Joey Nova's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Tonka Bay

(Last visited 4/26/2022.) Working at my company's headquarters for a couple of weeks and a co-worker of mine mentioned that this place has AMAZING pizza and some good wings. So... I came here for lunch... then again a few days later! Lol.

Atmosphere/Appearance: Located in what I thought was Excelsior, is actually Tonka Bay right off of some water is this gem. It's in a plaza with a few other businesses and a part of a private parking lot. The inside isn't too crazy. You walk in and you are greeted by grand smells of pizza cooking in their huge steel ovens! The menu is overhead and the dining area is to the left. I remember a lot of exposed wood, plastic benches and just a classic looking pizza joint.

Service: I can't remember the young lady's name, but Sydney or Candace come to mind. Lol. Whoever it was that took care of us was friendly and made sure we had everything we needed. However, all you do is just place your order at the counter, take the number they give you and go sit down then wait for you food to be brought out to you. Drinks are self-serve as well.

Food: Throughout my visits I've had the chance to check out 3 of their wing flavors and a couple of toppings on their pizzas. The wow factor here is about big the slices are. They literally don't even fit onto a single plate. The edges hang over rim of the plate. Lol. So for lunch you can order the pizza + salad combo and it totally fills you up. The wings are also enormous and quite delicious I might add! I'd definitely get them again. Cajun and the Buffalo were my favorite, but the BBQ wasn't too bad either.

Value: A single order of wings will give you 6 and it'll cost you $10.00. Double your order for $16.50. Like I mentioned, they wings are huge so I think this is a pretty good value. Any time a day you can get a cheese slice + salad + drink for only $12.50. Toppings will cost extra of course.

In conclusion, I loved this place. However, coming for lunch and eating heavy makes for a slow rest of the work day. Lol. I ain't trippin' though, sometimes that's...

TL;DR: Sam who took my order was excellent. We created a new pizza that should go on the menu. Call in next time and ask for "The Galloping Garlic" NY Style XL. If you aren't talking to the homie Sam, ask if Sam is available and he'll dial you in.

Feel free to keep reading a detailed review below 👇

This past weekend I got lucky with a quick phone answer which happened to be Sam (no previous knowledge or did I know any of the employees). If you've ever been inside Joey Nova's, you can hear the phone blowing up but literally all of their employees are busy doing something so it can take a few tries to get through to place a pick-up order.

I walked Sam through a previous pizza order which was slightly custom as their systems don't show them exact orders of past anymore, unfortunately. However, here is The Galloping Garlic:

1. NY Style XL "cheese pizzza"
2. After applying the tomato-sauce base, a drizzle of garlic olive oil will be applied on top of the sauce.
3. Normal cheese layer applied
4. Add Garlic (fresh minced)
5. Add Freshly shaved/grated Parmigiano
6. Light drizzle of Garlic olive oil to top it off before getting sent to the oven.

THE PIE WAS SPECTACULAR. It will eventually find its way on the menu for sure.

Pro-Tip: For those who are sauce people... don't forget to order a couple of sides of their house-made alfredo sauce which is perfect for dipping the crust into and adding more calories to your meal, lol.

All in all, Sam was fantastic and even fixed an error from a previous order and took care of me to make sure I walked out with exactly what I was hoping for.

Try the Galloping Garlic and tell them Ryan sent you. I doubt they'll give you a discount, but eventually they will if enough people order it and mention my name.

Cheers;...

If you’re in Tonka Bay & craving legit New York-style pizza, Joey Nova’s is the place. My wife, Sabrina, and I have been ordering from here for years, but this time, we stopped in with our almost-four-year-old, Benedetta, and got to enjoy it straight out of the oven. Let me tell you—this place makes solid pizza pies, and we’re lucky to have such phenomenal, soft, foldable, thin-crust pizza right here in town.

The crust is exactly how I like it—thin, foldable, and sturdy enough to hold up all the cheese they pile on. I went for pepperoni, loaded it with Parmesan, Italian seasoning, and a drizzle of Sriracha. Sabrina and Benedetta split a pineapple and Canadian bacon slice—sweet, salty, just right. And when they say “slice,” they mean it—these things are massive, basically the size of a small pizza. One slice fills you up for hours.

Beyond the pizza, the staff here is just the best—warm, welcoming, and always happy to help. Huge thank you to Sam for grabbing some awesome video content of the pizza prepping station and ovens. We’ll be adding that footage to our latest Lake Minnetonka City Spotlight on RealTalkGeo (YouTube), so if you want a closer look at what makes Joey Nova’s a standout, check it out.

After our pizza, we headed over to Country Club Lanes for a couple of rounds of bowling—because pizza and bowling just go together. If you’re in the area and want a proper New York-style slice (or a whole pie), this is the spot. Hot, fresh, and consistently excellent.

—A very happy (and very full) neighbor,...