Joe Bologna's Restaurant: Lexington's Italian tradition in a historic, renovated space with signature pizzas and warm service.
Joe Bologna's Restaurant sits at 120 W Maxwell St, Lexington, KY 40508, in a historic building that began as a church, later a synagogue, and now an Italian eatery. It offers both deep-dish pan and thin-crust pizzas, iconic breadsticks, and classic Italian dishes. A new owner has kept the traditions alive and added a bourbon-bar seating area, with consistently friendly service praised by guests.
120 W Maxwell St, Lexington, KY 40508, USA
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Enjoy classic Italian dishes like manicotti, pasta, and salads in our historic, cozy setting.
Choose from deep-dish Sicilian pan pizzas or thin-crust options, including favorites like buffalo chicken pizza.
Start with garlic breadsticks, mozzarella sticks, or salads, all made fresh daily.
Indulge in homemade treats such as Heath cake, perfect for ending your meal on a sweet note.
Order your favorites to-go for a convenient Italian feast at home.
Relax in our newer bourbon bar seating area, offering a selection of drinks in a comfortable ambiance.
Overall rating
Carl Vervisch
Such a cool spot! This business is set up in a renovated church-turned synagogue-turned great ol' pizzeria years ago. Loved both the deep dish pan and thin crust and of course the iconic breadstick dish. Everything cooked perfectly and served with a smile. Would return any time in the area.
Patrick Dasher
Just as good as it ever was! Had garlic bread sticks with marinara, buffalo chicken pizza and Heath cake. The service was excellent, with great personality, and the buffalo chicken pizza was the best I've ever had of that variety, hands down. Very complex and subtle flavor, with nothing overpowering anything else!
mgsimm2
A Lexington tradition. Very happy to see the new owner had kept the vibes and delicious food going. But also added a nice bourbon bar seating area. The tradition lives on. Hope Joe is enjoying retirement knowing his traditions seem to be well taken care of!
Renee KH
Good experience. We only got a take-out order of dinner manicotti to share, but it was very good & the lady who took our order was phenomenal. Honestly, the place is a bit pricey for the volume of entree' that you get (we only got 2 regular-sized manicotti with a small side salad - most other Italian restaurants will give you 3 for this price). Our server was awesome & set us up with extra breadsticks, though. She was the best. The place is super cool, though. As many other reviewers have stated, it started as a Christian church, then was a Jewish synagogue, that then turned into a restaurant! What a history. And supposedly "Joe", the original owner & founder, still owns it & is "the best boss ever" according to our server. I can say, though, the restaurant is a bit old & worn-out now, though, & could use some love. The bathrooms need some serious updates & the entire place could use new paint & rehab on the floors, but overall it's fun restaurant.
Ava Rose
I rate Joe Bologna’s Italian Restaurant and Pizzeria a 3/5. This place is located in a repurposed church building that is tucked away, so, at first glance, you would never know that within the church is a cozy pizza joint. Not only does the physical structure add to the character of this place, but so do its customers and staff. When I first entered this restaurant, I noticed that a large majority of the customers were mainly older couples and families with kids. An interaction I had with a woman there made my experience especially memorable. When she first came up to my friends and I, she first started complementing our appearance, telling us how pretty we were. Then she went on to ask if we were in college, and when we responded yes, she gave us a spiel about living in the moment. She told us to enjoy the next 4 years because they fly by. She also put an emphasis on being selfish now and trying new things while at college because after that, we’ll have many more responsibilities and a lot less “me time”. She told us that Jesus loved us and wished us a good night before she left. Given that the interaction happened inside an old church, I felt that this was a very fitting and wholesome way to end the conversation. Aside from this social interaction was the food itself. My friends and I ended up playing it safe and getting their Sicilian Pan Cheese Pizza, which is essentially just a thick crust cheese pizza. This pizza was the perfect size, but I didn’t necessarily love it because the sauce was a bit on the sweeter side, which I don’t typically prefer. We also ordered the “cheese sticks,” which we thought were going to be some sort of cheesy bread, but instead they just turned out to be regular mozzarella sticks, which were pretty disappointing. Also, there were only four of us who went out to eat, and the table we were seated at was very crammed with very little leg room. I’m not sure if we were just seated at a bad table, but this took away from our enjoyment of the experience. The dinner menu was also very dirty, which I thought was kind of gross. Overall, I loved the ambiance of this place, but I’m not sure if I will be returning due to the food quality and discomfort of the seating arrangements.
