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Gino's Pizza Lynch Field - September 8, 2023

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Gino's is sort of new to me. A friend of ours retired from West Penn Power in April, and she served Gino's at her retirement party where I tried a slice. It was OK, but it was plain cheese and had been sitting out for a while, so I felt like Gino's deserved more serious consideration.   Gino's Pizza is a small delivery or carryout restaurant in Greensburg, across Route 119 from the Lynch Field recreational complex. For that reason alone, I'm guessing they get a lot of picnic and party orders.  I'm not really certain how long they've been in business, because their website says "more than 20 years" and their paper carryout menu says "over 40 years." Maybe they've been around for 40 years but only 20 in that location? Who knows.  Either way, I was expecting really tasty pizza because with all the competition in the area, it's hard to believe a bad pizza joint could stay in business for either 40 or  20 years. I called and ordered tw

August 26, 2023: A Pizza Catch-Up

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I can't believe it's been 2 months since I last posted. I certainly haven't been trying new pizza places every week since then, but I do have 3 (very brief) reviews to share. I guess I determined what it takes to burn out on pizza - 6 months of eating it almost weekly. I also started eating a little more healthfully back in April, and pizza didn't fit in quite as often as it had. So I'll just write a few sentences about the last 3 places we tried. Johnny's Wife's Place - July 8, 2023 Chip and I have eaten at JWP several times, but we almost always get a sandwich or wings. I saw on Facebook that they had a special with a large 1-topping pizza and a dozen wings for $20. Not the wing dings, but JUMBO wings, so we couldn't turn that down. We got two specials, since our friends don't eat pork and you know we love pig on our pizza. We got a pizza that was 1/2 sausage and shroom and 1/2 pepperoni and shroom; one pizza that was half extra cheese and half mea

Gino Giannilli's - June 24, 2023

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Well, folks, we're back to western Pennsylvania pizza. Chip and I were looking for a dine-in experience last night, so we decided to try Gino Giannilli's in Latrobe. NOTE: this restaurant does not seem to be associated with the Giannilli's we went to a few months ago in Greensburg. We looked on the map and saw that it was only a few blocks away from the Hotel Loyal, where we had a great experience in the spring. We parked in the lot catty-corner to the restaurant, all the while trying to figure out what the heck the building used to be. It has the telltale look of a government building (and it definitely had that vibe in the entrance as well). It wasn't big enough to be a school, so we guessed an old post office. We asked our server about it but unfortunately she had no idea. Another unfortunate thing is that the dining room only had 7 booths and two 6-top tables. So we arrived at 6:00 and were told that we could either take the 6-top (which we really didn't want to

Louisville Food: Two Pizzas and a Fish

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It's been a hot minute since I've posted! The last two weeks of May were filled with work stuff and preparation for our trip to Louisville, so we didn't try any new pizza joints. Then we were in Louisville from June 3 to June 17, so I thought I'd write about my pizza (and fish) dining experiences there.  Louisville consistently ranks among the top 10 foodie cities on several food-oriented lists. There are a high number of restaurants per capita (I can't find a definitive number, but I did see a recent list that said Louisville had more than 2,500). But when I head back home for a visit, I'm looking for local comfort food. NOTE - We also ate at the following restaurants that I won't be reviewing: Check's Cafe, Gustavo's, 21st in Germantown, Mussel and Burger Bar, City BBQ. June 3: Derby City Pizza Company On our first night in town we ordered takeout from Derby City Pizza. I discovered DCP during my month-long stay in 2022. They offer typical "Lo

Donna Lynn's Pizza - May 12, 2023

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When I started this blog, my intent was to review new-to-me pizza places. But I've made a couple of exceptions, so I didn't feel bad about adding Donna Lynn's to the list.  Donna Lynn's used to be our go-to pizzeria. It's only about 15 minutes down the road in Murrysville and for the first 5 to 8 years we lived here, we absolutely loved the pizza (and their Italian hoagies). But then they changed either cooks or recipes, and the pizzas suddenly had a sweet sauce and the toppings didn't seem as fresh. So we stopped patronizing it. Recipes, cooks, and taste buds change - so we decided to give Donna Lynn's another try. It's a small carryout-only joint in a tiny strip mall with maybe 3 other businesses on Route 22. Fifteen years ago they didn't offer delivery, so we were delighted to see that they now advertise a "limited" delivery area. When I called to order at 5:15, they said delivery would be 45 minutes which is a fantastic wait time on a F

3 Rivers 6 Pack and Eatery - May 5, 2023

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With some guests coming for Derby and BBQ the following day, our Friday night pizza excursion needed to be quick and nearby. We opted to go to 3 Rivers, a 6-pack shop (where you can put together your own 6 packs) 5 minutes from us that also has quite a few beers on tap and pretty decent bar food. I'd had the pizza once before, but neither Chip nor Avery had so we counted it as a "new" pizza place. We ordered a large pie with half mushroom and sausage, and half pepperoni and bacon. I also ordered a 4-cut spinach and feta white pizza. 3 Rivers only has high top tables - which as a short person I really dislike - so we got the pizza to go. It only took about 20 minutes. I was pleasantly surprised when we got home and opened the pizza boxes. The toppings were plentiful, and the meat and shroom pizza didn't appear overly saucy.  There was more cheese than many of the pizzas we've tried, which makes me incredibly happy because as I've explained before, I'm all a

Penn Murry Bar & Kitchen - April 27, 2023

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The Penn Murry is a bar and restaurant with a well-known predecessor, the Penn Monroe , in Monroeville which is just west of us on Route 22. Seven or eight years ago the Penn Monroe closed after 60+ years in business, and the long-time managers bought an existing restaurant building in Murrysville and opened the Penn Murry. The food is spectacular, and Chip and I love their fried clams (they're just as good as any I've ever had at the shore), their jumbo wings, and I'm a fan of the to-die-for Reuben. But somehow, we'd never had their pizza. So with a four-day weekend ahead of me and a hankering to try a new pie, we headed to the Penn Murry. The building has a small bar and kitchen on one side of the building, and a larger dining room on the other. Outside the dining room is a patio with outdoor seating, but it was a bit chilly so we opted to eat in the bar.   We decided to go all out and try three different kinds of pizza. To be honest, I wasn't expecting much. I