Attempt #35 - A & A Pagliai's Pizza

Menu

Venue Outside

The Venue

302 E Bloomington St

Iowa City, IA 52245

(319) 351-5073

Large (14") Black Olive, Beef, Green Pepper ($18.45)

The atmosphere at Pagliai's Pizza is quite a throwback of a classic New York pizza joint.  The store is lined with several college-aged guys, tossing pizza dough and preparing pizzas while wearing classic white paper hats.  The restaurant has booths, and several smaller tables.  They offer frozen pizzas that you can take home, perfect for the University of Iowa crowd.  They do not take reservations, nor do they offer specials throughout the week.  Check out their menu online here:  http://www.pagliaisic.com/menu.html

The Pizza

Large (14") Broccoli, Shrimp ($16.70)

Chicago Style:  No

Crust Thickness:  Thin

Our group consisted of 7 participants; so we ordered 3 14"pizzas.  They currently serve 2 specialty pizzas (a all meat and a veggie), so we ordered a selection of make-your-owns.  Each pizza only came with only one thin baked crust. We ordered them in the only size, 9"..  Each pizza costs roughly $10.  The pizzas were: 

Black Olive, Beef, & Green Pepper (14" crust, $18.45)

Large (14") Palace Special ($20.20)

Palace Special - Sausage, Beef, Pepperoni, Mushroom &, Onion (14" crust, $20.20)

Broccoli, Shrimp (14" crust, $16.70)

The Verdict

The personal pizzas were cut into triangular-shaped pieces.  The crust was on the thin side, yet having a firm, crisp bottom.  The sauce was light, and the toppings were a bit on the sparse side.  The pizza was good, especially being thin crust.  It is easy to see why this pizza place is consistently voted as being Iowa City's #1 pizza restaurant year after year.   

Here are our ratings, where 1 = worst and 10 = best.
Overall            8.86

Slice

Cheese            7.86

Sauce               8.14

Topping           8.57

Crust                8.71

Venue              9.29