Joe Bologna's Restaurant — Restaurant in Lexington

Looks can be deceiving.

As an out of towner, for 30+ years, a meal at Joe Bologna’s was on my must do list every time we came to Lexington. I have so many fond memories there. Knowing I won’t ever go back makes me so sad. It’s gone so far downhill I don’t feel like it’s recoverable at this point.

We should have known when we got there how it was going to go. But the joy and great food from previous visits made me willing to stick it out. Upon arrival, no one manned the hostess stand for almost ten minutes. Finally Joe came and I thought—oh thank god. We were quoted 10-15 minutes. We waited almost 45 for a table. I kept hearing them say it was shift change so they didn’t have servers yet and were holding off seating. Shift change happens everywhere. I’ve never felt it happen like that before.

We finally got seated and our waitress had way too many tables. She was clearly stressed and going through the motions. At no point did 3 out of 4 of our drinks get refilled during the entire meal. The one that did get refilled was when we asked. We asked for “refills” and only the person who asked got a new drink. Most of us were empty for upwards of 30 minutes.

Our meal came with chicken noodle soup. It finally showed up after our meal was over. It was mid at best. Served hot but the flavor really was too salty to really enjoy.

We ordered pepperoni pizza, baked penne, and a Stromboli sandwich. Only the pizza was edible. My husband said the Stromboli “tasted like eating sand”. He ate about two bites and left the rest. The penne was over baked (pasta was crispy). The sauce tasted like straight tomato paste. I consider it overpriced ($17.50). We barely ate it and disliked it so much we left the rest as well. The pizza was fine. But the crust was bland.

We had to track down our server to get our check. And then it took another 20 minutes to actually pay. When we left the restaurant it was practically empty—so many tables open (at least 10). Walking out, I could not believe that there was a huge wait. How? Over half the restaurant was empty.

It was so...

We have frequented Joe Bologna's for more than 40 years--beginning with my husband's college years at University of Kentucky--and the old Joe's location was where he actually took me on our first date. Needless to say, Joe Bologna's has always meant a lot to us.

Unfortunately, our latest visit while on an antique shopping weekend in Lexington was very disappointing to say the least.

When we arrived we were told the wait would be 15 to 20 minutes. There were only three parties to be seated in front of us--and all were small parties consisting of two to three people. After waiting more than an hour in this short line, the hostess gave us a pager and said it would be another 10 to 15 minutes. It ended up being another 35 minutes--so the initial quoted 15 minute wait turned into more than an hour and a half wait.

All this time we could see several tables open, only needing to be bussed. Two hostesses were on duty--basically seating one party every 30 minutes, but neither hostess seemed concerned enough to buss the tables so the guests could be seated. Several parties behind us ended up leaving because they got tired of waiting. About 90 minutes in were still in line and someone who appeared to be Joe arrived, (haven't seen him in years so not sure), and the two hostesses finally started to help buss the dirty tables.

Once we were seated it was another 10 minutes before the server stopped by and took our drink order. We gave the server our food order at the same time. Since we planned to have dinner later on that evening--and this lunch was turning into the dinner hour, we only ordered a small pizza and the antipasto salad for two.

Thirty minutes later the pizza arrives, "cold," and instead of the antipasto salad--a chef salad.

I will admit the restaurant was busy--but Joe's has always been busy, but in the past the restaurant could keep up.

Sadly, we don't see ourselves frequenting Joe's again, even if for...

Food Fun Adventure Saturday took Fat Man Reviews to Joe Bologna's Restaurant & Pizzeria in Lexington, KY. Joe's is a long time Italian style restaurant located inside a historic church.

We started with the Fried Sampler, this comes with cheese sticks, mushrooms, zucchini and onion rings, with marinara sauce and horseradish. They were out of banana peppers. Everything was fried really well and not overly battered. The portions are large and filling. The marinara is chunky, almost meaty with the tomatoes, with a slight sweetness like Chicago style. The horseradish was creamy and it is slightly sweet as well with a hint of a kick.

I sampled the cream of potato soup. It was thick and creamy with some chunks of potatoes. The soup was superb with a nice taste of chive

We ordered a hand tossed pizza with pepperoni and half mushrooms. The crust was slightly crunchy and chewy, the sauce stood up with the slight bite of the pepperoni and the cheese was melty and stringy. This is how pizza should look and taste. I am told the mushroom side was equally good.

We also ordered the Lasagna, and it comes with a huge bread stick and one side(I chose soup). The lasagna is more rustic or casserole style than a traditional serving. This is made with beef and pork, ricotta cheese, spices, covered with marinara and topped with mozzarella cheese. This dish is wonderful, the noodles may have been overcooked so slightly and the ricotta makes the dish slightly salty, even though the sauce cuts through it. The bread stick is cooked well with a nice crunch and light and chewy inside. The bread is served in garlic butter. Our server gave us a pro-tip and said to add Parmesan cheese to the butter, and it is delightful.

Joe Bologna's Restaurant & Pizzeria is a cool spot, and they offer several pizza combinations or build your own, sandwiches and several Italian dishes and desserts. Joe Bologna's Restaurant & Pizzeria is Fat Man Approved...