JoJo's Italian Diner — Restaurant in Tarpon Springs

The food here is truly fantastic! You can tell JoJo takes a lot of pride in her work. The portions are filling, the presentation is beautiful, and the taste is high quality for sure. 5/5 all the way across the board for her. The restaurant is clean, quaint, and cozy. The only reason this place gets knocked a couple stars is for the service.

Our server started out good at first. We were the only customers in there and he initially was personable and friendly. He went into great detail over the appetizers and the wine- although we politely declined both as we we're both just interested in salad, bread, and a main dish. My husband ordered his tea unsweetened and it came out sweet, which wasn't a big deal, but he politely asked for it unsweetened. He fixed it however, the energy seemed to shift after this and he became more short with us.

Another family came in to eat, but we were ready for the check. We were on a bit of a time crunch to get back home and he told us he would swing back by to do a dessert presentation. We politely asked for the check instead, because there was no sense in him doing a big spiel for us to politely decline. Again, he seemed agitated by our request but got our check out to us in a timely manner. When we went to sign the receipt the pen he gave was out of ink which again, wasn't a big deal but he spent 5-10 minutes talking to the other table. When he walked by us I asked for another pen and let him know the one he had given us was out of ink. He barely made eye contact with me, dropped the pen, and walked away.

I have been a server myself, and I know how demanding the industry can be. I also understood that because I depended on tips to make a living that friendliness, courtesy, and promptness with guests went a very long way. So his attitude towards the end was off putting after such a great meal.

When you only have two tables and it takes me 10 minutes to get your attention it can be frustrating. I don't know if he was just having a bad night, or he thought we were going to cheap out on a tip (which we didn't, we still left him 18%), or what his deal was but it was a weird way to leave. No warm thank you, no good-bye or anything of that nature from him when we left which was awkward because he was standing by the bar which is right by the door when we walked out.

For a place with an atmosphere that feels so warm and cozy, the service was not. He was very knowledgeable of the menu, but when we weren't interested in constantly being upsold to, he treated us almost like we were a waste of his time.

We will probably give this place another fair shot in the future, but not...

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED WITH THE SERVICE!!!

My wife and I have been here once before and were excited to take our daughters because the food/atmosphere there is great. We wanted to make a big deal about our daughter’s good grades on her first report card and take her out for dinner.

However, once we arrived we were told that an error was made with our 6:00 PM reservation. The table assigned to us was double booked and we had to wait until another one was ready (no big deal to us).

Shortly after that, a gentleman came and asked me if I would mind a smaller booth? It was not an issue, since we had two small children with us. The booth was big enough to accommodate the four of us, so we didn’t mind at all. Once we had sat down at the table, we were then told by a server that we had to get up and move because another person had a reservation and they like to sit at the table that we were given. Mind you, this is in front of a restaurant full of people, who then started to stare at us, as if we did something wrong. This is when my frustration with the service there began.

We then proceeded to another table on the other side of restaurant and took our seats. While sitting there, we were never asked if we would like anything to drink and observed another couple walk into the restaurant. They were seated behind us and not even 5 minutes passed before their drink order was taken. At this point it was close to 6:30 PM and my daughters were commenting on how they were thirsty and hungry. You could imagine how unappreciated as patrons and frustrated this made us feel. To make matters even worse, the same gentleman who originally sat us down (at the table we were told to move from) came and took the other couple’s beverage order, telling us that someone will be with us soon. Instead of noticing that we had been there for a half an hour and taking our drink order, we were completely unimportant in their staff’s eyes.

This was the last straw, my wife and I felt compelled to leave and go somewhere else where we would be treated as paying customers. It’s a shame that we will never visit this establishment again because the food is really good here.

However, I refuse to ever spend money at an establishment where I am being ignored and treated with such disregard.

If you ever go to JoJo’s, I truly hope that your experience is...

I was ready to give you folks 4.5 stars before the bill arrived. But I just can't do it. Your server was wonderful, your restaurant is quaint and clean and the food is rather good. However, your server was not attentive; not because she was ignoring us, but because she had WAAAAY too much going on. The bell would ring for her to pick up food from the kitchen. People were coming in placing and picking up orders and then she was also in charge of answering the phone, all while a fair amount of people were dining in. The Italian wedding soup was tasty. However, it is not traditional Italian Wedding Soup ... the chicken, again, was a nice touch; but, if you're Italian, which we are, then you expect them to follow the basics - mini meatballs made with beef and pork, endive and pastina ... the spices, of course, are up to the individual Italian's family recipe. The pastina was barely recognizable as it was nonexistent and overcooked. Remember - Italians smartly precook their pasta then place it on the side. Soups with pasta are cooked without the pasta. The pasta is then placed in the bottom of a soup bowl and the hot soup is ladeled on top of the precooked pasta directly before serving. The spaghetti with meatball was very good; delicious, actually, but, where was the sauce?! Be that as it may, we would have come back, knowing to ask for extra sauce and with the knowledge that your Italian Wedding Soup is good but not Italian. However, the thing that lead to this whole 1 star review and our refusal to return was the bill. You charged FOUR DOLLARS for a cup of soup as an "add - on" to two meals?! This cup was so tiny, less than a ladle full! But, the biggest travesty of your restaurant's management is the Chianti. Holy cow! Ordering two glasses of chianti with our meals, literally, doubled our $25ish lunch. YOU CHARGE $12/glass (and not a nice, large and traditional red wine glass) for wine? TWENTY FOUR DOLLARS?! We could have purchased an entire bottle for that price. Our favorite Italian restaurant that has been in business since 1981, charges $9.50 for a carafe of their chianti and it is just...