Gino’s East River North

I’m a local in Chicago and just discovered Gino’s East has their own line of craft beers that they make right in house! We came in to see a show upstairs at the comedy bar and tried a few of them, and headed downstairs to hang out and have some more beers afterwards. What a great find! Try the Lasalle St Lager it was my favorite.

Awesome pizza, awesome vibe, and they brew their own beer. Great combination.
The Chicago Fire deep dish was fantastic-​a full layer of spicy sausage!

This place is a disappointment if you’re looking for the «deep dish pizza» experience.
~45 minutes for a deep dish pizza (which is expected). But, I’m not sure if it was pizza or a tough bread bowl filled with marinara sauce and cheese. It was difficult to eat the pizza crust/​breading since it came out tough and flavorless. And, the overall pizza tasted like a marinara flavored soup, which all poured out when the server placed a slice on our plates. Is this really what a deep dish pizza should be like?
On the bright side, there’s wifi.

One sentence review.
The jalapeño blue deep dish pizza changed my life!
This place is a must visit if you are near by do your self a favor and take the time stop eat and grab a pie.

The Flaming Chicago pizza was amazing! Our server Jen was really attentive and friendly as well. This place even brews their own beer!

We had Lunch reservation around the corner from Gino’s. We had time in our hand so we came here to have a beer on May 29^th, 2016. We made dinner reservation as we want to try the Deep dish Pizza. Our reservation was 8.00 pm. We came on time but not got seated till 8.45pm. After we got seated, the first thing server advised was to not order the deep dish pizza as it may take an hour to prepare. Gino’s ruined our evening of having a famed Chicago Deep dish pizza. We ended up ordering Fettuccine Alfredo with Chicken and Pesto Pancetta Pasta as we were hungry and server told us that it will come faster.
We didn’t get our food for another 40 minutes. When finally the food arrived and chicken was missing from the Fettuccine Alfredo. I just asked the check from the server, it took literally another 15 minutes for check to arrive.
Total disaster of our evening. My advise is to stay clear of the Gino’s.

Had a party of 14 people and thought we made it easy with only ordering 5 pizzas for most of the table and 2 side entrees. Was very disappointed because we are not around the area and come for the NRA show. The server forgot the 2 peoples food and got one of them wrong. the manager didn’t see us till the whole table was done with their food for apologizing about the other peoples food. I was also looking around and seemed as thought tables around us had the same problems with refill on drinks as well as food timing. I didn’t see any manager come up to tables to table touch anyone while upstairs.
I would advise NOT going here with a big group even if you have a reservation.

Staff is rude. We haven’t even eaten yet and we are about to leave. Hostess, bartender… so rude.
Stop acting like you’re annoyed by your customers or that you’re doing them a favor. Annoying.
I hope the server saves this experience.

We came here back in 1999 on a trip and never stopped thinking about it. We recently moved about 5 ½ hours away to Columbus and craved the Chicago deep dish so decided to make the drive. Glad we did! The crust is exactly how I remember it. Asked for a side of honey to dip the end piece in. Sauce, ingredients! So great!!! This will hold us over for only so long. Please Gino’s — come to Columbus.

I know that Gino’s is a cult favorite, but I strongly dislike their deep dish. Seriously… what is wrong with this crust? It has the consistency of cotton balls. It’s pillowy and soggy and weirdly fluffy. It doesn’t have any good crust taste to it, either. Not giving Gino’s one star because the cheese and sauce weren’t bad and it’s not the toppings’ fault that they were stuck on top of such a bad crust.

MAJOR RESPECT!
Though I wasnt wowed by the pizza it is good but what will bring me back was the AMAZING customer service!
I preordered a pizza at 5amin the morning for afternoon delivery
They had that sucker here at 11am ON THE FREAKIN DOT! WOW even paid the über delivery people to bring it
They must have lost money on that order but gained a customer and promoter for life
Because über charges crazy stupid money to deliver food (I once had DaLobsta delivered and they charged me $ 20+ bucks)

Eating at Gino’s East in River North was absolutely the worst dining experience I have ever had in my life. If they keep it up, I can guarantee they won’t be in business for much longer.
First of all, we went during lunch and the place was absolutely dead– literally two people were posted up at the bar and that was pretty much it. Figured the lunch would take an hour at the most.
WRONG. To start, we ordered hummus and artichoke dip– nothing crazy. After 40 minutes went by without even our appetizers we asked the waiter where the food was. He let us know it would be just a few more minutes. I’m sorry but how long does it take to place some pre-​made hummus in a bowl with some veggies on the side? Definitely not 40 minutes.
The appetizers came out and they were mediocre. Wasn’t expecting much out of them but they definitely under-​delivered.
Then after that 45 minute wait we additionally waited 30 minutes for our thin crust pizza. When it finally came out it was COLD. Not room temperature… absolutely cold to the touch. What was the waiter doing that he could not bring the pizza out when it was done? NO ONE was there. We told him we couldn’t eat it and he asked us if we wanted him to put it in the MICROWAVE. I was in shock. I have never once heard a waiter suggest that. We told him no– just take it off the check. But then he brings a new one back about 20 minutes later. We didn’t even want it at that point and just threw it in a box. We couldn’t have gotten out of there quicker.
If you’re looking for a place to get pizza in Chicago there are PLENTY of other options– Peqouds, Lou Malnatis, Pizza Parlor, and Sienna Tavern are all amazing. Do not waste your time and money on this joke of a restaurant. Will never be back.

Best pizza I had in Chicago, tried a few out there but Gino’s was the highlight! Service could have been friendlier but they were quick, informative and let me know about the wait so we can grab a salad before the pizza came.

Was not very impressed with this famous spot. If it came down to not loving the deep dish then I’d rate it higher because it’s OK if something is just not your thing. But we also ordered a more traditional crust pizza (margarita) and I’m not kidding I’ve had better frozen pizzas than this. Bland crust… way to saucy… and just not good.
The deep dish was pretty good… not a HUGE fan of the crust but I can see how if you grow up eating it this way that’d you’d really like it.
We got there for an early lunch and the place wasn’t packed… server was super nice a day the atmosphere was solid. 45 – 60 minutes to wait on your pizza is a looooong time. I knew it took that long but it still felt like a lot longer than that.
Just not my place I guess

Love love love Gino’s East. It is a must every time we visit Chicago.
If you want the best Chicago deep dish, go to Gino’s. I have tried 3 of thier locations, and I prefer the one near Navy Pier. However, the house made brews at the River North location are pretty damn good.
Good service and great ‘za!

I’ve never been a fan of Gino’s mainly because of the crust. Therefore, if I go there I always order the thin crust. One thing I did love were the beignets. Don’t expect them to taste like they do in NOLA, but there still pretty good. One cool thing about this location is there’s a comedy bar as well. Eat and entertainment all in one spot.

If I were rating Gino’s on their food and beer alone, I’d give them a definite 5 stars. The reason for my less-​than-​stellar rating is due to the amount of time we waited and for the «eh» service. I am well aware that deep dish pizza takes around 45 minutes to make. This fact is announced when you order. Our pizza took over an hour and twenty minutes. The place was pretty busy when our pizza finally arrived, but when we sat down, we were the first table in the building. I expressed my concern to the manager and was told that the delay was on account of a larger party upstairs (that I know came in after we did). Don’t get me wrong… I’ll go back. I love their pizza over most other deep dish in the city. Gino’s just needs a little better management/planning…something. It shouldn’t take close to an hour and a half for one pizza!

Expect a wait for dinner! Waited 30 minutes to be seated because there was a line of people. The inside of the restaurant is dark, it gives off a bar type of vibe. (But pizza is best served with alcohol)
It was my first time in Chicago, home of the famous Chicago style deep dish pizza. Ordered a Small Meaty Legend. It was a outstanding deep dish pizza with pepperoni and sausage. We had a small between two people, and I totally underestimated the quantity of food in one slice of pizza. Pretty much, I only had one slice (haha) The cheese was gooey and nicely melted as I pulled apart the first piece from the whole pie. It was a beautiful sight.
Also had a Sangria which was loaded with juicy fruits creating a sweet experience.

OH MY!!! Honestly, the best pizza I’ve ever had!!! The wait time is worth it. I wished I could’ve brought a few pizza’s home with me lol. Service was great, again pizza is delicious! and our friendly waitress allowed us to leave our print behind :) borrowed her white-​out to mark our names. When we visit Chicago again, this will be our pizza spot.

First deep dish experience and it did not disappoint! We ordered the meats deep dish and started off with the calamari. Pizza was huge and so cheesy!!!

After checking into our hotel, the first stop we had to go to was Gino’s. The restaurant was pretty vacant, maybe because it was snowing outside, so we got seated right away. Our waiter, Seth, was awesome! We had asked him about a deal we saw on Unilocal,but it turned out to be another Gino location. But he informed us that there was a deal on Groupon that was available. He was super attentive! Another worker walked by and saw that I saw going for another slice of pizza, and he offered his assistance. Great service!
The pizza was amazing also! We ordered the Meaty Legend deep dish and it was mouth watering. The calamari I would skip. And the chili soup was pretty good.
On the way out, we asked for a napkin to hold the pizza box. The guy handed us a whole stack of napkins, which was pretty awesome.

Have been to Chicago several times and eat the famous pizza each time. Gino’s was close to hotel, so tried it. It was okay, not my favorite, Lou Malnatis is the best, by far and worth walking a little further to go to.

This location is in a cool old 1880s building, usually a small to no wait. Except for the 45 min cook time of your pizza. It’s also a brewpub, so there are tons of beer options. We were there for a surprise party and our waiter suggested a shot, the Cinnamon Toast Crunch. Delicious!
We ordered up the spinach mozzarella and some sort of Italian sausage business. Both were excellent.
Now that I’ve tried all of the big 3, I have to say Gino’s was my fave.

Gino’s latest location is in an historic 1887 building, originally a power house for cable cars of the North Chicago Street Railroad. (Yes, before electric streetcars, Chicago had an extensive cable car network.) For decades the building was Ireland’s seafood restaurant; more recently, Michael Jordan’s. It reopened as Gino’s in December 2013. This is a three-​story building, with elevator access to the upper floors. Mercifully free of the house-​encouraged graffiti that defaces Gino’s Superior Street mother house.
There’s a new wrinkle at this location: it’s also a brewpub, with a small brewing plant divided between two rooms on the premises. I’m told that capacity expansion, and the planned addition of a bottling line, may require some of the production to be moved off-​site in the future. I dropped in at mid-​afternoon (happy hour is 2 – 6 PM) to try the brewing end of the operation; I’ll probably be back with a group to try the food menu in a week or two.
The bar was lightly patronized, with a single bartender handling both food and drink service. She seemed fairly knowledgeable about the beers. I tried a sampler of seven house beers. The first four are year-​around specials; the last three are rotators. The flight included:
— LaSalle Street Lager. 5.2% ABV. In the style of a German Helles. Clear, bright gold, medium head. Grassy nose from Spalt hops. Bittered with Magnum hops. Good crisp balance of hops and dry maltiness. An ideal «training wheels» beer for those being weaned from the mass-​produced stuff.
— Witte Chicks Dig Me. A Belgian-​style wit bier, very sessionable at 4.8%. Cloudy straw color, light head. Lemony nose, with hints of black pepper. Grain bill includes Pilsner malt and malted and unmalted wheat, and (non-​traditionally for the style) flaked oats, the last contributing to a smooth, slippery mouth feel. Taste is dominated by orange peel and coriander, with only a light dose of East Kent Golding hops.
— Broken English. 5.7%. In the style of an English ESB. Almost clear reddish-​brown, light head. Rather weak malt nose. Biscuity, slightly sweet taste. Maris Otter, Cara, and Munich malts. Hop bill includes East Kent Goldings and Challengers, showing up mostly in the fade. A bit fizzy for an English pub ale, and served too cold for the style.
— The Great Bam-​Gino. 7%. The brewer is apparently having some difficulty classifying this one; in different places, it’s described as a Cascadian dark ale or a black rye IPA, a term which I’d consider an oxymoron. Near-​opaque brown, light head. Slightly piney nose, with a hint of dark chocolate. Smooth, malt-​forward front, from Pale, Belgian Special B, and Black Patent malts, as well as rye. The taste also has a subtle dark chocolate and caramel note; bitterness mostly at the end.
— One Night Stand IPA. 7.3%. This is an American style IPA. Clear reddish-​brown, medium head. Flowery aroma hop nose. The taste is an aggressive dose of bittering hops against slightly sweet malt, and a bit of «peach nectar» fruitiness.
— Commie Colada. 6.7%. A Baltic porter. Opaque near-​black, with a fast-​fading tan head. Surprisingly little nose. The taste is dominated by coconut (from real shredded coconut late in the brewing) and a chocolate note, with some tartness at the finish; tastes about as much like a Mounds bar as a beer could possibly manage. Maris Otter, Vienna, Chocolate, and English Brown malts.
— Frankie’s Festbier. 5.7%. Oktoberfest style; named in honor of Frank Zappa. Clear brass, heavy but fast-​fading head. Light malty nose. Sweet malt taste, with Vienna, Cara, and Munich in the grain bill. Low hopping. Delicious and dead-​on to style.
There’s also a good selection of rotating guest taps, from which I tried:
— Rancorous, from Ten Ninety Brewing Co., Zion, IL. (*Zion*? I was under the impression that Zion was still dry as Riyadh, but apparently I’m behind the times.) Served in a tulip glass. Opaque dark brown, light head. Banana ester and ethanol nose. After that, the sour taste comes as a surprise. Sweet and tart taste all the way down, little hop presence. Quite nice for those who like sour beers, which seem to be a coming trend.
Convenient to public transportation, three blocks west of the Grand/​State station on the Red Line. Four blocks from Merchandise Mart on the Brown and Purple Express lines. On the 156-​LaSalle and 65-​Grand bus lines, and one block from the 22-​Clark. For pub crawlers, three blocks from Rock Bottom, three from Green Door, four from Birreria at Eataly, five from Watershed, about one-​half mile from Clark Street Ale House.

2.5−3 starts only. The pizza is good. Is it worth the wait… yeah. I’ve been here a few times now. I may have to look for a new deep dish place. The service wasn’t so good especially when not filled. The appetizers of spinach sticks and calamari were fine. Nothing too special. The calamari was overbreaded; but i’m sure they are the common frozen kind. After re-​reading the review, i’m only gonna give them 2 stars. New pizza spot for me next time in Chicago.

As my friend and I were set to order our server reminded us that Chicago-​style pizza takes 45 – 50 minutes to cook and then asked if we would like an appetizer to help hold our appetites until our pizza arrived.
Smart guy.
Our mozzarella sticks were quite tasty. Our pizza was out of this world. I guess they say Chicago-​style pizza is often imitated, but never duplicated and whoever «they» are, are 100% correct. The in-​house brewed beers complimented our meal quite well and truthfully hit the spot on what was a nice and humid Chicago summer evening.
One note, the space is small and even though the restaurant does a good job of maximizing its space please be prepared to wait during peak times.

This was the second time within the last year or so that we went to this particular Gino’s East. I am a long time fan of Gino’s and it has always been the preferred pizza to show our visitors.
Since moving into this swanky looking spot on LaSalle, it has lost a lot of charm.
I have been visiting Gino’s since about 1990 when it was still the graffiti hole in the wall place on Superior. It seems to be too fancy now, with microbrewed beer, wood trim, and a corporate look.
The one thing that stood out as soon as we received our pizza was the depth of it. As soon as the waiter left, we both looked at each other like huh, that’s all? The two of us, both not too big dudes finished a 3 item medium deep dish. That’s 3 slices each! That has never been done. It just means the toppings were way skimpier. The pizza looked anemic… like someone had flattened it. It used to be so thick, chock full of cheese and sausage goodness! Needless to say, we are disappointed.
Like I said, it’s been the preferred place, but now I think I’ll take them to Lou Malnati’s. I’ll try the location on Dearborn next time, but won’t be coming back to the River North location. If that doesn’t work out, I’ll be changing preferred pizza places.

My wife and I dined here for dinner and really looking forward to some pizza I grew up on. We ordered a deep dish all sausage and ½ pepperoni. Waited our 45 minutes which was no problem at all. We get the pizza and half is loaded with pepperoni/​so wife is happy. On a medium 6 slice pizza there was, and I am not exaggerating at all, 8 pieces of sausage on the pizza.
We told our pleasant server of this and he told the manager. The manager told us, not asked, that we would not want to wait another 45 minutes for another pizza so he would take care of it on the bill.
We get our bill and all he did was take off the amount charged for the sausage which was $ 3.25. That is what we would have paid if we would have ordered a cheese pizza and half pepperoni. The problem is that we got a cheese pizza and half pepperoni. We paid for what we got. BUT that is not what we ordered.
Hindsight we should have waited another 45 minutes for another pizza. When we told the waiter about the problem with the money taken off he said that was all the manager was going to do. What a sad state of management at this particular Gino’s store.

Out of all the food I was looking to stuff my face with on this trip, deep dish pizza was on the top of my list. Often imitated, but never duplicated in Vegas, it was good to have some of the real deal at this River North location. I would recommend reserving a table online if you can because when we arrived at our 7:15 Sunday night reservation time, they were quoting one hour waits to walk in customers even though this location is large with upstairs seating. There’s also a comedy club on the third floor.
We were seated at our reservation time in a booth upstairs. Patience is definitely a virtue if you order a deep dish. We waited 50 minutes for our pie that night. The long waits also allows free time for the servers. Maria checked on us regularly and assured we had everything we needed. We ordered some calamari and my wife had a harvest salad to munch on. I enjoyed a Gino’s brewed LaSalle Street Lager and watched some NFL and MLB playoffs while we waited.
The extra large Gino’s Supreme was plenty of pizza. What put this pizza over the top was the sausage patty. If you like sausage on your pizza, I highly recommend ordering the patty because with every bite, you’ll get a piece of sausage. The sauce was delicious and crunchy is the best word I can use to describe the crust. The four of us had two slices of pizza a piece and that was plenty for us.
I’ve had all the major deep dish chains but it’s been a while since I’ve been to the others so I won’t get involved in the discussion of which is the best. I’ll just have to try them all again. All I know though is that Gino’s was awesome and I wish I had it more often.

What better way to finish off my culinary adventure in Chicago than to stop at Gino’s? Having already tried Lou Malnati’s, I felt it was only fair to try Gino’s before I made the trip back home. It wasn’t in the original plan, but we found that we had extra time to spare, and pizza was on our minds.
I’ll admit, I was a little biased, not wanting to believe that this place would be better. I was proved wrong, but having a good meal is never a bad thing.
The pizza at Gino’s East was one hundred times better than that of Lou Malnati’s. Although that may be an objective proclamation, I say that because it was a saucier, cheesier, and much more flavorful pie. We were also allowed to have a half n half pie without having to pay an extra fee, so we went with half Chi-​talian Stallion and Chicago fire. Both were delicious and packed with flavor but that Italian beef and giardinera suace really packed a punch on my taste buds.
Gino’s was the winner between the two of Chicago’s top chains in my opinion. The bar set up was more presentable and attractive, the fact that they brew their own beer was a plus, the service was a lot better, and the pizza was a cut above the competition in this face-​off.

We ordered the BBQ brisket deep dish pizza and it was awesome. The crust was crispy and delicious. I wish I had brought a marker to write in the walls!

FINALLY I’ve met the deep dish of my dreams.
Moved to Chicago in April, have been slowly checking off the «deep dish places to go» boxes on my list. Giordano’s was bland. Lou Malnati’s was okay, but nothing special.
But Gino’s. Oh Gino. The pizza was so GOOEY and melty and so freaking perfect that I cried into my cheese. And the cornbread crust… How do I even begin to describe you?
I realize I still have to try Pizzeria Uno and Pequod’s and maybe a few others — in fact, I am reserving the last star in this rating until I do try those and can with absolute certainty give Gino’s that coveted final star. For now though, those other places might as well not even exist because I am going back to Gino’s this weekend and probably the weekend after that. My body is ready.

Pizza was delicious but the people working there were just not into it. Good atmosphere, comfortable and clean.
Did I mention how good the pizza was? Was worth the 45 minute wait to cook.
Oddly the bathroom toilet stall was missing the lock. Had to use my belt to lock myself in…

Sigh… I used to love Gino’s East when I was younger. Heck, this place is often featured on TV shows and ranked one of the best pizza places in the country. My whole experience was average though.
The deep dish is what they are famous for there. It is expensive though. The smallest deep dish pizza is $ 25, and that only gives you 4 small slices. (That means each tiny slice is $ 6.25!) While the flavor was good, my crust was soggy, and the pizza didn’t come out very hot. My son was eating with me, and the server actually forgot to bring out his food, so he didn’t get his plate until 10 minutes after my pizza came out.
Not a great experience.

Came here for a «quick» bite to eat before heading to the airport. I had Giordanos earlier in the week and it was just sooooo gooey. Not really a fan of super gooey pizzas, so I was a little disappointed and needed a redo.
I ordered a small jalapeño blue deep dish because it had all of my favorites in it — blue cheese, jalapeños, bacon, jalapeño covered bacon lol, and sausage. It was really messy to eat, but it was so delicious. And spicy! The flavors definitely paired well together and the jalapeños provided some nice kick. The crust was nice, crispy and buttery. This pizza is definitely filling since I could only eat one slice comfortably.
I ordered a small salad to hold me over but it wasn’t anything special.
I timed this meal just right because my flight at midway was at 2p, I got here right when they opened at 11a, ordered within minutes and got the pizza around 11:45a and was out of here by 12. They weren’t busy at all, but I’m sure the wait is a bit longer if it’s crowded.
I’ll definitely come back and try some other toppings when I’m back in Chicago.

A Ginos East that also brews its own beer? I had to check it out, I got a flight of all 6 of their home brews, and then got a lasalle st lager, all of them were good and they have a wide variety from pilseners to stouts to pale ales, for an app we got the trout dip, which I didnt know how it would be, but it was really good and not too filling, you could dip bread, cucumbers, pepper and celery
For the pizza we got the gio vino pizza, a thin crust, which i very much enjoyed, all in all a success, i would very much return

When I asked people about the top pizza places in Chicago, many said Gino’s East was up there. I was kind of disappointed with the dough. It seemed «cornbready» to me.