Ramunto's Brick Oven Pizza — Restaurant in Bennington

I had been to a different Ramuntos years before and thought it was pretty good, so I talked my sister into stopping at this Ramuntos on our way home (NH) from a Midwest road trip. It was late afternoon on Saturday August 24th. Well after lunch and a bit before any dinner rush. The atmosphere was very laid back and a very local vibe. The restaurant was clean and well maintained. The smell as you walk into the restaurant was almost nostalgic....that classic pizza smell that you would expect for a very well established and generational pizza shop.

We didn't plan to stop, but it had been a very long day (on the road since 5:30am) and we were both pretty hungry. We fully expected to wait for at least 20 minutes or more for a pizza to go and eat on the road for the final leg of our 15+ hour drive home to NH from Indiana.

The first surprise came when we saw that you had slices available at that time of day, not to mention the incredible bonus given the huge variety of slices available (maybe 17 or more different options).

My sister got 2 slices of BBQ Chicken pizza and was so happy that yours did not have red onions.

I got 1 slice of Sicilian (sausage, pepper, onion and mushroom) and 1 traditional slice of a pesto, red pepper & onion. The sizes of the slices was impressive.

We had some questions about toppings and your staff were all very helpful. After mentioning I had gone to another Ramuntos in NH, I got a friendly and brief history of Ramuntos from a nice gentleman behind the counter. I assume a manager or owner.

The price for the 4 slices was very reasonable.

A short wait for those slices to reheat and we were off, back on the road.

My sister loved her BBQ chicken slices. She couldnt finish them both as it was too much food for her to eat. Don't worry, nothing was wasted...I made sure of that. The ratio of BBQ sauce was perfect. Sometimes, shops overuse the BBQ sauce, not here. The sauce was wonderful smoky and sweet.

I started my mobile dinner with the big Sicilian slice. The toppings were fresh, the crust was perfect. A slightly sweeter sauce (which I prefer) and the crust was very crunchy and cooked perfectly. Undercarriage was crunch extreme.

I then went to the pesto slice and it was OUT OF THIS WORLD! I've never had this before and it was amazing!

It hit on so many different levels. A great crunch on the crust. Thin but not a "thin crust" slice. The edge crust had a great crisp. The pesto base, with roasted peppers and onions...an amazing blend of earthy and herby flavors. The creamyness of the perfect amount of cheese. I also saw what I thought was an olive oil drizzle on the outer edge. But think I may have been wrong.....is this.....oh wait a minute...is this hot honey?!?! Holy shnikes! What a find! It had an unexpected, but incredible spicy and sweet finish.

We were both extremely happy to have stopped and mutually decided that we will make your restaurant a bonfire stop everytime we go through...

Since moving to Vermont from the New York Metro Area, Ramunto's has been our go-to pizza place. We've eaten there, gotten take out, and had it delivered (one of the few things that actually delivers in the area)--all have been good. The restaurant is casual, with tables inside and out, and it has a bar that is open later than anything else in town. They have some great specials, including a great wing deal on Mondays. I like my wings super extra crispy and more often than not, I get them that way if I ask. I personally haven't explored their heroes and pasta, but they have a nice selection. We often order their house salad when we get take out and it's always been fresh. While I like my wings with classic hot sauce, I was introduced to the Triple Threat Sauce on the chicken tenders and it's pretty fabulous.

I judge pizza by the regular pie and Ramunto's is solid--good crust, sauce, and cheese. However, for me, it's the Sicilian that really shines. Having grown up on Long Island and lived in Brooklyn for many years, I have eaten a lot of decent-to good-to excellent pizza (also some amount of mediocre and disappointing pizza) and I'd put the regular pie in the middle of happy pizza experiences. However, I think the Sicilian is as good as I have ever had. They have lots of toppings and some choices in sauce and while I love the regular cheese Sicilian, my favorite is to order it with the garlic knot sauce with caramelized onions, roasted red peppers, bacon, and artichokes. It's significantly more expensive that way, but...

I am sad to post a low review because I like to give the benefit of the doubt with low employment rates and such..I really do appreciate the people who show up. That being said, you can only wait so long before reasonable really becomes unreasonable. (And the night we went seemed well staffed). One of our 6 meals was missing when they brought out our order. We let someone know and they said it was coming. Well, it wasn't. We asked about it again 15 minutes later and were told it was coming, still not coming. Another 15-20 minutes later after we asked about it a third time, the kids were past the point of being able to wait any longer and were loaded into the car, we were told it would be out. We said we would take it to go. In another 10 or so minutes, it came out to go. I didn't get to eat with my family--who were completely out of patience by that point--and all we received was a very weak apology. I like to think we were patient and polite, but at that point a little frustrated. Receiving a meal 40+ minutes after your party seems...