The Pizza Locust

Many years ago (late 80’s, or early 90’s) my father and I ate at Vito’s Pizza on Lindsey Rd. in Mesa. At the time the area was a bit desolate and that’s all either of us remember about the place – that it was rather isolated. We remembered nothing at all about the pizza either good or bad.

My family and I were driving back into town past Vito’s today and I remembered that I remembered nothing about the food, so I decided we’d stop in for a pizza.

When we arrived, the place was only vaguely familiar. I wouldn’t swear that the building has been replaced, but it seems larger. It’s an unusual building, incorporating and over-the-road walkway and a car wash. The inside of the restaurant almost seems to wander around aimlessly, and even has an underground level. It was dinner hour and the place was busy, but it wasn’t full. We were seated immediately by the efficient staff. Perhaps it’s the demographics of the area, but we noted that almost all of the patrons were senior citizens.

We ordered two pizzas: a 9″ pepperoni for review and a larger sausage pizza. It didn’t take long to realize why my father and I cannot recall this pizza.

The Chicago-style pizza wasn’t exactly bad, but the crust, on both pizzas, is well in the running for the most uninspired, lackluster I’ve ever had. It was more like eating biscuits than pizza. One review, at Get Out AZ, even commented favorably on the buscuit-like crust – as if that were a good thing in a pizza!

The crust was so meek that it detracted from the rest of the pizza. Nothing could had saved the pizzas after that. The sauce and cheese were both fine, when isolated from the crust. The pepperoni was OK, but a bit too salty and the sausage didn’t stand out.

They’ve been in business 22 years, so they must be serving their market. There must be a lot of people in that area who like biscuits.

Not recommended
Cost: 9″ Pepperoni: $8.00 = $0.13 (0.126) /Sq In

Vitos’Pizza Place & Ristorante
1947 North Lindsay Road
Mesa, Arizona 85213
(480) 832-3311
N 33.45116 W 111.76942

---

Disambiguation notice: A few months ago we reviewed a different Vito’s Pizza, in Glendale. To the best of my knowledge, there is no affiliation between the two.

Technorati Tags: Pizza, Restaurant, Review