Home > Des Moines Restaurants > Editorial Review > Editorial Juice Review: Pagliai's Pizza

The Pagliai family (pronounced polly-eye) opened their first pizza restaurant in Ames in 1957. Now they have two restaurants, one in Johnston and one in Grinnell.

The Johnston location where we went does dine-in, take out and delivery. By the number of boxed pizzas going out of the open kitchen, it appears they do a good business. Two large dining rooms with booths and tables filled up mainly with young families.

The menu offers three sizes of pizzas, salads, sandwiches, including a hefty Italian Meatball hoagie, and calzones. Specialty pizzas include Taco, Shrimp Alfredo and Pesto Pepperoni. Garlic and cheese breads are also sold by the slice.

THE GOOD

My boyfriend and I ordered a thin crust 12-inch Margherita pizza, which comes with pesto sauce, tomatoes, feta and artichokes. I prefer red sauce, and our server allowed us to substitute that for no extra charge.

The crust was extra crispy, almost like a cracker. But what made the pizza were the tomatoes. Rather than the watery cubes I've had on other pizzas, these were thick chunks that appeared to have been roasted in herbs. We managed to eat all but one slice of the pizza.

I also ordered a salad, which turned out to be enough for two people.

THE BAD

I was a little surprised to see our feta and artichoke pizza labeled as a Margherita. To me Margherita means basil, tomatoes and mozzarella (based on the red, white and green of the Italian flag). Pagliai's interpretation tasted great, but perhaps they should give it a different name to avoid confusion.

THE VERDICT

Solid pizza for those who like a thin, crispy crust. If you're not up for dining with a room full of young kids, order takeout or have it delivered.