John the Baker of Long Ridge Rd

Order couple times for lunch, crispy chicken salad was great. Veal with eggplant also was my favorite (huge portion) for only 15 dollar on lunch menu. This is a typical Italian restaurant with decent Italian food selection.

I’ve eaten inside a couple time & my family order at least once a week. Their food and pizza is amazing! If they ever mess up they get it fixed and are back within 15min ! Love this food and place :)

Best Pork chops in CT period. Classic Italian food in a warm family environment. Portions are generous and the prices are fair. Ill be back for sure.

Great and friendly customer service. Food was excellent and enjoyed my meal a lot. A fun place visit for a nice pizza and Italian dinner.

I’ve ordered from here a few times and the food has been decent. The other day asked for chicken wrap with honey mustard. Instead I received a wrap with mayo. I asked for a new wrap and had to return to JTB to pick it up. About 2 hours after eating the wrap I started throwing up and did not stop throwing up until the next morning. I coincidently got food poisoning from JTB. I’d like to believe that it was just coincidence but something tells me it wasn’t.

I like this place, but the last two take out meals were NTG… and thats not… too…good!
The first was a lasagna that had the weight of a brick. Problem was that the top layer of pasta was about 3 layers stuck together. I had to dissect the lasagna to eat it.
Second case was take-​out spaghetti and meatballs. The spaghetti was severely over cooked, almost seemed like mush. Need it a little more ardent please. The meatballs tasted ok but they were packed pretty hard and tight.
Anyway…I’d go back, but meantime hope they improve.

I’ll start this by saying that I’ve had decent food here, pricey, but decent. The big turn off is the service and nasty attitude my husband has now been given twice. Despite their hours being advertised as open till 10:30, it’s now been twice that we’ve arrived a few minutes past 10 to be turned away by a rude husky middle aged man who referred to my husband as «bro». Closing at 10 is fine but why not change the hours on your door and online? While your at it… why not learn to treat your customers (which we no longer will be) with a lil more respect, bro.

I think the food may have gone downhill since I first visited 6 months ago.
We went on Friday night at 730pm and the place was empty.
We sat in a booth and the seats are so old you can feel the springs through them.
They advertise $ 5 martinis every night, so that was a draw for us. It turns out that regular martinis are not included! I had to pay $ 7.75 for a regular gin martini. The $ 5 ones are just other watery drinks in a martini glass!
I ordered pizza. The crust was good and it had sufficient cheese. It was also well cooked (I find many pizzas are under done).
Only problem was I could hardly find the toppings. I only counted 4 pieces of mushroom on a large pizza — and you pay $ 1.75 for each topping.
Overall, nice service, but probably won’t go back. 3stars = meh…

It hurts me to write this review but today was th final straw. I have been going to this place for years and have noticed that their slices have been getting more and more subpar lately. Anyway today I ordered a fettuccine Alfredo with chicken which was subpar at best with its wet soggy Alfredo sauce and pasta and chicken that was extremely chewy. All for the low low price of $ 18. The real kicker though was the fried calamari I took a picture of. It was $ 12 for literally 12 pieces of some of the saddest calamari I’ve ever seen. It was clearly old frozen and ridiculously chewy. One bite was an instant turnoff. Anyway I wish this place would get itself in order because it used to be great but it had just gone ridiculously downhill. When I called asking for a refund on the calamari they said I could have a free one next time. Unfortunately there definitely is not going to be a next time.

So bad. I ordered a salad and a wrap and it took an hour and 45 minutes to arrive. The driver called me because he was lost and was quite rude in the phone. The wrap and fries were soggy, the salad was unimpressive. I wish I’d read the reviews first. I will not be trying them again.

Ordered a Cheese Pizza, Meatball Parm Sandwich and zeppoles. Everything was available for pick up within 15 minutes. Friendly people on the phone and counter. The food itself wasn’t that great. The pizza was a little flavorless, the Meatball Parm Sandwich was dry (not enough sauce) and the zeppoles barely had any powdered sugar (see pics). Overall a decent but not a great experience.

We order from John the Baker quite a bit at work. The food is usually quite good, the quality and way its prepared are great. My only complaint is the price. I ordered a pear salad yesterday and asked for chicken, it cost me $ 16. I was charged extra for chicken and it only had three slices of pears, a few pieces of mozzarella and two strips of roasted peppers. It tasted good but I can’t believe I was charged $ 16 for a take out lunch salad.

So disappointing. We ordered a pizza and was told it would take 45 minutes for delivery. 1 hour and a half later, the pizza arrived ice cold (literally) and they had the nerve to charge us a $ 1.50 delivery charge.

I truly believe this place has the potential to be one of the top 10 Italian restaurants in Stamford. They now deliver which is phenomenal however they can’t seem to get the orders right. My wife and I are just looking for a good go to Italian spot for delivery a few times a month when we don’t have time to cook and have leaned towards this place among a few others that will deliver decent pizza and pretty good dishes. The problem is 50 percent of the time the order is WRONG. We’ve called up not to complain but to inform and the manager explained that the next order will be discounted for not sending pasta with a chicken parm dinner on our next order. How frustrating when your starving, the order takes an hour and fifteen minutes, and they don’t send pasta with the dinner and you have to pay for the full dinner!!!
The next time we ordered we did not inform them and used the seamless online order website which in the year 2014 makes sense for all delivery spots to have this convenience. The order was taking over an hour so I called to find out where it was. Whoever I spoke to was nice but had an arrogance about him. He actually told me that we shouldn’t order online and that’s the reason why it’s taking so long. Apparently because their systems are not efficiently put in place to accommodate the simple conveniences their customers have by ordering their food online is my fault, and I should work around what works for them… call in, get rushed by the person on the phone to order, and have them get the order wrong… this place has a typical feel of the next generation taking over and putting in the bare minimum to cash in on what the originals owners worked so hard for. It’s a shame… food is good when it seems like they care.

The food here is pretty good. Tried several pastas, salads and a few different pizzas and all were impressive. The bread they supply with each delivery is amazing, can’t get enough of it.
Why two stars? The pizza is always delivered COLD! Gave them at least 4 opportunities to redeem themselves, but nope, always cold pizza.

Loved! I went to John The Baker yesterday for lunch with a friend. We have the 2 for $ 20 special. I had the Ravioli Pomodoro which was AMAZING! The sauce was perfection, the cheese ravioli was literally the best I ever had. My friend had the Chicken Marsala and also raved about it. Can’t wait to come back!

Intro —
So the wife and I have been visiting this place enough times now that we can get a good feel for the place. Being that we’re both Italian, I’m not going to be bias whatsoever. I’m going to be fair in my assessment. If you have read my posts you know I will drill a place into the ground.
Parking —
We happened to be getting cabin fever during a massive storm a few weeks back. So we ventured out. I’ve always wanted to try this place and so we did. Upon arriving we were struck with the awful bad luck of not being able to find parking. I went inside and was greeted by one of the owners, Anthony. Anthony, the son of the lady who started this establishment. I apologize, I forget her name, helped guide me to where I could park. The Parking situation here is awful. However, I hear you can park across the street at the bank. Just be careful, it’s a busy intersection. Or park next door at the Vets place. Get your dog or cat their vaccines while you eat lunch or dinner.
The Ambience Part Un —
Upon entering I was sorta nervous. Ya see, I come from a long line of fine dining establishments with their noses up in the air kind of thing. But hey, I’ve partied with Bourdain and the boys at some of NYC’s finest dives and I felt why not this place. Let’s do this.
The Food —
My thing has always been about the pizza. I have to try someone’s pizza and their crab cakes instantly upon walking in. However it was freezing and I wanted to go straight into the meatballs. The 4 times we’ve been here the dish has been a hit 3 out of 4. Especially tonight. Tonight I could hear my grandmother yelling at me in Italian «più pangrattato» Stef, «più pangrattato»! Not that these needed them they were outstanding tonight. The pasta was too. Sauce was down right perfection. 3 other times the sauce was good but watery and you know where the water comes from if you know how to cook.
I guess there’s 2 different kinds of bread here you can have with your meal. One which is a wedge like (I don’t think is house made but I’m not sure) and another that is definitely house made and sorta of like a ciabatta. OMG the first time I had this was insane. They should be baking this for everybody. It was amazing!!!
Salads here are a really decent. Great portions. That goes for the entrees as well. I like the house made vinaigrette. It has a nice touch of balsamic vinegar. The one thing, and it’s a pet peeve of mine are the plastic cafeteria style bowls they serve the salad in. Not a fan. Reminds me of Sgt. Pepperoni’s Pizza Houses. Remember those places OC?
The Chicken Parm has been spot on every time. I’d definitely recommend that. I have to say we haven’t tried everything but so far the food is outstanding and really brings me back to my childhood. Especially tonight.
The Management and Ownership —
On our first trip we met the entire family. Mom, Susan and Anthony. We were really impressed with how nice everybody was. The mom speaking to me in Italian was awesome. I loved it. Tonight takes the cake though. You have got a real winner in Mark Jr. there. Wow, I wish I had 10 of these kids at our restaurants when I was in the biz. Professional, Friendly, Attentive and just on it. It’s ok that he’s a Rangers fan, we’ll let that slide.
The Ambience Part Deux —
Getting back to the ambience. It is what it is. It’s old. All and all it’s a place that’s been there a long, long, long, long time. With little to no upgrades. Could use a decorators touch for sure but is that really necessary? I doubt it. Hey, I’m almost 50 and the place has been around about as long as I’ve been alive. So that’s saying a lot.
In The End —
All that matters to me is that the place is clean, clean, super clean and the silverware is even cleaner. Are we fans of JTB? We sure are. So far so good. Comfort food Italia!
Tutto è Buono

I’ve had 2 experiences with John the Baker now: 1 for pick up and 1 for delivery.
This past Saturday, I called in an order of 4 large pizzas (the Roma, a cheese, a pepperoni and a veggie) for pick up. They said it would be about 20 – 25 minutes. I arrived early just to be sure I could find parking etc. The wait ended up being more like 30 – 35 minutes but the pizzas were fresh and steaming hot. The people are very nice and they made sure I was being taken care of since I was just standing around near the front counter. There really isn’t a place to sit and wait for your food if you’re picking up. The pizza itself was good — not great — but good. I would order it again for just an everyday occasion — nothing special.
Since I noticed some people sitting down to dinner while I waited for the pizza, I thought that some of their other items on the menu might be good to try. My boyfriend and I decided to order delivery on Sunday night. I called in the order at 7:40pm. It was for 1 meatball parm wedge, 1 order of buffalo wings, 1 pasta e fagioli soup and 1 Arthur Avenue wedge. Nothing too elaborate or crazy. The guy taking my order said it would be 30 – 40 minutes. Since our apartment is .5 miles away (I just google mapped it), I figured it would err on the quick side. I was wrong. The delivery arrived at 8:35 — almost an hour after I called. My boyfriend said there was nothing spectacular about the meatball parm wedge and the wings had a dry texture. I actually enjoyed my soup but it was a LOT of beans and pasta — hardly any liquid at all. My sandwich was good but again — nothing special.
I might be open to trying other things on the menu but only for pick-​up.

This review is NOT about the food at John the Baker’s, because the food is OK. The Italian specialties are tasty and the portion size is decent, and the pizza is very good, tasty toppings and chewy crust.
No, this review is about management’s (or perhaps one manager’s) policy regarding NOT honoring coupons that are on their own website.
I picked up 2 pizzas and presented my coupon that I’d printed minutes before from their website – 2 pies for $ 16.95. The cashier said that they were no longer honoring the coupon. I noted that I’d JUST printed it out, and he said «yeah, we need to take it down». I told him that since it’s on their site, they should honor it. When he refused, I asked to speak to the manager and was told he wasn’t there. I asked when he would be there and after a bit of huffing and puffing, the cashier admitted that he was the manager. I asked his name: Mark. He said ‘hey, I just work here’, in defense of his decision to not honor the restaurant’s coupon. I told him that he’d just lost a customer (ME) – there are many pizza places nearby that are dying for my business. He just shrugged.
I will never return to John’s and none of my friends and family will go there again. How silly, to lose our business over a few dollars and because of an arrogant, ignorant manager. (my email to their website went unanswered… wonder if the manager Mark is checking it?).

There are A LOT of pizza places/​casual Italian restaurants in the area but John the Baker is by far my favorite! It’s clean, everyone is friendly, they have a large menu with a wide range of options, and the food is above average compared to their local competitors. They are also happy to do something special that isn’t on the menu (e.g., salad with eggplant instead of chicken, custom panini). If you plan to be a frequent customer, sign up for their email and text coupons — they send out good deals quite frequently.
**Update** Stick to pickup. They have yet to get a delivery order right (I’m talking simple stuff like «no cheese» on the sandwich or the type of dressing).