My wife and I ate here last night and were enthusiastic upon entering the restaurant after hearing and reading all the hype about this chain. But, what a major disappointment.
We ordered a large pizza with sausage and mushrooms. Grimaldi's is very proud of their pies with a $16.00 sticker price on a basic large cheese. Toppings are $2.00 each. So with $20.00 invested in the pie we were hoping for a really good taste.
We like our pizza a little extra crispy and ordered it that way but it came out chewy like a piece of jerky. Upon inspection - I pulled the cheese and topping layer off the crust - we saw a gummy crust that looked like a glazed donut. A total turn-off.
Also, the sauce was tasteless and the cook skimped on the toppings. I've eaten a gazillion pizzas in my day and this pie gets a letter grade of an F.
For starters we tried the house salad and at best, it was very average. The ingredients weren't chopped/prepared professionally and the dressing was bland.
We mentioned our disappointment to our waitress and she had the manager come over to speak to us. We pointed out the gummy undone crust and he took 50% off the pizza and said he hoped we'd give his store another try. But nothing turns me off more than unjustified hype, and Grimaldi's gets way too much credit for basically no reason.
I think I'll stick with Oregano's....or heck, even Peter Piper has way better pizza.