The Pizza Locust

When I left Tucson 25 years ago, the pizza landscape was very different.

Of the most common places I ate at (in not particular order, and just those that come to mind), Pizza City, Pizza Inn, Round Table, Village Inn Pizza and Shakey’s there is no trace. Perhaps it’s just nostalgic to think any could survive this long in a fickle and highly competitive world. Perhaps I’d find them inedible now if they had, or they might be so different as to be unrecognizable. Would I be able to tell if they were different after all these years?

One place, though, that we used to get pizza from is still there. FioRito’s on Grant Rd. In this case, I can say, for certain, that I cannot remember a single thing about their pizza 25+ years ago, except that I’d swear it used to be square. For all intents and purposes, this might as well have been the first time I’ve eaten in this restaurant. I have no illusions that it could possibly be the same management as all those years ago.

Inside it’s a small place and the staff were impressively attentive. It is, however, the darkest restaurant I’ve ever eaten in. Apart from lights behind the bar and coming from the kitchen, I don’t think there were any electrics lights on at all - just small candles on every table. Combine that with a dark wood interior and dark carpet and you’ve got one dark dining experience. It certainly could be considered a “romantic” atmosphere.

Since we were in town for only a day and I was unlikely to return for a second pizza anytime soon, I chose a 10″ sausage and pepperoni pizza so I could sample both control toppings.

The pizza was well-cooked and, although round, was of a thin Chicago-style. The crust was light and airy and didn’t bring a lot of flavor to the pizza.

The pepperoni topping was average. The sausage was quite strong and was the predominant flavor of the two. Both had been cooked to the point where they were a little crispy, but not burnt.

The cheese was good, and plentiful. It also had been cooked will it got a nice, proper browning. Full marks on having a fully cooked pizza.

It was the sauce (I think) that was the most distinctive part of this pizza. I’m not sure if the Italian spices were added to the sauce very late in the cooking process, or if they were sprinkled on top of the sauce, underneath the cheese. Either way, the taste of the spices, particularly the garlic and rosemary was very distinctive and stood-out.

All-in-all I enjoyed it, but I ate too much Italian bread and butter before the pizza arrived. Irene had a clam dish which she really liked and the kids had spaghetti and ravioli. We used to just get pizzas through the drive-through window when I was a kid, but this is definitely a full-menu Italian food restaurant.

FioRito’s Italian Restaurant
2702 E. Grant Rd.
Tucson, AZ 85716
(520) 325-6913

Pizza as reviewed, 10″ Pepperoni & Italian Sausage, $10.90
One-item 10″ pizza price, $9.95 or $0.13 (0.127) per square inch

Recommended.

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