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| - 1.5/5 stars ... here's why:
Pros:
1. Wide variety of menu items
2. Pasta is cooked al dente
3. Meatballs have excellent texture and flavor; taste is like homemade
Cons:
1. Wide variety of menu items
2. Pizza is confused; crust is neither Chicago-style nor New York/Neapolitan-style
3. Long wait times
4. Poor value for your money
Previous reviewers who have stated this is "the best pizza in Phoenix" have not gone beyond this storefront to sample other options, because there's a lot left to be desired at this hole-in-the-wall eatery. "Chicago-style pizza" apparently means neither traditional deep-dish nor stuffed, but rather some oddball hybrid developed in the Midwest that's between thin and thick, chewy and crunchy. It's like an ugly red-headed pale cousin of lavosh. (But hey, if you're into that kind of thing, then this is for you. Just don't get upset by others who point and laugh.)
I zeroed in on spaghetti ($7.99) for my Sunday lunch, but two 2-inch meatballs were a $2.50 premium(!!!). It came with four slices of garlic bread and a mixed salad. I have to say, the salad was excellent -- but the garlic bread needed more garlic. The spaghetti was al dente, the sauce average. Tabletop parmesan is foul stuff; I believe they merely transferred crappy Kraft-in-a-can into a glass shaker.
My girlfriend had the Chicago hot dog combo (with fries, $5.99). For an establishment to prominently display "How To Make A Chicago Hot Dog" on a sign as you walk in, what came out of the kitchen was a joke. Yes, it was a Vienna dog; yes, it was served with a dill pickle spear on a poppyseed bun. But it had large sliced onions, not diced; there was one tomato wedge and sport hot pepper, not two; and I don't think you could have had less neon-green pickle relish and still claim it had been added. Honestly, at best there was a teaspoon worth - and that's no exaggeration.
The other half decided she would also like to try the pizza, so she ordered a slice of mushroom despite enduring another "10-minute" wait. (Another customer who ordered a Philly cheesesteak ended up cancelling his sandwich order because the one person behind the counter still hadn't begun making it after 15 minutes' time.) When the slice came out, we were perplexed by this funky "Chicago style" crust -- and the sauce was nothing but plain, crushed tomato. Where's the oregano? or basil? As much as we had hoped for something better, we both felt it was lackluster in flavor and the crust's texture was simply ... awful.
There are a myriad mom-and-pop pizza joints in the metro area, and for what you get -- relative to others and/or the chain restaurants -- this falls sadly short of good value. I want to like them better, but I also want to enjoy what I eat out. This unfortunately was a once-and-done experiment in culinary adventure.
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