Pagliai's Pizza Review

Because it's an Iowa City institution and everything about it is classic! Rock on Palace Special!

Classic thin crust pizza made well, very well in my opinion. Service was prompt, the pizza served hot. An establishment of Iowa City that's been around a long time because they do things right.

A staple pizza place in Iowa City, comfortable atmosphere, great pizza, not much more you could ask for. I suggest the palace special, but you won't go wrong with any choice. Good beer prices.

I love the homey feel to the restaurant, and the excellent pizza. Would eat there every day if I could afford to eat out every day. ;-)

Decent pizza, served in an old fashioned pizzeria atmosphere.

Other than the name, I'm not sure I would go as far as calling it a traditional Italian pizza........ but the pizza ain't bad! It is certainly fresh & certainly beats any of the chain pizza joints.

Love the Palace Special but my favorite is Shrimp & Onion.

Wow! They are super busy (on a Sunday afternoon).

Pizza was solid, although the lack of combinations was interesting... And I know my pizza having worked as a server at a certified neapolitan pizzeria for 9 months.

Not always my favorite style of pizza, but I respect them for what they do. Keep up the good work!

Always great pizza and friendly staff. Just pizza, though - no salads or sides.

Go there whenever we can. Excellent pizza. Just don't ask for any parmesian cheese. Ha

Great thin crust, good tomato sauce and fast, excellent service

Awesome food and friendly atmosphere. A bit expensive.

I've eaten a lot of pizza in my day, and this pizza ranks at the top of my pizza chart no matter how hard I try to de-throne it. There's something about the simplicity of it that makes it so dang tasty. The "Palace Special" is the pie of choice if you want to get the full experience of Pagliai's. I tell ya, there's no place that beats this place.

It's Pagliai's, need I say more? Every pizza is hand crafted right in front of you, if you like pizza you have to have Pagliai's

Really good pizza, amazing staff, and a super shiney oven. What's not to like?

I lived in Iowa City for my first 22 years, California for eight since. Pagliai's is the hometown restaurant I miss the most. I would eat here weekly in college, and I still stop in whenever I'm in town. It's a local hotspot, somewhere I always run into a familiar face even now.

They make a simple but delicious pizza with crust in a style which I think is called "Chicago thin", much firmer and crunchier than New York style and nothing like the deep dish most people think of when you say Chicago. Pagliai's is the best example of it I've found in Iowa. In California, nothing's even close - there's Italian-style, New York-style, deep dish, and Pizza Hut-ish chain pizza.

If the crust is too thin for you, order double-crust. My friends and I would always order two pizzas: (1) sausage, green pepper, onion, double-crust, cut in squares; (2) green pepper, black pepper, onions, cut in squares. I recommend them both. More common pizzas like ham/pineapple are good here, too, as is garlic baked into the crust.

Price: as a college student, I would have come here even more if it weren't so expensive. As a professional in California, it seems cheap. So all I should say to you is two people splitting a well-topped large with generous tip and tax costs $13 apiece; make up your own mind what that means.

Excellent thin crust pizza! Have enjoyed eating here many times. Old, small town charm!

Moved back to Illinois and am forever missing Pagliai s palace special pizza. Whenever I m back to visit, I get tons of take & bake pizzas and they are great!

Best pizza ive had recently,so much so, that my party of four ordered a second one. Beer selection is very good as well

I got the cheese pizza to go. It was good but I had higher expectations because of the hype of the reviews. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great either, just a regular cheese pizza pie.

Best pizza in Iowa City! Eat in...buy some frozen to take home too. Awesome!

I always go here when I'm feeling the best pizzas around. The crust on their pizza is amazing with a crunch, but not burnt. If you want pizza and are willing to spend a little extra for it, I would go here hands down.

It's almost better when they are extremely busy, the oven on a busy night gives the pizza crust a lot more flavor.

Staff is great. Pizza excellent and fun place to watch the employees making the pizza

The anchovies pizza was really good, not a big selection of beers.

No Taco Pizza! Thin crust pizza tasted like card board pizza! Not impressed... Will not go back... When you hear of the "best pizza in town", you have to try it. Not impressed with the atmosphere either. Very limited on toppings.

My fav pizza in the area by far!
They do not have breadsticks though.

Pizza was good, but it had been hyped up so much I found it was over rated. It was totally fine, no speciality pizzas

If you like thin crust pizza this is a good option.

I lived near Pagliai's for a few years but only ordered their pizza a few times. It was very good both times, albeit slightly on the expensive side. Considerably better than a pizza chain so definitely come here if you're debating between the two.

We visited once and we loved the place. Good crispy pizza, and decent price.

Paglia's Pizza is a place of tradition, I suppose. Few pizza choices, no appetizers, limited drink selection. A simple place that has perfected the pizza styles they have. Love it.

No, it's not deep dish. No, it's not New York-style. It's delicious, crispy thin crust, with fresh toppings and classic flavors! If you come to Pagliai's you're getting one thing, and one thing only: pizza. Maybe you'll have a Coke or a glass of wine with it. You'll enjoy watching the crew of paper-hatted pizza-makers work in a tiny space at the front window, just as generations of them have done since the restaurant opened decades ago.

Great thin crust pizza was awesome . My family and friends loved it.

I have had pizza in a lot of places and this place ranks well. I like thin crust sothat you can taste the ingredients and not be stuffed with the bread.
I tried two types, the palace special which has meats and the veggies special which doesn't.
The veggies tasted fresh, the meats were plentiful, the pepperoni want even too greasy.

The crust had a light char and the pizzas were served right from the oven. They were actually too hot to eat for a few minutes.

There are likely better but I know for a fact there are much worse.

Go try it. Expect pizza and you will likely be pleased.

Wow! They are super busy (on a Sunday afternoon).

Pizza was solid, although the lack of combinations was interesting... And I know my pizza having worked as a server at a certified neapolitan pizzeria for 9 months.

Not always my favorite style of pizza, but I respect them for what they do. Keep up the good work!

I prefer a thick crust and not to run into my partner's ex, but that's not Pagliai's fault.

This place is awesome. Pizza done with simplicity and great flavor.

There's too much hype about this place. Overall, the pizza is not bad and they make it fresh. But very limited menu, dated restaurant and seating area, and has a much older crowd.

Great thin crust pizza that still uses home made ingredients. The dough and sausage are made in-house before they open at 4pm and the entire neighborhood smells like pizza.

It was okay. Not sure what all the hubbub is about here. A good pie for sure.....but nothing extraordinary. Beer selection is mediocre.

Great pizza not much of a beer selection. Always come here when in town.

Best pizza in Iowa City. Sit down shop has been an IC tradition for years and with good reason. Get the palace special or go home.

This place is AWESOME! In town from St. Louis, headed downtown Iowa City for dinner. Found this place, excellant pizza, service and the cleanest place I have seen in a very long time. Keep up the good work!