Serra's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Maryland Heights

After reading the 1 star reviews, I will have to come in defense of this great and unique STL pizza experience. I grew up in the area, and everyone local absolutely loves their pizza.

Yes, there is a long wait and yes, this is a family gathering spot, but the Serra family comes first. They are closed on Monday (family gathering night) and Papa Onofrio Serra didn't care much, as he knew how much the community loved his pizza recipe, the unique recipe shared with his brother Nick (of Nick and Elena's fame in Overland).

He was gruff ("we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" it said on the early one-page paper menu) - he left the niceties for the women who were always kind and gracious despite being worked to the bone.

I remember riding my bike at age 11 to his one-man pizza place. Serra's operated out of a very tiny space in a lonely strip mall in north St. Louis county, on the very top of what later became part of Maryland Heights. You would walk in and there was one small table and two chairs (for waiting). A square hole was cutout and a young, sweating Mr. Serra (RIP) would appear, always in his clean white t shirt.

He worked alone then (mid 1970's), a proud man serving a product that he was proud of. I would walk my bike back home, carefully holding the pizza with my right hand, balanced so that the melting lava would not pool to one side or the other. It was only slightly warm, and half of it was stuck to the underside of the lid by the time I got home, but we didn't care. I can eat this stuff cold the next morning, scraped off the underside of the top of the box.

This is the traditional Sicilian recipe that Imo's tries and doesn't quite get right. The hour plus wait is something that we locals come to expect. There is a reason for the wait. We show early and wait for this pizza to come out of the oven; hot, melty and crispy.

They use the very best meats, always seasoned perfectly. The "cracker thin" crust is perfect; not doughy, not the main feature, but the foundation. The sauce is on the sweet side, the perfect marinara, and they always have the right blend of sauce and cheese on the pizza. And that cheeeeze. You either like it or you hate it.

Locals understand Provel cheese, and we love it on salads, pizza, everything. It is not provolone. It is a special blend, some compare it to Velveeta in consistency, maybe also a hint of swiss and cheddar. No, nothing like any of that; I think it defies description. It is absolutely the best when served melted like flowing lava. If you are expecting mozzarella, you will be disappointed.

So, save your complaints. There is only one Serra's and the wait is justified because people come from all over the county for this food. Any comparison to chain pizza places is just an opinion from someone who didn't really try it. If you want to know how good it is, ask a local. Or order it at 4:00 and arrive at five. Standing room only, here. If you are lucky enough to sit while you wait, you feel like part...

This trip was a slight disappointment but can't bear to give them less than 4 stars.

Grew up loving this place and after 7 years away, back in town and made sure a stop at Serra's was on the agenda. This is an old school family run pizza place. You go because the food is amazing!

Pizza: if you like St. Louis style pizza this place hits all the marks! Cheesy, right amount of spices in the sauce, and crust so thin you could read through it. If you have had St. Louis pizza elsewhere, you have been robbed. If you don't like St. Louis pizza (you're nuts) but they have other things besides pizza.

Salad and appetizers: not quite as good as they used to be. They no longer have the same house dressing and the new options was just okay. Mozzarella sticks were not melted and tasted off.

Service: This is the hard part. There was a big crowd in the back so the waitress told us an hour for pizza. We were willing to wait and figured salad and appetizer would hold us over. an hour and half later we got the salad and mozzarella sticks. Another 20 min later we got the pizza. One friend ordered pasta and he got that before the rest of the food. Note.. we didn't complain, we didn't waive down our waitress, but we saw two other tables who were sat after us (a good 30 min) get pizza before us. Think the waitress knew them so maybe that was in their favor but if I hadn't really wanted this pizza would have walked.

Used to seeing Mr. Serra at the front directing traffic, making sure tables were served, and just making magic happen. I am not sure if he is still with the family (saying a prayer either way) but the place just didn't run the same.

Do yourself a favor.. go to Serra's. If the weekend, maybe place a to go order, but go. Still the best...

I had previously left a very glowing review about this place and their food, but my recent interaction has absolutely soured my opinion and appreciation of this place. The food is usually great, but for some reason the pizza was extremely salty tonight. So salty that I could literally only eat a few pieces. The delivery guy is usually very nice and talkative, but his attitude completely changed upon not receiving a tip, and he became rude. Giving you my business was nice while it lasted, but I won’t tolerate disrespect from BOTH the delivery person AND the manager, when I am legitimately broke af, very barely surviving off disability income, and honestly providing tips when I can afford to do so. It’s unfair to have employees rely on tips alone as an income, while this place is also charging a delivery fee. I’m assuming that the delivery fee doesn’t even go towards the driver, if he’s complaining about receiving tips. So manager, instead of showing your customers zero empathy in a situation like this, how about you actually pay your delivery driver a livable wage, instead of making him fully rely on making his money off of tips from your customers. From what I’ve heard, this restaurant receives enough business to do that. I truly am SO sorry that I can’t afford to pay extra and tip every single time. I’m not saying that tips are unnecessary, I absolutely believe in tipping people for their service, but the tipping culture in America is an insanely toxic con, and an excuse to not pay employees an actual livable wage. Everyone, please please do yourself a favor and read up on the history of tipping in America, AND WHY it...