Johnny Sortino's Pizza

Thursday, March 8, 2019

Johnny Sortino’s

7880 “L” Street, Omaha, NE

Where we went:

We were invited out to dinner by Eric’s mother to a local pizza place that has been around for years, but Kyle had never heard of, Johnny Sortino’s Pizza. Johnny Sortino’s is located in an interesting part of town, a stretch of “L” street that is primarily an industrial zone for Omaha.

What we Eat:

Kyle and Eric both planned to order personal pizzas to each get something different. However, when we looked at the size of the mini personal pizzas we thought we were a bit more hungry than the smallest size would satisfy. So, we decided to go a bit bigger! Kyle got the small veggie pizza while Eric chose to order a large hamburger and pepperoni. Eric thought of getting extra toppings, but the price per topping starts to go up pretty fast with larger sized pizzas, so just went with two toppings. Unfortunately (or Fortunately, as Eric would look at it) the large is, well LARGE, so he had plenty of pizza left over for work the next day. Both of us went for fountain drinks and shared an appetizer of mozzarella sticks to start.

The Food:

The mozzarella sticks were absolutely delicious. There was some special seasoning in their breading that made their sticks extra tasty. The pizzas were both very good: the veggies on Kyle’s pizza were all very fresh and crunchy, with plenty of cheese covering them, while Eric really appreciated the generous amounts of cheesiness and sauciness of his pizza.

The pizza at Johnny’s is its own special kind of pizza. Everything, including the crusts are hand made, in house, from scratch. The crust wasn’t thick crust, but it was still nice and doughy. They advertise that their cheese is the “Best Money Can By” and Eric definitely agrees with that statement.

The Atmosphere:

Johnny Sortiono’s is located in a windowless building in an industrial part of town. In fact, the only clue a passerby might have that it’s a restaurant is the large lit up sign of a jolly dancing caricature of an Italian man (that was actually burned out on one side of the sign, so you might question whether the place is open if you approach from that direction!). So from the outside the atmosphere leaves a lot to be desired. In fact the entrances are located off to the side, and seem a little sketchy- you honestly can’t tell whether it’s an entrance or a side door or a back door to the kitchen. However, upon entering you are greeted by a large room separated by glass partitions and a large kitchen located in the middle. The entrance we came in was also right by the arcade, so we were immediately greeted by bright flashing lights and loud noises.

Johnny Sortino’s does not market themselves as a high end dining restaurant. It is very much a kid and family place. It is similar to Mama’s pizza, which we have reviewed before, where large groups, such as little league teams can easily go after a game.

The Service:

Although there is a hostess standing at a podium that is ready to seat you, there isn’t much other service to speak of. Once you are seated and have a few minutes to look over the menu, you go up to the kitchen window to order and pay. Upon ordering you get a number that they will call out over the intercom to come pick up when it is ready. If you order an appetizer you will be making more than one trip back up to get your food.

The largest downside to Johnny Sortino’s is that they do not offer free refills. Drinks are filled behind the counter and you need to return to it to reorder and pay for another beverage if you want more than just your initial glass. So if you go we recommend getting the large . They do, however, have the option to purchase soda by the pitcher, which we may do on future visits, as we both tend to guzzle soda when eating pizza. When we were done with our meal, we weren’t sure if we were supposed to bus our own table or not. So we took our plates back up to the counter.

Despite the lack of real “service” the staff that we did interact with were all very friendly and helpful. Even when Eric wandered away from the window without paying (Whoops!)

In the End:

Although the pizza is very good, we can’t think of anything particularly noteworthy about it. It is far better then places like Pizza Hut, but not quite the same caliber as other pizza places we have tried.

It's a great place to grab a bite and a beer with coworkers after work, in a super casual, laid back, environment. An ideal place for a large group of people to go for a relatively inexpensive meal, but not a high end dining experience. With an arcade children will enjoy their experience, even if it's mostly just a “child distraction” while the parents finish their meal. Be sure to try the claw machine to pick up your own, unique rubber ducky!