Audio By Carbonatix
It’s the biggest Phoenix food news since the invention of the chimichanga: Chris Bianco opened his famed pizzeria for lunch.
Twitter and Facebook lit up, and so did our faces when we realized that finally, after years of avoiding the famed Three Hour Wait, we could eat our pizza and and get back to work, too.
Maybe. Of course, we had to try it out. (Tough job, huh?)
Pizzeria Bianco is now open Tuesday-Saturday 11am-10pm. We decided to see if grabbing a pizza at lunch would turn into an all day event.
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Find out what happened after the jump.
When we arrived at 11 with a book (just in case), the doors were just opening and there were a few people waiting. We were seated immediately. We ordered and waited about 15 minutes for the food to arrive. Not bad; this isn’t fast food pizza, after all. It is still made to order.
The Salad of the Day arrived quickly, made with fresh peaches and arugula. Delicious. The pizza was pure Bianco, chewy crust, fresh toppings, much of it produced right here in AZ. The Rosa is a longtime favorite, with its unusual but balanced pairing of pistachios, red onion, and rosemary. We also ordered the Margherita, the traditional red, white, and green of tomato, fresh mozzarella, and basil.
We asked the server if to-go orders were available. The answer: Yes, but only if you are already seated and dining in. We took full advantage of this and left with the caramelized onion and locally made sausage pie known as The Wise Guy.
The place was as bustling as any other popular restaurant at lunch, but not oppressively so. Stacks of hungry and curious diners lined up outside were gone, just a few people reading the paper or chit-chatting about how short the wait was. The wait for a table at 12:30 — at the peak of lunch rush — was 20 minutes.
Bianco’s in the daytime is now the perfect place for a long European style lunch with a couple of friends and an afternoon bottle of wine.
A highlight of the experience: Bianco offers free valet parking! Much better than our wrangle with a nearby parking garage.
