Despite living close to this place, my family has not eaten here frequently. Â After my last visit, I am clueless as to why that is the case.
First of all, they have a very good beer (bottle and draft) selection, and a full bar. Â Always a plus.
Great apps - we shared the calamari and the fried mozz. Â We don't usually get fried mozz, but this place has some of the best we've ever had.
The salads are pretty good, too. Â They have a large salad that my wife and I split, and still had enough to take home. Â Those who have commented on the house Italian are right on the money - it is very good.
We shared some pizza. Â One minor complaint here is that my wife ordered meatball and it appears we got sausage instead. Â Still tasted okay, though. Â In general, the pizzas are very good. Â I have had their sheet pizzas on other occasions, and they are also outstanding.
The biggest complaint would be regarding the shrimp tacos I ordered. Â The waitress gave me her recommendation, and although they looked appetizing, they were only so-so. Â I thought the idea of tacos at an Italian restaurant was strange, and I should have stuck with my gut. Â Maybe the others are better...all I know is I'll be having some pasta next time.
Overall, a very nice visit. Â Service and food were good, and the family left full and happy.
They have one of the best tasting pizzas on the east side. Great for college students at John Carroll University.
They also just added chicken & steak tacos to their menu, and I must say, they are now one of my favorite items they offer.
I was a little leery trying tacos from a pizza place, but they are definitely worth it.
Great selection of draft beer especially for such a small place. Definitely better selection of beer than that "speakeasy" place downstairs (HA! found you sucker via wifi network). Â Mech, pompous bartender down there for a such a low rundown bar.
I got the El Diablo specialty pizza and added pineapples on it. Spicy advertised. Spiciness denied... well for the most part. The pizza is a bit watery. Not cool especially for those who love to eat with their hands.
All the waitresses, presumably college girls with John Carroll University next door, Â wear spandex pants and black v-necks. Yea yea yea, some eye candy you suppose, but not really. You have to see my girlfriend with hers on. I know, iBrag.
4 for beer.
2.5 for food.
You can't budge me for a 4. Sorry!
I don't go often to the place but am a huge huge consumer of their deliveries. Pizzazz makes great and tasty food. Pesto pizza and 4-cheese calzones are decadent and a must. I'm a little bit upset for the disappearance of their best starter from the menu (which was the absolutely amazing pesto bruschetta) but the place is totally worth a visit.
Review Source:This is our standby for the nights that we don't feel like cooking. We get the same things every time because they're solid and delicious:
Hot wings. They seriously have some of the best wings in CLE.
Pepperoni pizza, thick crust, with diablo sauce (its a must if you like things spicy)
Grilled chicken salad - I don't know how a restaurant manages to make such good salad, but the fresh ingredients are always perfect.
We always get takeout. The staff is mostly young high school and college girls...and definitely leaves something to be desired in terms of service. Can't go wrong with carry out though.
Went here with the rents the other day. Just around the corner from my sibling's house! I will bump it up one more star. The bread was warm and the olive oil I asked for was really nice. The salad dressing is kick ass and did I mention bread was warm. Yeah I'm back to the carbs, lost a little too much weight!
The chicken parm was great like the last time and still is under 11$, I had lunch for the next day!
The calzone my parental units got look really good and they seemed to enjoy it. It was vegetarian and that goes against my 1st rule of calzone. Calzone must have some type of pork product so I did not sample it.
BTW you must try the grilled chicken salad. Sometimes less is more and that is definitely the case with this bom-chicky- chicky salad!
We went here for dinner the other night because it was convenient. I had never been but heard the pizza was pretty good and have been wanting to try it. Upon walking in, I was a little surprised at the atmosphere- I guess I expected it to be a bit more classier. You could definitely get away with casual dress, as it's more like a bar/tavern atmosphere. Regardless, we were seated immediately (even late on a Saturday night) and brought a basket of "rolls" (looked like ciabatta), which were served with Italian dressing to dip them in. The fresh, soft bread kept me satisfied until our meals came.
My brother and I ended up splitting the large calzone; we chose to fill it with chicken, onions, mushrooms, and red peppers. It was cooked perfectly- slightly brown on top, with lots of gooey melted cheese in the middle. The chicken was good, not the least bit dry, and the vegetables were all fresh...if only they had been sauteed a little instead of crunchy and raw. It was a decent calzone and plenty big for the two of us to split. I also stole a bite of the mesclun salad, which I highly recommend. I could put that raspberry dressing on anything!
Before I can really judge this restaurant, I'll have to order a pizza on my next visit!
We dine at Pizzazz fairly often. We have had good experiences and bad ones, so I will list some of the pros and cons of Pizzazz.
Pros -
1. The pizza is pretty good.
2. The restaurant has a nice atmosphere.
3. Lots of parking.
4. The salads are great (don't forget their house italian dressing!)
Cons -
1. Service can be hit or miss. We once had a manager, of all people, claim that the mushrooms on our pizza had something called "wild seasonings", after we said that the mushrooms on our pizza were not wild mushrooms like we had asked for, and are advertised on the menu.
**Please note, service is especially bad on the bar side of the restaurant! If you don't want to be ignored and forgotten, eat on the dining room side!
2. Pizza sometimes comes out of the kitchen way too hot and the cheese just slides right off when you go to pick it up.
3. Employees in the kitchen are sometimes loud enough for you to hear in the dining room, especially when the owner is not there.
I get nostalgic for Pizzazz. Hostessing there was my very first restaurant job back when I was 16 was at the Solon location (no longer open) and I used to love sampling everything on the menu.
This location of the mini-chain is a nice mix of families and college kids, giving it an eclectic cozy feeling.
I love that they have a variety of sauces for your pizza, and I've never had a bad one. By far, my fave is the diablo (red sauce with roasted hot peppers...spicy, but not too spicy to enjoy). The raspberry vinaigrette they put on the mesculn salad is pretty noteworthy, as well.
We recently moved to the cleveland area and we went to this restaurant. Â We were sat but a waitress never came so we had to go back to the hostess area and ask for a waitress, turns out the waitress that finally came over was the one who saw us sitting there 15 minutes ago but she said she didnt know we were there, the calamari was horrible and the pizza so so soggy I couldnt pick it up to eat it and there was sitting water under my pizza, then of course I had to go and get my own napkins to sop up the mess because the waitress was so unattentive. Â We will not be going back.
Review Source:For pizza in Cleveland, this place is great. Â It just doesn't compare to pizza from Chicago or New York, hence the 3 stars.
Great place for the local JCU students to eat because it's right across from campus.
I enjoy their dinner salad as well as a few of their pizzas. Â Their meat toppings may not be plentiful but that's why their prices are average. Â I've had nothing but good experiences here and will continue to grab pizza here every once and a while.
Perhaps I'm in the minority in thinking Pizzazz on the Circle is a tad overrated? I used to think the world of Pizzazz. Perhaps it's the same as I once remembered, only now my hypothetical pizza-palette has matured since experiencing other great pie's since I first met Pizzazz? Then again, perhaps my criticisms are perfectly warranted....
The decor is quite different from the original Pizzazz on SOM Center. I'll even go as far as saying I prefer the Mayfield location to this one. Gasp! This Pizzazz boasts a large, brightly lit dining room. The building is newer and lacks some of the character of the original location. It's loud and often crowded. I think better light control would help tame the crowd, but I digress. Â
Patrons include a good mix of college students from nearby John Carrol to families with kids. Lot's of boisterous kids. Forget about a relaxing meal at this place because it can get quite loud. The Mayfield location is a bit more conducive to a relaxed dining experience than this location.
One thing that bothers me are the pictures on the website. They're a bit misleading and seem to be a stark contrast to the food that is served here. Now, I'm not saying the food is horrendous, but the website boasts some really vivid food imagery that resembles up-scale Italiano food. Pizzazz is clearly not that.
For an appetizer, we started with a side of fried cheese ravioli's which ended up resembling a pierogi; so much so, I almost asked for a side of sour cream and apple sauce. Fried rav's should be breaded and stuffed with oozy cheese. This one was an oily round mass of un-breaded pasta stuffed with dry cheese. Very unappetizing.
For our main course, we split a calzone (sicilian) and small pizza (pepperoni & italian sausage). Both were passable, but with reservations. The calzone contained capicola & genoa salami with onions, fresh mushrooms, spinach & provolone cheese. One odd thing that stood out to me was the raw red onions. It left a pungent taste in my mouth for the rest of the evening. I would've preferred them to be sautéed prior to them being stuffed in my calzone.
As for the pizza, it was decent, but nothing better than average. The dough was a bit too doughy. The sauce a bit too bland and the toppings a bit too greasy. For a 9", four-cut pizza at $9.25, I expected more.
Perhaps in title, but lacking in definition; I'm still trying to figure out where the dazzling style, flamboyance and flair that inspired the title "Pizzazz" came from.
Pizzazz
This is a place that I believe to be a bit overrated, however the close spatial proximity to JCU makes it an obvious option for students. Â I always just had the thin crust pizza when I went here. Â One time my roommate ordered a salad that said it came with some meat topping. Â This salad came out with three of the smallest pepperoni slices that I have ever seen. Â We were all laughing. Â Another time I saw my psychology professor repeating, verbatim, our lecture to try to impress some middle age woman. Â Something like, "Your smell is driving my limbic system wild." Â Again I was laughing my ass off.
Although I live and work closer to the Pizzazz in Mayfield Village, I think the University Heights location is much nicer. Â The menu is different (and better, in my opinion) and the decor isn't circa 1975. Â
I went to Pizzazz on a busy Friday night and got to sit in the bar area. Â Boy, was it packed! Â You could tell that a lot of the local regulars were there watching NCAA basketball. Â I ordered a dinner salad and a spinach cheese calzone and my boyfriend ordered cavatelli with marinara sauce. Â As always, the salad was delicious! Â I always enjoy the mountain of cheese that they put on their salads and I think their house dressing is seriously one of the best Italian dressings I've ever had. Â I love dunking the fresh, warm bread that they bring to the table in the dressing. Â Despite how busy it was, our server was very attentive. Â She kept checking on us and refilling our drinks. Â When my calzone arrived, it was oozing with cheese, just the way I like it. Â My boyfriend's pasta looked as exciting as cavatelli can. Â He said it was just ok but my calzone was good as always. Â
If you're ever in University Heights and are craving some good, down-home Italian grub, this is a great place to check out.
I used to hang out at Pizzazz all the time growing up. Â I loved their chicken salad. Â But that was like 15 years ago. Â I recently went back and discovered that yes, the chicken salad is still just as good. Â What consistency! Â I can't explain to you what is so delicious about this simple chicken salad. Â It's just iceberg lettuce with grilled chicken, grape tomatoes, black olives, shredded provolone, and house italian dressing. Â All I can surmise is that the secret is in the house dressing. Â And the cheese is wonderfully moist, unlike most dry shredded cheese on salads. Â I vaguely remember that their pizza is good too, but really, this review is for the chicken salad.
Review Source:First thing is First. Â The dinner salad. Â My friends and I can never resist ordering the dinner salad when we come here (which used to be more often when we went to John Carroll). Â Usually by the time you get through the cheese, it is kind of hard to eat the rest because I swear they use half of a block of grated cheese. Â I have really never been disappointed here. Â Sometimes the service can be a little rude, Â but they are usually pretty busy so that is understandable. Â
Word of advice to anyone that likes Irish Car Bombs but you dont feel like paying $8 at another bar, you can get one here for a mere $5 and they are usually pretty big. Â Warning, you may get wrapped up in the fact that the shots are not that expensive, and the next thing you know, huge bar tab. Â But then again, the only people who use this as an actual bar opposed to a restaurant is my group of friends.
For all the amazing food Cleveland has to offer, pizza is not its strong point. Â The standards are particularly low, and the pickings are slim.
That said, this is one of the better pizza places out there in the greater Cleveland area. Â The pizza is good, if not particularly interesting. Â It doesn't have any objectionable qualities: it's not too greasy, not too salty, and it's a step up from any of the mainstream pizza chains.
The atmosphere is very snazzy for a pizza place...sleek, modern, but in a classy sort of way. Â It's a spacious place too, and can usually accomodate very large groups without much trouble.
When I lived in Cleveland I wouldn't eat much pizza but if I were in the mood for it, I would never object to going to this place.
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