We were heading back from Wally Fest and were looking for some place to grab a slice of pizza. I had to get off the highway at this exit anyway, so we stopped. From the outside and the inside, this place is a throwback to a long time ago. We went into the restaurant side of the building. There were 2 tables occupied with customers and one in the middle with 2 women sitting at it. One of them got up after a few minutes and sat us. I guess she was the hostess. She led us to a booth, but we asked for a table and then she became very friendly. Go figure. Waitress was very friendly and attentive. The have a semi-open kitchen and the cook was busy and looked like he enjoyed his job. I ordered a sandwich and my companion ordered a cheesesteak. Both had plenty of meet and cheese and the bread was good. No complaints. The prices were reasonable and average. I ordered Yuengling Draft and my companion had Heineken in a bottle. Prices were very good. Overall, not a bad place to eat. Next time I'm in the area, I'd stop again. read more

We were on vacation and this was the closest pizzeria to our stay. It was very good and great price for a large pie.

Italian Restaurant? Who taught these people how to Italian?? This sandwich was the saddest, most tasteless thing I've ever seen. Where is the passion? It was an endless lump of cheese with the slightest bit of cheap meat thrown on. I wouldn't even call it a sandwich or hoagie. I'll call it bread cheese lump. The three small slices of jalapeño poop nuggets added on were the only thing that gave it an essence of taste. But certainly not Italian. Still glad to support a local business in these times. Even if it means I have to subject myself to 3-day old bready-cheese-lumps that they affectionately call a hoagie. read more

Our order was not ready when promised. My husband had to wait for the chicken wings to be made as they got lost in the shuffle. We are out-of-towners, we used a $50 gift card for our order of $29.36. He did not leave a tip as he was picking up the order and it was late. They decided upon themselves to take over16% tip after he signed the sales slip. To say we are not happy is an understatement. read more

Currently staying at a resort in the Poconos and wanted to have Italian for dinner this evening. I looked on maps and noticed that John's Italian Restaurant was close and we decided to give it a shot. My boyfriend ordered three pieces of pizza and said they were good! I ordered the baked manicotti and was a bit disappointed that the sauce was extremely watery. I tried the "drink of the month," which was an orange crush, and once again, was a bit disappointed but I'm from Annapolis where we make orange crushes with fresh oranges. We ordered two pieces of cake to go, espresso cake and carrot cake, and they were delicious! read more

I've eaten buffalo wings at many places in my life never have I paid $13 for a dozen of small hot wings I'll never go there again read more

John's Italian - Italian Near Me - Greentown, Pennsylvania

Always a friendly waitress and staff. Reasonable prices and a great place to go to for BREAKFAST. Large dining rooms and quick service. Mostly standard fare. Very easy access of Rt. 84. With plenty of parking. Nice sitting area inside in a green house type atmosphere (large windows) read more

Ordered pizza from here for first time and will be last. Pizza was very doughy and not cooked all the way. very disappointed. How do you mess up pizza read more

So, you're stuck in the sticks with nothing but...well, nothing around that's appealing. You drive by an unassuming Italian restaurant and think, "I am so not up for a plate of Ronzoni and Ragu". ... Open your mind, young Padawan...John's is out of this world, better than your momma's Italian food. Everything is fresh and homemade. The sauce rivals some of the best restaurants in New York {and many of my friends' Italian moms who pride themselves on their sauce". The staff is friendly. The food takes awhile to come, but that's because it's cooked fresh. The prices are not bad. Be prepared to bring your own hooch-they don't have a liquor license...yet... read more

We have taken out philly cheese steaks from this establishment once a month for the past year and a half. On every occasion the meat has been burned. Tonight we specifically requested that they not burn the meat and received meat that was so charred it was not edible. We will never order from this establishment again. If the chef cannot handle the orders, the customer should not be made to suffer. read more

This place needs a major renovation. So weird when you walk in. It feels like a cafeteria and what's up with the stained faux stained glass windows and curtains? Let some natural light in. All I can say is that they make pretty good pizza. I've stayed once for breakfast and we were there for an hour a half waiting for our check. You can't really screw up eggs but it was good. Service was terrible. I rather go to lakeside pizzeria with a nicer atmosphere and very nice service with delicious Italian cuisine. I'll stick to this place for breakfast and pizza to go. read more

This place looks like a truck stop, which is probably because it is. The food is very good, and the menu is HUGE. I advise against ordering a hot or cold sub because the bread they use is really crappy. Otherwise, we've eaten there about two dozen times over the years, and the bottom line is that they do a very good job. Oh, and since the posting of Michele's review, John's now has a full bar. read more

Update: We got pizza recently (September 2016), I took a slice and it was honestly one of the worst things I've ever eaten - and I've tried sea urchin at a shady sushi bar. The whole thing tasted like metal and, in the case of the pepperoni slice, plastic too. I was burping up an aluminum taste all day, I thought it was just me until my mother told me she was experiencing the same thing. Filthy! ----- I've had their pizza once and it was "ok," nothing great but not terrible either. Maybe stay away from their regular food though - my friend and I ate here last year and she got fried shrimp, but said they tasted funny. I tried one to humor her but it WAS off. It didn't taste "rotten" like bad meat, more like really old vegetables seasoned with urine, but it was complete mush on the inside, like soggy cereal. I peeled away the breading and noticed the tails were completely black - they were spoiled. That is utterly filthy. Either the chef is a complete moron or just plain lazy; either way they're going to make someone very sick like that. I refused to go back after that. read more

Had an acquaintance who ordered dinner from these people, next thing I know there's banging on the window. I look outside & here's this mouth breather of a delivery driver creepily staring at me, not sure if he does drugs or was attention deprived as a child, but either way sloppy & unprofessional. 1 Star Rating for 1 Star Service. read more

The food is great. I eat here often the pizza is top notch and the wings are excellent and service is awesome!

Before coming here, I showed hubby the other John's Italian restaurant in the area but he plugged in this restaurant's on his iPhone GPS because of the same name and boom! we got here instead. I started to look around because it didn't look like the one from the website. We first walked in to the bar area and saw very different atmosphere because no one was eating there, everybody's drinking. So we went to the other wing. Confirmed, we went to a different John's restaurant. They have the same name because they used to be "together" and now they separated (John left John). As long as I eat, I'm OK! We ordered calamari (hubby's favorite), pizza and seafood pasta. Everything was in the "no complaint" zone. It was good. They added slices of conch in the pasta dish. The pasta had a little of acidic taste in it. Our waitress Linda was so nice. I couldn't say no to her so I let hubby order what he wanted although I thought it was a lot of food. They need a major renovation to attract outsiders. The restaurant and bar areas are connected thru entrance and another door inside where the patrons can go in and out to both sections but they both look very different, one side is so dark with noise and music and the other side is quiet and bright. Which is better, drinking or eating? The place was not very appealing from the outside. That's when I knew we went to the wrong restaurant because I saw different pictures on the web site. But that's OK, we had a good dinner regardless. Hubby thought the food was great, I thought it was good. We liked Linda and seafood pasta. At the end of the night we stopped by to play a pinball machine at the corner space because hubby had to let it out of his system by playing his favorite pinball machine. Woohoo, he's a brilliant player! The restaurant satisfied both the hunger and the needs. read more

See all

First things first - if you are in a hurry John's is not the place to go. I think that is the case for any restaurant anywhere around this area. However this place has been the quickest for me and has always been a pleasant while time consuming experience. I have eaten breakfast, lunch, and dinner here as this is the closest place to where i stay in at the lake. Food is always good and the wait staff is friendly albeit sometimes not very attentive. You can grab beer to go from the front and are able to pay when leaving and not wait for the waitress to take 20 minutes to come take the check. If the waitresses paid better attention to their customers and if the bathroom was clean this would be a 5 for me. Raunchy bathroom and slow wait staff cost John's 2 stars. read more

I came once before and thought my food was mediocre while other people in my party were very upset at their food and lack of food they previously carried a few days earlier. I came here again and the waitress was fine but the food was mediocre at best. The menu is filled with some of the most unpopular food on focus and you have to really dig to find something you MAY eat(and I'm not a picky eater) the French onion soup came with a slice of white bread scrunched up in the bottom. The pizza my partner ordered had the cheese slide off before he could get it to his mouth. They do NOT give you bread. I can not stress this enough, THE SALADS are BAD. It made me very nauseous honestly, and I don't have to tell you how shitty that feels. It is worse than McDonald's but more than double the price. If you are starving and crave Italian food but don't mind getting sick and having a cheap shitty version of what you order then eat here. PS they seated the second person to walk in RIGHT behind me and with a different waitress (so no reason to do this) and I had the pleaser of being jabbed in the back after it flung me up once they sat down(and I am not a light person, unfortunately ) also they again told me they first things I wanted from the menu was again not served there now all of the sudden..... read more

My husband is a trucker and three weeks a year for summer we travel with him we got into town really late and we welcomed into John's the staff was really sweet and the food omg soooo good I had baked manicotti me and my daughter eat and could not finish it, would recommend to anyone wanting a good good good bite of food. read more

Johns is what it is, A family style Italian restaurant in the heart of the Poconos. Doesn't compare to NY Style Italian but it is an adequate substitute. It is always pretty busy and the service in unpredictable. One day you can go in and have a fantastic experience and the next day you can go in and have a horrible experience. Its an overall laid back and easy going atmosphere, the quality of food compared to value is very good which is main the reason why I go back. . read more

John's is handy. The pizza is usually decent. The food off the menu is always good. The decor is a little dated, I suppose. What I dislike is that I'm usually cold when we go there to have a sit down dinner. Most of the time we are calling to order take-out pizza. We have rarely been disappointed. read more

We had a wonderful meal here. Bread wasn't my favorite, but the pasta was delicious. Nice change from fast food at a truck atop.

The spaghetti is great Italian sausage Parmesan is great steaks are okay services is super fast and it's just a good place to eat breakfast lunch or dinner. They have a bar as well, can't go wrong! read more

See all

Excellent food hot plentiful and delicious. Clean and staff is wonderful. Happened on this place traveling and will be back.

Hands down, John's has the best pizza in the area--it is even good compared to some respectable New York pies. My companions and I also enjoyed their breakfast, as the omelets and the homestyle potatos were extremely tasty. Some suggest that their service is lacking; however, I found that my experience was completely opposite of these critical reviews. More specifically, John's offered some of best service I have ever experienced at a diner. If you are looking for a place to eat around this area, don't waste your time looking--eat at John's. read more

John's Italian Restaurant has the best Pizza you can get outside of NY. It really makes you feel back at home if you're here from out of town. The staff is also extremely friendly read more

STAY AWAY FROM HERE it started terribly. we sat down and were then forgotten about. horrible. then when a server finally came we ordered because we were starving. waited 1 hour for drinks, then another for food. absolutely horrible. then the manager came out and said a few more minutes which meant TWENTY. food finally came out and was horrible. super greasy and drowned in sauce. just drowned. absolutely terrible experience. just wanted to warn anyone else to STAY AWAY read more

My husband ordered the Chicken Parmigiana with Spaghetti & I had a Calzone with Meatballs. The two pieces of chicken were very different from each other. One was fork tender the other like a piece of rubber; How does that happen? Spaghetti cooked Al dente heavily topped with pizza sauce. The bread served is only a sub roll heated up. My Calzone, had it been served hot would've been very good. Also they charge one Dollar extra for a side of sauce. We had good service & a very nice waitress. Four stars for the service, three Stars for the Calzone & One Star for the Chicken Parmigiana. read more

John's Italian - Meatball Calzone - Italian Near Me - Greentown, Pennsylvania

See all

Jerry thank you for such attentive service! Love everything!! Super home made salad dressing and my baked fish was so tasty. Atmosphere relaxed and kicked back (we were in the bar). We will definitely arrange our travels to stop again. Come hungry, portions are large. read more

I'm giving this place 5 stars because it has the sweetest and kindest waiter there. His name is Joseph Pitino and he's just such a great kid. If you go here ask for him as your server and you won't be disappointed! read more

So it's hard for me to know where to start when talking about this place. I see a lot of bad reviews from years ago and I don't know what the place was like then but I've been coming here since 2018 and the food has always been great. Mainly the pizza. After getting phenomenal pizza three times in a row I decided to talk to the pizza guy one day while waiting for my food, and at the pizza counter there's a photo of him standing on a milk crate making a pizza when he was five years old and he's definitely in his 30s now so he knows what he's doing. They make the dough every day, they make the sauce in the house from scratch, the grind the cheese there, they cut fresh mushrooms and cook peppers On the spot. I don't know many other pizza places that even use fresh mushrooms or fresh peppers. I usually only get pizza because the menu is so damn big but I have had their wings which are pretty good and there cheesesteaks are awesome. Haven't had delivery, haven't really been in the bar, so I can't review the place as a whole, but the pizza and the other food I've had was great. 10/10 read more

I've been in the restaurant business my entire life. I've been involved with small pizza places with only a few tables and restaurants that could seat over 100 people. This restaurant is hands-down the best in the area. The amount of prep they do on a daily basis is crazy. Most large restaurants buy a lot of pre-packaged, pre-cut, and frozen items to keep up with demand. But John's Italian restaurant makes everything from scratch. They even cut the mushrooms by hand for pizza, which I've never seen because it's quite the arduous task. The wings come in fresh and they are never frozen. They get their bread delivered every morning. And they've been open for more than 30 years now so obviously they're doing something right. I'm not a professional critic, nor are many of the people on this site, but I've never had a bad experience and I recommend everyone try it at least once. read more

Neither my husband or I can drive due to medical conditions. We have been ordering frequently from John's. We always order boneless wings. We did tonight. The waitress repeated them back. They delivered bone in wings. Now it is a case of he said she said with the customer losing the war. They stole 40 bucks. Put in a dispute with the bank. We have to drive to get new wings. The manager Jackie is asking who else lives there when she hears my 15 year old over the phone. They don't even believe we can not drive. I hope the bank cancels the entire charge. Reported as fraud because it is. Bank says they will take care of it. My husband is having a panic attack over this. This place stinks!!!!! read more

It was a Sunday night and I called John's Italian @ Greentown at 5:15pm. I was put on "can you hold, please" THREE times for a total of 18 minutes. I realized that it was going to be busy. The woman who took my order, took repeating it back to me again, three times before she got the order correct. I told her that I wanted to have my son pick up the order at 7:00pm. I ordered two hoagies, two salads, and two appetizers. She tried to tell me that the order would be ready in 30 minutes. I said NO, for pick up at 7pm. She acknowledged then. I then gave her my credit card so that my son only had to pick up the order. My son was forced to PAY for the ordered meal so we were double charged for inedible food all around. Unfortunately, one of the salads was missing and one of the clams appetizers was RAW, and one of the hoagies was incorrectly made. This place has gone down hill since the owner died and his daughter-in-law was fired. Never, never again will we eat here. We will go to Piero's in Hamlin and I advise you to do so as well. read more

The cheesesteaks are amazing and food came out fast. The lobster bisque was worth the drive too!

I ordered the chicken parmesan dinner. The chicken was bland and the pasta a bit overcooked. It's definitely not great food. The inside is very outdated with very uncomfortable booths. I could feel another customer pushing on my back as he sat in the other booth next to mine. The waitress was pleasant and refilled my lemonade whenever it was low. A lot of truckers in here when I was there on a Tuesday evening. read more

Decent food, but service is either good or bad. A lot of in fighting among the co-workers. If you order a drink you may have to wait 15 minutes to get it if the waitresses and bartender aren't getting along. The interior is very dated and shabby. read more

Order delivery ahead because they take at least an hour and $3 fee! Everything from Pizza to salad was delicious and at a good price:)

Pleasantly surprised. We were staying at The French Manor Inn, and the food was ehh, so we opted for delivery. The Pizza was good as was the calzone. Trying to call my order in was a bit challenging. But delivery time was great. read more

My parents love this place! So do the kiddos. As for me, I'll give it a solid "adequate." The food is very uneven. Sometimes it's wonderful. The pizza is pretty good, but the pasta dishes are usually overcooked/limp. Food-wise, you are probably better off with breakfast options as opposed to their lunch and dinner offerings. I can't say enough about the wait-staff. Friendly, kind (special attention to the little ones), and attentive. It's a little run-down, but clean. read more