Home › Forums › West Seattle Food › Love for Gianonni's PIzza
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May 30, 2010 at 4:21 am #594991
WSACMemberIt’s great! Really fresh toppings, nice crust and sauce. It’s perfect to dine in with the kids or for take-out. I wish they delivered but we call ahead and pick up 10 mins. later. The staff are really nice too, seems like they have a good work place vibe going on.
May 30, 2010 at 4:54 am #695444
metrognomeParticipantThanks for the recommendation. I was gonna ask you to be more specific, such as where the heck is it, phone number, etc. but I figured it was easier to use Bing:
http://www.giannonispizza.com/
it’s in Westwood Village, ph 935-1800. Delivery would be nice …
May 30, 2010 at 5:59 am #695445
christopherboffoliParticipantMay 30, 2010 at 2:17 pm #695446
voodooMemberI hate to rain on your rave, but I feel obligated to balance this discussion with my impressions.
When Giannoni’s first opened, we were excited to try a new food venue in Westwood Village, which is very near home, so we went in for a slice. We were amazed at the variety of slices available until we saw the finished product, which appeared to be a plain cheese slice with the toppings added before (barely) reheating. Sorry, but congealed cheese slice + a few bits of canadian bacon and pineapple does not a hawaiian slice make. We haven’t been back since.
May 30, 2010 at 3:49 pm #695447
WSACMemberYou rave rainer, Voodoo :)
Even the fine taste testing folks at the WSB agree with me according to the link Christopher posted.
Seriously though, congealed cheese and a few toppings haven’t been our experience. We find the toppings super fresh, I esp. love their veggies and the people.
May 30, 2010 at 11:39 pm #695448
voodooMemberI guess it’s just in my nature to be contrary. Knowing that they have received such high praise from folks here makes me think I ought to give them another try.
May 31, 2010 at 12:37 am #695449
WSACMemberI’d equally rave on Proletariat but that’s outside the WSB catchment area. Just great pizza and people.
May 31, 2010 at 12:46 am #695450
christopherboffoliParticipantvoodoo: Yours is not the only comment I have seen that suggests that the quality (especially of their pizza by the slice) can be inconsistent sometimes.
May 31, 2010 at 4:37 am #695451
Garden_nymphMemberWe get the cheesy breadsticks w/ marinara sauce. It’s basically a large, garlicy, cheese pizza with sauce on the side. It’s a steal for around $5, Yum!
May 31, 2010 at 5:35 am #695452
MousePotatoMemberI agree about the slices and cheesy bread sticks. I was very excited initially to have a pizza by the slice business opening so close to home. Unfortunately the dried-up-old-sitting-on-the-shelf-re-heated-cheese-pizza method really does not work. I commented about it and received a polite response but nothing that suggested they may change their practices. I gave them more than one try on the slice method and have completely abandoned that.
They truly suck at slice service….
I thought then that I should give them one last chance to show me their REAL pizza with a fresh full pie.
Bravo, Bravo.
If you order a full pie (like the cheesy bread pizza with marinara) the quality is quite good because it’s fresh. I’ll never buy another slice from them but I do like their full, fresh pizza….
As for Proletariat, I went in once and will never return. The 2 slices they sold me had to be at LEAST 4 hours old and were hard for my dogs to choke down. No more throwing good money after bad….
May 31, 2010 at 5:49 am #695453
christopherboffoliParticipantA number of new pizza places have opened since we did that comparison back in the fall of ’08. I have to say that one of the biggest surprises has been the high quality pizza that William Leaman at Bakery Nouveau has been producing. I actually wish that my favorite local patisserie would include madeleines and caneles (which seem like glaring omissions given their extensive product line) before they’d spend time on pizza. But I really can’t fault them as their pizzas are actually delightful.
May 31, 2010 at 7:40 am #695454
DBurnsParticipantWow – we at Giannoni’s appreciate all of the positive comments and of course, appreciate the continued business of this community! West Seattle is blessed with a lot of great pizza and we count ourselves lucky to be among the choices. We love Stephanie and Mike at Proletariat, and agree that William is making amazing pizza (and everything else!); his right hand, Jane, is a dear friend and we have actually shared employees in the past!
While it is heartbreaking to read negative comments about your business that you put your life savings, your heart and literally 60+ hours a week into, we really do value the feedback. All I can say is that we are humans making a hand made product and just like in your kitchen, sometimes things go wrong. We are trying to do slices the way that we had them growing up, and there are many variables. There is no way we can please everyone, but what we can do, and try to do when it is brought to our attention, is try and make it up to you. If it happens that a customer is unsatified for any reason, we do our best to bring that person back to satisfied. Again, it is impossible to please everyone, but we do have a thriving business with many, many regular customers who enjoy our product. We sell well over 1000 slices a week, and they account for much of our success in the last 3 years. We feel lucky and proud of our staff and our product, 99% of the time :)
I would like to personally invite Voodoo and MousePotato and any other person who has had a negative impression or experience to please come back in and have a slice on us. We may not be your choice for pizza in the future but we would like a chance to make it up to you – your money is too valuable to spend on something that you feel was undercooked, poorly made or “sucked”!!
Thanks to Christopher for bringing up the article where we won the contest – we felt so proud and pleased with the decision. Unfortunately it opens up a door (like this rave) for people to also be very critical; people actually came in and said things to us like, “Your pizza isn’t better than Pagliacci” and while again, this is pretty devastating for new business owners to hear, my inner response was, “It was that day”. One day at a time – we try to do our best and again, appreciate the feedback. Our slices don’t sit around on a shelf, they are well monitered for timing and freshness. It’s a second-baked product so if it’s a little dark or more cooked in one area the first time, the second can get overcooked and can go unnoticed. We don’t know unless you tell us that it wasn’t up to par. And I stopped reading reviews a long time ago because my husband convinced me that it could be anyone – saying good or bad – and that we just need to keep working hard every day and it wouldn’t matter. So whatever that Yelp review said I’m sure was covered by what I have already stated above – just let us know and we will try and make it ok. There have been many, many good ones too (we were chosen #4 out of 5 top pizzas in Seattle last September by Jonathon at Voracious for the Weekly) and I’m sure we will get more of both. We are passionate about this business and this community of West Seattle and just hope to be a part of it for a very long time.
Sincerely,
Donna Burns, Owner, Giannoni’s Pizzeria
May 31, 2010 at 8:34 am #695455
Garden_nymphMemberWell written Donna. No worries, your cheesy bread with yummy marinara will keep us coming back for more, and more and MORE!
May 31, 2010 at 6:17 pm #695456
voodooMemberThanks for the well-written response, Donna, as well as the invitation. I think I will come by incognito, though, as all food critics do when reviewing a place! ;-)
May 31, 2010 at 7:37 pm #695457
SueParticipantMy opinion hasn’t changed since the WSB pizza tasting – I still think it’s the best pizza I’ve had here in West Seattle. However, since I’m no longer supposed to be eating cheese, it will be happy memory now. But if I decide to cheat and suffer the consequences, that’s where I’m going. :)
May 31, 2010 at 8:42 pm #695458
MousePotatoMemberDonna, let me rave a little for you….
Every time I’m in your restaurant I receive impeccable service. I am always well taken care of. Months might go by before I end up back for more cheesy bread but you always remember me by name and know what I like.
To be fair I am a VERY picky pizza critic and the method you use to create your slices just doesn’t work for me. I believe I am a clear minority in this opinion so I retract my sentiment.
Thank you for the invite but it is not necessary. I do like your product and will continue to be a patron….
June 1, 2010 at 4:09 pm #695459
DBurnsParticipantThanks for reading the long post, guys! (My real degree is in English and I use it when I can :)
Thanks again for the feedback – it can only make us better.
Always a pleasure to partcipate in the Forum conversations and hope you all have a great day.
June 13, 2010 at 10:56 pm #695460
FoxyDiamondMemberI was just in Giannoni’s yesterday, & had some delicious roasted garlic slices!
As Donna admitted, I love the product 99% of the time & when I don’t, I let them know. Coming from a restaurant family, I can appreciate that when making a hand made product, there are sometimes variables. When the product is not up to par, you are doing the restaurant a favor really by allowing to have a second chance to make a good impression on you. My family is also from NY so I am always looking for a good thin cheese pie & Giannoni’s is as good (in my humble opinion)as Piecora’s or Pagliacci’s (when they first started years ago)with having the benefit of being right here in our very own hood!!
I was also thrilled when I learned that they are able to make deliveries of multiple pies to some areas!!! I work in SODO in a large office with marginal pizza delivery service. You can bet I will be placing orders with Donna & her crew at Giannoni’s next time my office has reason to order out!!
June 13, 2010 at 11:29 pm #695461
jellyfishMemberI LOVE this pizza. A slice of pepperoni + sausage hits the spot every time. It’s just like pizza I used to buy on the East Coast. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.
The quality has always been “consistent” for me, but hey, it’s the little bit of variation and imperfections in life that make things interesting. I personally don’t WANT factory food, or a chain restaurant type experience that stamps out exactly the same thing every time. I want authenticity. I want hand thrown ingredients. There is a tendency of some blog-posting Seattlelites to complain & criticize just for negativity’s sake. Weird hostile, passive aggressive, sub-culture thing.
This is some truly d— good pizza, period.
June 14, 2010 at 1:16 am #695462
MousePotatoMemberYou want authenticity and hand thrown ingredients? What does that even mean? There is no hand throwing going on there (unless they do it in the back room)….
Authentic? Uh…. Yeah…. It’s REALLY pizza.
I softened my comments to say that I DO like their product; just not their slices. I admitted that I’m a minority and chalked it up to the method of their slice production. Just doesn’t work for me…. Old dry cheese pizza with a couple things thrown on top is not a good slice to me. You might be able to fold that up and choke it down but I can’t….
Your comment about “Weird hostile, passive aggressive, sub-culture thing” is completely unwarranted and out of place. The forum is a place to express your opinions and views about life in West Seattle. Am I only allowed to post in a forum if I LIKE the product?
Let me get my pom-poms out and do a dance for them. Be happy to. Just as long as I don’t have to eat one of their slices….
June 14, 2010 at 2:22 am #695463
jellyfishMemberI wasn’t targeting you, MousePotato. I didn’t even read your initial post. It really is a general comment for the owner of the store, to reinforce her decision to disregard critics.
Have to admit your second post made me chuckle, however. Good writing. Of course you’re entitled to your own opinion, as am I.
June 14, 2010 at 3:28 am #695464
MousePotatoMemberjellyfish,
sorry, I’ll take a deep calming breath now and try to return to human status. I realize that I’m an angry person and for that reason I try to limit my posts. I’m like the crazy guy in the park raising his fists and yelling at the trees.
“I do not like these trees! They are the WRONG trees! Go away trees! Go away NOW!”
I do like their pizza. Just not the slices….
Being the angry guy I do regret my initial comment when I used the word ‘suck’.
They do not ‘suck’.
I do….
And I promise to try to be more friendly in my posts….
June 14, 2010 at 2:40 pm #695465
Kay2009MemberVery good place. Will definitely be back!
June 15, 2010 at 6:52 pm #695466
WorldCitizenParticipantI had a similar problem with their slices…had their full pies and never went back for the slice again. Their full pies are easily the best pizza in West Seattle and among the top 3 or so in Seattle as a whole. Keep up the great work!
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