Jeno’s Restaurant & Italian

The staff was friendly and attentive. That’s pretty much the only positive comment I can make. When I walked in, it felt that I had went through a time warp. The décor and layout was very 1970’s. Even the dishes where a shade of 70’s brown. I ordered the lasagna, my wife the spaghetti. Both meals were identical, save the pasta. The sauce was reminiscent of Chef Boyardee. The pasta was obviously canned. Both dishes had a pound of melted cheese on top. That’s it, 3 ingredients; sauce, pasta and cheese. That is not what I would call lasagna. I know a lot of locals love this place, which is puzzling to me; perhaps they haven’t had good food before.

This place is really good. The portions and food is excellent. The service is also very good. Will come back next time I’m in the mood for Italian.

Definitely my go-​to place for a quick little, home town restaurant. Nonna is so sweet, and I love seeing her. Every dish is amazing, and the breakfasts rock. Which is my fave? I have too many to mention. I would have to say I love the french toast with hashrowns, and a side of ham. Lunch? BLT, Pizza, any of the grinders, french dip… oh! get a side of fries. I’m not sure what they do to them but wow! Perfectly crispy on the outside, soft and warm on the inside. Total. Perfection. Be prepared to BRING CASH, they don’t take cards. (they do have an ATM for your convenience). Super friendly staff, never a bad experience!

Been coming here my entire life and it never disappoints!

I’ll brief here. I was running around with my hungry kid and stopped in for lunch.
Ordered the chicken strips, green salad.
Green salad was fine and served fast. Not great, but no black lettuce so we were off to a good start. Crackers were not stale.
As for the chicken strips, they were obviously frozen and low quality. The kid wouldn’t touch them. The fries were ok, but also frozen.
I won’t be back. Trim down the menu and serve fresh food as poor quality frozen stuff doesn’t lead one to believe the pizza or pasta dishes will be any better.
As for cash or check only, at least put a heads up at the entrance.
I’m giving a two not one star due to the salad and service. The waitress was pretty nice nice.

Not sure why this place doesn’t get higher ratings… Unless it’s the décor. The food and service are always really good. Not expensive and lots of yummy food. Great dinner salad, too.

Aside from the fact that they only accept cash… which is a huge bummer… they do have an ATM available on site, which I am sure that they MAKE money on… The FOOD WAS HORRIBLE. The meatball resembled a sponge, clearly something that came frozen in a giant box off the back of a SYSCO truck, the lettuce on the salad was wilted and brown, clearly past it’s use by date. Seriously… it’s not hard to roll a real meatball, it’s easy, I have done it before. The sauce lacked any real Italian flavor, it clearly came from a can! I was extremely disappointed in our meal, I am sure that back in the day this place was an excellent place to eat but that day has clearly passed.

First i will say, i am never happy with Italian dining out. I can always make better at home. Until… Jeno’s is awesome!!! I have eaten at many Italian restaurants across the United States. I have to say, I have never seen spare ribs with spaghetti. It seems to be quite a strange combination to me. I tried it and it was the best damn thing I ever had!!! I find myself dreaming about having spare ribs and spaghetti. Little mama n the kitchen. Thank-​you! The service is top notch. Hole in the wall, downtown Monroe. Construction right now makes parking a tiny walk. Jeno’s here I come watch out spaghetti and spare ribs tummy tum tum! Yummy yum yum!

Ugh… I would not call this Italian and even though they have big portions, a lot of bad food is still not worth it in my book.

The Jeno’s Special is bomb! Be sure to request extra onions, like a stupid amount! Our pizza was almost an inch thick with all the toppings on it! The woman who served us was also super sweet and on top of things! To top things off, she gave me a muffin top pie to take home when I asked what it was! Definitely try this place out!

So accommodating and friendly service! Loved the 80’s feel!
Only CON is that they only accept cash. I am not sure why but it would seem obvious that the customers would want this option.
We have returned and the food was great every time!

The best thing at the table was the cheeseburger and fries… at an Italian restaurant. I swear the ravioli was out of a can. The distinct flavor of spagettios was not appetizing. Walking in was a step into the 70’s. The server was great and very attentive. They only take cash. I’m new to the area and wanted try try out all the little local restaurants. I don’t think I’ll go back.

We love this place! I have been coming here for 10 years with my husband and we have never been disappointed. Great food and my husband surprised me with our anniversary dinner here last night. We had the kids with us, but everything was PERFECT. My husband is from Monroe and had been coming to this place since he was a kid 40 years ago. :) The only draw back is its a CASH ONLY restaurant. Not sure why, but make sure you stop at an ATM machine or bank before you go. There is an ATM machine in the place too, but there might be a fee. There is a Key Bank down the street and also 7 – 11, across the street. The owner now has owned it for 40+ years and is an older Italian lady! That is why the food is so awesome! Give it a try! :D

I wish I would have checked in with Unilocal prior to visiting the establishment, then I would have realized they take CASH ONLY. Really? This was a bit of an embarrassment since I tried to pick up the check for our group only to find I couldn’t use my card. Fortunately there was an ATM located in the restaurant .
As far as the food, it was just average. I felt the red sauce was a bit on the sweet side for my liking and the garlic bread was a hoagie bun split in half :/​The salad… Well it was a salad.
One person from our group ordered a sandwich/​grinder that looked like it came from Subway, loaded with lettuce and not much of anything else. BTW, I’m still searching for that perfect grinder I grew up eating at our local Italian deli. And why are they also serving hamburgers and chicken strips at an Italian restaurant???
While the service was about the best thing going for this place, I won’t be back anytime soon.

My friend really excited me to try out he say tha the pizza was the best in town so finally i went last night with my family and we ordered the pizza it came out with 2 really big hairs so we let the waitress know and she told us that were ours so that was insulted i just asked for the bill and they didn’t accept cards it was 3 dollars charged the pizza looked good but we no going back

For starters, this is 2014 not 1974… not taking debit or credit cards is ridiculous.
My ravioli tasted like something out of a can… salty, mushy and covered in a pound of greasy cheese and lack luster sauce.
My daughters favorite food is pizza, she is not picky and will even eat lunchables pizza or frozen pizza from the grocery store… basically she hasn’t met a pizza she didn’t like. She ate 2 bites of her pizza at Jenos and refused to eat anymore.
The service was good, our waitress was great and it’s not her fault the food and atmosphere is disgusting. I’m pretty sure they opened in the 70’s and have not decorated, cleaned or updated since.
I’m not big on posting reviews but the food is so awful and the fact that they are obviously pocketing cash under the table was so off putting, I’d hate for others to make the mistake of thinking this place is truly an authentic Italian restaurant.

Dont let this little dive fool you. It may be small, but the food is the real deal, the waitresses care, and youll have a great time. Cash only. delicious!

The food is delicious. Burger, baked spaghetti, and cheese bread for $ 24 plus tax and tip. Remember your cash.

I’ve been going to Jeno’s for years. It’s a terrific restaurant that has awesome hand made dishes. With the prices of pizza places these days, It’s always surprised me to see how low Jeno’s has kept their costs .To me, it’s tough to beat their pizza. My wife loves their baked pasta dishes!
Note: I read the negative reviews about Jeno’s and roll my eyes.

So many words to describe this place. I have been here soooo many times and each time come to love it more and more! The food is complete comfort food, tastes yummy, the people are friendly and regulars, and the staff is AMAZING!!!
The meat sauce here is fantabuloso. One that I have tried to repeat many times at home. But unsuccessfully have not
And Mama Jeno and Papa Jeno are the cutest little things around. If you don’t like them the first time, try again for the second.