They say that when the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore. But instead of finding the love of your life, what if you are more interested in finding a pizza that you could love? This led me to go ahead and review one of the pizzerias here in the Alamo City, Goomba’s.
Located on the corner of Lockhill Selma and Blanco right north of 410 is a pizzeria with an Italian feel. You walk in the restaurant and you immediately feel the vibe of being serenaded by Frank, Dean, and the likes. You can order at the counter and they have daily lunch specials of two pieces of pizza and a coke, or one slice of pizza, side salad, and a coke both being under $5 with tax! You can also try the pasta del giorno, but trust me, this is a joint to get some pizza.
While the line moves incredibly fast to place your order, the actual time it takes to get your food can take forever. Full disclosure, this is one of those places I had been before. I will tell you right now I love their food (more on that in a moment); actually, I really really really like their food. It reminds me of Giorgio’s, my pizza joint that I frequented once a week through high school and college in Lubbock. The problem with Goomba’s is that it can take a LONG time to get your food. Like a really really really long time. The last time I went there was 8 months ago and I swore it off after it took me 30+ min to get my two slices of pizza. Everyone was getting their food ahead of me, and I got all kinds of attitude when I asked what the deal was. I had vowed to never return.
Well, I wanted to see if I could let bygones be bygones so I decided to review them for the site (not to mention the fact that I really wanted some of their pizza). Low and behold, I get the same delay all over again! It was awful; I was number 291 with two pepperoni pizzas. The girl behind the counter called out 290 over and over again which were also two pepperoni pizzas, but no one claimed it. I told her that I think it might be my order, but she assured me it wasn’t and wouldn’t let me claim it. She then left from behind the bar and cleaned tables while the pizza was sitting there. I waited like 5 minutes, no one got it, so I asked again. She was aggravated and took my receipt and talked with the cook. I had two new fresh pepperoni pizzas all the while the other two were just sitting there. This ordeal took me 15 minutes longer than my coworker who ordered right before me.
Taking my bounty to the booth, I remembered why I came here. The slices are ENORMOUS (literally you have one slice of pizza per plate) and the crust is just near perfect. My aggravation seemed to melt away with each bite I took. After only eating a slice and a half, I vowed that I would only get one slice and a side salad if I ever chose to visit the restaurant again.
The flavor of the food, the economical price, and Frank on the speakers probably means that I will return in spite of the bad service, and when I do, I am sure I will forget that side salad and go directly for two slices of pepperoni pizza.
Value: 10/10 (for five bucks you get plenty of food and a drink)
Atmosphere: 9/10 (you have to love the music and it feels like a pizza joint)
Service: 4/10 (disastrous; either don’t be in a hurry or don’t expect much; if that is the case you might be pleasantly surprised)
Taste: 10/10 (that’s amore…enough to make me put up with the bad service)
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