Zio Al's Pizza & Pasta - Addison — Restaurant in Dallas

Let’s talk about it. I'm in Dallas for the weekend for the NAGVA Volleyball Tournament and I ended up on the strip as soon as I landed. My level of hunger was at 1000 and I wanted something good. Oh yes, treat me well Dallas.

I stumbled upon Zio Al’s and based on the in and out activity of people placing orders, I knew I had to give it a try… Walking in, you get the feel of your everyday carry-out, however, their chairs are super nice and padded. Truth be told, they remind me of the club chairs in Atlanta. LoL! In any case, the design is simple and the establishment is clean. Getting to the counter, the cashier’s service was definitely a turn off. 1) he didn’t acknowledge me at all, 2) he was on his personal phone having a personal conversation, and 3) he continued his conversation and told me to wait a moment! Yes. Deplorable service! However, it was after 10pm so my expectations of service were minimal by this time otherwise I wouldn’t have spent my money there.

Moving past the service, the menu has a great variety that is sure to cure any craving one might have. As I’m from Boston but reside in Atlanta, I miss a good Chicken Parm… Guess what they have on their menu… Yep! Chicken Parm.

Deciding on the Chicken Parmesan Sub meal, I placed my order and had a seat. The food is made to order so having some wait time was anticipated. It only took about 10-15 minutes and my order was at the table fresh and smelling amazing.

The Chicken Parm: Then the bread was perfectly toasted. The chicken was super meaty and perfectly done. Instead of the chicken patty version of the Parm, they did chucks of chicken. Not only does this enhance the experience but it also helps bring the natural juices of the chicken into every bite more which is always a win. The sauce tasted homemade and was made to perfection. It sat well with the chicken and wasn’t runny. The cheese was the bombbbbbbbbbbb. The perfect amount with the perfect bake and perfect amount of burn. I’m talking SPOT ON!

I’ll be honest, the chicken parm was absolutely superb. Please don’t be surprised if I tell you I went back before my flight back home. I think I need one more while I’m here and one more to take home...

I came here on Sunday with my friend to enjoy a nice meal as we have done so a couple times in the past, today however I was very displeased with the service I was provided. In the past when we came here it was very busy and so as a party of two the server would sit us down at a very small table leaving the slightly bigger ones for larger parties which I’m ok with no problem. But today the restaurant was almost empty and when we came in a nice lady who was training guided us to a nice table that had four seats, I was satisfied and me and my friend sat and started looking at the menu only to be interrupted a minute later by another server who I do not want to mention by name who told us that we needed to move to a much smaller 2 person table because larger tables are for larger parties, mind u the restaurant is empty, I didn’t want to make a fuss so I agreed and when we moved to our table I saw another party of 2 young ladies sitting on a much bigger table than us and they weren’t moved. Fine I didn’t say anything about it and then we ordered and the small table couldn’t serve us quite well with the food we ordered but whatever we ate and finished then to top it all of I was pretty annoyed at this point and wanted to leave so I gestured to the server and made eye contact with him signaling him to come but he wouldn’t this happened again like 5 times before his majesty came over and when I asked for the bill he showed me the total and told me that an %18 tip was included in there even though I was pissed off about all this attitude and bad service, I let him know that I was not happy with how we were treated paid and left. Now I don’t know his intentions because he gave me an ok reason for moving us I don’t want to mention it, but that’s not something we asked for I don’t want him to get fired or anything but I would be thrilled if someone spoke to him about this, idk why we were treated this way our moneys as green as anyone else’s but I just wanted to get this off my chest I...

Came in 8/30/21 around 9 PM. I ordered their signature pie which included (from memory) pepperoni, breakfast sausage, fresh sliced tomatoes and dried basil as well as a pineapple smoothie as this location offers a juice bar. The pizza looked amazing and had plenty of cheesy action. Slightly greasy, but nothing the crust couldn’t handle which was the perfect thickness and offered a nice crunch. However, the first bite simply lacked luster. Every bite thereafter I searched for flavor which simply did not exist. Neither the ranch, crushed pepper flakes nor the parmesan cheese was enough to give this pie the “umf” it so desperately craved. My date and I both agreed using fresh basil over dried seasoning, hints of onion and garlic as well as adding a different cheese blend than just mozzarella would have increased the flavor profile significantly! As for my smoothie…. Well it was so-so. Would have much rather preferred a mixed fruit blend as a hint of orange juice or even half a banana would have really took the drink from a 3/5 to a 4/5. Overall a bland pizza, bland ranch, bland smoothie and okay service earned this restaurant a solid 3 star rating.

Nonetheless, the location is convenient, offers a diverse customer and has a good variety of services/ food choices.

Although it’s likely I will be giving this place a second chance with some of their other menu items in the future, I’m not in any hurry to make a second visit. Would love to see what, if any, improvements are made during...