Johnny Paisano's — Restaurant in Springfield Township

We randomly decided to stop in, forgetting it was Valentines Day, so they had a small menu this night.

We ordered calamari, mussels, and Chilean sea bass. Came with sides and bread.

The calamari was very good. Crispy and not cleverly chewy. The issues were with the mussels and the bass. My wife loves mussels and was happy that it was a big bowl of them. When she started to it them, she said it was extremely fishy and started to gag. She couldn’t eat more than 4. The sea bass came with two small pieces and was also somewhat fishy but I ignored it. The major problem was that it was super hard to cut, rubbery, and cold! Only first bite was somewhat warm, and center was so cold and was at our table less than 5 minutes. The mash potatoes were molten hot though, but kind of hard and bland. Could only handle eating one piece of the fish. It was too much of a hassle to try and cut second. Made me wonder if it was frozen and just quickly heated up. The bread was good, so that was one plus.

When asked about the food from wait staff, we told them about the mussels and they removed it from the receipt after giving a few options to replace it. I didn’t complain about the bass but I’m sure they knew I didn’t like it since plate was still full. I didn’t say anything since I did eat half of fish and some veggies.

Overall it wasn’t a good experience, which was so disappointing since we read...

I had placed an order back at the old place a few years back. I always ordered chicken picatta. The first few times it was delicious. Chicken was nice and thin, the sauce was briny and lemony. Then on one occasion I received these large chucks of chicken. It was a turn off but I thought maybe it was just an off day in the kitchen. I didn't order to go since that occasion. With the new place, I thought I'd go and give it another try. It was the same! Thick pieces of chicken swimming in a tasteless sauce. Picatta is supposed to be pounded thin and the sauce should taste like lemon and capers. This was not it. My mom ordered the chicken parm and it also was swimming in a bunch of sauce and chunks of mozzarella. And tons of grated cheese. You couldn't even see the spaghetti underneath. The menu does not state that it comes with grated cheese, just mozzarella. Not everyone wants a ton of grated cheese on top of cheese. It looked so unappetizing. My mom and I ate what we could and left the rest at the table, which was basically more than half of the entrée. The best part of the meal was the salad! I felt bad became mom really wanted chicken parm and I took her there thinking, you can't mess up chicken parm...but you did. $50 in wasted food....

This is the best cheesesteak no one is talking about. I knew it was going to be a special day because I was with special guest eater Michael Opelka. This was Cheesesteak #400. Three Springfield police officers were eating at Johnny's. This was such a great experience I do not know where to begin. Johnny Paisano’s very unassuming place tucked away between a bunch of other stores on Baltimore Pike. The roll was an amazing sesame seed roll. The meat was chopped, tender, juicy and a pleasure to eat. The fried onions and peppers were nice big chunks and I love nice big chunks, especially when they're flavorful and they sat on the grill for a little bit so they blended in well with everything else. Very good amount of cheese and it was melted perfectly into the whole cheesesteak. This is one of those times were great ingredients meet a talented caring person that knows how to put them together. ‘Brotherly love’ is the secret ingredient in great cheesesteaks. Thank you Michael Opelka! You were a pleasure to have on...