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Filippi's Pizza Grotto
“The atmosphere is nice, but unfortunately the customer service is l.”
“just have some peanuts in my pocket handy to eat so that I don't have to order their food.”
“good place for large crowd.”
“hate sweet sauce and I put a premium on good tomatoes like San Marzanos to start with, but some people like sugar in their ragu.”
Great Family Restaurant. Always enjoy going to Fillipis! Love the pizza; very thick so a large can feed a lot of people. Very informal with red and white checkered tablecloths for that Italian feel. Always a favorite with kids as well, this is a great old-fashioned Italian family restaurant. Highly recommend!…
Heavy pizza, not to my taste.
First, to be fair, I am more a "New York style" pizza person rather than a "Chicago style" pizza person. That said, I've had a few good Chicago style pies that I've really enjoyed. Filippi's was
definitely not one of them. The dough was hard (not crispy) on the outside and soggy on the inside. The dough is hea-vy. The crust on my large combo probably weighed 2 pounds by itself. A raw dough taste was really prevalent despite all the toppings and despite the dough being fully cooked (I think). The sauce was also not good. It tasted like Prego or Ragu bottled "pasta" sauce. I hate sweet sauce and I put a premium on good tomatoes like San Marzanos to start with, but some people like sugar in their ragu. Toppings were typical toppings, nothing special. I ended up dissecting the pizza and just eating the toppings with just a little of the crust.
I've also had their pasta which was disgusting. I asked for a simple linguini with marinara and sausage and peppers. Apparently they don't have an open flame grill (or didn't on that day), so what I got was super soft, limp pasta with pizza toppings on it. Gross.
Service is great, it's a very family style joint. I do enjoy having a few beers here and watching football at Filippi's. I just have some peanuts in my pocket handy to eat so that I don't have to order their food. I'd guess if you like Bucco di Beppo you'd probably like Filippi's, who's quality is most likely better than the bigger chains.…
Classic pizza parlor is a San Diego tradition in Little Italy.
In Short
From the red checkered table cloths to the hundreds of chianti bottles strung from the ceiling, this pizza grotto is a classic experince in Italian-American dining. After more than
50 years in business, people still come in droves to wait in line for a table and slice of what is routinely voted the best pie in the city. Also popular are the macaroni and spumoni.
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