Category: Pizza

ArizonaDiners Drive-Ins and DivesItalianPizzaRating: OutstandingUnited States

Fat Olives – Flagstaff, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Several years and a couple of tons ago, my friend “Macho” Mike Moretti and I were the type of trenchermen that all-you-can-eat Chinese restaurants feared so much they established strict time limits.  When a German restaurant on San Mateo offered a free dessert to any diner who could finish a gargantuan combination plate, we easily surmounted the challenge and asked for seconds.  Perhaps our most impressive culinary conquest transpired when Pizza Inn offered a “order one pizza, get the next size free” deal.  We ordered an extra large pizza and a large pizza then polished them off.  That was the…

ArizonaGelatoItalianPizzaRating: OutstandingUnited States

Gelato Dolce Vita & Italian Grocer – Mesa, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“La Grassa” (The Fat One) is the nickname of Bologna, Italy.  While that sobriquet may seem unflattering, Bologna bears it with honor.  This city in the north-central region of the country is considered the “gastronomic heart of Italy,” a place where food is an art form and a passion.   This may be best exemplified by one of the foods born in Bologna.  I’m talking, of course, about gelato.  Throughout “Lo Stivale” (the boot, a nickname bestowed upon Italy because the shape of the peninsula resembles a high-heeled boot) gelato is revered.  Not surprisingly, Bologna is not only the home of…

ArizonaGelatoItalianPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Il Forno Bello Pizzeria – Mesa, Arizona

Gil Garduno3:01 AM

Culinary history is rich with examples of proteges who surpassed their mentors.   Gordon Ramsay, for example, has become a restaurant impresario with nearly 100 restaurants bearing his brand. He was mentored by legendary English Chef Marco Pierre White, an intense and volatile personality who helped shape Ramsay’s approach to leading a kitchen. Chef Grant Achatz, perhaps more well-known for playing himself during a guest cameo in the season three finale of The Bear, led Alinea in Chicago to three Michelin stars. He was mentored by demanding culinary visionary Charlie Trotter. Chef Horacio “Lacho” Hernandez earned his stripes under the tutelege…

ArizonaPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Bill’s Pizza – Prescott, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:02 AM

According to the city’s Chamber of Commerce, “Prescott, Arizona is a highly popular and nationally recognized retirement destination. Known as “Everybody’s Hometown,” it appeals to active adults and seniors looking for natural beauty, a relaxed lifestyle, and a strong sense of community.”  Prescott isn’t only popular among retirement-age personnel.  Many of my former colleagues at Intel Corporation in Chandler and Ocotillo (Phoenix suburbs) bought second homes in the Prescott area, not necessarily for retirement but to have an relatively nearby escape destination that is somewhat cooler than The Valley of the Sun’s triple-digit summer temperatures. Prescott was founded in 1864…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoPizza

Tony’s Pizzeria – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Why is it so hard to convince others to change their minds and hearts? That’s a question philosophers, psychologists and even curious hoi polloi like me have pondered over for millennia. Perhaps never has that question been brought to the fore as during recent political events. Sadly, the question takes on even more of a personal bent when you believe someone else’s views betray something inherently rotten about their character—or when someone else believes the same about yours. Rightly or wrongly, we’re wired to believe people’s views are barometers of their moral conscience. Psychologists have long posited the existence of…

AlbuquerqueGelatoItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)

Johnny’s Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“He’s been helping make pizza since he was three.”  Johnathan Khalil’s mom beamed as she confirmed she’s not the “Johnny” for which Albuquerque’s newest New York style pizzeria is named.  Johnny is her soon-to-turn-18-year-old son.  Can you imagine how cool it would be to be a teenager with a pizza parlor named for him?  Johnny must very popular.  The pizzeria named for him certainly is.  On the day of our inaugural visit–two weeks and one day–after its 29 May 2026 launch, the line was literally out the door.  Johnny’s is scantly 1,200 square-feet so accommodating throngs of diners will be…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyNew MexicoPizzaRating: OutstandingRio Rancho

Thicc Pizza Co. – Albuquerque & Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

As you’ve read on the tagline for Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog, your humble blogger fancies himself somewhat of a sesquipedalian (a person who tends to use big words).  My logophilia (the love of vocabulary) is a lifelong affliction, both in English and in Spanish.  Despite my “affair” with words, one word-related term which just doesn’t always describe me is neologist (someone who uses new words). This is especially true about slang terms in fashion among the pop-culture-oriented youth.  When it comes to such terms, I’m not far removed from groovy, bread and copacetic.  It’s certainly not that I’m not…

AlbuquerqueNew MexicoPizzaRating: ExcellentSandwich

Slice & Dice – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno5:37 PM

You might remember a 2004 documentary called Supersize Me in which writer-producer Morgan Spurlock explored the consequences on his health of a diet consisting solely of McDonald’s food for one month.  Spurlock has nothing on Dan Janssen who as of 2019 had eaten almost nothing but pizza for nearly thirty years.  That’s pizza for lunch and dinner every day of the year for just about three decades.  Janssen is certainly no believer in the old adage that variety is the spice of life because the only spice with which he tops his pizza is oregano.  Nor does variety extend to…

Bar & GrillDog FriendlyNew MexicoNew Mexico Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail: 2009PizzaRating: Very GoodRio Rancho

Turtle Mountain Brewing Company – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:27 PM

The Tewa name “Oku Pin” which translates in English to “Turtle Mountain” has three meanings of significance to the people of Okay Owingeh, one of New Mexico’s great Tewa speaking Northern New Mexico Pueblos. “Oku Pin” was the the Indian name given to Dr. Alfonso Ortiz who obtained worldwide prominence as an anthropologist and ethnologist until his death in 1998. Ortiz was born and raised in San Juan Pueblo which in 2006 officially changed its name to Okay Owingeh. “Oku Pin” is also the Tewa name for Sandia Peak, the 10,678-feet high mountain which provides a spectacular backdrop for Albuquerque,…

AlbuquerquePizzaRating: Very GoodSaladSandwich

Dion’s Pizza – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:35 PM

Toga! Toga! Toga! Ever since the misfit Delta Tau Chi fraternity threw the most debaucherous toga party ever in the 1978 “teensploitation” comedy Animal House, the toga party has been ingrained in the college party culture. The genesis of the toga party goes back much, much further than Animal House. Toga parties, in fact, precede collegiate life in the fruited plain by many hundred years. The first toga party was actually organized in ancient Greece in honor of the Greek god Dionysus, the deity of the grape harvest, wine-making and wine, of ritual madness, fertility, theater and religious ecstasy (that’s…

AlbuquerqueItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: Excellent

Luigi’s Ristorante & Pizzeria – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno7:40 AM

Luigi’s is the eponymous brainchild of Luigi Napolitano whose very last name translates to citizen of Naples, the city from which his mother Tina emigrated more than four decades ago. Tina is the bread-baking, pasta-making dynamo in the kitchen and is also responsible for many of the restaurant’s homey touches.  Tina painstakingly hand-sewed the delicate lace covering over each lamp (below) as well as the curtains over each booth.  Other homey touches include viney plants hanging from pillars throughout the restaurant and a framed picture of the Mona Lisa hanging above the buffet. Tina, a spry octogenarian, is one of…