Palio's Pizza
I moved to Texas six months ago from Venezuela, and whilst it has been great around here, I have still yet to find one thing: a good slice of Pizza. Celebrating my mother's birthday, my family and I decided to have lunch on Palio's Pizza. I didn't know a lot from this place beforehand, only the fact that it was a family-owned business with multiple locations. After some research, I found out, through their site, that they count with over 20 locations spread along North Texas. Despite their notable expansion, Palio's still proudly displays the fact that every single one of those locations are family owned, which doesn't make it a franchise, and gives the restaurant a more personal touch.
Entering Palio's
I believe that once entering a restaurant
the first impression sets the tone for the rest of your experience, and Palio's Pizza gave one that has become trademark amongst Italian restaurants; The homey, rustic and accommodating ambience, oil paintings hung throughout the walls of the cafe, and the open kitchen which never fails to give that tone of coziness. The place also counted with televisions on the walls of the establishment showing various sports programs (in our case, basketball), which just further cemented the casual context of the place. It also offers an outside dining room, which resembles a terrace in which to have a more quiet, tranquil meal, which I find as a great option during the spring or fall, just make sure to go for it on the night, as during the day, you will be facing the highway/parking which can't beat a dinner under the stars. The place also offer a BYOB (Bring Your Own Booze) policy, which I found surprising, seeing that they sold no type of alcoholic beverage. With all this in mind, I was content with what I had seen from the restaurant's theme so far, and was looking forward for more.
The Service
Celebrity chef Tom Colicchio once said that,
regarding restaurants, "The customer comes for the food, but he returns for the service." I've always found myself to be a follower of that philosophy, which has more than once proven itself right. Palio's whole dynamic was one that fits better into the fast-dining, category, that is, order in the counter, find a seat, and get your food delivered directly to your table. Our cashier/server was attentive and polite, and as brief as our interaction was with him, he did clear any inquiries we had about the menu, which brings us to:
The Menu
The menu for Palio's was what one would expect from an Italian-themed restaurant, it offered a selection of gourmet pizzas, an option for us to make our own pizza (huge plus, they made gluten-free crust), a choice of salads, sandwiches (with kettle baked chips), a selection of pastas, a kids menu, and a selection of desserts which seemed very appealing. An all-around complete menu that seemed very promising. Since the menu provided by their official website is exactly the one that I witnessed in the Keller establishment, I won't go that much into it, since access to it is available online.
The Food
We decided to venture with a couple dishes, we ended up ordering a small cheese pizza, a small cheese and pesto pizza, a gluten free "Molly's" pizza (from the gourmet pizzas) and a "Hawaiian Sunrise" pizza (also a gourmet) with chicken instead of bacon.
The Cheese Pizza and the Pesto Pizza:
I decided to put these two pizzas in the same category, since their composition was identical, with the exception of the sauce. With the Pesto Pizza, the taste was simple, but complacent. I have had my share of pizzas with Pesto and the first offense that about half of them make, is overpower the pizza with pesto, a very strong sauce and practically making the dish hit only one note. Fortunately, this wasn't the case, as the Pesto was generous, but not overpowering.
The Gluten Free "Molly's":
We ordered a "Molly's" pizza with a Gluten Free crust and without any cheese, this left a crust with a red sauce, some chicken, spinach, roma tomatoes, oregano, sesame seeds, and virgin olive oil. Some restaurants seem to undermine the now trending "Gluten-free" movement, but this was one of the best Gluten-free pizzas that we had tasted in a long while, and although the cheese was absent from the pizza, the quality of the ingredients seemed to compensate the lack of both types of dairy.
The "Hawaiian Sunrise"
This pizza I didn't taste due to the fact that I am not a fan of neither pineapples, nor cranberries. This is the only pizza that we ordered on a large size (the other ones we got were small), and not a slice was left.
Conclusion
As a first entry, I feel that with Palio's Pizza Cafe I have started of in a good note. Despite the fact that (as you can see from the pictures) the pizzas from Palio's are characterized by a very thin crust with a lot of crisp to them, and I myself am more of a thick, spongy crust kind of person, I would not hesitate in going once again to Palio's and am content in having this place so close by. If you are planning on going in for a good time with friends, watch a game or just have a nice dinner with your family, you won't be disappointed with Palio's, just don't forget to BYOB if you wish to have a drink or two.