Buono's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Long Beach

Hating giving this place 3 stars because the people who work here are so nice and the pizza crust is really very good however whoever is in charge of toppings is a slight criminal. I ordered spinach and ricotta and they put a ton of canned spinach my pizza had canned spinach juice on it. A woman kept coming by our table to refill the drink of the person I was with and asking if everything is okay and darting off before I could ask for anything. Eventually I had to just get up and ask for what I wanted which isn’t really a big deal but was kinda weird. I could taste and see the canned spinach juice on my pizza which kept falling apart. I went back and saw they had eggplant I asked if it was fried I was told yes but it wasn’t. The eggplant is too thick for a pizza and not fried, the spinach should be fresh.

So far pizza and Chicken parm sandwich is where they shine but I haven’t had a good topping yet.

Definitely coming back bc the pizza crust is damn good, the outdoor patio is cute, they do validate parking and the people who work they are very friendly but the toppings need to be addressed. I also thought a chicken parm sandwich included cheese and I could be wrong but I think they should add cheese. I didn’t actually look anytime I ordered it but I definitely did not taste it.

It’s a very decent quick service Italian joint that you order at the counter and they management could easily improve by not using canned toppings, getting rid of clutter and just sprucing up the bathrooms a bit. A fresh coat of paint, nicer trash cans and a scent would easily suffice.

I used to order delivery from there two years ago and it was never good, not sure if they changed their food or what but dining in for pizza or chicken parm i highly recommend.

Personally not a fan of the lemon chicken piccata but have high hopes...

Full disclosure: I am from New York and have eaten good pizza. Most California pizza is pretty bad in comparison, though there are places like Mulberry Street and Joe's that do well (they're both local small chains) and rise to the lowest rungs of "good" pizza in comparison.

This is not one of those places.

In a pinch and a hurry, I ordered a personal 8" cheese pizza and asked for the crust to be well done. The woman who took my order was pleasant and helpful, I am grateful for that. I had it to go so I could take it back to my desk.

Good pizza has a flavorful crust you can eat on its own. NY style, Chicago style, Sicilian, even the crackers-with-sauce-and-cheese from the Midwest, you can eat the "bones" on their own or as part of a texture blend with the cheesy parts of the next slice.

(I was going to talk about good quality cheese, what makes a pizza sauce good, and how it all works together to make a (imagine italics) pizza, but I've run out of time.)

The pizza looked good, and smelled... plain, with a slight aroma of garlic (that's fine by me). The flavorless crust was unevenly thick, mid-way between NY and Chicago-style, doughy with a few places that were flaky, but not crisp; the sauce's flavor was decent (hints of garlic) if a bit sweet; and the cheese was thick, but did not have the grease layer. Hot, too.

Final verdict: mediocre pizza, even by California standards. By my standards, this is pizza-like food. There are better pizza joints within 10-minute walking distance of this Buono's. If I have more time, I'll go to one of those - and, if not, I'll go...

The kingdom of heaven has come near to you. One star. I kept getting ignored by a server woman, Friday evening, February 2nd. I usually speak and move slower than others. Most of the servers there had accommodated me and had been a little more patient with me, the many times that I had visited, which was nice. I felt really ignored by a server woman that night though, she seemed very invested in texting on her phone a lot that night, and hardly gave me a moment to respond back to her for service requests. She kept going straight back to her phone quickly without being patient with me. It felt extremely careless and rude. Then upon paying at the counter, two server woman allowed for two other guests to occupy the seat that I was using for dinner. My drink, food, and backpack were still there, yet it seemed like the guests and the servers were either oblivious to the fact that that was where I was sitting and still had my stuff, or just didn't care at all. I was completely surprised by the complete lack of attention and service at that point on top of the already poor service. "Excuse me, someone is sitting there", could have been said, but a complete disregard for me and my things took place, for many minutes while I stood there waiting for the guests to walk away elsewhere. One star rating well deserved for a horrible experience. .Added to review after employee response. .Thank you, your reply seems very genuine, you get an extra star for that (from 1 to 2), and I am genuine...