James Peak Pizza Joint — Restaurant in Winter Park

Has potential, but had a pretty poor experience. Our server was clearly new to the job, so I won't hold that against her, she probably should have been tailing someone.

The atmosphere was weird. It's like it's trying to be part Sports Bar, part Italian Restaurant, and part Pizza Joint. There was no sound from the TVs, just some sort of dance music playing. It felt like it was at a fine volume, but this place is loud and booming even at quite levels. It was hard to hear each other, even when we were the only people seated for dinner.

In general the place was clean, and so we're the bathrooms, however the lock on the bathroom doesn't work, as a small child came busting in on me. After looking, there was also a little sliding lock, but the handle lock sounded and felt like it worked.

Our server (again, clearly new) was not very attentive, drinks ran dry, order was messed up in more than one way, and everything was really slow. After finally ordering a couple appetizers, couple pizzas, and a pasta dish, the toasted ravioli was mistaken for a ravioli entree, and one of the pizzas didn't come at all.

At one point, one of the bartenders came out and helped with some drinks, which helped a lot, we probably would have had a few more drinks had he or the server kept that up. With only a few people sitting at the bar, seemed like the wait staff could've used the help.

I had pasta with Alfredo, it arrived cooled and seized up into a mass of noodles and slightly greasy cheese. I also tried the pizza, which was mostly okay but still a little undercooked to my taste. At least the ingredients seemed fresh, sauce was good, and it wasn't overly greasy.

After spending just shy of two hours there, for what I figured would be a pretty quick dine and go, I have a hard time recommending this place, but I really hope they get it turned around, because a few simple details could take this from...

They’ve been open about a month or two, and they do seem to have things worked out pretty well. The space is renovated nicely and they have a clean dining area. They have long bar height tables which could be good for communal dining. (C’mon, be bold and meet someone new at dinner!). This is now late July and most places up here don’t have AC, so the dining area was a bit warm.

I like to play a bit of “menu roulette” and ask the wait staff what they like. The waitress went through several things on the menu and I noticed she mentioned the meatballs 3 times. Meatballs with penne pasta and meat sauce it was then.

The meatballs are tasty and tender. And was served with some toasted (scared) Italian bread on the side. It was served quickly, and by who I perceive to be the owner, which was a nice touch.

I would not call the meatballs and sauce bland. The plate was good, but I can’t put my finger on what else it needs for a “pop” in flavor. Of course, I could have dusted it with some cheese and red peppers.

I think the next time I go back (there will be a next time) I’ll take someone with me to split a pizza or Stromboli.

Overall, they’re doing well for a new establishment, I get the sense that they’ve run a restaurant before, and I’ll happily give them...

My family and I went here to try out the new pizza place in town a few days ago and everything was top notch. Our server was amazing and got each and every detail of our order perfect. The atmosphere was relaxed and semi fancy. We had pizza, sandwiches, and pasta. I was not expecting the quality to be so amazing! We all stopped and looked at eachother after taking our first bites of food and all agreed that the food was far beyond our expectations of a pizza place. The chef/kitchen did a fantastic job with presentation, taste, and quality. I absolutely would recommend anyone who is looking for a great night out and a great meal well worth the price to go here. We 100% will be returning here very soon....