Vincente’s Gourmet Pizza

1935 SE Hawthorne Blvd

Date of visit: October 15, 2009

Price for 2 (with tip): $20

It is my firm belief that when you see the words “gourmet” and “pizza” together, you should not even consider going inside. But since the goal of this blog is to eat at every restaurant on Hawthorne, we were going to have to bite the gourmet bullet and eat at Vincente’s eventually, so today was the day. I should also note I have been here before, but only for drinking purposes while waiting for movies to start and Cinemagic across the street. But this was my first pizza/lunch experience.

The slice options were limited, today it was cheese, pepperoni and once special slice with pesto, cherry tomatoes, roasted garlic and feta. Since we were at a gourmet pizza shop, I figured might as well go with the fancy one. Jared got two slices of cheese and we also got a medium garden salad to split. The menu said it “fed 2” and was actually served family style with two separate bowls, which was nice. It also looked really good with fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, red onions and garnished with poppy seeds. Unfortunately, the ranch dressing (the only option presented) was perhaps the blandest we’ve had since Bridgeport Ale House. The lettuce was ok, but overall, even a bunch of salt and pepper couldn’t help this bowl of ruffage.

As for the slices, as one would expect from “gourmet pizza” they were expensive and mediocre at best. The crust was way too thin and tasted more like corn meal than anything else. And even the fancy slice was really not that flavorful, though thanks to the giant garlic chunks, left me with a lovely after taste for hours to come. At least the check came with Andes mints, right?

Veggie options: Slice of the day was veggie, but otherwise, custom order or plain cheese only

Speed: Considering we got slices and a salad, kinda slow