Cavataio's Restaurant & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Staunton

My wife & I plan date days where we try restaurants we've heard about from local reviewers and food-related groups, and Cavataio's was one of the options, as we were looking for pizza.

I grew up on Imo's, so flavor is important to me. I don't need my pizza to taste like Imo's, but I do want it to have some distinguishable flavor. Cavataio's was largely lacking in flavor, but with some bits of brightness.

We got a large Cathy's Special (hamburger, onion, tomato, and fresh garlic) on a standard crust, and when it came, it was piping hot, had only been out of the oven for a minute or two.

There's a lot to dismantle here, so I'll start with the crust. As huge as this pie was, and as giant as the slices were, the crust was very sturdy, and held up each giant piece like the foundation of a deck. The crust is the clear star here, but it's just not very flavorful. It's not quite bland, but it's not quite tantalizing, either. It is made, however, to support any number of toppings you could imagine.

The cheese was ample for the pie's size. The sauce was equal parts tomato and sweetness, so a little safe, but I had some pieces that barely had any sauce on them. The only way I could taste it was by scraping off some of the cooked sauce peeking out from underneath the cheese layer on the edge. The one standout on this pie was the fresh garlic—when I caught a piece of it, the flavor filled my mouth in a surprising way that the hamburger, tomato, onion, and sauce simply did not.

As I was eating, I couldn't help but think of what I could do to make the pizza taste better the next day while reheating it at home. There were some bites that hit right, but on an 18-inch pizza, you need more than just a few bites to hit. Much of the pizza just fell flat. Something was missing, and I think it's the seasoning. I noticed a lack of oregano and other herbs & spices, particularly in the sauce. Which is a shame, because you can tell that the ingredients are fresh, and the sauce & dough are made in-house. You just can't really tell what everything tastes like because it lacks flavor. Even the parm and red pepper on the table couldn't really do much to help add to it. Perhaps a drizzle of olive oil over the top might help, but it needs more than that. Heck, SALT may have helped.

I don't want to go so far as to say it was bland, but for the price I paid, I was shocked that it didn't taste better. It is not the worst pizza I've ever had—that award goes to Roma's in Bethalto—and it will do if you're hungry. However, I'm not gonna drive 30 minutes and drop 30 dollars to get pizza here again. Especially when I've got pizza places a-plenty, even non-chain joints, where I live, that all have better tasting pie.

TO BE FAIR . . . we came for the pizza, and Cavataio's offers pasta, salads, and sandwiches. The people around us were ordering salads, which looked huge, and baked pasta, which seemed to be a popular choice. The salad bar is also a draw for the crowd, but it's an additional $8+ to ADD it to your sandwich or pizza (included with pasta dishes, however).

Also, our wait staff was very kind and friendly, and they were working their tails off to keep their customers satisfied on a semi-busy Thursday night. If the pizza can come up to the value of the price they charge, I think they could really...

I would like to give them a higher rating to be honest. The only problem is they let different cooks use their own recipes. It can lead to them offering something on the menu and the chef not knowing how to cook the dish.

Years ago I took my children's mother there on a date night after not having an opportunity to spend any time together; and after ordering one of her favorite dishes pasta con broccoli and receiving something that was obviously not that type a pasta but something but something that was made by somebody that did't know what it was, I had to deal with her being upset and console her because she was looking forward to the meal. It wasn't long after that we both learned how to cook it.

It's definitely true that the smallest thing can change your taste pretty drastically when it comes to the white sauce.

I plan on visiting there soon and hopefully finding something positive to say in an update of...

The food was way overpriced and the pizza tasted like eating concrete on a hot summer day with no refill for my beverage. I ask for a to go cup and they charge a DOLLAR for a cup....Also I tried the salad bar and all the vegetables where mixed in with one another, it was a complete mess...and who doesn't have RANCH. The bathroom was dirty and unclean and the trash looked like it had not been emptied in days. I tried to speak with management and they where very unprofessional, I was not looking for a refund I was just expressing my concerns as a paying customer. Wish I would have just stopped at the convenient mart and got a Tostinos Microwave pizza. Should have know STAUNTON...