Pizza Time — Restaurant in Monterey Park

I only went there once and that was enough. I ordered the same thing I've always ordered from Rio's - an extra large Rio's Special (or whatever it is they call it there), 12-piece wings, and a small Pepperoni. When I called in the order I asked if there were any specials. The young man said no and sounded like he was aware what specials were. I still ordered the usual and left to go pick it up. I arrived around 3'ish on a Saturday, no lines, nobody in the dining area, just me waiting for them to finish the wings because they forgot. No matter. So I paid. After I signed while waiting for the wings to be finished, I noticed their flyer/menu that advertised a special for an extra large pizza and wings. I mentioned this but was given a blank stare as if I was at the wrong place. I got home and we began to grub down. Remember Wendy's 'Where's the Beef?' commercials? It was like that except on the different levels. 'Where's the Flavor? Where's the Cheese? Where's the Sauce?' My enthusiasm to enjoy $50 of pizzaria halted quickly. The wings were mostly vinegar and not spicey, but salty. The cherry on top was that the kids barely finished one slice each of the Pepperoni. First impressions are important to me and there are other pizza places in and near MPk that cost half that price but still deliver on flavor and excellent service. If you're looking for Rio's, they're not here anymore. If you're looking for great pizza at a premium price, well, looks like most of these reviews are filled with people happy with spending more money than...

It's a small shop on the side of the plaza building and kind of hidden. It's unfortunate because it is a pretty good pizza spot. I ordered the lemon pepper wings because it seems popular and a meatball sub. The wings are generally good. I was expecting something similar to wing stop but this is a pretty different version. I believe they seasoned it with pepper and cooked it, then squeezed lemon juice over. So it's a bit wet also. It's a bit more sour than I expected and the flavor profile is not my personal preference, but still good wings regardless.

The meatball sub is my favorite. It comes with 3 large quality meatballs. The tomato sauce flavor is spot on and the texture is tender. I believe the bread is made with their pizza dough, and works great with the meatballs. I love the added melted cheese texture on top. It came with chopped chile pepper that add a nice crunch and sourness to contrast the chewy and rich sub. I thoroughly enjoyed every bite.

Everything seems to be made fresh and takes a while, so I'd recommend calling your...

Ate the Meatball Sub. (took 7 minutes so I assume it was made fresh) for $12 it came out a bit smaller than I had hoped for a large. The sandwich was quite literally just bread, meatballs, marinara sauce and cheese toasted quite well. My issue with the sandwich was the inconsistency in the meatballs and lack of veggies or anything to prevent it from being just a saucy mess. To clarify the meatballs were seasoned but some had flavor and some didn't, meaning the meatballs were made without properly mixing the spices or something else. The lack of something like shredded lettuce or something similar just made the entire thing too messy for me. I understand that the focus of this place is pizza, however neglecting your other offerings is not a good look. Especially when you have competitors literally steps away that offer more bang...