Grimaldis Pizza

I always do a lot of online homework before a trip, and I fell across a great place to eat. Grimaldis Pizza at Pallazo. They have locations all over the country, and the best part is the same pricing for all locations. I think our bill was $25 for the two of us. Just soda to drink as be were beered out at that point. Thin crust brick oven pizza. It was fantastic, and we paid less than for a whole pizza at Caesars Marketplace that was crappy. I highly recommend!

 

I totally agree - awesome pizza. I was at the Grimaldi's at the Palazzo in August and just loved it.

I spoke to the waitress and they have a chemist that matches the water to the Grimaldi's in NY...don't know if it's true, but both were very good.

 

Everybody has an opinion on pizza. Here's mine on Grimaldi's...One of the worst we have ever had. We went to the one on S Eastern with their coal fired oven.
Crust totally burned on the bottom, skimpiest toppings I've ever had on a pizza and each topping was $2 extra. It was a nice thin crust, but that's about all the good I can say.

 

I don't get the praise either for Grimaldis pizza.

 

I've been to New York. That is how they make pizza (had one at Lombardi's).

Apparently in the east, cheese is too expensive to put on a pizza.

 

Again, to each his own. We all have opinions about our favorite pizza style which are formed as we mature. Great pizza is about balance of ingredients, quality vs. quantity. Real mozzarella cheese is so soft you have to slice it as it can't be shredded.

I love thin crust, coal fired oven pizza topped with fresh mushrooms. Having twice the cheese and sauce would ruin the crust and turn the whole thing into a mess, hence the need for a knife and
fork. Made correctly, I could eat a whole pie, the burnt specs of char on the bottom of the crust come from a 900 degree coal fired oven and the careful eye of a trained pizzaiolo. You can't get the same thing in a 550 degree gas oven.

With that said, I was in Chicago on business and visited Pizzeria Due, the crust was crumbly and reminded me of the Chef Boyardee boxed pizza kits my mom made us in the late 1960's. It took over a half hour to get pizza.

Normally, when I'm not near the pizza I love, I love the pizza I'm near, except for Chicago.

Full disclosure, I often make my own dough from scratch using high gluten flour. Brush the crust with a little chopped garlic and olive oil, mozzarella cheese, thin slices of fresh plum tomatoes, finish with a little chopped basil when it comes out. I'm experimenting with my new gas grill as I can get
all 4 burners going and get it up to 600 degrees.

 

"It's the water!"

Oh, that, again. New Yorkers always use this old chestnut.

The Water. Ever the expanation of why N.Y. pizza is superior, no matter how good it is elsewhere.

It's the culinary equivalent of what Dave Barry said about Louisville -"If you're not from there, you're pronouncing it wrong."

Yes, yes. You win. Our pizza sucks. Yours is better. It's the water.

 

Agreed.

Pizzeria Uno and Pizzeria Due in Chicago are brilliant with their biscuit crusts. Lou Malnotti's has a similar crust, but they will even add extra butter to it. I wasn't crazy about Gino's East, but am willing to give that a second chance.

And being from Wisconsin, having more butter and cheese on your pizza is kind of in the DNA. I mean, what's the point of pizza otherwise?

 

Pizza is EXTREMELY subjective IMHO.One tends to think the pizza in their area is superior than other areas of the country. I will readily admit i fall into that category. I am extemely biased to the east coast versions ( esp. New Haven). But then again i havent tried pizza everywhere in the US so i cant comment other than what i like. I myself dont care for the Chicago( deep dish) and California styles( with all the wacky toppings). I would be curious on the ST Louis style, but that being said, I probably would like Grimaldi's. To the water issue, i think maybe its true. But maybe there has been some research out there that can prove or disprove the theory. AGAIN JMHO so dont chop my head off.

 

The food channel did a blind taste test of NY style pizza with NY water and with water from a couple of other cities. All four chef-tasters preferred the pizza with the NY water.

 

Thanks for the recommendation! We love Frank Pepe's, so we are definitely game to try another coal-fired pizza joint.

 

chill out. food and recipes change as the people move and use what they have. i make my own pizza's but i am limited with a electric 500 degree oven and a pizza brick. i have made pizza's on charcoal grills and propane grills.
i have eaten at lombardi's and john's across the brooklyn bridge,but i enjoy a slice of metro's at the ellis with their micro brews. i grew up in the bronx with the small pizzeria's and their electric ovens. what about sicilian style,
quite different from the thin crust. buon appetito

 

this is a pizza i made for the great servers at louie's backyard on padre island

 

I did see that show as well. Wondering if the lack of humidity and extreme heat makes a difference?? But i have heard a LOT of good things about a few places in the Phoenix AZ area that are renowned for their pizza.


To Keno60, I am sicilian and DONT like sicilian pizza at all. ( Go figure). Again i think pizza is VERY subjective ,maybe one of the more subjective foods there is.

 

Spot on my friend, especially the part about Chicago deep dish being reminescent of the Chef Boyardee boxed mix. And, I say that from a perspective of someone close to Chicago. All your other points make perfect sense to me.

 

I just like good pizza. There are thick crust, thin crust, medium crust, etc. If it is quality pizza with quality ingredients, I will probably like it. It doesn't have to be an exact thickness, certain type of water, and only found one side of one street in a certain neighborhood to be "real" to me.

 

Better Picture

this is a better picture- great place to go, if you are ever on the island

 

We thought the pizza was good however, the service was terrible and it was at a slow time of day. Our waiter was more interested in talking to some girl than assisting us. We were basically ignored and the management didn't seem to care. The crust was decent. It just did not seem like it had much flavor from the yeast, which usually means they made it that morning not a day before how I prefer it.

Coal fired pizza doesn't mean it's burnt, it's charred a little but not much. I have coal fired pizza once a month and if it was ever black I would send it back. The cooks need to learn how to cool the brick or control the fire before cooking. Sometimes it happens from low usage and then slapping in pies recklessly and not knowing the hot spots.