Pizza Pino

Silly that I’ve not written of this place, despite the proximity to Beer Grotto, Fleetwood’s, and the frequency of my visits. Generally, I believe it fair to compare Pino and NYPD. Essentially, NYPD has greasier food, and given their proximity to the insanity of the night clubs and stupidly drunk crowds, NYPD tends to carry a broader variety of food well into the night. If you want Chicago style at 3am, NYPD is perfect. If you want equivalent quality, but with less grease, and do not require all the variety (and this is coming from a Chicago style or nothing dude), Pino is greaaaattttt.

Had a terrible experience. Got food delivered. Didn’t even receive my drink… Stupid owner doesn’t even bother fixing his mistake. Okay, so already he stole money from me. Fries were super mediocre, tasted worse than the middle school fries school cafeterias served… Had like two and tossed it out. Then I open up my burger to see lettuce that is so old it’s started getting soggy and looked really brown… Didn’t bother eating the lettuce. Swept it aside and decided to give the burger a go? It was so raw, I was sick after eating it. Had to miss work because of the stomach aches and constant bathroom trips this nasty food has caused me. Terrible terrible food. Avoid at all costs. All in all a complete waste of money (paid ~22 $ and tipped more $$$ only to open up my food and realize I was missing items as well as food quality being horrendous)
To the people that are comparing it to NYPD, what a joke. They have served me reliable food day after day, decided to give Pizza Pino a try and what a disappointment…

Favorite spot for late night pizza before calling it a night on the weekend. Disclaimer: have never eaten here sober and don’t really intend to.

Nice staff. Cruddy food. Got the burger combo around 2pm. Despite being the only customer, this took twenty minutes, they broke the burger patty, and the fries were bland without any kind of flavor aside from the old bay-​esque seasoning sparingly sprinkled on top.
Unless you’re drunk and you need convenient ready to eat pizza, steer clear. There are other far better options around, even at this low price point.

After waiting a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes my friend and I received our food. It was terrible, my friend got tortellini and onion rings, the pasta was so full of raw garlic it burned her mouth and she couldn’t even eat it, she gave it to me and it couldn’t be drowned in enough parm to make it edible so it had to be thrown away, the onion rings that she specifically ordered well done came soggy and cold. I got penne and it was so terribly bland I had to smother it in parm cheese and a good amount of salt and pepper, we both feel every ripped off

Overpriced cafeteria level pizza. Came here somewhat drunk, it served it’s purpose. I would not come here unless it was what was in front of me.
Staff was very nice and the place was clean.

So happy to read the other reviews and see that I’m not crazy — the food really is terrible, and the owners really are awful, rude people.
The pizza crust always tastes stale, and those «fresh» slices will sit in the unheated case for hours until you order them.
When I worked there, I ran the counter all night while the girl «training» me stood around talking to the delivery drivers about smoking pot. At the end of the night, I split the counter tips ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ with her and she said, «Oh… I didn’t know you thought you were taking any tips…». That was awkward, but I did all the work so I shrugged it off and took my half anyway. The next day I called the owner to tell him I quit (no way was I going to stand around another 10 hours so that the idiot training me could take all the tips that I received), and he started screaming and swearing until I was in tears, and accused me of stealing from the restaurant because I took half of the tips. He said he wasn’t going to pay me for the 10 hour shift I worked, and screamed over me and hung up on me when I told him that’s illegal. I was so shaken by it that I had my sister go into the restaurant to get my check for me. He ended up deducting money from my check, more than the amount of tips I took, and wrote on the paystub «MONEY DEDUCTED DUE TO THEFT». Ridiculous. If it was expected that the girl training me would get all the tips, that should have been made clear up front. If she was really that butthurt about it, she shouldn’t have relented and let me take home half of the tips. But sure, accuse me of «theft».
So yeah, I would say that I agree with all of the 1-​star reviews of this place. Bad food, high prices, bad management. I’m shocked that the owner hasn’t had a heart attack from how high strung and angry he is.

AWFUL
I used to go there for the Wednesday special because I admit that I like to be frugal. The pizza was okay, but was always inconsistent in how it was cooked or how much toppings they would put on.
One time I ordered and the girl was extremely rude and literally acted like I was a bother, literally staring me down. I talked to the owner and he gave me a brownie for my trouble. Kind of insulting, but I decided to give them another chance.
Fast forward a few months and I order the special and told it would be 20 minutes. I got there after 30 minutes and was told he forgot to put in the order, so 40 minutes after ordering the pizza I finally get it. (it was very slow about 4pm). The owner gave me the pizza and didn’t apologize at all. He didn’t take responsibility for saying it would take 20 minutes or that he forgot to make the order, so I complained and he literally started yelling at me. Very unprofessional and I will never be back!

Pizza is okay, nothing special or out of this world, however they are open late and that is always a plus for late night muchies.
Pizza pino offers milkshakes and they are out of this world but last time I got my chocolate Oreo shake I received attitude from the woman behind the counter… disappointed with the service.

I have tried to love this place because it’s so close to home but they continuously screw up orders and prices, and their pizza crust is undercooked 50% of the time.

The location is really convenient, the place is well decorated and nicely laid out for an after hours meal. The variety of pizza is really good and so is the selection of condiments. However 3 friends and I ordered late night individual pizza slices and we all agreed the pizza was undercooked.
If I would make a recommendation I would put the individual pizza slice orders in the oven for another 2 minutes before handing it to the customer.

I’m not very particular about pizza, but this stuff borders on inedible. There’s a lot of bad pizza in Ann Arbor, and this takes the cake so far. You’re better off having a frozen pizza.

Ok I’m a stickler about pizzerias, because I’ve worked & ran pizzerias from soup to nuts.
So I had a few beers one evening, and realized I forgot to eat. I stroll down to this joint to hopefully get a few slices of pizza. Prices are «WTF!!!» ridiculously expensive. That made me kinda mad actually. Get over yourself Ann Arbor.
Anyways I reluctantly got a slice of the cheapest ones I could afford. Nothing great by any means. Luckily I ran into a hot dog stand on my way home and got a hot dog for like 2 bucks cuz I couldn’t afford anymore of their sub-​par overpriced pizza slices.
Also the atmosphere in there sucked.
Maybe its me, but I like my pizza places kinda rock n’ roll, punk rock, lively, and lived in. This had none of that. Too sterile.
I won’t be back.

Eh. I’m so used to NYPD’s deliciously cheesy and hot goodness, but we were on Main St so we gave this a try. I had the chicken pesto pizza, they give it to you at room temperature though. It was decent but would have been great hot.
It was about 1am when we went so the place should have been hopping with the post-​bar crowd, but it was pretty empty… That should have been my warning sign.
A specialty slice is $ 2.75 too, I think it’s a little cheaper at NYPD. Next time I will go to Fleetwood or make the trek to Maynard and William.

The crust here is overwhelmingly average. It looks like crust, but it has the texture of a day old soft roll. Nevertheless, this place is great for a late night when you’re stumbling off of main street looking for some pizza.

Hear ye! Hear ye! I’m the duke of this here pizza place and I doth declare it to be one of the most exceptional places for the purchase and consumption of the baked bread and cheese delicacy that is pizza. Perfect for those late nights when you’re looped, buzzed, bombed or otherwise muddled.
When you do go, ask for unlimited breadsticks, I’m sure they’ll have no idea what you’re talking about.

We stopped in here on a Friday night after our son and his friends enjoyed a concert at the Blind Pig. We were the undrunk crowd… LOL
It reminded me of Sbarro’s pizza, as the pizza’s are pre-​cooked and waiting for you to save them. No heat lamps (or I don’t recall seeing any), so the pizza looked a lil flat. They will heat you up a slice. NOW, they were nice enough to offer the boys slices of fresh pizza that just came o ut of the oven. They guys each enjoyed their slice of pizza. It was cheesy, nice thin, crunchy crust, but I thought for $ 2.00 (if not a lil more) a small slice. I thought the service was good. The young man was working the counter and getting the pizza; he did it all promptly and without issue.

So, I received this e-​mail fro a «Michael S.»
He coughed snot into his hand and all but handled the food he wanted me to buy with that hand. He apologized for «SCARING» me off — he DISGUSTED me out of there. If this were the first time Pizza Pino’s food absolutely and literally sickened me, I wouldn’t take the trouble of posting this email from the business. If you’re drunk enough, you’ll probably not notice.
«Hi Brandon, my name is Michael. I was working the counter the night that you came into Pizza Pino. Given what you experienced when you came into the restaurant, I was not the least bit surprised to see a negative Unilocal review. I’m glad you did, because now I have a means of getting in touch with you to follow up on your bad experience.
============== From Michael S — Pizza Pino employee =====================
On my behalf, I’d like to apologize for scaring you off the way I did. I get allergies in the spring and tend to sneeze a lot, but don’t take that as an excuse for how I treated you as a potential customer. From now on, I always wash my hands after I sneeze, especially before serving customers. There is no reason why I should compromise in terms of sanitation or service for ANY of our customers.
Warmest regards,
–Michael»
What a load of bullshit. If this were the only bad service experience (the fish is gray, watch the pizza warmer for flies, I’ve had black nachos from there) I will not be happy until this business is DEAD. You’ll like their food if you’re drunk enough — just don’t wonder why you’re sick the next day.

The pizza doesn’t look so appealing when it’s sitting out there on display, but it looks (and I’m sure tastes) much better after being heated up. Service can be slow late at night, but I’ve never dealt with any unfriendly workers. My bf claims that the wings are surprisingly very good, meaty, and saucy. I enjoyed their tomato basil soup last night.

Pretty good drunk food, diverse topping variety, world’s worst crust.
I won’t lie. At the end of a lovely negroni run near 2 in the morning, this pizza really hit the spot. Warm, greasy, cheesy — filled the gut and lined the stomach in the best way. But, even in my campari-​induced haze, I could tell that this pizza had the worst crust imaginable… what’s up with that Pizza Pino? It looks like the pre-​made crust that you buy in bags at the supermarket… but somehow even worse. bleh! i wasn’t tipsy enough to forget it — and don’t think i’d venture in here willingly or soberly. It was also overrun by gangly and over-​dressed 18year olds clearly having a college experience with each other.
They have a lot of interesting topping combos that aren’t half bad, and i saw on the menu they do other classic pizza-​joint dishes like calzones and what not… but really, i just can’t get over that crust. It did help stave off a nasty morning headache (i’ll give credit where credit is due), and nobody can make the taste of 2am pepperoni a bad thing, but other than that, I’m keen on exploring other pizza options in this collegiate nook.
[a big old MEH rubber stamp here]