Jon & Vinny’s is a medium sized place with bare blond wood tables for 2 and some booth seating.  The kitchen is on the left as you  enter and you can see the pizza baking and food being prepared.  There are some stools at the counter for eating too.  The two-tops had hinges that looked like they could be expanded for bigger parties.   All the tables are  set with paper napkins and a selection of paper placemats and there is older rock music in the background.   There are windows to the busy street at the front but no seats nearby.  However between those windows and the skylights there is plenty of light in the place.  Helen’s Wines is attached to the back of the dining area and you can go in to select your wine or do it from the list and they’ll bring it out.  Afterwards you can go and buy more of it or something else to take with you.  Service was efficient and friendly and pacing was fairly rapid.  They were happy for us to share everything and willing to bring it out in stages for us to eat but they did overlap sometimes which could make it tight on the small table.  The place was constantly full, especially with lots of young people, with tables turning several times. Stopped into the wine shop afterwards and they were extremely friendly too.  

 

 

We started with the Gem Lettuce, Calabrian chili dressing, parmesan and bread crumbs – or their take on a Caesar salad.  It was a pile of tender leaves on a plate that had been tossed with a zesty dressing and then topped with really crunchy breadcrumbs and grated parmesan.  There was a hint of spice to the dressing that was nice and the leaves were all well coated.  It was a really tasty combination of ingredients and very satisfying to eat.  It was a winner.

 

The Marinara braised Meatballs were alongside a scoop of ricotta and served with garlic bread.  They came 2 to an order and were a generous size covered in lots of tasty marinara sauce.  The meatballs were amazingly tender and moist and the garlic bread was grilled to a good crisp with chewy interior.  All had wonderful flavor and for a simple dish it was very good – maybe my favorite of the meal.  They were lick-the-plate good.

 

The Cacio e Pepe Spaghetti was topped with Pecorino Romano cheese.  It was spicy and creamy and the pasta was cooked to a perfect al dente texture.  The Pecorino had lots of flavor as did the pepper to yield a tasty dish.

 

The pizza “Sonny’s Favorite” was topped with grilled Nueske’s bacon, mozzarella, onion and grana padano.  The pizza had a really thin crust with a fairly burnt edge.  We tried the Creamy Italian dipping sauce to go with it but it was too heavy for my tastes.  The bacon was nicely smokey and crisp and the pizza had a good balance of ingredients.  As it sat on the table it did get soggy in the center but overall the flavor was good.  It seemed that pizza was a big part of the business here but it was my least favorite of what we ordered.

 

Dessert was an oral menu and we chose to try 2 of their Bombolone, one filled with custard and one with Nutella.  They were basically a stuffed yeasty donut. Both were nicely filled and doughy.  The custard was creamy and tasty and the nutella was not too sticky but the custard was my favorite.  A good finish for a fine meal.