea of "one scoop" is two flavors together in one cup if you like! We got carried away and started eating before I remembered to take the pix all the way through, including the Gelato. They have over 20 flavors to choose from!

To top it all off, the sweet little dining room has padded chairs vs those urban industrial metal numbers that are so popular but uncomfortable. (They do have some of the cute metal tables, though.)

And the 70's tunes were the cherry on top for this reviewer. Do NOT...