Gino’s East - South Loop — Restaurant in Chicago

⚡🍕 GINO’S EAST CHICAGO: WHERE COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS MEETS DEEP DISH

Fresh off the plane from Florida, we roll into Gino’s East like two hungry gods who forgot they’re divine. Michael’s Sicilian soul is already having an identity crisis (“Thin crust? In CHICAGO? The ancestors are judging me”) while Kristin’s pattern-recognizing brain is cataloging every detail for future reference. SPOILER ALERT: The universe had plans for us here. Big ones.

🥗 KRISTIN’S TESTIMONY: THE HOUSE SALAD SALVATION

Rating: ∞/5 Stars (Because math breaks when divinity meets vegetables) Listen, after days of travel and zero greens, I was about to photosynthesize just to get some chlorophyll. Then Gino’s House Salad arrived and I swear my cells started singing hallelujah.

THE GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA REVELATION: As someone who’s spent years navigating the “gluten-free = cardboard-free” restaurant landscape, finding actually AMAZING GF pizza feels like discovering a new element. Not just “good for gluten-free” - straight up GOOD. Period. My taste buds didn’t know whether to dance or cry (they did both).

THE STAFF ATTENTIVENESS: These humans are operating at a frequency I rarely see in restaurants. Anticipating needs before you know you have them. Water glasses that never empty. The kind of service that makes you wonder if they’re secretly angels in aprons.

🔥 MICHAEL’S CONFESSION: THE SICILIAN SURRENDER Rating: 100,000/5 Stars (Calculated using ancient Sicilian mathematical principles) Okay, full disclosure time: I’m Sicilian-American. My DNA is literally programmed for thin crust supremacy. Walking into Chicago and NOT ordering deep dish felt like cultural treason. I was ready to commit pizza sacrilege and face the judgment of my ancestors ENTER LUIS REYES - THE PIZZA PROPHET: This man didn’t just take our order - he gave us PERMISSION. When Luis heard our thin crust request, instead of pizza shaming us, he CELEBRATED our choice. Made us feel like we were making the exact right decision for the exact right reasons. Luis turned potential embarrassment into empowered ordering.

THE TEXTURE TESTIMONY: That thin crust had STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY while maintaining perfect chew. Crispy edges that shattered satisfyingly, a center that held its toppings like a edible platform. This is engineering-level pizza craft.

🏠 THE REGGY MOMENT: COMMUNITY CONSCIOUSNESS IN ACTION Here’s where Gino’s East transcended from “great restaurant” to “LEGENDARY EXPERIENCE.”

Walking out, we meet Reggy. Man’s standing outside, and something about his energy just CALLED to us. When he asked if we could help him get a small deep dish meatlovers, we didn’t hesitate - the universe was clearly orchestrating something beautiful.

REGGY’S REACTION: This human being VIBRATED with joy. Not just happiness - actual molecular excitement. Watching someone receive unexpected kindness and respond with pure, unfiltered gratitude reminded us why we’re here: to lift each other up through simple acts of love.

GINO’S EAST’S RESPONSE: When we went back in to order Reggy’s pizza, the staff treated this request with the same care and attention as any other order. No judgment, no questions, just pure human service. This is how community WORKS.

Special shoutout to Luis Reyes for making us feel at home in our choices, and to Freddy Huicochea for being part of a team that understands hospitality as spiritual practice. And to Reggy - brother, your joy reminded us that the smallest acts of kindness create the biggest ripples.

✨ THE CLOSING TRANSMISSION In a world where restaurants often feel like transaction centers, Gino’s East operates as a COMMUNITY HUB. Where pizza isn’t just food, it’s connection. Where service isn’t just efficiency, it’s care made manifest. We came hungry for food. We left fed.

With love, laughter, and eternal gratitude,

Michael & Kristin Mataluni Professional Reality Architects & Amateur Pizza Theologians

P.S. - If you see Reggy outside, buy him a pizza. Trust us on this one. The universe has a sense of humor about kindness, and it ALWAYS pays forward in the most...

My brother went to Gino's on Saturday. We got seated right away. Our seater and our waiter were friendly and engaging. My brother asked for a deep dish with pepperoni and I wanted the alfredo pasta. Sam assured us the pizza would take 40 minutes and asked if I was willing to wait for the pasta so our food would come out at the same time. I said yes. I didn’t want to start eating when my brother didn’t have his food yet. Even though they agreed to bring out both entrees at the same time, they gave me my pasta fifteen minutes before they brought out his pizza.

Our server Sam cut my brother’s pizza for us and even served him a slice, which was appreciated. Other than the fact our food didn’t come out at the same time, our dining experience started out pleasant and the food was good.

But our evening took a turn when it came time to pay the check.

First, some context. We needed to buy Metra tickets to get back to our hotel. One ticket for me, and one for my brother. (Metra tickets are 2.00 per person one-way). So I needed four dollars. I only had cash on me and I didn’t have change for a five. I learned the hard way that the metra machines don’t take cash, but I was hoping to run into someone who’d be willing to get us tickets in exchange for cash. So when Sam came around and asked if we wanted dessert, I asked for the skillet brownie so I could break up the five. I went to the bathroom and told my brother if our server came by again to ask him to put the brownie on a separate ticket. I came back from the bathroom, and we received two separate checks. But they were both in the same check holder, which was the first red flag. In my side, I put a ten, my five, and coins. I forget the exact amount but I had it so I’d get exactly four dollars back. The check holder came back with my brother’s receipt and my side was completely empty. It didn’t even have my receipt.

When my brother wrote the tip on his receipt’s merchant copy, I realized there was a chance our waiter might’ve mistaken the cash for his tip. I went up to the bar and said I need four bucks back.

Our server ripped the cash out of his pocket. Coins flew everywhere, which he ignored. Then he slid a five across the bar counter.

I tried to say I needed four singles but he said, “I don’t have change for a five. You have a good one.”

He didn’t know anything about out ticket dilemma, so I can’t blame him for that. But it was very frustrating. I know paying with coins and cash can be a pain but I wouldn’t have gotten the brownie if I’d known he didn’t have change. The whole POINT of getting the brownie was to break the five. So not only was I back where I started, I was out ten bucks.

My brother and I were visiting from Iowa and we grew up in New York. We pay for things with card, cash, check, whatever we have on hand. We were raised to think, money is money. Period. Chicago in general seems to have some weird stigma against cash and I understand some establishments don’t accept it at all but if that’s the case, then you need to be upfront about it. Not everyone dining at your establishment are regulars. We were visiting from another state and dining there for the first time.

And if you DO take cash, then our experience was unacceptable. You're telling me an establishment doesn't have four dollars in change on a Saturday during...

I had to think hard on this one, and I think the food and service ratings need to be separated in these ratings. But since they are not… here we go

Horrendous customer service experience, but I believe this isn’t standard. I just happened to be a “lucky” patron who received this type of service

Once seated, we waited about a literal 5 minutes and no one had approached the table, so I asked a random waitress for a menu and asked if she was the waitress. She was not but relayed who was, we then deliberated amongst ourselves on what we were going to order (10) literal minutes before the waitress came over to the table for the first time

We then asked for waters and a coke and I placed my entire order, asking that the spinach and artichoke dip be delivered before the pizza (which takes 45 minutes). This went smoothly and at this point I’m like okay cool she probably was just busy etc etc

For the next 30 minutes she avoided eye contact with our table as she made multiple rounds to her other tables. So no coke refill no water refill no additional napkins (had a 2 yr old), no offering of a coloring book (idk if they have one but most restaurants just bring something for a kid on their own). My wife was actively trying to get her attention and she was avoiding it, never seen such a thing

So around the 30-35 minute mark she brought out the spinach and artichoke dip(to me this is a bit long for an appetizer, but it said award winning dip- so who knows how much time that takes) well when we jumped in to eat the dip was cold, like the cheese on top had hardened. As a result it was not enjoyable

Maybe 5-10 minutes after she brought out the pizza. She gave us our slices, then announced that the pan in which it came was hot. This was appreciated, while she announced that she moved towards me and my side of the table and left. I then had to use napkins to move it away from me- this any other time I wouldn’t bat an eye, but with the way things had transpired I was feeling a type of way

This was experience was bonkers, with the yellow croc’d waitress. Like she was ignoring but acted peppy when she would finally come to the table. Only had an experience similar to this one other time.

Find the food review below: Spinach and artichoke dip: It wasn’t bad but it didn’t taste award winning. Important to note it wasn’t hot so likely it’s impacted 3/5

Deep Dish: I had been hearing that Gino’s has the best deep dish, so I wanted to give it a try - despite having sworn off unless I’m with out of towners. It was good the pizza portion is small and thin compared to other deep dish pizzas. The crust is enormous and taste good, but it’s so heavy that you don’t really want to/ or are capable of eating more than 1 slice. I got the...