Grimaldi's in Vegas

And so ... we're in Vegas. We're talking about the secret pizza in the Cosmopolitan and how were were a bit disappointed after everyone raved about it. And a friend says, "Well, the best pizza in Vegas is Grimaldi's."

Now, we are not strangers to Grimaldi's pizza ... but we are devoted to the original Grimaldi's, under the Brooklyn Bridge from back in the 80's. It was Patsy's then, Grimaldi's for a while and Juliana's now — it's a long story, best told with a glass of wine. Trust us when we tell you that we were regulars back when Patsy and his wife Carol made the best pizza you'll ever eat.

We've had good Grimaldi's in Hoboken (where it's Grimaldi's, but not the big chain Grimaldi's) and in Philly where Patsy's cousins opened a place called Pietro's. The big chain Grimaldi's is one we've never tried, so we thought it was about time.

When we walked in, we were amazed — the decor was thoughtful and an homage to the original Patsy's: red-checked table-cloths, cane-backed chairs, and a central prep area complete with marble counter and Carol's famous turntable for the orders.

Grimaldi's ... it's NOT the original Patsy Grimaldi pie

So we were excited. And disappointed. The crust was so-so, the sauce nondescript, and the mozzarella chewy. It was edible and a bit better than the secret pizza from the Cosmopolitan. But it was not a Patsy Grimaldi pizza ... a wannabe imitation :(

Secret Pizza at the Cosmopolitan in Las Vegas

So you probably don't go to Vegas for pizza, but when we heard about the best pizza being in a secret location inside the Cosmopolitan hotel, we couldn't resist. If you google secret pizza in vegas, the information pops up pretty readily — so it's not really that much of a secret. But yelpers and google reviewers all claimed it was really great pizza, so we figured it was worth a try.

And truthfully, when you're in the Cosmopolitan's multi-level food court, every restaurant is clearly marked except for the pizza place. So maybe it is a bit of a secret.

In search of secret pizza

Unfortunately, we found it. We tried the plain and the white pizza. Neither was remarkable in any way (although Gary and Stef disagreed on this to some extent). Other than the secretive nature of the location (down a long decorated hallway), there isn't a whole lot to extol about the pizza. The crust holds up to the floppiness test, but the flavor is fairly standard — a bit on the salty side. And, like everything else in Vegas, it is extremely overpriced.

Not-so-secret pizza

Pizza My Heart

While spending the weekend in San Jose, we stopped into Pizza My Heart. Truthfully, we didn't expect much from our west coast friends because we are eternally east coast pizza snobs. (Don't even get us started on Chicago -- that's a whole other story).
But the place was super friendly and the staff were amiable and ready to put on a show. They were egging each other on to toss their pizza dough higher and higher. Several of them ended up on the floor (and subsequently, the trash) so we asked them to stop before we felt responsible for the place going out of business.

What goes up, must come down.

We then witnessed one of the most interesting preparation tools ever seen behind a pizza counter: the turkey baster. The sauce was squirted onto the pizza in widening circles as if being done with a spirograph.

Turkey baster pizza prep.

And after baking for quite some time in the oven, the pizza finally arrived. How was it? Eh, pretty good. Basic pizza, nothing extraordinary. A little too cheesy for our tastes, with a floppy crust. But we certainly enjoyed the visit.

A good time was had by all.