I really miss the lunch buffet. That was a great lunch option downtown, and they had a decent salad bar. They've replaced that with a lunch special that includes a small pizza and drink for a set price, but the buffet was better in my opinion because you could sample more kinds.
Their Chicago style pizza is done right. Deep dish and ooey-gooey with cheese and toppings.
Service is "meh.'
I have to give Gusano's sub-3 stars, maybe 2.5 stars.
My Calzone = 2 stars The crust was dry and cracker-like, and the filling did not induce that sense of Chicago-style that was promised. (Yes, I've been to Chicago). Edible, not bad, but completely unremarkable.
Service = 3 stars. It's a sport's bar more than a pizza place, and the cute college girls in sports themed hoodies and short-shorts reinforce that image. My waitress had a Sookie Stackhouse ala season 1 True Blood kind-of-a-thing going on, if that matters to you.
Atmosphere = 1 in my book, but I'm not really a sport's bar kind of guy (I was there for the food). Loud pop music, 20+big screen TVs airing football reruns, and dormroom decor.
Gusano's is exactly "bad", but I won't be returning.
Food is good. Prices are decent depending on what you order. My dad and I split a pizza which made it cheaper. If I can eat our for under $10, I'm happy. Â Service wasn't too bad but our waitress (although she got off to a great start) was missing in action for most of the time we were there. We had to get someone else to help us. She finally came and apologized. Â Don't know what happened. Had it not been for her apology and good attitude, she wouldn't have gotten a tip.
Review Source:Gusano's, I've been to Chicago, I've eaten in Chicago, Chicago pizza is a friend of mine, Gusano's you are no Chicago pizza.
The thing is, much like Dan Quayle, it wasn't bad, but it just wasn't what it claimed to be. We got the Leif Erikson. There was no sauce, and worst of all, there was no reason to have a knife and fork.
I don't know. I really want to go back for the hot dog, but if the pizza isn't Chicago style, how am I expecting the dog to be better?
The highlight of the restaurant was the homemade ranch dressing. I loved it. Loved it so much.
We met family here for lunch during the holidays. Â We all shared the artichoke spinach dip to start. Â I felt it was very over cooked or maybe cooked in a smaller dish. Â This would be killer otherwise. Â It's served with Fritos scoops that actually work well with the flavors. Â We also shared a deep dish pizza. Â None of us had ever had Chicago style pizza before and we all found it good but agreed that the tomato sauce could have used some kind of seasoning as it was very bland.
Service was great...very quick and very thoughtful. Â Plenty of sports on many giant tvs, the men were slack-jawed with awe (yawn).
While we don't usually drive 600 miles for lunch this year circumstances arose that required that we venture to Little Rock if we wanted to be together during the holidays, even if just for lunch. Â Gusano's worked perfectly for our small family to have a decent meal and a relaxed time. Â I really couldn't ask for more EXCEPT perhaps some kind of dessert. Â Thanks for turnin me on to deep dish!
Tried the lunch buffet.  Noticed that many of the customers seem to like quantity over quality.   Salad  bar is ok, pizza is nothing special, very much like frozen pizza.  Sorry.  I like frozen pizza, but if that is what you do every day all day, man you should rock a pizza.  This is just ok.  Really, I wanted to love the place.
Plus's would be that for those who like to eat a lot, the buffet is cheap enough and their patrons who value quantity seemed to really enjoy the extra space this place offers.
Sitting by the open windows can be fun for a people watcher like me during a RiverMarket promotion i.e. Riverfest, River Walk. Â The good part is that is it a non-smoking establishment per the law...the bad part is that people who smoke stand RIGHT THERE so the potential for me to have a severe asthma attack from the stench of their cigarettes makes me sad. So I end up in the back of the restaurant, but the atmosphere is still nice. Â I love all of their pizza's, sandwiches and beer.
Review Source:Not really Chicago pizza. It has a Chicago price that's about it. The pizza was good, but they forgot that Chicago is thick! Anyways, cool sports bar. Just don't ask the manager to change a Plasma screen to a game you want? He's kinda an ASS and needs help with his customer service skills.
Review Source:I say it's good for kids, but deep in it's soul, it's a bar. Don't go for the great service. The waitresses are all the cutesy college chicks that profit from a drunken crowd, like at Hooter's. I don't think they understand "service," when, most likely, they are more accustomed to people trying to make THEM happy. Sorry for the soapbox speech.
That being said, it's not bad pizza. I've never had any of their other menu items, so I can't comment there. I have had the opportunity to go to Chicago recently and made a point to try a few pizza places there. Upon comparison, Gusano's is definitley NOT Chicago style. It's more like Chicago style SHAPED pizza. It's got the high crust around the edge, but that's about it. Their crust is crispy, with some herbs baked in, and it's tasty, but it ain't the buttery heaven I had at Giordano's. The toppings are standard, but the sausage ain't the solid layer like at Lou Malnati's.
It is, however, the best Chicago style shaped pizza in central Arkansas.
Hubby & I were in town for RiverFest and wandered down the street from our hotel to Gusano's. Â Big, open space, lots of TVs, full of people and great-smelling food. Â Service was super friendly and pizza was nothing short of awesome. Â I did a "build-your-own" and Hubby had the "Chaplin". Â Crust was flavorful, with herbs deliciously and visibly baked in. Both our pies tasted GREAT, not soggy or greasy at all. Â You can get Chicago-style here, although they have non-Chicago style as well. We cleaned our plates!
Review Source:Had a great time at Gusano's. We met friends in the Rivermarket and we decided on Gusano's for pizza and some baseball watching. Hubby & I split a pizza- which is never an easy feat because he isn't a fan of marinara sauce and I'm not a fan of whatever he usually wants. We compromised on the Chaplin- an oil based pizza with chicken, artichokes, onions, tomatoes, mozzarella, and feta cheeses- we subbed out the onions and added bacon. It was AWESOME. Some of the best pizza I've ever had in the Little Rock area. I ate 2 pieces and my husband ended up eating the other SIX... no leftovers to take home!
There are about 100 tvs in the restaurant (exaggeration but there are ALOT) and the game we wanted to watch was already on for our viewing pleasure. It is LOUD, so if you're looking for a quiet spot Gusano's is not for you, but for a game-time grub spot I can't think of anywhere better in the area. The service was okay- not exceptional but they were busy so I gave her a pass. We will definitely be back for another Chaplin pizza and good cold beer!
we stopped for the lunch buffet.
it was just OK. the advertise they are Chicago style pizza. yet none on the buffet. that's OK. the pizza they did have out was thin crust. it was OK but gettin hard. as someone who don't care much for peppers most of the pizza's that were out had jalapenos on them.
the waitress must have been new. i ask for half and half tea. she brought sweet. my mom asked for coke she got dr.pepper. the waitress was very disorganized.
my nephew pick this place because it said video games in the window. there were 3 video games. and was very dark inside.
just not what we expected. we set the bar to high and got disappointed.
Chicago style pizza (the REAL Chicago style), regular pizza, sandwiches, salads..... all good! Â Both types of pizza are great-- just depending on what mood you are in & how hungry you are. Â For appetizers- I'm a fan of the pizza dip, but the wings are pretty good. Â Salads are a pretty decent size.
This is a great place to drink beer & watch a game. Â There are huge tv's everywhere you look. Â Not only is a great place to eat and hangout but its River Market location makes it a great place for a night out so you can walk to other bars afterward.
Couldn't fall asleep so I decided to go for a stroll. Â Popped into Gusano's to catch the Spurs/Suns Game 2.
There was a live band playing so they wanted a $5 cover. Â The band sounded decent so I kissed a $5 good bye.
It was extremely loud and not just because of the band. Â There just was a lot going on. Â Sports games on a number of TVs. Â Couple of pool tables. Â Shuffleboard. Â Etc....
It was pretty cool watching the Spurs/Suns Game on one TV; Blackhawks/Canucks playoff game on another TV; chicks college bowling championship on yet another TV; and of course the World Series of Poker reruns on ESPN 2. While watching all these TVs, the live band was still playing in the background. Â
They also have a few video games and I played a couple games of my all-time-fav-video game........Galaga!!
Stopped in with the fam on our last night in Little Rock. It's a nice location on the Riverstreet Market with real Chicago style pizza... but we seem to have come on a really bad service night. Granted we were there during March Madness, but I think it was really more about the attractive guys at the table next to us. Â Our waitress, hmmmguuekl (ok, it was pretty noisy) seemed nice, but then pretty much forgot we existed.
Had a small Caesar (and eventually a super as well) salad and a 12inch deep dish (half Hawaiian and half Grub's choice). Really wanted to like the place, and the pizza was good, but not with slow drink orders (over 10 minutes for a beer?), a missing salad, no plates or napkins with the pizza, no drink refills, etc. I just can't say anything better than it was an OK place to get something to eat.
River Market area is nice, yet small and confined. Classic décor, but a little rugged. Bathrooms should of been cleaner.
Pizza was very good, certainly not the best I have ever had but was definitely very good for the price. If you want pizza  in this area, I would recommend it.
I reiterate what another reviewer said, the bar service was S-L-O-W! If you want beer it is priced quite fairly, they had buckets of 5 bottles for $10 which was pretty good deal. We caught on to get beer, once we tried there mixed drinks, they were pricey, very small and took forever. I guess I can forgive it a little bit, because it seems all service in the Little Rock area is downright slow!
This summer I had the joy of visiting my family, most of whom are in the South. After flying to Atlanta from Oakland I drove to Little Rock. I had no idea what I was in for...
Sure, I expected to meet up with several people I haven't seen in years. Beautiful greenery would surely greet me along the highways. However, I was unprepared for the best pizza I had ever had before in my life.
I've been to Chicago.
I've been to New York.
I have been to Italy!!!
The crust was the perfect texture and consistency to compliment the contents of the pie. Â Call me an oddball but I ordered mine without the standard marinara sauce. You know what that means, right? I didn't have some nummy sauce disguising some possibly old or dry dough. Or, some dreary, runny sauce saturating my crust such that it would become a soggy mess.
Next time I find myself on President Clinton avenue I'm going to get more!
Additional Details:
The service is as good as the pizza!!!
This was the perfect place to watch the 2008 Olympics & I am sure it is full of every night of the world series.
Okay since Ty Pennington and his crew whipped through there with an extreme makeover, well not really but, I have to say that the place is still the same but with more televisions. I love this place. Great pizzas, cold beer and a typical local hangout/pub. The only thing that concerns me is that the service at the bar isnt as fast as it should be. Other than that, get a waiter and order a great pizza and enjoy an afternoon of football followed by kickballers in their crazy costumes, when in season. A must visit when down town w/ friends.
Review Source:Gusano's is conveniently located in the River Market district of Little Rock. Great pizza and fast service. At night, this is a pretty happening hangout as well.
The pizza is pretty awesome! Lunch offers a pizza buffet as well as a full menu. Take out is available.
Make sure you try the buffalo chicken wrap and or salad.... delish!!!!!
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