Grimaldi's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Sparks

Write an update Edit review 3.0 star rating 11/5/2016 1 check-in Ok I am just now starting to understand the nuances to regional pizza. I used to think that Pizza was just Pizza. After going to several other pizzeria's I am finally coming to an understanding of the wider regional dialect that we call Pizza. Pizza I have found is like a dialect.

So here is my understanding of authentic New York Pizza. It is a thin crust with slight pizza sauce and slight cheese with perhaps a bigger amount of meat. The idea in my humble opinion is so that no one taste overwhelms the other and you are getting a bite of the sum of the total.

This pizzeria brings me back to days of yore when all the tables had the white and red checkered table clothes. The music that plays nostalgically in the background is reminiscent of New York. This Pizzeria is clearly pulling out all the stops to bring you the full New York experience.

I and my family have never eaten here before. I loved the decor and the very feel of the restaurant. The employee who sat us was very friendly and helpful as we explained it was our first time here. A friend on Yelp suggested we sign up for the free birthday pizza and so I did. We came in to get my husbands free pizza.

We decided to try The DON. I was excited to try the pizza. I was a little disappointed because I felt the meatballs on the pizza were of the frozen kind that had just been reheated. I believe the pizza with homemade meatballs would be outstanding. The cheese and sauce were scant. I myself prefer a pizza with more cheese and sauce.

The wood oven definitely left it's mark on the crust and made it a wonderful tinge of smoke on the tongue. This was actually my favorite part of this pizza. We will have to go in and try a make your own pizza. I have been told that their cheesecake and tiramisu is outstanding so I definitely have to go back...

Went here due to great reviews, however we had a horrible experience. The server was busy which we expected near closing time but when I said excuse me to two other servers that were only chatting about some drama in the corner, they looked at me and ignored and kept talking. When we finally got some of our order, one pizza came out not even fully cooked which I'm not sure how you do that with a paper thin pizza to begin with. When we finally had the waiter return she mentioned that was the third time a pizza has had that issue today.

While waiting on our last two pizzas, we were chatting and watching the guys making it and one of them pulls out his phone (with his prepping gloves on still) and shows his coworker something on his phone. He then proceeds to put his phone back into his apron and immediately places his hand back into the flour and picked up a pizza dough making the next pizza. Mind you he had the same gloves on as when he used his phone.

We then decided eating here wasn't worth the possible health risk and went on the hunt for our waiter. We tracked another one down who was able to get her. I let them know I would pay for the properly prepared pizza and the drinks if we got to go cups so I could still tip the waiter, even with sub par service from the get go.

The waiter got me a box, no to go cups as she started cleaning again instead of getting them for us. I paid $58 for a pepperoni pizza ($23), 4 drinks (3.50 each) and an $8 tip. That equates to $45 but I was charged $58 and didn't even get to go cups for our drinks.

Maybe it's a one off but I honestly cannot recommend this place until they hire better staff or take their...

I took my parents to Grimaldi's for a nice Saturday lunch. I've been there once before and it was alright but the service was awesome! Well, not this time. This time we are told we have to order a pizza ala carte if its going to be a half and half pizza.Whatsmore, we're charged full price for all of the toppings even if half were used raising the cost of the pizza to nearly $40 for a 16in with 5 total toppings.

Our server was also horrific, once my father had decided on the type of pizza he wanted the server wouldn't stop talking no matter how many queues, tips, grunts, or coughs to get the server's attention to stop so we may order. It didn't get any better with our server who did let our pizza sit. I'm not going to speculate on what the server was doing.

The other VERY disconcerting trend my table noticed is many patrons were having billing issues.

Pro-tip; if you're not sure how to price a half and half pizza, you can take the higher price of the two sides and apply it to the whole pizza. Not double the price for a single pizza....

I do see the prior positive reviews and their points are great, this can be a good place to go if you are at Legends Mall. Alas, I will not return to this place and I must caution...