In town for a Spring Training trip and had a dinner at Pizzeria Bianco circled twice on the agenda. I guess I should have figured that with every food critic/organization under the sun singing its praises that it might be a popular destination, but was still blown away when their hostess told me that my buddies and I were looking at a minimum 3 hour wait to get our hands on some of this famed pizza.
But wait!! They have a sister restaurant across town that serves EXACTLY the same pizza? And we can essentially stroll in there with no problems? Sign us up. I'm also guessing this is reasonably new development because a lot of these reviews below me don't seem to even acknowledge the pizza's existence.
Right now they've got four options for pizza - the Marinara, Margherita, Rosa, and Biancoverde. Our group of 7 tried all but the Marinara (no hard feelings, cheese-less pizza). I was impressed with all three with the Biancoverde taking the crown as the best of the night. One of the chefs there really took care to explain all of the fresh and locally-grown ingredients that they used, and you can tell that the entire staff really takes pride in the food they serve.
Why only four stars? Fair or not, I'm afraid it just couldn't overcome the hype. My buddy from New York INSISTED that he could find a handful of pizza places that could outdo this in NY (although talk about hype...). If anyone has ever tried Pitfire Pizza in Los Angeles, Pane Bianco is like a better version of that...with a measure of distance there, to be sure.
I'd still be sure to get off your butt and check it out if you've been struggling to come to grips with the zoo over at Pizzeria Bianco - I can't imagine this will remain a well-kept secret for long.