Joey D's Chicago Style Eatery & Pizza — Restaurant in Venice

We are from out of town looking for something different. Joey D's restaurant was a glowing beacon from the road so we u-turned and made this restaurant our choice above all others restaurants around. We were greeted right away by two smiling and attentive staff members, which made us feel very welcomed and good about our decision to eat at this restaurant. After being seated we were told our waitress would be with us shortly, and she was. Our waitress came over to greet us within about 10 mins of being seated. But after this is where things started to fall apart. Waitress, Alexandra M, took our drink order which was for two beers and a water. She then disappeared. We had ample time to look at the menu then we just sat there and waited. A couple of the other friendly waitstaff actually came over during that time to ask if we had been helped and we said that we had. So, we waited some more for our waitress to return with our drinks. The restaurant was not busy, only about a quarter full. After about 20 mins, we could see her on the other side of the restaurant bar with a couple beers in hand (holding them both in her hands by the necks, yuck!) Then she stops at the bar, holding the beers still in her hand, to talk with a few employees and to look at something on their phone, laughed and talked for a little while longer. After the conversation with her comrades is done, she comes over to drop off our bottled beers and takes off. Never asks if we are ready to order or says; "I'll be right back", Nothing. She just takes off. My husband and I just kind of look at each other and shrug. We pick up our long awaited beers just to see they are the wrong beers! So, now we try to flag her down. She goes right, left, and right again but never looks at us. I just say forget it and headed to the bar myself. Afraid if we wait for her again, we may never get our drinks. I tell the bartender what happened and he gets us what we asked for. I return to our table with our correct beers and wait. When she finally notices us, she comes over and says; "Oh, yeah I'll get you your waters". Another 13 minutes goes by before she returns to ask what we would like to order. But still no water either. She takes our order, says something weird and unintelligible, but we just smile and nod. Cause at this point we just want to get our food. Then she must have remembered the waters again because she came and dropped off two waters. But the waters both came in two different sized cups which made us scratch our heads. Our food was delivered by someone else in a decent amount of time and came out hot and Delicious! Other servers graciously came back intermittently and checked on us. Then at the end of the meal I asked for to-go boxes. She gives me the smallest dessert sized box for an almost full sized Stromboli. Really? Wow! Just icing on the cake for her lack of awareness. Of all the other pleasant, smiling, friendly, and attentive staff members, and we get the one that makes us feel so very unwelcome. I would recommend the restaurant and the food but just can't get over this particularly poorly...

I had a very rough day today and someone told me about this place. Figured if anything would cheer me up, some pizza would do the trick. I got there at 6 pm to place a to go order. I ordered a small pepperoni and mushroom deep dish and a cannoli. I read the menu online and knew it would be 20-25 mins to cook so I left to run errands and came back at 6:30.

The lady who spoke with me when I came back was not the same that took my order initially. She couldn’t find my order at the front and frantically went to look for it. The order had some how not been placed with the kitchen yet.

Finding this out i just assumed a bad day got worse and admittedly and maybe understandably( but not justifiably) showed some frustration and probably came off as angry and annoyed.

This sweet lady helping me had nothing to do with my order getting misplaced and I regretted my reaction immediately and tried to change the vibe. She let me know they were putting it on and would be as quick as possible. I know the menu says 25 mins for a reason, it’s deep dish. I tried to be more pleasant knowing it was an honest mistake and this nice lady who actually cared and felt bad would be the one who has to deal with it if I acted out of character.

She checked on me several times and visually felt bad about the situation. Knowing there was an individual who cared enough about her job and cared about those she services was enough for me to give a good review in itself.

Ultimately, the pizza was so damn good I would have waited another 30 mins if needed.

Regrettably, I didn’t get her name but want to say thank you and if I came off dickish even for a moment, i apologize, you killed it!!

I easily recommend this place, and the free cannoli that sweetheart gave me has nothing to do with...

We've eaten at the Sarasota Joey D's location in the past but this was our first time at the Venice location. My apologies for not throwing some love for the Sarasota location when we went but our experience was just as good. We went for my wife's birthday and the overall experience was excellent. First, our appetizer was the garlic knots with an awesome marinara sauce. Our entrée order consisted of a parmesan chicken sandwich w/fries, the Italian beef sandwich wet with peppers, chicken alfredo and spaghetti with parmesan chicken. The dish that stood out was the Italian beef sandwich which was flavorful and filling. Next, the chicken Alfredo was a large portion with plenty for leftovers. However, my only gripe it was just under seasoned but a pinch of salt fixed that. Next, the spaghetti and parmesan chicken sandwich was also delicious and shareable portions. I would also like to point out that the fries were also good. Next, we did save room for desert and ordered a piece of Tiramisu. This one of the top 3 Tiramisu I've had the espresso flavor was just right, it was decadent, and overall texture was perfect. Our waitress was great and extremely friendly. She even brought my wife a cannoli for her birthday. The cannoli was really sweet and prepared nicely. Lastly, if you haven't tried Joey D's I highly recommend you do and we're definitely planning...