Vincenzo's Pizza Saugus

05/12/09

Poor food & prices, NOT for normal volume conversation

by RSBear at Citysearch

It had been a while since I had visited Vincenzo's, a routine lunch stop when I visited a friend who worked in the area. Coming back from Magic Mountain on a Saturday night around dinner time, I thought it'd be a good place to stop with my buddy for pizza. Man, did we pick the wrong time to go, as half of the larger seating room was jam packed with a kid's sports league and their parents. We ordered the food (overordered actually, since the sizes were huge) but were rather snottily denied use of the empty seating area next to the kitchen. Why the sports club couldn't have been seated there is a mystery, as there was NO place in the whole joint to escape kids running around. Everyone else in the dining room who was NOT a part of the sports club was noticably inconvenienced but the loud group and many kids chasing each other around the room and weaving in an out of occupied tables.

The large pizza was huge, and will challenge at least 5-6 pizza lovers to finish it. However, the fat, raised edge of the crust was enormous. You will spend about two-thirds of every slice eating dry crust. No fun there. The sauce was generic and sparse, cheese ratio was ok.

And whatever you do, do NOT order the mozzerella sticks. 14 sticks for $7.50 should have been a huge tip-off to the quality. Fat, tasteless generic sticks seemingly from a huge bag, hardly cooked well enough and the inside cheese not melted an iota. My buddy ate two, and that was a chore. It's highly puzzling that unmelted cheese sticks could take so long to prepare when the large 20" pizza came to our table less than three minutes later.

The place is great for big sports parties and kids parties, but are practically UNWELCOMING to anyone else. For the price I paid, the value was very low and the whole experience ruined the fun day we had at Six Flags.

• Pros: HUGE large pizza, geared for loud parties ONLY
• Cons: Pizza is mostly bread, rowdy crowd, poor customer service

09/10/06

I've been driving 40 miles to get their Pizza for years (this location only).

by petersil at Citysearch

My #1 food is Pizza and this particular Vincenzo's is my #3 pizza in Los Angeles, only exceeded by Mulberry Street Pizza in Encino as #1, and #2 is Al Gelato in Beverly Hills. I keep going back to Vincenzo's and drive 40 miles because it is so good. Great pizza crust and texture, super large helpings of toppings (we get sausage, mushroom sometimes, olives OR their excellent ham and olive). Great cheese, not too much sauce, and I think their secret is the wonderful oven. Everytime we get their pizza I am a happy man. I obviously haven't tried every pizza place in Los Angeles, but out of all the pizza's I've had over many years, this one rates at the top for me. No ambience, kind of like a barn with tables, so we order and take-out. If you like to drink beer and eat pizza, and be surrounded by lots of families with kids, go there at dinner-time, otherwise order ahead, pick it up, take it home and make sure you have a big appetite because you won't be disappointed.

• Pros: Great NY style pizza, superb crust, texture and quality fillings
• Cons: Take out, it's a big barn and noisy at dinnertime (lots of kids)

05/16/05

A Fun Place For A Big Group

by svantico at Citysearch

This is the best of the 3 locations I've been to. Friday night is Karaoke night and kids from all over come to sing. Good food and beer selection; pizza is decent and the salads are good. The best part is the free peanuts. Chuck the shells on the floor as you work your way through a bowl. It's a good place to come after a game or with a big group of kids. Staff and service are great.

• Pros: Fun, Good For Groups, Decent Food
• Cons: Loud