| rev:text
| - I'm always scanning through Yelp for new pizza places - specifically of the wood-fired variant. While Central Phoenix will give you plenty of great options, Chandler has never seemed to really be one to jump on the bandwagon. And no, those fast-casual chains don't count, regardless of how long their lines are. Sorry!
Bella Gusto unexpectedly popped up in my searches, which was a surprise, considering I've never heard of it. As of this writing (July 2016), the restaurant has only been open for about 15 weeks according to our server. I expect its popularity to pick up pretty quickly once word spreads.
To start out, we received some house-made focaccia bread with olive oil. It was actually extremely good! Very moist and flavorful, with a serving that was large enough that we still had plenty to take home. We also ordered the burrata, which included some apricot jam and kale. We'd both classify the burrata as good, but not quite great. There are very few restaurants that somehow take their burrata over the top, so I don't really discredit them for this. We both enjoyed it and my girlfriend really liked the apricot jam addition.
As for pizzas, we ordered a standard margherita with spicy sopresatta added to one side. For the second, we opted for the Triple P, which consisted of pancetta, goat cheese, pickled onions, and roasted mushrooms. I've got the pancetta and pickled onions. I'm not sure what the other P stands for? We originally wanted to do half-half pies so we could try more variety, but when the server checked with the owner, he said no. I've always found it funny that Pizzeria Bianco, what many consider to be best in the country, has absolutely no issue doing this, but these small-time joints are always insistent that we'll ruin the pizza. Eh, my girlfriend and I have about four years worth of pictures and taste testing that proves otherwise, but we'll play nice this time.
The red pizza was just okay. We both felt that the sauce wasn't the best quality, as it had that canned tomato paste flavor to it that we've never really been a fan of. The bottom layer was also on the crunchy side, which I'm pretty sure was unintentional. The Triple P, however, was much better, offering up a nice, floppy middle that we're lovingly familiar with, as well as a pretty decent crust that had above average flavor with just the right amount of char. Are they on the same level as what you could get at some of the "big guns" in Central Phoenix? Not quite, but the pizza is still leagues better than competing options in Chandler.
For dessert, we ordered their affagato. We've grown quite fond of this dessert in recent time. Most places serve it with gelato/espresso, with absolutely no modification other than the addition of some biscotti (if you're lucky). This place, however, dares to be different, while actually incorporating a brownie into the mix. The combination of a chocolate/coffee brownie, espresso, and coffee-flavored gelato works extremely well and was something I'd highly recommend trying. Just be sure it's done properly. On a second visit, the brownie was all crumbly and soggy, which I assume is the result of under-baking.
As for the location and decor, I can't help but laugh at some of the comments. For Christ's sake, this is a local business, not an extremely polished corporate chain! Unless they're working with the Italian mafia on the side, no local business is just going to have the cash to open up smack-dab in the middle of Chandler Fashion with all of the other overly-polished chains. The food is what's important. Geography and interior design are of minimal importance this early in the game.
I can't give it a full five stars because I feel their food still needs some consistency. However, the food we had was very good overall. The server was very friendly and I predict it'll do well in satisfying an area that desperately needs some authentic Neapolitan pizza. Although they're nowhere close to where we live, we'll definitely make occasional visits when in the area.
Recommended!
|
![[RDF Data]](/fct/images/sw-rdf-blue.png)
![[cxml]](/fct/images/cxml_doc.png)
![[csv]](/fct/images/csv_doc.png)
![[text]](/fct/images/ntriples_doc.png)
![[turtle]](/fct/images/n3turtle_doc.png)
![[ld+json]](/fct/images/jsonld_doc.png)
![[rdf+json]](/fct/images/json_doc.png)
![[rdf+xml]](/fct/images/xml_doc.png)
![[atom+xml]](/fct/images/atom_doc.png)
![[html]](/fct/images/html_doc.png)