Tono Pizzeria + Cheesesteaks — Restaurant in Elk River

We were eager to try this place, hoping to find something to replace our old sandwich+pizza go-to. For our first order, we chose the Pineapple Express pizza, a Cheesesteak supreme, and a small Tono salad.

The food was... not bad. A little bland, but that may have been on us for ordering more basic options. I wish I had grabbed a small container of the garlic sauce for the cheesesteak, because it really needed something. The hawaiian pizza with cream cheese and sweet chili sauce was a new combination for us, and worked surprisingly well. I just wish there was more to it. Thicker crust, more generous toppings... something to elevate it. The Tono salad was refreshingly good, with a sweet and spicy burst from the peppers and some added crunch from the tortillas.

Also there were some fries under the sandwich. Like a token amount. I know the menu says "served on a bed of fries", but this was like a dozen fries thrown in as an afterthought. They really ought to either ditch the fries altogether or go full Five Guys with it, because all it does is highlight the negatives rather than build on the food.

All told, it felt like we wound up with $25-$30 worth of food at a $40 price tag. I want to like this place more than I...

I know this is a new location that opened, so I will give them some grace. But there didn't seem to be anyone operating the pick-up counter, even though there was a line of people waiting. One person asked what order I had, and said it wasn't ready. He then went back to the dine in register, and I continued to wait. Eventually another person appeared, asked what order I had, and it was ready. But I felt like it could have been there for a while, and no one was doing anything. There was also another customer who was upset for how long they were waiting. I am hoping that this part of the experience will get better the longer they are open.

As for the food, I couldn't stop eating the truffle fries, they were so good. And I was satisfied with my cheesesteak. They use a good bread that doesn't get soggy or mushy (though I requested no oil or vinegar, so I don't know how it would have held up to that). I am excited to eat here again, and based on the prices I was seeing for the pizza and how their finished pizzas looked, I might be back sooner to try the...

We were in the area so we decided to stop in as we were craving pizza. Upon entering we noticed how dirty the windows and door was to enter. Yuck. We entered, everything looked fine - but had not seen the dining area. We weren't greeted at all. Zero enthusiasm or a care for customer service. The person who took our order wasn't rude - just not happy. We ordered and went to find a place to sit. WOW. EVERY SINGLE TABLE WAS DIRTY!!! The floor had food, liquids and garbage everywhere! I couldn't believe my eyes!!! Crazy, but the bathroom was clean! The food arrived fairly quickly. How did the food turn out so AMAZING??? We had the truffle parm fries - best I've ever had- and we ordered a build your own pizza. Absolutely delicious. How can this place be so good yet so NOT good?? I hope you retrain your staff and get cleaner. I wouldn't recommend because it was hard to sit in a dirty restaurant...even if the food...