Turkish owned pizza shops are abundant in the burgh. And they are pretty much all the same, almost as if there were a 'kit' available for Turkish entrepreneurs. Welcome! Here's your kit! The offerings and menus are almost usually identical except for the pizza shop name, address and telephone numbers. Even the online ordering systems seem to be connected, and if you order from home or the office, the site leads you to the closest kit shop.
Same seems to be true for local Asian buffets. Here's your 'kit' and good luck! Bottom line is, they're mostly all the same.
That being said, whoever is handing out the kits for the Turkish owned shops is doing a very good job, as these shops tend to be the most consistent decent pizza shops in the area. Pizza Pronto is no exception to that rule. The food quality is consistent, the pricing is the same, and the service is as pleasant as any other shop.
What makes Pronto stand out is the venue. While many of the kit shops have a counter or an incidental table or two if you decide to dine there, Pronto actually has a restaurant that is very pleasant for dining in. Comfortable tables and chairs, a typical kitschy Italian-ish setting, and neighborhood regulars who you see frequently. It's an ideal neighborhood spot for grabbing wings, good sandwiches or gyros, a variety of pasta dishes or salads, and of course, pizza.
Now for me personally, I never get pizza 'out'. To me, pizza has become that stuff that comes in a box that is delivered to my door when even mac-n-cheese I can't be bothered making, I have a little extra in my budget, and I'm REALLY freakin' hungry.
BUT, when I'm not in the mood to cook, and want to actually get 'out', but not TOO far, having Pizza Pronto a mile away in Avalon, and with a cozy dining room, makes it a go-to for me. I wouldn't think of it as a 'destination', and definitely not for the 'foodies' in town, and even though a half mile closer in Bellevue are three or four more 'here's your kit' pizza shops, they don't have the comfortable dining room that Pronto has.
I've never had bad service, and the only time I had even a bad bite of food was one time when the former friend who introduced me to the place, a friend of the former co-owner, 'took control' of our meal and ordered a giant pan of wings 'well done' and they arrived extra crunchy and dry. That's how he ordered them, and was not the restaurant's fault. Since returning, the wings are always cooked perfectly, and the sauces are delish.
The only other real 'Italian' option in the immediate area seems to be Luigi's, which I find to be one of those overpriced and totally average family owned 'we don't really care now give us the money' spots. The atmosphere is almost the same, and the prices slightly higher, but the food quality just doesn't match. It's 'just ok' at best.
For anyone who lives in the Bellevue, Avalon, or even Brighton Heights areas, a quick drive down to Pizza Pronto is an easy solution to a decent Italian night out.