Pizzeria Gusto

[Manifest Destiny OKC]

[category=]Restaurants[/category]

[category=]Current[/category]

[toc]no[/toc]

Address: 2415 N. Walker Phone: (405) 822-6000 Hours: Development: The Rise Status: under construction Links: Official Website Menu Facebook Page Yelp Urban Spoon

Information & Latest News

10/17/13: $185,000 building permit
Gallery

[Pete]

Yes, will be in the old Bora Bora / Paseo Underground building, between The Rise and Pump Bar.

To be operated by Chris Lower and the Big Truck Tacos / Mutts / Back Door BBQ people.

[Roger S]

What Pete said.... and hopefully their pizza concept is better than their Q concept.

[Paseofreak]

How much sense does this make? Pizza 23 is a block west on 23rd, Picasso's and Sauced are a few blocks north on Walker, a couple of old stalwarts are down at 23rd and Penn. What irrelevant twist are they going to bring to pizza and how exorbitantly are they going to charge for it?

[catch22]

I hope pizza 23 makes it. Love their pizza, but never seems busy and they are always offering promos and discounts on social media. I don't have someone to go eat with very often, so I often am by myself.. Which means Empire. By the slice.

Too many good pizza places in OKC, I don't have enough time or money to support them all.

[Pete]

How much sense does this make? Pizza 23 is a block west on 23rd, Picasso's and Sauced are a few blocks north on Walker, a couple of old stalwarts are down at 23rd and Penn. What irrelevant twist are they going to bring to pizza and how exorbitantly are they going to charge for it?

I'm sure they'll put their own mark on the concept and you can't argue with their success.

[Garin]

If someone wanted to open up a bad ass pizza palor they need to do it in SW okc or Moore because none exist. It blows me away that nobody has figured this out yet.

[Roger S]

If someone wanted to open up a bad ass pizza palor they need to do it in SW okc or Moore because none exist. It blows me away that nobody has figured this out yet.

Really? We have had 3 pizza parlors in Moore and two have already closed their doors.

Guess you never tried Gourmet Pizza when it was in the little shopping center just north of the church on Eastern. Was hands down the best pizza I've ever eaten. They only lasted about 6 months. Never heard why they closed but I'm guessing because people would rather pay $5 at the Little Ceasar's down the street than support an awesome locally owned pizza place.

Banchetto's made some pretty decent pizza too. They have closed also and their pizza was comparably priced to Gourmet Pizza.

Sandro's isn't bad and so far seems to be doing good business. They do have a better location than Gourmet and Banchetto's did.

[ljbab728]

That's what happens when people complain about something like that. It's because they don't take time to find out if what they want exists.

[soonerguru]

What Pete said.... and hopefully their pizza concept is better than their Q concept.

Agree. Repeat visits to Back Door have not been kind. Overly seasoned, too much garlic. No finesse. Of course, there's not much else that's better for BBQ in OKC.

[soonerguru]

How much sense does this make? Pizza 23 is a block west on 23rd, Picasso's and Sauced are a few blocks north on Walker, a couple of old stalwarts are down at 23rd and Penn. What irrelevant twist are they going to bring to pizza and how exorbitantly are they going to charge for it?

Not a fan of Pizza 23 at all. Maybe I caught them on a bad night but the crust was atrocious. Never went back. Hopefully the "pizzeria" concept will be more of a sit-down pie concept. This could be really good.

[tomokc]

How much sense does this make? Pizza 23 is a block west on 23rd, Picasso's and Sauced are a few blocks north on Walker, a couple of old stalwarts are down at 23rd and Penn. What irrelevant twist are they going to bring to pizza and how exorbitantly are they going to charge for it?

You're being offered an abundance of great choices at no cost or financial risk other than the cost of a pie - in your own neighborhood no less - and you're COMPLAINING about it?

[Roger S]

I liked the pizza at Pizza 23 well enough but the service was atrocious.

When we arrived the place was hopping but there were 3 open tables. We were told it would be a 15 minute wait. So we stood and stared at the 3 empty tables for about 15 minutes. Several other tables leave and are bussed as we waited. Then the hostess comes and seats us at one of the original 3 empty tables...... ????? ...... Couldn't have just seated us when we walked in?

Then the place cleared out very quickly and left us as the only table. We had to ask twice for drink refills...... The pizza also took an extraordinary amount of time to come out and at no time did anyone ever come and give us any kind of explanation..... I'm not against waiting if there is an issue but at least be courteous enough to let me know why I am waiting.

I'm guessing with their culinary background that they will be serving pizza more like The Wedge than just your typical pies..... Could be good or bad because I find that to be part of what is wrong with their BBQ at Back Door. They put so much time into trying to make gourmet BBQ when they really don't do the basics all that well to begin with.

Sure they are doing a great business there but they are masters of using social media to drive their restaurants and people like Dave Cathey are saying good things about their food because that is his job. Even Rick Bayless was in their restaurant the other day and apparently gave them a thumbs up.

I give them props for trying to do things that other local Q-raunts don't do like smoking pork belly, duck, rabbit, and armadillo..... Ok, they haven't smoked any armadillo yet.... but get the basics down first.

Sadly most Oklahoman s don't know how good the BBQ they are trying to emulate is compared to what is being served. You put Back Door's "Texas" style brisket up against any of the places they researched in Texas and it comes in dead last.

I would invite Mr. Cathey and Mr. Bayless to go along with me on a trip through Texas Hill Country and see why people like Anthony Bourdain, a renowned pork junky, declared Franklin's brisket the best piece of meat he has ever put in his mouth..... And I can say that I've had Franklin's and thought Snow's was better. Back Door's compares poorly with either.

Pizzeria Gusto will succeed because they are the best in OKC at using social media....... Then again there is already a very popular FB page for a Pizzeria Gusto located in Canada..... So they will have to use another name for that social media outlet.

[Garin]

Really? We have had 3 pizza parlors in Moore and two have already closed their doors.

Guess you never tried Gourmet Pizza when it was in the little shopping center just north of the church on Eastern. Was hands down the best pizza I've ever eaten. They only lasted about 6 months. Never heard why they closed but I'm guessing because people would rather pay $5 at the Little Ceasar's down the street than support an awesome locally owned pizza place.

Banchetto's made some pretty decent pizza too. They have closed also and their pizza was comparably priced to Gourmet Pizza.



Sandro's isn't bad and so far seems to be doing good business. They do have a better location than Gourmet and Banchetto's did.

Location killed both of them, They weren't bad pizza's but the location was horrible. Sandro's is pretty good and like you said a lot better location. Hideaway would be a great fit along the I-35 corridor in Moore would it not?

[Roger S]

Location killed both of them, They weren't bad pizza's but the location was horrible. Sandro's is pretty good and like you said a lot better location. Hideaway would be a great fit along the I-35 corridor in Moore would it not?

Yes, Hideaway could probably go in the building where Bent River and Poblano Grill failed and make a go of it just on their name alone.

[Paseofreak]

You're being offered an abundance of great choices at no cost or financial risk other than the cost of a pie - in your own neighborhood no less - and you're COMPLAINING about it?

Complaining about another pizza restaurant? No, not really, just questioning the wisdom of it. If they are marketing the inhabitants of my neighborhood, I'd hazard that the golden standard is a decent quality pie for the lowest cost possible. Ordering a large Picasso's Cafe pie from The Other Room for $6.00 wins about every time.

Well, maybe complaining just a little bit. The area is finally starting to offer a decent array of choices, many at least occasionally affordable, but I hear folks clamoring for traditional comfort food with breakfast and coffee available in the early morning (and late night, pipe dream, I know) and meat and potatoes and the like through lunch and dinner. What about traditional (non-pizza) Italian or something? When it makes sense to eat most meals out and the announcement of a new restaurant is for another pizza joint, yeah, it is a bit disappointing.

Further, and here's where I expect to take heat, notwithstanding their ability to exploit social media with laudable success, this group has completely lost me. Each of the foods they've tackled is very basic stuff, from pretty humble roots, with long and strong traditions for it's preparation. A lot of it's appeal is in the emotional attachment associated with events surrounding their consumption when we're young. Let's face it, a knowledgeable adult doesn't likely finds a boiled sausage made of questionable offal intellectually appealing. However, we eat the heck out of ones like we remember from our youth because of the memories. I find that what they do at Mutts is use every exotic ingredient at their disposal to separate their offerings from what a dog traditionally is simply for the sake of showing off. They don't acknowledge the appeal of the underlying thing and try way too hard to to make it something different. Furthermore, the dogs are really hard to eat. You either get a bite of bun and toppings or bun and dog, not the total package. Makes me wonder how often they sit down and try to eat their product like their guests. Oh, and the price point of their offerings tend to be a multiple of others in the marketplace. I see similar things in their other restaurants on the 23rd Street corridor. I fully realize that these opinions, observations and conjectures are my own and are highly subjective. That said, I'm not that excited about a new pizza place engaging in culinary theatrics at the top of the price scale.

But it's not my money and I don't for one minute get to dictate how they spend theirs. I'm sure they'll make a return on their dollar. I'm just not excited about it. Now The Drake? That excites me.

[Pete]

Guys, we are way off topic here.

Back to discussing Pizzeria Gusto, please.

[Roger S]

Yeah.... Pretty much everything from Post #20 on needs to be in the Back Door BBQ thread.

[Urbanized]

Oh man, I was really enjoying the beef talk... *mouth watering*

[Pete]

I moved all the BBQ talk here:

Back Door Barbecue - OKCTalk

[OKCisOK4me]

I was talking about this last night with a friend of a friend and he said Pizza 23 is "going to go down in flames" when this concept opens.

[pickles]

Pizza 23 is probably not doing well right now even without the extra competition.

[Chadanth]

Pizza 23 is probably not doing well right now even without the extra competition.

Their location is great, they have good staff, but their pizza just. Isn't. Good. I know they're trying, but it isn't working. We've gone a few times, but until I hear about a menu overhaul, I won't be back.

[catch22]

I love their pizza.

[LakeEffect]

I'm sure they'll put their own mark on the concept and you can't argue with their success.

No, you can't, but you also can say the ownership group has a level of hubris about it. How dare anyone question their greatness? Many of their fans are the same way.

FWIW, I know they've been wanting to do a pizza concept since before they had Backdoor BBQ open, so I'm not surprised they are doing it, and I'm not surprised they are focusing on the same area where they've already had success.