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| - Cibo is a pizza place that faithfully replicates the Italian experience of eating pizza. It is *not* a place that tries to do deep dish or thick(er) crusts like they do back in Chicago. Lou Malnati's will always rule the day in that department, with Gino's East running a close second (and Giordano's a close third!)
But as far as straight-up Italian pizza is concerned, Cibo is as close as I've had since coming back from Naples.
First, their pesto salad: Excellent. Fresh greens, intensely flavored tomatoes, and sheets upon sheets of parmaggiano reggiano, which one can never have too much of. The basil tasted fresh, the olive oil had character, and they didn't spare on the pine nuts.
The pizza came soon after. We had the salsiccia con patate, a pizze bianche with potatoes, mozzarella and spicy sausage. Once again the ingredients were top notch and melded nicely, the sausage in particular having a great, complex flavor. The mozzarella melted perfectly and wasn't rubbery or greasy.
Ah, but the crust. It was thin and slightly charred on the bottom, like it should be. The dough had some "give", and chewing through the toppings brought an interior that was soft and had excellent texture. It should take two hands to eat this pizza. Very well done.
The interior of the restaurant can be loud, (very loud, depending on the intoxication of present company) and they're usually very busy. We had to wait 45 minutes for our table, and the weather outside was certainly threatening to pour at any moment (although it didn't). "Urban" also seems to have a different connotation, since the restaurant sure seems like it's in a low-density, suburban part of town (that happens to be a mile away from downtown Phoenix).
But the wait was worth it, and I'm giving a thumbs up to Yelp for drawing me to an excellent pizzeria.
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