I really really wanted to love this Cincinnati staple but I just couldn't. Â I guess you have to be a native to truly like it because I found it tasteless and disappointing. Â The sauce didn't pop to me, the bread was just there, and the cheese was minimal. Â Sigh. Â If you're standing outside this location right now, just continue down Montgomery about a half mile to Plainfield Rd (i.e., in the opposite direction of Kenwood Mall), turn right on Plainfield and immediately turn into the parking lot on the left. Â The Italianette is right across the street, and their pizza is like heaven on Earth.
Review Source:I probably should love LaRosa's-in fact, I feel a little guilty that I don't, as it's a Cincy tradition-but the pizza just doesn't cut it for me. I've tried several times to give the pizza another chance, but it's just got that sweet-sauce-from-a-can, bland crust, cheese-from-an-old-bag taste. The first bite seems promising, but by the time you try and take a second one you have already eaten all of the cheese because it just slides right off the top. I like this pizza...only when I desperately need pizza. There's much better pizza places in Cincinnati, but hey, might as well keep the ol' tradition.
Review Source:The Norwood LaRosa's is my favorite location.
It's centrally located, and whenever we have family in for the holidays we always meet up here. Â They have plenty of parking and seating and graciously accommodate large groups (without notice!).
LaRosa's has a sweeter pizza sauce than the average pie joint, and it's flavor is either loved or detested. I happen to love it (my parents raised me on it :)).
It's a fun place to bring people from out of town to, because the sauce is unique to Cincinnati.
For those who don't care for the sauce, there are several other items to accommodate plainer palettes (soup, wings, hoagies, etc). Â Their salads are really good, though they come with lots of cheese, so if you don't want the extra calories, ask them to leave it off.
If you aren't worried about what you eat I suggest the bread sticks with pizza sauce and garlic butter as an appetizer (insert Homer Simpson drool noise here).
Every time I'm there I make special requests and substitutions to my pizza (Big Four Veggie, substitute green peppers for mushrooms, and NO CHEESE), and they never get it wrong.
They also offer lunch specials and "just right" combo meals which is easy on the wallet.
Larosa's is quite possible some of the worst pizza I have ever had. Â Some people tell me its because I didn't grow up in Cincinnati. Â I tend to think they're right because that must mean I've had the opportunity to have better pizza. Â I don't compare Larosa's to Mom and Pop pizza joints I tend to love because that wouldn't be fair. Â I compare them to Pizza Hut, Papa John's, Domino's, etc and even still in that black hole of corporate pizza, Larosa's comes up short. Â The sauce is weird and awful and the pizzas always seem to be overcooked. Â If you want my advice, and I'm guessing you do since you're checking Yelp, pass on Larosa's and try any place else. Â Check out my "Best Pizza in Cincinnati" list for some suggestions.
Review Source:I ordered 6 pizzas from this location on Sunday for a birthday party at my home. The pizzas were all delivered on time and still hot. Everyone loved them! I usually order pizza with banana peppers and they always skimp on them, but nonetheless I still enjoy LaRosas pizza and we used the
3-4-7 deal and got a great deal on 6 medium pizzas.
There are some menu options at Larosas that can get you through a meal if you are forced to go there by one of your Cincinnati friends who does not know any better. The antipasto salad is nice, the calzones are actually pretty decent if you get the right mix of fillings, and the Baked Buddy sub is your best bet in the hoagie department.
As far as the pizza...if you like your sauce to be cloyingly sweet, your crust like it came from a pillsbury can minus the flavor, and your toppings from the good folks at JTM (Jeebus That's Meat?), then this is the pie for you.
Folks who say it has gone downhill have a point (JTM). I used to think the meatballs were decent, but alas, no more.
Provolone is their standard cheese. I've had great pizzas with provolone, but for some reason the Larosas pizza provolone seizes up like none I've encountered. Once that pie comes even close to losing temperature, you're going to be looking at a pizza that appears to be covered in a fat free cheese substitute or something. Maybe its the type of provolone they get, or maybe it is some kind of odd chemical reaction with the sugary sauce.
The prices are out of line, but coupons are plentiful and the local Larosas cult use something called a Buddy Card that gives them some kind of savings. A savings they sacrifice for their pizza eating soul.
While you are in Cincinnati, you're doing Reds for baseball, Bengals for football, Skyline for chili and for pizza? It's got to be LaRosa's - a classic homegrown tradition.
LaRosa's is a Cincinnati chain, and there's going to be one close to you wherever you are. Each store has a nice selection of Italian food and going in, you know you're in for a comfortable, familiar meal.
I've never been completely overwhelmed with LaRosa's meals. It's good but not great. The pizza is just a little too saucy, the calzones a little to quickly made, the pasta a little too dry. I wanted to like it, because it's such a part of Cincinnati history, but it's just not for me.
Still, I have friends who grew up on the stuff - every week they'd have LaRosa's day, where they knew it'd be what was for dinner - and they love it. It reminds them of home, of family, of Cincinnati.
The restaurants are always clean, the servers are always nice and, when I ask them to deliver, they deliver quickly. I'm not such a fan of the food, but I certainly am of the tradition. It would be rather un-Cincinnati of me to not be.
I am not sure what is wrong with you people, but this place is not Italian. Â I realize it is the 'Italian place' for Cincy, but it (like Skyline) is one of those local things those of us (who know what real Italian food) is think there is something wrong with the Queen City.
Sorry, I enjoy making fun of my Cincy friends who like this (and some do)
I stopped in here for lunch on a business trip to Cincinnati. Â Split a meatball sub and half cheese half peperoni thin crust pizza. Â The pizaa was good, unique sauce. Â The meatball sub was terriable! Â Nice little pizza joint, kid friendly and reasonably priced. Â The service was good too!
Review Source:I was in town and stopped here for lunch since Larosa's supposed to be a Cincinnati institution. Â We got a medium Zesty Barbecue Chicken Deluxe and a basket of french fries for two people.
The waitress brought the fries out first so they would still be hot when we got them. Â The pizza arrived shortly afterwards. Â The flavors were okay and nearly every piece had a jalapeno pepper on it. Â
The lunch crowd was decent so other people were helping clear plates. Â
My only complaint was our ice water was salty. Â And on an odd note, when we got out of our car, a woman in the parking lot asked if we'd buy her a small pizza.
One of the worst pizzas I have ever had and I have eaten many bad ones. Â Sauce was worse than bland and sweet tomato soup, cheese smelled and tasted rotten and crust was weak. Â If this is one of Cinci's best, the town needs another option from Chicago or NYC.
C'mon guys, doesn't anyone here know what really good is? Or do all the locals have taste buds different than the rest of the country?
I ordered a pizza recently from the White Oak location. I paid for extra cheese, and there was so little cheese on the pizza that large areas of it were completely bare except for a little sauce. There were a few tiny shreds of the toppings I ordered, but not enough to really taste. All in all, $18 for a big round slab of not very good bread and some of that very sweet sauce that we all know to expect from Larosas.
I eat at some of their other locations once in a while, and things like the calzones are okay for what they are. Never again on the pizza, though.
I wish I could figure out what it is with Cincinnatians obsessed with changing standard foods by sweetening them up. But Larosa's does the same: sweetening up it's sauces. The toppings were decent and they certainly didn't skimp on the cheese. While there are much better pizza places in the Cincinnati area, give Larosa's a try.
Review Source:I'm from Cincinnati but I live in NYC now. Â I also visit Chicago on a regular basis. Â So one could say that I've had some of the best pizza the USA has to offer. Â And LaRosa's ranks up there with the best. Â Chicago-style wins my heart for sure, but for 'regular' style, LaRosa's wins. Â Yes, even up against famous New York pizza. Â Why? Â The sauce, for one--which I do not find overly sweet--and the cheese. Â The traditional crust stikes a great balance between thin and still having substance (i.e., it's not a cracker). Â And the toppings are awesome. Â Every time I come home for a visit I make sure to have a pie or two. Â Love, love, love this place.
Review Source:This is my favorite pizza, and I'm from Chicago! Â I love the sweet sauce that La Rosa's uses and it tastes so good! Â I could eat this pizza every day. Â They have a ton of other stuff on the menu as well so you could get a salad or sandwich. They also have a pizza calzone that looked really good and I want to try that the next time I'm in Cincinnati!
Review Source:Better than Domino's, better than Donato's, way better than Papa John's, but not great and not everyone agrees. This is my choice for delivery pizza. My wife won't eat it, claiming the sauce is too peppery. For my money, it's good straight-up pizza, and it may be a buck or two more than the others, but I'm willing to spend it.
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