[Second Helping] Pizzeria Bianco

I was recently in Phoenix for a conference. When I was told I was invited to present something, my first thought was that I would finally get a chance to try the famed Pizzeria Bianco. Marla Collins' Husband did an excellent job reviewing it for our website after his trip last year, so I don't think there is any need for me to repeat information on the background of the restaurant. This merely serves as a second opinion on the place. Also, I forgot my camera during this trip, but I ordered one of the same pizzas he did so you can salivate over his pictures.

My friend and I ordered 2 pizzas:

• The Wiseguy, which is a white pizza with mozzarella, sausage, and roasted onions
• The Margherita, which was tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil

Pizzeria Bianco cooks their pizzas with white oak and pecan wood. The oak surprised me a bit, because it is usually a strong flavor. However, given that our pizzas were cooked in less than 2 minutes, I suppose it doesn't have time to be overwhelmed by the strong oak flavor. I was unable to really get a hint of the pecan wood in my meal but the oak smell escaped the oven (we sat next to it) and I was able to smell/taste it a bit in my pizza. I think he probably uses these hardwoods more for their heat qualities than for any flavor they impart due to the short time the pizzas are exposed to it. That, however, is just a guess.

My wait was shorter than MCH's because I came after spring training. I showed up at 4:30 pm and was seated at 6:30 pm. If I had shown up 10 minutes earlier I would have been seated when they opened at 5:00 pm. I still don't know why I had to wait so long to sit down. I was out of the restaurant in less than 20 minutes after sitting down. The pizzas are small, they cook very quickly, and they get your bill right away. I guess people must enjoy finally getting a seat at this bustling restaurant and they want to make it last.

So, on to the pizza. Everything on the pizza was top-grade. The sausage was cut lengthwise in an oblique cut. I was surprised to find that the casing was still on the sausage, but I ended up really liking this. The snap it gave the pizza was a great textural addition. Flavor-wise, this was outstanding sausage. It was just well-balanced and had a very mild flavor, playing nicely with the other ingredients. It is different from most pizza sausage in that it doesn't have a strong flavor; it is subtle and uses the condiments to bring out the flavor in the free-range pork. Usually the cheese gets ignored in pizzas, but this was fresh mozzarella. It had that chewy texture of good cheese and had a fresh dairy flavor. The onions were also well cooked because they were sweet, but not yet a mushy pile. The crust had nice chew and was baked perfectly so the outside was crisp. I didn't notice a strong smoke flavor on my pies as I previously mentioned, but because I was next to the oven I did get a hint of it from the smell. I also was happy to see that the center was crisp and not soggy. My biggest complaint is that I really wanted tomato sauce on this pie. In fact, 3 out of the 6 pizzas that they recommend are white pies. I think a little acid on this pie would have brought out the flavors more.

The margherita was my favorite. There was nothing revolutionary here, just good ingredients. The sauce was very basic, but the flavor in the small tomato pieces was sweet with a hint of acid and I was very, very happy with it. One of the ways in which Bianco distinguishes himself is with small touches like adding sweet onions instead of regular onions and by adding his basil after the margherita has cooked. A lot of people do that, but their basil isn't as flavorful or fragrant as this one.

Best pizza ever? No, not at all. Not even close. I have no doubt it is the best pizza in Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nevada, Utah, and maybe somewhere else in the Southwest. I think what he has essentially done is take his very good pizza and put in a pizza dessert where its already good qualities are amplified by terrible competition. It is an excellent example of this style with great attention to small details. I admire his craftsmanship. I could have gone every night I was in Phoenix, but the thought of waiting even 45 minutes for this pizza deterred me. If I am in Phoenix again, I won't go back and wait for it. I can't even begin to imagine waiting 5.5 hours for it like some people do. This is not my favorite style of pizza, but I do enjoy it in some of the restaurants here in town. But when given a choice between this and a good tavern-style thin, a deep dish or even a good stuffed pizza, I vote Chicago.

Special Report: Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, AZ

Pizzeria Bianco
623 E. Adams Street
Phoenix, AZ
(602) 258-8300

Marla Collins' Husband invaded Pizzeria Bianco on 3/9/08.

I arrived at Pizzeria Bianco at 4:50 on Saturday afternoon. I was seated at 9:45 on Saturday night. You read that right: I waited five hours just to be seated.

It was worth the wait.

Pizzeria Bianco, located in historic Heritage Square in downtown Phoenix, has been anointed the best pizza in America by Ed Levine, author of Pizza: A Slice of Heaven.

Going into the meal, I had two competing thoughts. First, the guy who wrote the book can presumably pick an outstanding pizza. But second, he dismisses Chicago-style pizza as being nothing more than a casserole, so I was skeptical of his "expertise."

I spent the afternoon baking in lovely Hohokam Park, spring training home of the 2008 World Champion Chicago Cubs. A little while after the game ended I called Pizzeria Bianco, which only takes a few reservations and only does so for parties of six or more, to ask what time we should get there to avoid waiting too long. The restaurant opens at 5:00, so I was expecting to hear that as long as we got there by 6 or so, we wouldn’t have to wait more than an hour. I was surprised when told that a long line had already formed and that we should get there ASAP. We drove over there and I got in line at 4:50. When they opened the doors and let the first people in, they took names of people in line and gave us all estimated seating times. Ours: between 10 and 10:30.

That shock elicited a short conversation between me, my little sister and her boyfriend. First, there was consensus that there was no way the wait would be that long. Second, we were glad we had eaten a huge, excellent Mexican lunch at Rancho de la Tia Rosa. Third, we were glad we brought books. We were in it for the long haul - this place has been open for 14 years and still has lines like this mean we were in for a treat. And while there were certainly a good number of tourists in line (March is the busiest season), there were plenty of locals willing to endure the wait.

The building next to Pizzeria Bianco is Bar Bianco. It’s even smaller than Pizzeria Bianco, but is the same style of building, dating back a century. The bar only serves beer, wine, a variety of soft drinks and a handful of appetizers. After about an hour wait, two of us had a glass of wine and the three of us split two appetizers: an outstanding prosciutto served with crunchy focaccia toast as well as apple slices, and an even better cheese plate served with three kinds of cheese, two of which were goat’s milk cheeses, raisins, apples and more focaccia toast. The quality of the appetizers and wine had me more excited about dinner.

In addition to the two buildings, there is a courtyard where people can drink and relax while waiting for their names to be called. As the sun went down, the weather cooled off. That, along with the big lunch and the appetizers, made the wait perfectly enjoyable. One detail worth noting about the courtyard: around the edges there are a number of herbs growing, some of which are actually used in Pizzeria Bianco pies. One more detail: having spent the day baking in the desert sun while watching the Cubs beat up on the Diamondbacks, and having had a nice glass of wine, I wanted a little pick-me-up, so I had a Coke. Not just any Coke, but a cane-sugar-filled Mexican Coke. This kind of attention to detail would show up again and again throughout the meal.

Despite the long wait, everyone we saw had good spirits about it. And there were enough repeat customers there to assure all of us newbies that the wait was worth it. Customers are allowed to leave the general area as long as they call in once an hour. There is a movie theater in walking distance, but nothing particularly appealing was playing.

By now some of you are likely wondering a couple of things. First, with all the outdoor seating, why not just eat outside. Second, why not just get the pizzas to go. The answer to both questions is the same: Chris Bianco wants people to enjoy his pizza at their optimal level, and he thinks something is lost once the pizzas leave his restaurant. I think that’s a tad goofy, but it’s his place.

Finally, at about 9:40, we were summoned into the dining room. The inside of the restaurant has a nice rustic charm to it. There is seating at the bar for about six people, and there is table seating for no more than 40 (probably less). The highlight of the inside of the restaurant is unquestionably the oven. The pizza is cooked in a brick, wood-burning oven. Chris Bianco works there every night and makes every pizza.

We ordered two appetizers and four pizzas. One appetizer was a simple salad of local organic greens with a red wine vinaigrette. It was excellent. The other appetizer was a caprese salad that was shockingly good. Good in a way that I didn’t think possible. The tomatoes were perfect, the locally made olive oil was perfecter, and the homemade mozzarella was perfectest. Oh, and the basil, a variety developed in Israel that has adapted well to the Arizona desert, was enormous and added perfect flavor.

The menu has six pizzas and 12 different toppings offered as extras. Three of the pizzas include tomato sauce as an ingredient and three do not. I like sauce, so this (unnecessarily it turned out) raised a red flag. We ended up ordering two with sauce and two without. The two with were a Margherita, to which we added roasted crimini mushrooms and fennel sausage, and a Sonny Boy, which has fresh mozzarella, salami and gaeta olives. The two without sauce were the Biancoverde, which has fresh mozzarella, parmigiano reggiano, ricotta, and arugula, and the Wiseguy, with wood roasted onion, house smoked mozzarella and fennel sausage.

This review has gone on long enough, so I will avoid even trying to adequately describe the perfection of these pizzas. There is a picture of each one below and they were every bit as good as they look. Suffice it to say that every single ingredient was perfect. The only flaw was that the center of each pizza, especially the Biancoverde, was too thin to support the pile of toppings – and there really are piles – no skimping at all. Anyhow, a couple of the ingredients merit special mention. First, the fennel sausage: Bianco buys free range pigs and takes them to Schreiner’s Fine Sausage, who make it according to Bianco’s recipe. It is perfect – so good that my little sister, who normally keeps Kosher, could not resist eating (and loving) a piece. The second ingredient worthy of a special mention is the cheese. I’ve tasted differences in mozzarella on pizza before, but never anything like this. And the smoked mozzarella on the Wiseguy was fantastic.

I just realized I haven’t talked about the crust other than its thickness (or lack thereof) at the center. As you can probably guess, the crust was perfect. In addition to it’s perfect texture – firm, but chewy – the crust was infused with the smoke flavor from the wood burning oven.

So do I agree with Levine that this is the best pizza in country? It’s been four days and I’m still not sure. Lou Malnati’s makes as good a deep dish pizza as I think exists, but I can’t say that it’s a better pizza than Pizzeria Bianco. It’s actually hard to compare two styles that are so different. What I do know is that I will never visit Phoenix without going to Pizzeria Bianco. Only next time, I will make sure to have a group of at least six and I’ll call months ahead.


About 3 1/2 hours in; enjoying Mexican Coke...


The Caprese Salad...


The Biancoverde with Fresh Mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, Rocotta, Arugula


Margherita with Roasted Crimini Mushrooms and Fennel Sausage


The Sonny Boy with Tomato Sauce, Fresh Mozzarella, Salami, and Gaeta Olives


The Wiseguy with Wood Roasted Onion, House Smoked Mozzarella and Fennel Sausage


Efficient eating...Sonny Boy meets Wiseguy in Dan's mouth...


Behold... the Oven!


Where it went down...