Giordano's in Tampa, FL

[BTB]

My wife and I took our Florida neighbor's to the Giordano's Pizzeria in Tampa, FL about a week ago.  Other than enjoying some of my homemade pizzas (which they rave about), they had not experienced first hand some of the styles of the great Chicago pizzerias.  While I am not normally a big fan of Giordano's, I have to say on this occasion that they completely outdid themselves and made some great pizzas that I will long remember.  Since my neighbors seemed a little reticent about the "stuffed" kind of pizza, I ordered both a medium stuffed sausage pizza and a medium thin crust pizza with half sausage and half pepperoni.  Since we arrived between lunch and dinner time and the place wasn't as crowded as it normally is, I got to watch some of the events in the kitchen where the pizzas were being prepared for the great revolving deck oven that they cook in.  None of those crappy conveyor ovens are used at Giordano's, thank goodness.  Some of the kitchen pictures were as follows.

[BTB]

You can see that unlike Malnati's, Gino's East, Uno's, Due's, etc., Giordano's seems to use only shredded mozzarella cheese instead of slices.  And unlike my earlier experiences, the crust was not as thick as I had previously experienced on other occasions at some of their other restaurants.  I ordered extra sauce on top of the pizza as I feared -- from previous experience -- a dryer pizza top after the pizza is baked.  But all my fears may have been unnecessary as everything turned out fantastic.

[BTB]

Both the stuffed and thin pizzas were great.  Our neighbor's confided later that they especially loved the stuffed leftover pieces of pizza that they took home and later reheated.  The pizzas were so good that I am looking forward to another visit to Giordano's and highly recommend that others try their unique style of pizza.  The slice below of the stuffed pizza shows a picture perfect piece of pizza in my estimation.                   --BTB

[JConk007]

BTB .
Wow that slice shot is truly amazing! I can only imagine how good it tasted. Flights to Tampa are cheaper than Chicago too
I am putting this stuffed crust on the short list for sure! So the dough is sheeted and has been left out for a while by the looks of the spots on the stretched dough. I have done that and put it on the bottom to achiev a crispy crust, worked great!
And I may add some semolina too? Thanks for sharing
John

[Pete-zza]

BTB,

Is the sausage added to the sauce on top of the upper layer of dough?

Peter

[BTB]

I ordered the stuffed pizza with "double sausage" as I remember them being very frugal with their sausage, but it still wasn't that much.  No, it wasn't added to the sauce on top of the upper layer of dough.  Instead it was under the cheese, which is contrary to the way other Chicago style deep dish pizzas are made.  But it was so good and I'm anxious for a return visit.                --BTB

Giordano's
401 N. Dale Mabry
Tampa, FL
(813) 872-5900

[The Slice]

I tried this place on fri and I wish I could have said the same as BTB. We ordered a large thin and a med stuffed. In both cases the upper half of the crust was uncooked and gel like. The crust had little flavor on either pie and the sauce wasn't anything special either. I wouldn't even rate this pizza as average. It gets worse. I ended up throwing most of it back up several hours later. 

[CharlotteSailor]

My wife, two friends and I went there recently (before the a Jimmy Buffet concert).  I grew up in Chicago but moved to California in the late 70s, my wife is native Californian, our friends have lived in different places.  All of us lived in California for a long time before relocating to Florida.  I ate Giordano's regularly when I lived in Chicago none of the others had even heard of stuffed pizza before (Sorry for the detail but just wanted to establish everyone "Pizza knowledge")  We all thought the pizza was great (just as I remembered).  Our friends ordered a small and had no leftovers, my wife and I had a medium and thankfully had enough for dinner the next day. 

After 30 years of no real pizza (read Malnotti's, Aurelio's, and Giordano's) I can now get Giordano's when I'm in Tampa or Orlando, Aurelio's in Naples or Bonita and Malnotti's by Fed Ex.

[BTB]

Sorry to hear, Slice, about your bad experience, but happy to hear about CharlotteSailor's good experience.  Giordano's is an either "love it or hate it" pizza experience with very few opinions in the middle.  And I used to be on the hate it side, but have come around a good bit as a result of recent good experience (and maybe a change in taste buds or something).  I loved their stuffed (with extra tomato sauce on top to avoid a "dry" top) but would only order the thin crust if young kids were along. I haven't tried the new Aurelio's in Ft. Myer's, FL (http://www.aureliospizza.com/aurelios/swfl.nsf/fCNTDspRead1?OpenForm&Cat1=LA1) but am looking forward to doing so later this year.  The one in Naples is great, however.             --BTB

[CharlotteSailor]

Wife and I were in Aurelio's Ft Myers/Bonita several weeks agao at lunch time.  Since it was lunch we split a small (individual serving size).  I don't know if it was the size of the pie or the store it was not as good as Naples (way too much cheese)

[BTB]

Yesterday my wife, son and I lunched at the great Giordano's pizzeria and restaurant on Dale Mabry in Tampa, FL.  My wife had an individual stuffed spinach pizza and my son and I split a medium stuffed sausage pizza with extra sauce on top.  What great pizzas we had.  It was even better than I remembered.  Look at the pictures to see the tasty, delicious, flaky crust, tantalizing pizza for yourself.  I'm already anxious to go back for more.
                                                                                    --BTB

[BTB]

Some of the learnings from this visit included . . .
--noting that the dough skins were very stiff and dry
--seeing that all the dough skins for both thin and pan use were run through a sheeter
--that the dough skins were the same for thin and pan pizzas
--that the pans were "greased" with real unsalted butter (no oil or crisco)
--that they still use, like all great classic Chicago deep-dish places, deck ovens as opposed to conveyor ovens (boo on conveyor ovens)
--that the dough skins still included yellow blotches in it that I have no explanation for (some form of shortening?)

Some pictures of the process follow.

[BTB]

Somewhat of a simple process.  Butter the pans, sheet the dough and put into the pan.  Trim the dough (it all gets re-used), put in the topping (here sausage), cheese, added layer of dough, sauce, spinkled cheese on top and bake for 30 to 45 minutes.

[BTB]

The crusts for the small 6" individual pizzas are pre-baked, then filled with ingredients when orderd, and baked in the oven outside the deep-dish pans.  Kind of a quick warm up of sorts for that size pizza.  Pictured below on the trays are the stiff and dry dough skins awaiting use.  In the background is, of course, their great revolving deck oven.  And more pictures of our luncheon pizza.  Did I mention it was "half price off" day?    --BTB

[BTB]

On the way to dropping my daughter off at the Tampa airport after the Christmas holidays, we stopped for another bite of Giordano's famous stuffed pizza prior to her flight.  All I have to say is one word . . . . . delicious.                                                    --BTB

[norma427]

BTB,
Thanks for sharing all the photos and information.  I found this very informative.  I just bought some used deep-dish pans from ebay and they should be coming soon.  Can you tell me what height the crust was?  In the pics, the crust looks really high. 
Thanks,
Norma

[JConk007]

BTB,
Yes delicious looking is an understatement! Curious is the cheese above or below the sausage? and can you eat more than 2 slices of that bad boy!
John

[BTB]

Norma, the pans they use I believe are 2" deep.  Since it's stuffed crust, the rim of the crust may be a tad more higher, like 2 and 1/8th to 1/4th inch in height, but it doesn't need to be so high. 

John, I've seen them do it both ways, sometimes with the shredded cheese first, sometimes with the sausage first. As of late, though, it seems like they put the sausage on first.  In my younger days, I could eat more than 2 slices at a sitting, but now 2 slices are definitely my limit!                 
                                                                        --BTB