Johnny's Downtown: Cleveland Italian Restaurant Guide

This place wasn’t horrible but was disappointing overall. On our first visit, we were promptly turned away and told the kitchen was closed. About a month later, we came back in at around the same time (on a weeknight) and after waiting probably 3-5 minutes just for someone to greet us, were seated without issue, which made the first experience feel strange in hindsight. During our second visit, the service still felt unwelcoming, particularly toward my friend who was treated noticeably differently without any clear reason. Don’t want to assume it has anything to do with race, but whatever it was, it definitely affected our comfort level and overall experience. We were expecting something more upscale, but the atmosphere was very loud with noisy drunks. The bathrooms were quite dirty. The food itself was decent but nothing to go out of the way for. The fried mozzarella was frozen, not fresh, so the cheese inside was cold and hard. They do have some unique entrée options which were the best parts of the meal. This place was recommended to me, but I later found out the recommendation was actually for Johnny’s on Fulton, not this downtown establishment. Unfortunately, this experience just didn’t live up to expectations.

We had an enjoyable lunch at Johnnys celebrating my sister’s birthday. Atmosphere was warm and cozy, and our Filets were delectable, cooked to perfection! We plan to return to celebrate another occasion.

It was a Monday night and perhaps the A team was somewhere else. Much of the food was reasonably good. However risotto served with braised short ribs was undercooked. Risotto *should* be served al dente. This was crunchy, not al dente. I mentioned it to the waitress who frankly couldn't have cared less. No offer to bring a replacement portion of properly prepared risotto. No problem. I didn't make an issue of it but no one in our party will ever return. At Johnny's prices competently prepared food and professional waitstaff should be a given.

4 of us had dinner on Friday, January 23, at 7:45. The restaurant was empty. We were the only ones in the bar. The service was mediocre bordering on bad. The waitress kept pushing us to order our entrees. We just ordered drinks and appetizers. It was getting very annoying. She finally cleared our plates from the appetizers (which were lackluster). "Ready to order your entrees?" No not yet. Can you believe she said she wanted to go home? I guess the tips weren't gonna be that good for her. We ordered our entrees. No finesse or plating skills more like a dinner. The short ribs tasted like they were leftovers and microwaved. My friend's $72.00 veal chop was so tough that he didn't finish it. I ordered the pike dinner the fish tasted like it was frozen burned. The cappuccino coffee maker was broken. The waitress read off the desserts. 2 of the 3 they were out of. Why tell us if you didn't have them. All in all, our bill came to $500.00, including tip. We obviously won't go back. We should have read the latest reviews first. Horrible, overpriced, and small portions. RIP OFF !!!

By the look of the restaurant I had high expectations of a fine dining experience for a working lunch. We experienced quite the opposite. The meatball sub was generic and the bread says toasted Italian bread on the menu but it's just cheap white bread. They call ribeye, Rib Eye... This place is not worth it and the prices are outrageous. Service was okay but we did not get bread when everyone else did. It took forever for the server to come back because he started boxing up everyone's leftovers... One by one ... We won't be back