GJP Italian Eatery

We stopped in for the first time tonight. The server was very pleasant, the food was delicious (sausage panini and pasta Alfredo), the only complaint we had was the VERY loud pounding coming from the kitchen. Went on throughout our visit — we asked the server about it, and she said the kitchen staff were pounding out chicken. It continued until another diner said they would leave if it didn’t stop. My husband and I were amazed they would do something that loud and distracting while the restaurant was open. Stop the pounding, folks — and you have a neighborhood gem!

I have to laugh at all the people leaving reviews saying this pizza is sub-​par! I have been coming here about six months now (after being a Bambino’s patron for 2 years and THAT place hit the skids and THEIR service blows… please, their servers don’t even speak English. Talk about having your order screwed up — so many times in Bambino’s that we stopped going — as well as their portions kept getting smaller!).
So now, for the plus on the eats at GJP — the only reason I didn’t leave it 5 starts is yes, service can be slow — but it’s a pizza joint. I’m not here for the service of my life.
Their sauce is fantastic, their crust is great (most of these places up here — yes, I’m a transplant from downstate & I’m a pizza particular person — use pre made crusts!) and they use real cheese, not veggie & oil processed garbage.
Their garlic knots are fantastic, their Italian dishes are definitely above average (again, it’s a pizza joint) and I have never encountered a server at the counter or table side who has been anything less than enthusiastic, accommodating and friendly towards my family.

I was a little peckish so I stopped in to this place on the recommendation of a local kid. They were about 10 minutes from closing and I didn’t have cash foe a slice. I wanted peperoni, but they were out. They had a few different slices available, so I went with a thick crust sausage, peperoni, and cheese slice. The best part. The waitress just gave it to me. That’s right a free slice and apparently my lucky day. They had a nice place and were very friendly. I would definitely go again as well as recommend it. Enjoy!

I’d give GJP a 4 for plain pizza because of the ²⁄₃ specialty pizzas I had. First I had a slice of Philly Cheesesteak which had what seemed to be Kraft American cheese so I ate barely any of it. Next I got a slice of buffalo chicken which was actually great, everything you’d expect plus the slice was huge. Then I got a whole Chicken Riggie pizza that was sub par. The vodka sauce was plain, peppers not hot and just seemed bland. I bought a chicken riggie pizza at Antonio’s in Fairmount (Camillus) two days later and it was amazing. Anyways, the cheese pizza is good; while the crust is so so I did like the sauce and cheese. Nice service and open kitchen which is always a good thing. Bambino’s Bistro is Auburn is five stars and it’s not too far from GJP. You could definitely do worse than this place.

They offer individual size pizzas, which is great when your household can’t agree on a pie. Good flavor, yummy cheese.
The owner is a bit of a douchebag. I heard him berating a server once in person, then over the phone. It left a bad taste in my mouth, so I stopped ordering from them.

What a disaster? Where do I start. We walked in and sat down on a monday afternoon (post lunch rush). After waiting about 10 min we had to get up and get our own menus. The waitress finally came over with no personality whatsoever. I ordered an ice tea (unsweetened). It came back sweet with one ice cube which was melting rapidly since the tea was warm. We placed our order. I had soup which came to the table room temp. My friend got a cold sub sandwhich and it came warm and toasted with melted mayo… gross!!! By the time he finished his sandwhich, my two pizza slices arrived 10 min behind my friends meal. The slices were dripping with oil and grease. Thrice baked crust as the waitress explained that they heated up the slices and attempted to service sans pepperoni. So they put them in the oven again to cook the pepperon. So the crust was hard as rock. The whole meal went by without any offer of silverware or offers of refills on our drinks. The check came wrong (to their advantage of course). She had to refigure it to get it correct.

My new favorite place to get pizza! Let me see… where do I start? How about with the amazingly thick, flavorful encrusted, deep dish gourmet pizzas they serve up daily? For me, pizza is all about the crust: thin or thick, it HAS to be full of flavor. GJP delivers on flavor!
Or, I could talk about the large variety. On any given night one can walk in to find 10 to 20 flavors of pizza on display! Okay, maybe there wasn’t 20, but there was definitely more than 10… I didn’t actually count. I can tell you that they had philly cheesesteak, chicken bacon ranch, eggplant parm, and Italian sausage and peppers with white wine sauce. I had the latter, and it was every bit as good as it sounds.
I should definitely mention the staff: very friendly and helpful. Also, the last two times we have gone in, we were given coupons to come back. Decent ones.
They have char grilled wings.
There is also a sit down restaurant area with a nice family style Italian foods menu. They often have mild live entertainment (think one man band routine).
It is a little pricey, however the portions are huge. I usually bring some home and it makes two meals.