The $5.99 offering was a two-pound "handmade" deep dish pizza with sausage and uncured pepperoni by Gino's East. Despite the obscene caloric load (2100 calories for an 8" pie), it was too compelling to pass up.
Gino's East opened its flagship Chicago location in 1966. There are now 11 Chicago area locations, one in Wisconsin, and 6 in Texas. (Texas is not the first place that comes to mind when talking about pizza, but Texas is also home to several locations of Brooklyn's legendary Grimaldi's, and also a brand new home to an outpost of Philly's wonderful Pizzeria Vetri.)
This frozen pie's instructions indicate 38-50 minutes baking time at 400 degrees. After baking, this pizza looked a lot more like "real pizza" than most thin-crust pizzas do. The tomato sauce was a nice deep red, and the crust did not look much different than that wonderful pie I had at Louisa's.
The first bite revealed that the crust had that nice buttery flavor - like a dense biscuit - with good outer crispiness and a pleasant inner chewiness. It was a good sturdy container for the sauce, cheese, and meats. No soggy spots anywhere.
The sauce was the standout feature. Deep, thick, with a bright taste. I can't recall any frozen pizza where the sauce was this good.
Like every deep dish pie, the cheese was buried and its character was hard to perceive. The cheese serves more as a moisture barrier to prevent the sauce from soaking into the crust.
The meats were present in surprising abundance. Nice chunks of genuine sausage were backed up with some uncured slices of pepperoni. Neither had an amazing flavor, but it was surprising to see that the actual pie had more visible meat than the picture on the package.
The entire pie was nicely balanced. The crust may be a little thicker than ideal, but that probably helps preserve the integrity of the pizza for freezing, travel, and re-heating.
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| From http://www.ginoseast.com |
An ordinary person would want at least half of this pizza as a meal, so it's pretty indulgent at over 1000 calories. It may not be a bargain in terms of caloric load, but it's hard to imagine a tastier frozen pizza for just $5.99. If you enjoy deep-dish, this Gino's East frozen version is an easy winner.
I had to chime in. The longer the time goes by with no contact from the company and apparently no obvious "Contact Us" feature, the more I will share my store bought experience. Mine is much the same as others. Cooked exactly as the box instructed. Cooled as instructed. A pool of water in the middle. Absolutely no spices whatsoever. So bland. But the crust was the kicker. I had to use a meat cleaver to cut it and use all my might to get four slices. Decided to forge on. Big mistake. Crust was so rock hard it cracked a tooth and broke a crown. Might as well have been made of raw popcorn kernels. Maybe it is. Please, please, please, do not waste a dime on this product. Learn from those of us who have been to the battlefield and lost. I just need to know where to send the dental bills. I was very fair in this process. Tried it. Failed. Waited a month. Bought it again. Even worse. But you know how it goes, when and if the company ever responds it will be, "Individual results may vary by Aldi location" or "Not responsible for product changes that occur during shipping."
ReplyDeleteI wish I had read your comment before I bought one of these horrors.
DeleteMy own experience was almost identical. Crust was rock hard on the outside, almost no cheese or sausage, no flavor, and an overabundance of sauce. Threw it in the trash - disgusting product.
DeleteGREAT PIZZA , PERFECT CRUST, ADD SPICES IF you WANT.
DeleteJust purchased this frozen pizza (May 31, 2017) from local Hyvee store. The first reviewer is exacty correct about the crust. It comes out hard as a rock. The filling is good. Might have to make fresh dough and transfer the filling to it. They would be a good pizza. Does the crust need to be pre-soaked in oil so it cooks up a little softer?
ReplyDeleteyeah, what's the deal with the crust??? i actually really like this pizza, but in order to cook it to the temp of 165°, it must bake for AT LEAST one hour--the crust is then rock hard!! a chainsaw is needed to slice through it! how can this be avoided? thaw it first? wrap crust in foil? pre-soak in oil, as per other reviewer??? i will continue to have this pizza and try to figure out how to perfect it, but i'm not all that hopeful.
ReplyDelete375 degrees is what you should be baking it at...
DeleteCook it in a pie pan like they do at the resturants
ReplyDeleteCooked mine at 350 for 50 minutes in a toaster oven. Came out beautifully.
ReplyDeleteI bought one from Aldi's yesterday and cooked it last night. The crust came out perfect...heavy but also flakey. I cooked it directly on the oven rack - 400° @50 minutes.
ReplyDeleteBought one at Aldi's and it was cheese only. Added a layer of pepperoni and a little additional marinara and then cooked at 385 for 52 minutes. Came out perfectly.
ReplyDeleteEver notice that most of these websites seem to get paid for favorable reviews. Most people have a bad experience with this disgusting product.
ReplyDeleteNotice that these sites have no contact form; at least this one provides an email address.
These two (so far just two) websites (http://burgersdogspizza.com/2013/11/ginos-east-frozen-pizza-review/
and
https://www.influenster.com/reviews/ginos-east-of-chicago-authentic-deep-dish-pizza-sausage) don't allow comments or you cannot sign up with just an email address to make a comment.
Hi Don, I appreciate your skepticism - there are a lot of paid endorsements on the web, whether on YELP or Amazon or other sites. Pizza Quixote, though, is a one-man operation. I love pizza, I travel a lot, and I write about what I've eaten. I try not to slam pie makers, so I rarely write about bad pizza (exception - see my Papa John's reviews). No paid endorsements here! - PQ
ReplyDeleteConvenient that you found a problem with Papa John's pizza. I don't like the guy either, but the pizza is undeniably one of the better, fresher chain pizza places around. Some people can't separate their politics.
DeleteI had no problem with the pizzas. Bought the Cheese and the pepperoni and sausage.Put them in the middle of the oven directly on the rack and baked it for 50 minutes. My only complaint is that they don't have just a pepperoni.
ReplyDeleteWe thought we would try this pizza at Aldi as we did not like Aldi's, Mama Cozi brand. We love good pizza and were feeling adventurous. We laughed at ourselves as we added mozzarella as it looked too stingy thinking we could improve it. What a disappointment! The crust was a dry rock. Not worth taking the chance. Now I know why Gino's East doesn't have ratings on their site!
ReplyDeleteThaw it first (an option on the package) and cook for about 35-40 min on a pan or tray. crust is fine, plenty cheesy!
ReplyDelete350° for one hour is perfect!! I'm not sure why people were cooking it at 400, the box says 375 but I went down 25 degrees and found my pizza was perfect. I buttered the crust and added a little salt, pepper, basil, and parm cheese to the top and I cannot complain! I found this gem at Aldis and I was also not paid for my review!
ReplyDeleteI thought the pizza tasted great. I really liked the tomato sauce and the fillings were were. Only bad thing is crust is too hard.
ReplyDeleteBorn and raised in the Chicago area so we know good pizza. This thin crust from Ginos does not qualify as bad pizza, it does qualify as the worst we ever had. Do not waste your money on this crap, buy a home run inn or connies instead
ReplyDeleteEww home run inn. It's sold everywhere it's been done to death. And Connie s it is almost non existent these days. Ginos is way better. I do believe dine in is way better but for the price especially if you don't live in Chicago or near ginos. The frozen is good just don't over cook it and do 375 in a cookie sheet or in aluminum foil
ReplyDeleteI tried Gino's East frozen cheese pizza twice, and both times I was VERY satisfied with the product, cooking it as directed on the package. The crust was a little crispier than what I'd expect, but not severely. The cheese was also a bit too mild. Overall, I'd rate it as one of the best frozen pizzas that I've ever had. Sure, it's not the same quality that you would get at the restaurants, but for 5.99 it's definitely worth the price. None of the other frozen pizzas even come close!
ReplyDeleteI must say that I'm extremely disappointed with this pizza. I consider myself the most expert opinion when it comes to deep dish pizzas, I've eaten that so many different places I can't even count them. As far as this pizza goes, it is absolutely tasteless. Pure tomato sauce on top, taste like you just poured it out of a can, horrible quality. Everything about it is terrible, and I really hate to say that but I have to be honest. The very best deep dish Chicago style pizza I ever ate is that Uno's pizzeria, they are the very best in my opinion. However, there is a close second, and they are so similar to Uno that you may not even know the difference if you had them side by side conducting a taste test. That place is called Chicago fire oh, they are located in the Sacramento area, four locations. I truly miss Uno's pizzeria in San Francisco, at one time there were four locations, there was also one in Modesto, but unfortunately they are all gone now. Thank goodness for Chicago fire though, there is a third best and that place is called windy city pizzeria in San Mateo. That particular deep dish pizza is a little lighter but very tasty and very good. I've tried another in Berkeley called Zack's pizzeria, they are okay but they do not include pepperoni on their combo, you have to add that on and that blows. One last one that is worth mentioning is Pixties in the San Francisco area. Their Pizza is excellent but it's too costly. They do not offer a combination deep dish pizza oh, you have to add on all your ingredients and that's where they basically steal from you. They are an excellent pizza but I have bad feelings toward them for the way they pinch you with the money. So, I hope that this review helps oh, I can assure you that I know what is good when it comes to deep dish pizza. Please consider my review extremely accurate
ReplyDeleteCalifornia elitist.
DeleteThe closest to Uno pizza in Chicago is Due and actually Gino's East on Superior is tied at third or 4th (like Lou Malnati's, Edwardo's etc) and there's about 20 or 30 others peppered around the town, that are tied for 4th and 50 more tied for 5th. Most are mom & pop places never mentioned but all pretty close in quality. In Chicago Italian sausage and that means with fennel, is king. Pepperoni is a far distant second here that's for tall the places that aren't Chicago. This frozen pie has the Gino's name, but is made by bean counters somewhere else to be sold very cheap. I think they sully the brand and should reconsider.
DeleteAbsolutely disgusting. I’m so mad I lost on this. Because I love deep dish. This is just plain slop with hard rock crust. Jesus, never again.
ReplyDeleteGo Bears
Go Bulls
Go Hawks
Today I purchased a Ginos east frozen pizza with crumbled sausage. There was absolutely no sausage at all. None.
ReplyDeleteTried this pizza twice. Had to mop up the water it exuded with paper towels. Sodden and disgusting.
ReplyDeleteWorst pizza EVER!!!
ReplyDeleteThe sauce is pretty good, and that's good, because it's pretty much all you get. If they sold just the sauce it would be good on any pizza. But this deep dish is more like a tomato pie. The cheese is almost nonexistent, pretty skimpy and that's bad because this pie needs a lot of cheese to give it the body it needs to offset the massive crust. The sausage and or pepperoni is also anemic. In the actual restaurant the dough is cooked from raw as are all the ingredients. Here in frozen is the dough already cooked it seems, maybe? The fact that in a restaurant you get your pie and the cheese is so thick it will stretch out a couple of feet while lifting a slice out of the pan, but here in frozen you might get a plop or two on part and literally none on another, is a bad thing. Yeah, it's cheap though. I guess doctoring it up with a thick layer of mozz, smashing in another quarter pound of fennel sausage, and another topping of sauce will improve it, but at that point I'd rather make my own. Gotta give it a meh rating, like 2.7 out of 10.
ReplyDelete