Jovito’s Italian Cafe

Hubby & I were looking for Italian food and found Jovito’s Italian Café on Unilocal not too far from the office building we were at. I’m so happy we did, as this is a very cute little place and I expect they have lots of good dishes just waiting for us to try next time.
The menu offers a great selection with sandwiches, paninis, Calzones, Grinders, salads, appetizers and more than a dozen pasta dishes. Prices are modest and, based on the daily special that we ordered today, portions are generous. They will take your order at the front counter, give you your drink and let you seat yourself, delivering your food to your table when it is ready.
The Special of the Day on Wednesday was a Spicy Penne Pasta served in a creamy tomato based sauce with a generous portion of sliced breast of chicken, all heaped into a bowl. It was served with a nice side salad, choice of dressing (I got Balsamic) and a basket of fresh, yummy sliced Italian bread and real butter. I really enjoyed the fresh flavors and the heat level was perfect for my tastes. We ate our fill and still asked for a to-​go box.
Hubby got a lovely, moist, rich chocolate brownie as big as his palm. He offered me a taste, so I could tell Unilocal how it tasted. (It was really good, BTW). I saw that they had several varieties of lovely Italian cookies, including the ones with fig filling that I love, so I bought some to bring home for tonight.
The service was friendly, helpful and our food was delivered quickly. It was obvious that part of the customers were people on lunch breaks and there was also a large table all seated together that might have been having an employees’ Christmas lunch from one of the surrounding offices.
Jovito’s has a casual atmosphere and serves quality Italian food. I hope to find my way back there for another visit soon. It should be noted that Jovito’s is closed on Sunday and Monday and they close each day at 7 p.m. so they are not for anyone who likes a late dinner. But I’d definitely think an early evening to-​go order, picked up before they close, would allow you to look like you had slaved over a hot stove all day making everyone’s favorite Italian dishes, and no one would have to be the wiser. Just a though…

I had the manicotti with tomato sauce. Very delicious and large portions. Nice spot for lunch on a Saturday. Best kept secret in town.

I’ve tried to do a good job of ordering something different every time I visit Jovito’s and I have no complaints so far. I like to order pastas. The boyfriend gets sandwiches. So yummy, I can’t pick a favorite, but it’s hard to go wrong with spaghetti and meat sauce. Save room for dessert. The cupcakes are rich and delicious.

I really wish I liked this restaurant more. The interior is so sad and depressing. The vinyl table clothes, the dusty and drab decorating. Yuck. And the food just isn’t great. The house salad is fine but the pasta is bland and kind of weird. I had the spedini (which was good) with spaghetti alfredo. The alfredo was the consistency of milk. Picture spaghetti in a bowl full of milk. That’s what they served. Not cheesy or rich — just wet and milky. I can’t believe they sent it out of the kitchen. An odd meal.

I love this restaurant — small, family-​owned/​run, unassuming, Jovito’s serves really delicious food.
The restaurant is located in a small strip mall on State Line. Order at the counter and the staff will deliver your food to the table. Self service drinks (no booze). The décor isn’t fancy, it isn’t a place you linger for hours when you finish your meal, but what you’re getting is real, authentic Italian food.
I usually order the spaghetti and meatballs (I know, I know, but I really love spaghetti and meatballs… judge away). On this visit I enjoyed the special — linguini with a spicy tomato cream sauce and chicken. Magnifico!
Don’t forget to try some of the homemade cookies or cupcakes. They are worth the extra calories.
Will I go back? Absolutely!

Very friendly staff. Seem to do a lot of takeout.
Desserts looked great.
Meatball grinder alone was worth 4 stars. Veggie panini was good as well.
Had a coconut macaroon that was a 5 star!
My hubby would definitely return for the grinders and the dessert!
Prices seemed average. Under $ 18 for 2 sandwiches, chips and a cookie.

I’ve been here multiple time for carry out mostly lunch this kind of a small out of the way place, but I like the food.
Today I split the Italian sub and the North End. The North End has long been a favorite with sliced up chicken artichoke tomato and cheese, but the Italian sub is a great choice also.
I have had the grinders also they are a great choice if your not sure. You cant go wrong with a grinder.
Overall a good lunch place large portions great flavor and a clean restaurant and reasonably priced.
No teetering.

The food was good, but do not use a gift certificate from
because it will be useless. They charged me $ 5 per soda to make up for the $ 10 gift certificate. To me this is unethical business practice so I will not return to this establishment. I am new to the area so I wanted to try local businesses and get a feel for the area with my gift certificates, but this experience has soured my taste for this particular restaurant. I will spend my money elsewhere. There are plenty of other restaurants in the area which welcome the business and try to give you a great experience even when using a gift certificate. Customer service is important just as important as the food. Like a said the food was good, but not good enough for me to go back because of their unethical business practice.

We are on our way to Jovito’s to get some of those meatball grinders that Mario’s made famous. I’ve read the recent reviews & I’ll let you know what I think.
We met the owner and she was pleasant and friendly. The place wasn’t too busy and we were not in a hurry. The meatball grinders are the same as the ones from Mario’s in Westport back in the day. Truly awesome, cheesy & chunky. I also had the olive salad — real good. I’ll be back.

This place used to be a regular stop for lunch or dinner for my wife and I, who make a point to support our local neighborhood restaurants. I’ve long thought they had some of the best pastas and panini’s in town. Recently they must have changed ownership because the the customer service and food quality have gone WAY down hill. The last straw was when I ordered carry out pizza which was so undercooked that I had to pit into the oven for 10 minutes to eat (which was horrible). When I called the restaurant to let them know, the lady who answered the phone got confrontational and downright rude saying that wasn’t her problem as they were closed for the evening (it was 10 minutes until 8 pm at the time of my call). I later called the next day to speak with the owner thinking that may have just been an employee not wanting to stay late… however when the owner picked up the phone… It was the same lady who was so rude the night before!!!
Here’s hoping that this local restaurant with it’s new management don’t stay in business much longer. They have lost my business for good!

I’m teetering on lowering this review a star… teetering. Nope, I’m going to leave it bacause the food is still delicious.
What I don’t like is they have increased prices and decreased servings sizes. They have made what used to be the small serving size of salad into the large. That’s brazen.

Two words-​COMFORT FOOD! If you want some hearty, red sauced, flavorful carbs, this is the place. Calzones, paninis, pastas, pizzas, salads, and desserts – all home-​made, to order (it does take a little while because of this). One of the first times I went, two big guys were sitting near the order-​line and suggested I split my panini with someone like they were – and boy were they right! HUGE. So affordable for two meals, really! This is definitely a tasty little place; and very worth going off the beaten path a bit to find!

Not real italian food. The sauce was substandard and the meatballs were americanized and really not that good. Very friendly wait staff but the food is just not great. Sorry!

My first experience with Jovito’s was a horrible one, waiting almost an hour in-​restaurant for my family’s takeout order to be ready, and the food was okay. But I’ve since gone back and amended my previously negative views. It’s a cozy little restaurant, good for small groups of 2 – 4 or so, with solid food. ALL of the sandwiches are good (especially the grinders!) and the pasta rarely disappoints. Not the best Italian restaurant in KC by any stretch, but definitely a good place to go for a semi-​quick lunch.

Jovitos is a little Italian restaurant located on state line road, on the Missouri side. When you walk in you are greeted by a small arrangement of table and chairs, the counter is located along the left side and runs all the way to the back. They have an assortment fresh pasta salads and a full menu Italian cuisine. The meatball grinder was recommended to me, so I went for it and I was not disappointed. The person I went with got a classic plate of spaghetti and meatballs and not only did it look delicious, but it tasted good as well. Whatever you order, make sure it has meatballs.