Jiannetto’s (Pizza from a Truck)

I’m a big fan of Midtown Lunch.  (Actually, I’m also a fan of Downtown Lunch, but I’ve been accused of being a stalker… restraining order to follow!)  So when I finally processed in my head that Jiannetto’s – mentioned on Midtown Lunch before – also has a truck down here nearish to me, I decided to grab a coworker and head over to check it out.  (Plus not eating meat means I crave pizza for some reason.  If you can explain that to me, please do.)

Though the menu only lists one type of pizza, I overheard people ordering pepperoni and whatever, and the guy didn’t say “We don’t do that,” so I’m not exactly sure what that means.  Of course, this first time at the truck, the guy working there seemed… stoned.  When we first walked up, he kept asking us if we wanted pizza, and if we wanted him to put in a new pie because it’ll take a few minutes.  A few people walked away, but a lot of us stuck around, and even if everyone had walked away, wouldn’t you still stick one in because you’ll surely have more customers in a few minutes? 

I missed the shot of the full pie coming out in all its glory, but Linguine told me “Hello, that’s a gorgeous shot, steam rising?” and I said, “My camera won’t be able to capture that fully anyway.”  So here you go.

Linguine opted for a single slice.  Looks pretty good.  He didn’t seem too enamored of it, though I’d warned him beforehand that there wasn’t going to be a lot of cheese – in fact, I’d sent him the link above to Midtown Lunch’s site so he could see for sure what it was going to be like – but he still said it was just alright.  Not pizza as he knew it (and because I can, just a dig – he’s from Michigan, what’s he know about pizza? hehe).

And because I’m a little weird, and always have to be different, or something, I ordered penne vodka, which I had to ask three times if it had meat in it (he said no).  At $7.50, it comes with garlic knots, and if you add 50c you can get a can of soda (which I did).  The garlic knots were small, semi-garlicky (there’s 4 in there), but pretty good.  Not the bestest (I like them more garlicky), but sufficient.

There were mushrooms and peas in the penne vodka, but the pasta was cooked properly and the sauce was pretty tasty.  I kind of wished they’d thrown some of that basil in there on top, but it was good, and he added more cheese on top after it came out.  $8 for a complete meal that I piggily devoured (it’s been a long time since I made penna alla vodka) isn’t too bad actually.  The mushrooms were great, the peas were unnoticeable in taste or texture, just in sight.  I’d definitely go back to try other stuff. 

In fact, I did go back a few days later to try the pizza for myself.

Okay, I admit, I’m copying a bit from Danny at Food in Mouth, who sometimes uses sticks of gum to show how big something is.  A slice is bigger than my phone.

Actually, it’s roughly the size of my hand, which is 7.5″ from tip of middle finger to wrist.  (Yes, I know offhand how long my hand is; it’s a long story.) 

So this is a pretty big slice, I’d say, no?  It was crispy goodness, with a slightly sweet sauce.  The cheese isn’t bad or good – it doesn’t detract but it doesn’t add that much either (but I definitely like it).  What surprised me was… well, look how gloppy the sauce looks.  You’d think that slice might be a bit soggy or soft and fold right over, right?  Nope, it was like eating a piece of crispy bread with tomato sauce spread on top.  It was good.  I liked it quite a bit, and can foresee this being a good snack every once in a while.  Mmm.  Tasty!  (Though I’m not sure why I didn’t get any basil… grrr!)

Yvo says: I definitely have to go back to try more stuff, but with these prices – fairly reasonable – I don’t see that as a problem.  The pizza is pretty good, but like Midtown Lunch mentions, you can’t go into this thinking you’re getting regular pizza.  This is different, and for what it is, it’s pretty damn good.  Yummy and inexpensive.  I can’t wait to try a rice ball.
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Jiannetto’s Downtown
Front & Wall Streets