Joe's Pizza & Pasta — Restaurant in Mesquite

I'm not sure where to begin. From the moment I walked in the door it seemed as though things weren't going to go right. First off, the cashier had a snotty, almost arrogant demeanor that insinuated 'my parent's own the place and I can say or do anything I want". She boldly stated that you had to order from the counter, there was no sitting and looking at a menu and waiting for a waitress. She followed that up with, "you can take a mini menu and sit and look at it, then come back to the counter to order". I ordered sweet tea for 2, and there was NONE. I told same cashier there was no tea and her smart alecky response was, "We'll make some!!". My question is why wasn't it already made? If you're selling it, why not have it on hand to sell? It was the beginning of the dinner run and the place only had one other table sat. It's not like that one table came in and drank up 3.5 gallons of tea, 15 minutes into the said dinner hour. Moving forward, we ordered and sat down. Out of the abyss, comes a waitress who brings bread and salad to the table. (I thought there were no waitresses) She follows up with bringing our entrees, refilling our ORANGE DRINK, (remembering there was still no tea), bring extra napkins and making sure we were good and comfortable with our order. The food was good. We ordered lasagna, which was fair to middling', to put it simply; palatable but probably a 6 on a scale of 1 to 10. Our other entrée was Stromboli, which was my first time ever having it and it was amazing (10 out of 10 on the scale). During one of the waitresses (that they don't have) visits to the table, I inquired about the name of Ms. Rudeness. I guess the waitress went back and told her I asked because she became the sweetest, kindest, nicest employee to the patrons who came to the counter while we sat there. It was as though the EVIL twin left and the SWEET twin showed up. Overall, it turned out to be an alright dinner but in so many ways it could have been much better without any extra effort other than a little kindness from HER! (I do know her name but I'm not going to throw her under the bus this time) Lastly, the bill came to $30.++and some odd cents. Looking at the provided menu, the Lasagna was 10.99, the Stromboli was 8.99 and the 2 drinks were 1.99 each. That subtotaled was 23.96 plus tax...by my calculations, tax would have had to be in excess of 26% in order to get a total of more than $30.++ dollars. How is...

SUBPAR, NO RECOMMENDATION!

First, if you care about: personable experiences, friendly service, great pastas, communication on orders, and importantly, dietary restrictions, NONE of which applied here. With that said, feel free to read my family’s experience:

Considering this as a simple request, a substitution on a combination meal, gave the order to the incoherent cashier. This was the start of a terrible experiment.

My family has come here many times, as the food is decent; simple pasta (nothing special), location convenient, independently owned, the pizza is good, and short wait time. Adding, expecting a better experience being independently-owned, and supporting that.

Reasoning of one star: If you have ANY dietary restrictions- do NOT dine here, and you can emphasize this giving your order- the cashier taking your order will nod and say okay, making you believe this is understood- it is not. Seemingly English as a second language, not sure, but you would think she’d ask the back of house in any confusion or accuracy.

So, here comes your order, relaxing the error, the pizza comes by the same cashier WHO TOOK the order (and if to-go, open a surprise). Letting her know this error kindly, in which she responds in a defensive, unprofessional, and attitudal manner, and blames customer. States she will get the owner and storms off without any politeness.

This inconvenience and interruption already ruining the enjoyment from this dining experience. It seems a simple solution, and again, you would think. No, the owner comes, seemingly frustrated, gives blame as well to the custome, again states the customer ordered incorrectly, argues his iron-clad policy on no substitution, and spends a bit of time ranting, ended in him giving a partial refund and a very forced apology.

The pizza is pretty good, though.

I would suggest a chain restaurant such as Bucca Di Peppo or Olive Garden instead for pastas. The taste is better (Bucca), and far better service at both.

I would suggest a new capable cashier that can take...

I recently checked out Joe's Pizza & Pasta and was pretty impressed with what I found. Right off the bat, the service was spot on.

The girl at the counter was super friendly and had no problem answering my questions, making me feel right at home. For my meal, I went with the spaghetti works and wasn't disappointed. It looked a bit small at first glance, but there was more than enough to fill me up by the end. The dinner rolls were fresh out of the oven, and the house salad with blue cheese dressing hit the spot with its crispness.

I also tried a slice of their supreme pizza and a slice of stuffed meat pizza. Both were solid choices. The supreme was loaded with toppings on a great crust, and the stuffed meat was packed with flavor, definitely satisfying the meat lover in me.

Initially, I was a bit skeptical about the portion sizes, but I was totally wrong. Ended up being the perfect amount of food. Joe's nailed it with quality and quantity.All in all, Joe's Pizza & Pasta is a solid spot. Great service, good food, and a comfortable vibe. It's definitely on my list for a...