Geppetto’s Italian Restaurant

Had a Large pizza and a lasagna tortellini combo delivered. Good news, the gentleman who took the order was very polite, delivery was early, pizza crust tasted from scratch (but was not crisp), sauce on the combo was good. Bad news… SMALL portions. Large pizza was a typical medium size. combo was child size, tortellini soup was frozen noodles and a can of chicken broth… Wont reorder for delivery but will try a sit down with a different style pizza.

I had the special for lunch bay shrimp fettuccine. Good flavor and lots of shrimp. Sauce was watery and garlic bread had a burnt on the grill look and flavor ! Salad was good as was the desert chocolate mousse. Waiter was a good guy great attitude ! Expensive lunch for $ 19.70. I will return as the staff take care of you and food is good.

Keep in mind that three starts is, «A-​OK.» Not a bad review. Just sayin’.
I’ve been to Geppetto’s a handful of times in my ten years here. It’s been basic, simple and delish each time. Pizza, pasta, etc. have always been good. Not masterful creations of audacious gustatory creativity, mind you, but good, solid, yummy yummy in your tummy Italian food.
If you’re looking for fusion, or high class, or… look elsewhere. This is your gramma’s Sunday dinner pasta.
Sounds good, right? And it is. But I go out for the whole experience. And the experience here is like stepping back into 1970. And it has been for the ten or so years I’ve been in Salem.
I was jonesing for Chicago style deep dish pizza. My plan was to research recipes/​techniques and try my own hand this weekend. To prep, I invited a friend to lunch here to try theirs. Knowing they took a long time to cook, I called in early and placed the order for us to eat in. Small deep dish with pepperoni, mushroom, sausage. Good old faithful.
We arrived, and were quickly seated, and had fast and friendly service with a smile from a gentleman, as did the other four or so tables who were near us.
Same old décor. It’s like walking into a time warp.
Our deep dish came, and it was beautiful. Good balance of crust, sauce, and goodies. The sauce really was perfect — well spiced, rich tomato flavor, not too salty. It was literally mouth watering as we prepared to dig in. The crust was firm on the outside with a bit of a crisp, soft and buttery tasting on the inside.
Service was attentive, and we wanted for nothing. Except, you know, maybe a little décor update. (But it’s become a joke. We wagered on the chances it had been updated, as it had been about four years since we’d last been there. We felt there was a 0.05 percent change of update. It played out.)
But… this deep dish was so good that I cancelled my plans to bother making one myself. We’re just ordering one from them tonight. It was odd to find they don’t open until 4pm on Saturday, although they ARE open for lunch during the week. Good to know.

Great pizza the other food is pretty good as well. There service is average. It is a small establishment and not a chain. It’s better than Olive Garden and there is not much Italian around to compare it too in salem.

We didn’t get the whole dining experience because we ordered from home for deliver. The only positive about the experience was the food came earlier than expected.
First things first, their online menu does not list any prices so one must guess at the cost of their meal. Irritating, but we wanted to try some place new so we went for it. Second issue, the dinner entrees say they come with «soup or salad, and bread with garlic butter.» Be warned, if you chose salad there is a $ 2 up charge not mentioned anywhere. Our two plates came to 30 some-​odd dollars.
I ordered the Sausage Carbonara and my partner got the Three Cheese Manicotti. Both plates were extremely bland. The onions and garlic that were supposedly sauteed with the sausage on my dish were nonexistent and the cream sauce tasted simply like cream and nothing else. The salad that came with it was not much more than a bagged salad mix and the bread was two slices of cold hard bread with a pat of butter.
So overall, they are overpriced for what you get and its very underwhelming in the flavors. I gave them an extra star for their prompt delivery.

Having the stuffed pizza, my goodness. The sauce is absolutely perfection and crust is soft and amazing. Been a while since I been back. Come here!

Love this place, great food, friendly service and charming old world style. I would recommend to anyone traveling through Salem… try it out!

If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent many a sleepless night deep in pondering thought… I wonder exactly what it would be like to eat a can of lukewarm Chef Boy-​ar-​dee in a time machine with the dial permanently set to 1971. Look no further; Geppetto’s Italian Restaurant is for you!
Conveniently located in a ran down strip mall where you can easily buy cat food and office supplies while you wait for a table, Geppetto’s has an item for even the most unsophisticated of palates.
But first warm up your appetite by digging into the staple of all fine Italian eateries, the bottomless breadsticks. Are they warm, soft, and smothered in savory garlic butter? Or are they crusty, rustic Italian bread with olive oil and a splash balsamic vinegar with fresh ground pepper? Nope! Geppetto’s version of «breadsticks» is a small cup filled with hard stick pretzels, like the kind you get in the convenience store snack aisle next to the potato chips.
The plastic plates are a perfect match for the depressing atmosphere. Geppetto’s must have gotten quite a steal from the Del Griffith-​esque hospital cafeteria dinnerware salesman.
I go out for dinner to eat food I know I couldn’t make myself. The fettuccine alfredo I ordered was pedestrian and uninspired, something even I could put together and I’ve been known to overcook water.
But, but, but. Don’t fret! This experience can be yours, too, for about the same price as a nice meal at Olive Garden. 1 out of 5 baskettis, would not recommended.

Rating on taste alone, the pizza was gross. The sauce has this strange taste about it. I think maybe they use too many herbs and not enough salt. Also, the dough is really under baked. Thin crust usually has that… you know, crust? Well not this one. It’s more like rubber. Deep dish wasn’t impressive either. Once again, dough was under baked, and the toppings just taste off. Not spoiled or anything but something is just different. The calamari was not fresh but the mushrooms and tiramisu were tolerable. Delivery came fairly quickly, but I’m still hungry because this pizza isn’t up to my standard.

Pizza was OK. The atmosphere is dated an run down. Other menu items are somewhat generic. Nothing special about this place.

First time here and the food was awesome! Ordered the calzone and the special large pepperoni pizza. Server was awesome and the atmosphere was nice! Please give this place a try it is worth it!

Worst service we have ever had!!! Saw a waitress fighting with her boss in the restaurant asking to keep her job (right up front) one time. EXTREMELY RUDE telephone manors. Don’t try to ever change your order, as they won’t change it 2 minutes after you order!!!

The only Salem location serving both fantastic Italian food and incredible Pizza.
A favorite for many years.
Family owned

Really wanted to like it more than I did. I enjoy family restaurants which have been in business many years and Geppetto’s has been. The inside of the restaurant has no windows due to it being located in a shopping plaza. The lighting is kind of dark inside but it’s fine because it’s a casual atmosphere. Our server was very friendly and attentive. The pizza was just ok. Something about the crust just didn’t do it for me. The pasta is not bad too. I’ll go back and try more pasta dishes but probably skip pizza next time.

Defiantly not the worst place I’ve eaten, but would I go back, NO. We were really excited to try Geppetto’s because the ratings weren’t THAT bad, and the Spaghetti Warehouse downtown, is not a favorite by any means.
We walked in, it was dark and a little confusing. When you walk in, there is a counter that is set up to place orders, we thought maybe it was an order and pay up front then pick your seat kind of deal, but then the hostess popped her head out of the kitchen and asked if we were dinning in. The tables were covered in vinyl table clothes like grandma has, and they were SUPER sticky. There were two dirty forks under our table and several broken crayons… We asked the waiter what she recommended and she said the sausage carbanara, so that’s what my husband got, and I ordered the lasagna & spaghetti combo with meat sauce. He ordered the tortellini soup and I the house salad ranch on the side, and two waters. She brought out the soup and salad 10 minutes later (mind you they were not busy at all, guess that should have been our sign!) the soup was chicken broth and tortellini’s nothing else, my salad was romaine lettuce, pickled carrots and croutons, smothered in ranch (remember I asked for it on the side?) I didn’t say anything because it took 10 minutes just to get the soup and salad. Fifteen minutes later our food came out… read the description of the carbanara, onions, garlic, fennel sausage… none of that was in there, the sauce was very bland, no onions, no garlic, their idea of fennel sausage was ground pork with a itty bitty pinch of dried fennel… The lasagna and spaghetti were not at as bad, the meat sauce was bland, but luckily there was s&p on the table along with crushed red pepper flakes. We never got refills on our water, the waitress never came to check on us once she brought out the meal.
Would I got back? No.
Would I recommend this to anyone? Maybe to someone who enjoys bland food?
I know it sounds like a harsh review, but in the end you should enjoy your food experience and we did not, had I read a review like this I wouldn’t have even walked it.

Service was good. The place is pretty dark
and a little outdated. I ordered breaded chicken with linguine and marnia sauce… both were very bland… no flavor. My husband had the calazone which he said was just a little better then ok. We tried it once but probably wont be back.

Let me start by saying I’ve been coming to this place since I was a kid with my folks back in ’74, back when it still had windows on one side, original owners worked every night, and a guy would come to your table and play the violin on weekends.
In a lot of ways it hasn’t changed since then; different faces and the live entertainment nixed. Reading many of the bad reviews I can tell people might not get Geppetto’s. If you’re looking for a brightly lit open floor plan, Oregon laminated thin crust only pizza place, with plenty of benches for the little leagues — this is not the place for you. You might be looking for a beer and pizza place, like Paddington’s or Wallery’s. This is wine and pizza — kids are more than welcome, but the place isn’t set up to entertain the kids while worn out parents take a breather. It’s not a fine wine place either. The place is set up to drink wine like the Italians drink wine — in place of water; inexpensive and abundant — with a lot of interesting discussion involved.
Think of Geppetto’s as three different themes that overlap; pizza, Italian food, and bar in an old school Italian restaurant.
This place had Calzone before it was popular elsewhere, great ravioli, good spaghetti, (Italian spaghetti is more of a side dish than the main meal it is in the states). The pizza is unique as far as Salem pizza goes. Thick crust isn’t bad, I just prefer the thin. I noticed they changed it a little a few years ago, maybe in response to a reviewer that might have gone there thinking it was Pietro’s. Too bad, but it’s still good.
I hope they never change. It’s the closest thing to natural relaxed ambiance without artificial corporate manufacture Salem has. This might be why out of towners like it so much. The closest place, in terms of atmosphere, I’ve found to this place is Matt’s Burger’s in St Paul Place, MN.
Go here as a couple or a group of friends. Relax, drink some wine, and start the conversation criticizing the décor. Either order the pizza or go Italian ala cart with coffee and dessert to finish up. Everyone leaves having had a good time — even if they aren’t sure why.

In town for the night, in a motel: wanted a restaurant delivery. Called Geppetto’s, as I was in the mood for Italian but not pizza, and no minimum order was required. I got the steak saltimbocca with garlic roasted potatoes, that came with ‘garlic’ bread, and I also got a side salad. The steak was really good: tender, well seasoned! The garlic roasted potatoes were wonderful, though the serving size was skimpy. The bread – NO garlic! Just a hunk of bread and a little container of butter. The side salad was traditional and satisfying: crisp iceberg lettuce with ranch dressing: just the right amount. The delivery was very prompt: the steak & potatoes still hot, the salad dressing cold. When I’m in town again, I’ll be very happy to order from them again!

Came here for lunch the other day. We had been trying to come here for quite some time but for some reason it was always closed when we stopped by.
Anyway it was finally open so we came in for lunch. The place is kind of dark and you walk toward the back of the restaurant past the enclosed bar area and the pizza counter to get to the seating. They had a lunch buffet that was was VERY reasonable at $ 6 I think it was. The buffet wasn’t very large, a small salad bar with maybe a dozen toppings and then a hot bar with 2 pizza types, and about 4 – 5 other items including chicken breast, scalloped potatoes and other misc items. Overall I thought the food was good but a bit on the bland side but I always find buffet food to be a bit bland.
There was enough food there for me to eat and find something I liked. But don’t go in expecting Izzy’s or Hometown, there is a reason why it’s so much cheaper than they are.
Our server was extremely nice and was quick on service. I wouldn’t be much more than half through my drink and he was refilling it. This guy is what made the meal.

Another establishment that has been in Salem forever and ever. We met my boyfriend’s friends here because they love this place. Can’t say I felt the same.
I found it really odd that they put crunchy pretzel-​type bread sticks on the table with butter. Not a combo I love. The salad that came with my meal was old school, with lots of iceberg lettuce, topped with shreds of carrots and cabbage. The raspberry vinaigrette was interesting, I think I liked it.
For the main meal, I had spaghetti, which was okay, but nothing special. It was basically just meat, sauce and noodles, I’ve made better at home. The sauce was too intensely flavored, like they got heavy with the tomato paste.
The bread served with our meal was very good and tasted like it was baked in-​house. Service was fine.
I’d be interested in trying their pizza or maybe the ravioli, but so far, mehhhhh…