John's is a cute Italian spot tucked away in the East Village. The ambience is soft lighting and I love that they have real candles on the table. Service was fast and friendly, I dropped a fork on accident and it was replaced immediately. Now on to the food which was pretty standard fare for an Italian place. I had the Eggplant Parmigiana for my main and we split the Calamari, Avocado Bruschetta (so smooth and flavorful) and Veal Meatballs for the table, all of which were filling and delicious. Overall really great experience, and the only complaint is that the bathroom was teeny tiny, no doubt a result of it being such an old building.

Perfect early evening dinner with Tuscan Ragu and the Alfredo. John's came highly recommended from someone in the neighborhood, who said "order the Ragu - and you'll dream about it all the time." She was correct! Deep, rich flavors! House red was the perfect mate. The atmosphere is authentic and very much of the neighborhood. Service was excellent and friendly. We talked for a long spell about the changes that have taken place over the years - and how John's just keeps rollin' with 'em. Great evening! Will definitely be back!

Was in town to celebrate my 36th anniversary with my wife -- brought along our daughter who lives in the East Village to enjoy the festivities. We made a point to go to John's because of their vegan menu and it did not disappoint. We got the meatballs, caesar salad, sauteed mushrooms, and a few different kinds of pasta. All wonderful, all vegan. Loved it.

Enjoyed John's of 12th Street over the years, typically a destination with guests from out of town looking for a place in the Village and who'd appreciate a good Italian meal in an intimate "old school" setting. The atmosphere is special. Have never been disappointed. As I normally do, went last night for Veal Cutlet Parmigiana with linguini. (See pic.) It was a solid entree,... but what really knocked our socks off was the absolutely amazing homemade house salad dressing - with familiar notes. My similarly foodie dinner companions and I, savoring the flavor, tried to identify how it was made, however it eluded us. We hoped John's of 12 Street's "Auntie Rae" would let us know. When the waiter returned, we asked. Not revealing the secrets to the sauce, he only indicated it included anchovies. (Note - It tastes nothing like Caesar dressing.) If anyone out there knows what's in their house dressing, please let us know! We promise not to share the secret... that is if it is a secret!!! Another thing this round that caught my attention in particular, beyond the wall art, was the restaurant's beautiful floor mosaics. (See pic.) It all contributed to another wonderful experience at John's of 12th Street we'll share and talk about well after the meal.

This place is still amazing and does no wrong! We go here for my husbands birthday each year and the food is always amazing and fresh. Get here early before it gets too crowded on weekends.

John's of 12th Street has a cozy interior with warm lights and lots of Italian memorabilia across the wall. There are lots of Italian restaurants in the area but what makes this place unique is their vegan selection which has its own page in the menu. Vegans aren't stuck to ordering spaghetti marinara here so I ventured out to try the seitan parmigiana. The seitan was sliced into a thin cutlet and was lightly breaded, the flavor was great on this. I've never been a fan of vegan cheese, and this was no exception so I peeled that layer off. The parm was accompanied by some spaghetti that wasn't anything noteworthy. Our server was attentive and even in a large group our dishes came out without too much of a wait. The house red was fine and they had a selection of wines from Italy that I might opt to explore next time. I also tried the cheesecake which confused me a bit as it had a cake-like base. It tasted good but almost like it was confused as to whether it was supposed to be a cake or cheesecake. My meat-eating companions also enjoyed their meals so John's is a great place for people of any dietary preference to be able to enjoy quality Italian food.

Vegan menu available! I was so excited to find an Italian restaurant with a vegan menu that had more than just a few options. There were 5 of us and as the only vegan in the group, I was excited to have good options. We ordered the vegan garlic bread basket for table to share. I ordered the seitan parmigiana and someone else ordered the vegan eggplant parmigiana, which I tried. Both were really good. The place is small and gets busy but the service was good and servers were very helpful in making recommendations.

NYC has some of the best Italian food in the country so we always have at least one Italian dinner, separate of the pizza we eat. I make it a point to ask local New Yorker's where they go and I received a lot of recommendations to John's on 12th, which is a key distinction since there are many John's restaurants in NYC. As soon as one enters the quaint restaurant you know you're in a classic Italian place. We were immediately greeted by the owner, who was happy to get us quickly seated. It was especially surprising because we had a party of 6 and needed a larger table, but he squeezed us in. The server was also both quick and friendly. He gave us several recommendations and we took him up on most of them to include their famous Tuscan Ragu Over Homemade Pappardelle, homemade manicotti, spaghetti with meatballs and their fettuccine. Another great surprise was that they made some of their famous dishes vegan, which was perfect for our daughter and her boyfriend. Every dish was delicious. For dessert we also followed the servers recommendations and got their cannoli (both regular and vegan) as well as their tiramisu (also both vegan and regular). This will be the Italian restaurant I recommend to anyone who visits NYC, and I will point out it was recommended to me by New Yorkers.

Amazing!!! Came here with a friend, we celebrated my retirement!!! We had the garlic bread and stuffed mushrooms for starters, then she had the eggplant parmigiana and I had the linguine with white clam sauce....absolutely delicious. Service was great and waiter was very attentive. We sat right where the candles were...loved it.