With all the hype about Pizzeria Bianco, located at 623 E. Adams Street in Heritage Square, it's easy to understand why the wait for a table is a minimum of two hours, even on a weeknight.
So you can imagine my delight when my boyfriend surprised me for my birthday with a much sought-after table in the corner of this cozy, modern pizzeria.
Pizzeria Bianco resides in a small house in the historic district of downtown Phoenix. It mixes homey and hip, with dark wood tables, brick walls and industrial ceilings.
Part of the charm of the pizzeria is how welcome you feel, with the chef a few feet away giving you smiles and nods as he stands before the brick oven kneading pizza dough.
Special attention is given to each detail of your meal.
Salad plates are chilled and pizza plates are toasty. Each table has its own mini pepper grinder and bowl of salt. Servers are friendly, warm and conscientious; orders are taken promptly, water glasses won't stay empty for long, and food comes out fast and fresh.
Once you're finally seated, the friendly and attentive servers bring you menus and tell you the daily ingredients of the Farmers Market Salad, ever changing but always fresh and often organic.
Pizzas are really the main attraction at Pizzeria Bianco, though. With thin, crispy crust and fresh, flavorful toppings, skeptics will be convinced that Pizzeria Bianco does indeed deserve to be the No. 1 pizzeria in America.
There are only six specialty pizzas on the menu, although you can also create your own from a list of toppings. For traditionalists, there's a Margherita, with mozzarella, basil, and Pizzeria Bianco's homemade tomato sauce, which tastes so fresh you'll imagine the tomatoes were just picked from the vine.
If you're a meat lover, sample the Sonny Boy, topped with tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, salami and Gaeta olives. The spice of the salami, the zip of the olives, and the zest of the tomato sauce are the perfect blend of flavors.
Three of the pizzas are sauceless, but still scrumptious. Try the Rosa with strings of red onion, the sharp taste of Parmigiano-Reggiano, the woodsy flavor of rosemary and nutty pistachios, or the Biancoverde, with three cheeses and arugula.
Although the wait for a table can alone comprise an entire evening out (unless, of course, you have a boyfriend to put in a reservation before picking you up), there is plenty to do in this neighborhood.
Pizzeria Bianco is located directly east of the Phoenix History Museum and the Heritage Science Center, and just around the corner from a movie theater.
Reach the reporter at: jessica.kokal@asu.edu.
