gino's east

hyper-industrial & multi-story restaurant where i was unsure if i should order lunch or report for a shift machining wing nuts. mid sunday afternoon w/ plenty of room at the bar, but by the nature of the main attraction deep dish pizza, be prepared to occupy yourself for about 3/4 hour. plenty of tv’s to see if so inclined.
any small pie will run you ~$25 or more, w/ mushroom & patty sausage being my selection. oddly, extra vegetable & protein ingredients were priced the same, so selectivity may be required. the casserole-like chicago pizza is always satisfying, but i’ve had better than gino’s version. while the sausage & sauce were excellent, 45’ in the oven were apparently not enough to fully melt the mozzarella layer. noble effort but will try another when next in town.

i am well travelled and this is one of the best italian restaurants that i have ever been to. ambience is 100% italian, food is cooked to perfection (nice sized portions) and service was outstanding.

my coworkers and i demolished some beer and pizza.  the place had big booths, was covered in graffiti, and was loud and fun.  those of us who snuck out for pizza instead of fancy food were in blissful pizza heaven.  we walked back to the hotel in food hazes, and i'm sure i wasn't the only one who went to bed early extremely fat and happy. yum.

absolutely delicious! veggie soup and spinach/cheese pizza. excellent service and atmosphere too.

every time i visit chicago this is a must do pizza place. i love the deep dish and the ambience. the graffiti messages on the wall really add to the nostalgia of the place.

you'll need to wait for the pizza pie...but it will be worth it!. so the waiter tells me that they make real pizza pies...and like pies, it takes time for it to actually bake. so i waited and waited...and it was worth the wait!

love the place! the decor is crazy...graffiti all over the place...kind of dark, with writing all over the booths...

as far as the pizza, they hold their own against ny style pizzas. i'm originally from nyc....and i absolutely love ny style pizzas with their thin crusts that make it easy to fold and eat. but i can get used to eating these thick chicago style pies!

i recommend this place. the pizza was thick, hot, and loaded with sausage. the crust was perfect!

ewwwwwwww the crust is dry and tastes like it's made of corn flower, looks like it too and bland. the sauce is watery and my pizza was swimming in it. the stuffing was undercooked. store bought is better. the fountain pop was amazing. not something chi-town should be impressed about.

while still good, it’s not great. other establishments have surpassed their quality and taste. customers still pack this original, but visitors to the city or locals who don’t have a neighborhood alternative are the primary market now.

just ok. we liked it, but it was kind of dirty and the service was mediocre at best.

we're on our third pizza place in three days. this time? gino's east.gino's east was just a block or two from the hotel, so we stopped here for lunch. we actually arrived here slightly before they opened, and we waited outside the doors with a few others for them to let us in (damn tourists). there is writing all. over. the. walls. and. seats. it's everywhere! which is mostly fine, but i was worried about sitting on it. no worries.after being seated, we ordered the "gino's supreme," with pepperoni. it comes with pepperoni or italian sausage, onions, green peppers and mushrooms. since giordano's switched our order, and we ended up with sausage, we still had yet to try one with pepperoni. after the waiter read the order back, he said "pepperoni deep dish," which i assumed meant a gino's supreme with pepperoni. when he came back with our drinks, i clarified, and he basically told me i said it incorrectly (nope) and rushed back to fix it. k.but, it came out correctly, though i can't say it was my favorite pie. it has a very, very buttery, flaky crust. it almost seemed like i was eating an actual pie crust. i like the crisper crusts better. the sauce and toppings were just ok. little soggy, not a ton of flavor. but, it had the best cheese, by far. ooey and stringy. very good.

after our disappointing lunch at pizzeria uno, i admit that we were a bit anxious to find a good deep dish pizza in chicago. not that we thought it was impossible, but, being there few days, we really wanted to go to a good place that would erase our past experience. and we did. after a walk to the navy pier, we looked up pizza places and ended up at gino’s east, a homegrown chain that serves an amazing pizza. i know that the term chain gives a negative image of the place, but, in this case, it should not. they have places in quite few cities, except unfortunately new york, but who knows, maybe one day! i would surely love to see them in the big apple, their pizza being superb: the crust has this golden color and texture that i could have sworn was because of corn meal, but no, it is due to the olive oil they put in it. it comes with a deliciously sweet tomato sauce, that tops a large amount of cheese (we asked for extra cheese and some blue). the pizza cooks for 45 minutes and comes very hot in a cast iron dish. after the first bite, you do not care that you might burn your mouth eating it: it is so good and flavorful. you get the crunchiness and crumbliness of the crust with the sweetness of the tomato sauce and suddenly the flavor of the cheese, especially the blue that pairs well with the tangy tomato sauce. sublime!

great staff! really cheesy and yummy deep dish. they told us it would take an hour but it didn't. a fun, family-friendly tourist locale.

this place was recommended to us and it was great ! fun environment for anyone . flakey crust with just enough cheese . service was great too. definitely gonna recommend it to someone .

best deep dish pizza i've ever had! gino's east had fantastic service and even better food. we had an odd situation where we need a pizza that was half vegetarian and half meat lover's, and they did a great job, the halves were very different, but both were delicious. it does take a little bit of time, both to get a table, and for those tantalizing deep dish pizzas to cook, so maybe not the right spot if you're in a hurry, but if you have the time, it is well worth spending it at gino's east. the atmosphere, especially the names written on the wall (you can probably find mine if you look long enough), as well as the history add an extra dimension to the experience for those who enjoy such things. stop reading this and head there now! ;)

the pizza was quick and high caliber. quick pizza frequently implies bunches of oil or low quality garnishes. gino's has top notch sustenance at sensible costs. profoundly suggested.