Gino's East — Attraction in Chicago

I’ve never had the tavern pizza from Gino’s East, and was pleasantly surprised. I was a huge fan of the Italian sausage, I don’t like pepperoni very much so this one was not a win for me, but the amount of breakfast bacon and Canadian bacon on the half side of our medium pizza was really good. We did a half Cheese Legend half Meaty Legend and really only saw the difference on the media legend side, I think and I would be curious to see what the difference is for the cheesy legend. It was a solid pizza. There were no crusts really showing so my kids were really pleased with that, but I would’ve appreciated a little bit more crust. As far as the tavern style itself, I do think it was perfectly crisp and I really liked it. I did notice a little bit of yeast with the dough itself, so I’m not really sure what to make of that and just be aware.

At some point, our server Marco came over with our appetizer and one of the cheese sticks rolled off of our plate, but he was kind enough to replace it immediately. I appreciate this place has a couple of different options for how to get upstairs, including an elevator, which is great for people who are in wheelchairs or have trouble walking. I actually saw a stroller parked by the side of one, so this is definitely catering to everybody. I showed up here with my three kids, and even though there were a lot of TVs on it wasn’t super overwhelming sensory wise. It was a little bit loud, but Overall, not terrible. overall, not terrible. We could still hear each other speaking. I will say the one thing that I noticed is that the music that was playing was circa 2010 which was a funny nostalgic vibe.

We spent close to $80 (plus tip) but that includes one dessert, four drinks, one medium pizza with legendary ingredients and an appetizer. We had one slice of pizza left between me and three children. The bathroom looks clean and we probably could’ve done a little bit more with cleaning the walls in there though. Overall solid place and my daughter was really happy to eat here and look forward to coming back.

Something that’s cool about this place is that we receded really quickly and there’s also an ice cream shop connected to it with a rainbow cone, which is amazing but I was too full to eat anything else.

The other thing that I should mention is that there is a lot of really cool, graffiti writing all over the walls that I think is intentional but at no point where we given markers to make our own name on the walls, so I’m not really sure if that’s just part of the decor or if it’s something that you have to ask for...

Man this Place was a Letdown with Lackluster Deep Dish Pizza and Rockhard Thin Crust Pizza.

In full disclosure, I came here with a TON of people for a business dinner—about 50 people. However, churning out bar food, salads, pasta, and pizza shouldn’t be anything too difficult for a place that boasts three levels for a dining room.

They were able to push out a lot of food in phases starting with a salad, calamari, spinach and artichoke dip, and chips. The salad was fine—nice, crisp, and fresh vegetables with good dressing. The calamari was bland and not great—it needed the dipping sauce for a semblance of flavor. Maybe I don’t like calamari, so take this with a grain of salt. The dip was also a letdown because it needed more spinach and artichoke, and less cheese. The pasta was fine too—it’s hard to screw up penne and marinara sauce. Onto the pizza. Their deep dish had a tough crust, it’s probable due to an unbalanced ratio of flour to water; I think less flour in the dough mix could make it lighter—as long as they kneed it longer too. The dough needs structure, especially in a deep dish. The thin crust pizza was a extremely hard—especially on the crust. I couldn’t eat it and felt bad throwing it away. I will say their pepperoni and sausage are great—cut nice, with a lot of flavors to compliment the cheese. We ended the meal with brownies that looked and tasted like their were lifted off a buffett. Not worth the calories.

Overall, Gino’s is considered an institution, but with all things, they die sooner or later. A new pizza place needs to put Gino’s out of its misery and revitalize or reinvent Chicago pizza. In a great foodie city with lots of amazing options, I wouldn’t recommend Gino’s for dinner, takeout, or...

I was in the area with my significant other and we were hungry. This seemed to be the proper spot to cure that.

We walked inside and saw the sign that stated Please Wait To Be Seated! We’ll be with you shortly! We waited in the line for that. It went by fairly fast. The 1st Floor was Guest Services and Carry Out. We were seated on that floor.

Our server stated that they had Pepsi products. I got 1 Soft Drink for $3.95 and went with Diet Pepsi. From the Gino’s Draft Beers section, I ordered a 16oz The Original Gino’s Lager for 8. It was a German-Style Helles, Lager 5.2%. From the Draft Beers section, we got a 16oz Guinness for 9.25. It was a Stout, Guinness LTD, Ireland, 4.2%. From the Specialty Pizzas section, we ordered a Legendary Deep Dish SM 4 Slices and went with Gino’s Supreme. It was Choice of pepperoni, crumbled Italian sausage or patty sausage with onions, green peppers, mushrooms for 28.84. We chose pepperoni. From the Pasta section, we got Spaghetti Marinara for $13.86.

I was given free water. It was okay. The Diet Pepsi was pretty smooth and so was the free refill. The Gino’s Lager had a bite to it. It was enjoyable to have during my visit. The Guinness was served with a nice head. It had a smooth flavor. The Gino’s Supreme was fantastic. There were many flavors present and I couldn’t get enough. I still wanted more after we finished it. The Spaghetti Marinara looked appetizing when it first arrived. It was as good as it looked and packed with flavor.

The 2nd Floor was •Restrooms and •Dining. The Restrooms area was easy to locate and the Men room was clean.

The service was solid. I didn’t have any issues.

Overall, this spot was great. I won’t hesitate to go again.

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