Gino's East in Deerfield

I didn't even realize that there was a Gino's East in Deerfield. It is in the Embassy Suites Hotel.

I was driving back from Michigan last Sunday and heard a Gino's East commercial on the radio...when they were rattling off the locations and said "Deerfield" I thought it had to be a mistake. Sure enough I found it online and then my buddy told me it just opened. Planning on grabbing a pie on my way home in the next couple weeks, this is a nice addition to the area.

We decided to head to the hotel to give Gino's a shot a few weeks ago. The restaurant was half full at around 7 PM on a Friday night. We approached the hostess and we were seated promptly. After deciding between Pizza and Pasta, our waitress came by and took our orders, left, and then it all went down hill.

7 minutes later our waitress came back. Apparently she had lost her scribble pad and didn't remember what we had ordered (Deep Dish Sausage Pizza, and Spaghetti Marinara - not too hard). She took our orders again and disappeared for another 15 or so minutes. The pasta was supposed to come with soup. We had to flag down the hostess to get us the soup so that it arrived (warm, not hot) before the meal.

The runner finally brought the main courses and the food was good. The pizza was typical Gino's deep dish and the pasta was edible.

I'm guessing this place's clientèle is going to be hotel guests but if area office buildings get in the game, I sure hope their delivery service is better than their dine-in or I don't expect it to last long.

I give it a 2 out of 5. If rating on food alone however, it's more of a 3.5. The service was that bad.

Thanks Kesey, I was planning on keeping this in mind as a carry-out option only...and you just affirmed it for me.

We occasionally order for carry-out (pickup) from the Gino's East in Naperville. I like their pizza, and spinach sticks, and it's a nice change of pace every once in a while.

That said, I wouldn't dare eat in the restaurant. Not sure if the Deerfield location is nicer, newer and more efficiently run, but the Naperville location seems to be staffed and run by indifferent teenagers. Based on my interaction with the staff, I would be very surprised if I received anything other than extremely poor service in the dining room.

I've found the quality of food and service varies greatly between the different locations of Gino's East. I've always had a decent experience at the Rolling Meadows location.

I used to work next door to the old Rosemont location, when it was in between the office buildings at 9801 and 9701 Higgins. The carry-out service kinda sucked- they repeatedly screwed up orders, but the people who worked there were nice enough. The Italian beef there was really good- perfect balance of garlic and herbs. And all the other food there was really good too, when they got the order right.

Eventually my office moved and that location closed and moved down the street into the Hilton or Hyatt. I haven't been back there, so who knows what it's like.

A couple years ago, the Lake Zurich location opened and I was looking forward to getting more of that Italian Beef. Imagine my disappointment when the sandwich was mouth-burningly salty. It was awful and inedible. Lucky for me, there's plenty of other places I can get good Italian beef, even in the suburbs (I miss working down the street from Johnny's in Arlington Heights. )

We tried Gino's East in Deerfield for carry-out about 2 weeks ago, with mixed results. Bottom line is the pizzas were good but not much else was. Salads were limp, sandwich was very run-of-the-mill, "vesuvio potatoes" side dish was virtually inedible. When we placed the order, we were told that it would be ready in 35 minutes. My wife arrived promptly at the scheduled pickup time but had to wait 15 additoinal minutes before the order was actually ready to go.

It also doesn't help matters that they are essentially carry-out only. Their delivery option is provided by a 3rd party, Take-Out Taxi, which estimated the delivery time to be approximately an hour and 15 minutes -- and this on a weeknight. I think Malnati's is superior in just about every regard. I'm definitely glad I like Malnati's pizza better since they seem to have a much firmer grip on the operational side of things.

=R=

Additional delivery detail, 2nd order:

When we first called the restaurant, the phone rang and rang but no one picked up. 5 minutes later, I called again and after placing my order, was informed that it would be $38.05 and would be ready in 35 mintues. Surprised, I asked "for delivery?" and was told "no," the 35 minute estimate was for carry-out. Once I specified that it was for delivery, the person on the phone told me that I had to call Take Out Taxi to place a delivery order.

So, I called Take Out Taxi to place the order. I placed the exact same order with with TOT that I had with the restaurant and was told that because the total was over $50, the driver's tip would automatically be added -- and that my final total would be $60.25. I'm not sure what kind of mark-up TOT is placing on the orders -- I didn't ask -- or if they just made an error. In any case, when they mentioned that the the delivery estimate was 75 minutes (again?!), we bailed, called the restaurant back and ordered carry-out (again this required 2 phone calls).

In the end, the pizza was different this time. Instead of a dark-red, herbacious, homogenous sauce, our deep dish pie was topped with a chunkier-style of sauce (more Malnatis-like) that was much sweeter and lighter in color than it was the first time we ordered.

At this point, I'm not sure what to think. After one order, I thought this would be a nice, occasional alternative to Malnati's (the only other decent pizza delivery option near me). But after order #2, I'm not so sure. Seems like Gino's East - Deerfield is very 'hit or miss' right now and that their ill-conceived delivery option is punitively priced. Next time I call (it'll probably be a while), I'll hopefully get to the bottom of that.

=R=

Why does anyone expect anything more than uncaring mediocrity (I almost mistyped "merdiocrity," which would fit too) from any Gino's East?

Easily the lamest of the famous pizzas, except for a slice of Nancy's or Carmen's grabbed at McCormack Place.

Mike G wrote:Why does anyone expect anything more than uncaring mediocrity (I almost mistyped "merdiocrity," which would fit too) from any Gino's East?

Easily the lamest of the famous pizzas, except for a slice of Nancy's or Carmen's grabbed at McCormack Place.

Have you ever tried a slice of Connie's pizza at Wrigley?

Thanks for the information! We usually eat at Edwardos for deep dish. I was excited about the Ginos East but not sure I want to try it now.

Mike G wrote:Why does anyone expect anything more than uncaring mediocrity (I almost mistyped "merdiocrity," which would fit too) from any Gino's East?

Easily the lamest of the famous pizzas, except for a slice of Nancy's or Carmen's grabbed at McCormack Place.

Is this really their reputation? It doesn't surprise me and I've never been much of a fan but I really had no idea. LOL @ the Carmen's comment. Is that place still around? I lived in Evanston for about 10 years and I never could understand why people liked it.

LAM026 wrote:Thanks for the information! We usually eat at Edwardos for deep dish. I was excited about the Ginos East but not sure I want to try it now.

It's been years since I've had Edwardo's. There used to be one very near my house (Skokie Blvd, Northbrook) and I remember liking it but after it closed, I kind of forgot about it. Do you go to the one at Dundee and Milwaukee? Carry-out or dine-in?

=R=

Yes we go to the Edwardos on Dundee in Wheeling.
We have eaten there - last time the service wasn't very good. It varies.
We usually call in our order and eat there.

It seemed to be really slow for a while then it was quite busy.

LAM026 wrote:Yes we go to the Edwardos on Dundee in Wheeling.
We have eaten there - last time the service wasn't very good. It varies.
We usually call in our order and eat there.

It seemed to be really slow for a while then it was quite busy.

service there has always been consistently bad...especially at lunch when poeple dont have two + hrs...
the wait starts at the entrance..always takes forever for someone to show up and sit you at a table..the wait for the food is usually just as bad..

Ron A. wrote:the Naperville location seems to be staffed and run by indifferent teenagers.

I'm not sure who else you expected to see working at a suburban chain pizza place.

stevez wrote:

Ron A. wrote:the Naperville location seems to be staffed and run by indifferent teenagers.

I'm not sure who else you expected to see working at a suburban chain pizza place.

Point well taken. However, in my experience, even most suburban chain pizza places seem to have at least one visible/identifiable "manager" or similar authority figure, and not be in a state of anarchy.

Merdiocrity is certainly their reputation with me:

It's not only not the best pizza in Chicago, it's not even the best pizza starting with G in Chicago, in fact it's not even the best pizza starting with G-I- and ending with O-apostrophe-S." (If the question is, did I mean Giordano's or Gigio's, the answer is yes, and there's probably a Giorgio's somewhere that does better, too.)

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=785

Gigio's in Evanston just west of the Davis L and Metra stops makes a tasty NY style pie, making it my nomination for the title of "best pizza in the area for a restaurant beginning in G-I and ending in O-'S."

Gigio's Pizzeria
1001 Davis
Evanston, IL 60201
847 328 0990