Fat Lorenzo’s

Ordered a pizza 80 minutes ago and they said 30 – 40 minutes. It was Sunday night at 8pm when I called, I dont think this is a really busy time.
After waiting an hour I called to see whats up with my pizza. Website said open til 10. The person who answered the phone (just after 9) said «thank you for calling Fat Lorenzo’s. We’re closed.» How welcoming. I told him how late my pizza is and he said «theyre all out for delivery» and that was it.
This is after the experience ordering. Must have been the persons first day, l hope it was. I asked for delivery. He asked if I was a new customer. I told him yes. He asked if I wanted to add my address (assuming to my profile). Well of course because I asked for delivery!!! For that and other reasons, I got off that call wondering if he got my order right.
Nobody will ever find out I guess because my pizza still isnt here. Now that Im catching up on the other Unilocal reviews (shouldve done it earlier, my bad) me and my pregnant self are moving on to figure out what else to eat.
Terrible service. If zero stars was an option thats what I would give them. Im so glad we were paying with cash and I didnt have to give them my CC info. Thats the only good thing from this experience.
UPDATE. The pizza just showed up. Delivery guy called my cell to verify address, which was the wrong house number. He finally showed up and we just paid for it to get it over with and hoping to be pleasantly surprised. I took the pizza box and it wasn’t warm at all. As I mentioned above, Im pregnant, which means food bacteria is my worst enemy. The pizza smelled good. Opened the box and it was clearly cold, which I verified by touching it. As a pregnant person, i cant eat this, and nobody should anyways. Who knows how long ago this was cooked? Whats the number to the health inspector because this place should be closed. The pizza LOOKS good. It looks just as good as it did when I passed the S MPLS location on my way home tonight, saw people eating it on the patio, and made up my mind that thats what I wanted to eat. I mean, aside from cold hardened cheese and it half crunched from sitting in a car for too long.

Overrated but not bad. 3 stars about right! Staff is okay. Food is okay, not bad not mind blowing.
It’s okay

Terrible service at the Bloomington store.
I walked up to the bar asked to order some food, the bar tender made a gesture to the waiter that a customer wanted to order some food, he acknowledged her and I waited 15 minutes with no waiter to take my order. I got angry and called the restaurant and placed my order. 45 minutes later my pizza showed up, dry and old. It looked like it was sitting under the heat lamps for a few hours.
Second time I wanted a pizza I waited by the cash register for ten minutes until a confused bar tender said that fats was closed. Arrg
This place must be run by idiots. The Mpls store had a large pizza made within ten minutes during rush hour. And made perfectly! Avoid Bloomington fats, unless you enjoy bad service, dry terrible pizza

As other reviews have pointed out, FL Bloomington is in a strange location attached to the VFW, behind Cub Foods. Not sure you’re in the right place or which door to go in. Needs signage! We went in the south door; it seems to be the restaurant side. We ordered carry-​out and the food wasn’t bad, but just not amazing. Eh.
We’ll need to check out the original FL again to compare.

I am surprised to see some of these low ratings and reviews. We were visiting the Mall of America and wanted to stay in our hotel room and have pizza so we called these guys up. Minus the long wait (which was forewarned) the food was great! The crust is so delicious! If you are ever in Bloomington, MN and would like pizza… I would recommend this place!

Pizza was fairly good but overpriced. Hard to find location. Saw a flier for 3 pizza places and this won an award and had best reviews. Hate to think what other places were like. 26 $ for 2 bread sticks and medium good size pizza.

Just visiting and needed some pizza after riding rides at mall of America. They delivered us great pizza with huge pie cut slices to the hotel … And brought us silverware and plates, which was sweet. I enjoyed It. Be prepared to give the number of the hotel if you call for delivery…
It’s true about the rich marinara type pizza sauce. Really tomatoey and really big pizza slices, which I enjoyed.

Do not come here!!! First off, we walk in and are immediately informed by another table that if we are here for Lorenzos pizza that they have been waiting for 10 minutes and no one has even came to greet them yet nor take their order. So we sit down, wait as well, and nothing. This place is in the back of a VFW hall, and my husband had to walk through it to find out where the staff for the restaurant was. As he was doing this the other table left after waiting fifteen minutes. Five minutes later the waiter pops up, and we tell him we have been waiting 15 minutes for service and he just shrugs his shoulders and says «oh». Seriously!!! So we immediately order and tell him what we want in case he doesn’t come back. Food was ok. Pizza was dry. Definitely would not come back

In the VFW that isn’t the bad part although we were or are the only people eating here. The food is a little heavy heat on the bread it was burnt. The linguini and clams there was a to of clams and its a red sauce not the best I ever had. I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone.

The pizza is pretty good but the service is AWFUL. I work at a local hotel and order from here quite often and as well I used to direct all of my hungry guests there as well. I will not ever recommend this place again. Twice in the last month they got my order wrong. The last time I ordered the pizza took 2 hours to be delivered, was wrong AGAIN, and had cold, hard cheese by the time it got here. Absolutely unacceptable. And let’s keep in mind this was a $ 20 SMALL pizza. A complete and total waste. They said they would send a driver back to refund me my cash, they never showed up. I called and talked to one shift manager who was less than helpful and didn’t seem to care at all. The second time I called I asked to talk to a different manager, I believe his name was Rigoberto. He was helpful and seemed sceniere. He said he told the owner about my experience and that the owner would be calling me personally to discuss the horrible service… It has now been 3+ days and I have not received my cash back OR the call from the owner. Absolutely appalling. If this is the way they handle business I will go out of my way to make sure this place is not recommended to our guests. Poorly handled. I am debating even calling back to see why the owner had not called me yet…

Fat Lorenzo’s. Fat. Lorenzo’s. Fat being the operative word. And boy would I be if I ate here often. It came as a recommendation from a friend in Minneapolis, and I owe him a beer for that.
First, I’ll second, third, and fourth what everyone has said about the location. It’s in the back of the VFW, with an entrance around the corner. And yes, the tables are covered with white butcher paper. But it’s an Italian pizza and grinder shop, so don’t go expecting white linen table cloths. If you drip marinara, the place is out $.35 cent for some paper. And for those who’ve been and haven’t paid attention, check out the walls. It’s your typical Italian restaurant wall art, except the landscape is dotted with larger than life food items. The huge bell pepper ring… the pepperoncini… the tomato. You should take a look next time you’re in.
So now that general ambiance and location notes are out of the way, on to the main event: food. I had the Fat’s Special. And boy, was it special. Genoa, pepperoni, ham, banana peppers and mozzarella. Piping hot, and served on a nice, chewy roll. And there was marinara on the side for dipping. It was decadent. I was in sandwich heaven. Everything meshed together well, and I found myself wishing for more marinara to pour on top. So I ordered some. And poured it on top. And I had a foodgasm. It was that good. My dining companion had the meatball, and it looked equally good. However, I tried to get a bite and ended up with a stab wound, so I can’t speak to how good it is. Beyond the implications of a fork injury in defense of said sandwich…
Would I go out of my way for this place? Yes. As a matter of fact, I did. It’s a 15 minute bus ride from the Mall of America, and another 7 minute walk after you get off the bus. Would I do it again? Of course. That being said, it’s not five star dining, and you’re not going to get five star service. But it’s better than the food at Applebee’s, and the service is on par. So go here. Eat. Thank me later. And send LP a beer. Cause you’ll owe him one too.

We arrived about 20 minutes before closing (and we weren’t sure if we were in the right place it’s not well marked) and the place was empty but we gave it a shot.
We got a medium «carne pazza» (meat crazy) and it was so delicious! It was on a New York style hand tossed crust with pepperoni, Canadian bacon, sausage and sliced meatballs. Instead of regular pizza it had a great marinara sauce. It was a heavy, huge pizza! We could barely eat 3 pieces together.
Extra tip — the first time you check in on 4square you get a free small gelato with an $ 8 purchase.

Horrible service! We bussed our own dishes, got our own dishes, got our own water, screwed up order and then half the food came out 20 minutes after some of our party got theirs. After all this we tipped 18% and the server came back and said we must have done out math wrong implying the tip wasn’t enough. He was very rude. Wont be back

Their appetizers are amazing! love their calcinado and spinach dip appetizers most of all. Our first order my husband had the Alfredo, which was a typical Alfredo, but still yummy. I had the picante grassi, which wasn’t great. We have ordered since and always get the calcinado, it never disappoints.

Grabbed a take-​out order from here on a Saturday night. I can definitely say that the pizza here is not very good at all. I’ve had frozen pizzas that were better than the pizza I had from here.
Ingredients were definitely old and didn’t taste fresh at all. I had mushrooms on my pizza and they were definitely past their time. Cheese was also hard and not gooey at all. My guess is since this place is dead all of the time the ingredients just sit and go bad. Pizza crust was definitely not tossed fresh as well.
Save yourself a trip and go to Davanni’s instead.

If you find yourself lost trying to find the back entrance to this restaraunt, consider yourself lucky.
I went for a lunch with coworkers and was disapointed in the service. We didnt see a waiter for at least ten minutes, which seems especially strange given we had twelve people, made a reservation in advance, and hardly anyone else was around in the dining room at noon hour. Our waiter forgot our order several times and didnt offer refills on beverages at all. We waited fifteen minutes to check out, which seems excessive when everyone used card.
If, on the other hand, food is the only consideration for you, the potions were huge (and covered in olives) and affordably priced. I wouldnt suggest anyone try more than two slices, and thats if youre starving. If you are trying to eat healthy, i would avoid lorenzos entirely, even the salads/​soups were very «flavorful.»

I was SO happy to see that Fat Lorenzo’s has a restaurant in my new neighborhood. I was driving to S. Minneapolis just to get some.
The restaurant and VFW are tucked away and a little hard to find the first time.
The menu is great. The first time I went there, I was getting an assortment of sandwiches and salads. Everything was great. When my mom is in town, she demands Italian food — Minnesota has been hard on her New York palate. I took her to Fat Lorenzo’s once, and now that’s the only place she wants me to take her. I usually order extra so she can take some home to rural Minnesota.
Staff is friendly, food is fresh and delicious. This is a real winner.
2014 Update: I ordered delivery for the first time today. Since there is plenty of room in the fridge for leftovers, I ordered a pizza and an appetizer.
The calcinato appetizer is AMAZING. Fresh, delicious ingredients — a perfect combination with a balsamic glaze. Total heaven. I’ve never had anything like it anywhere.
If this is you first go at Fat Lorenzo’s, give this a try. You’ll be hooked
The pizza, a beautiful New York style pie like no other in the area. You gotta try this place

A new wall and door are in the works to separate the VFW Bar area from the restaurant. I was told they are planning on having it finished end of October if not sooner. I think this will address many of the problems the Bloomington location is having. I agree the way it is now is not working, I hope you return when the renovation is complete.
Sr. Vice Commander
Everett McClay VFW Post 1296

We were drawn to this place by Crowd Cut for a Sunday lunch. Like others have already said, it is an odd place.
Things that were weird about the visit:
–It’s in the VFW, literally 10 ft from a full bar of loud drinkers.
–It was just us in the dining room. Nobody greeted us when we entered, we just sat down.
–The waiter came out after about five minutes. He might also have been our chef, but we didn’t ask.
–The menu said «pizza» on the outside, but didn’t have anything about pizza inside. The waiter/​chef brought us paper menus with pizza listed.
–It literally took 15 minutes from when we sent our card/​coupon with the waiter/​chef before it was all done.
Aside from the weirdness, the food was good and the waiter was friendly. I think we confused him with the Crowd Cut coupon, but he and gets an «A for effort.»
We ordered «homemade breadsticks» and a build-​your-​own Meatball, Tomato and Salami pizza. The food was great. Good sauce and a good crust. Also, our medium pizza was huge, and tasted better reheated (in my opinion).
Our tab only came to $ 19 (needed to spend $ 20), so we tacked on a couple of Chocolate Chip Cookies, which were really good.
Overall the experience was odd, but makes for a good story. I wouldn’t drive out of my way for this place but if I was nearby I’d return. Takeout or delivery may just be the way to go with this one!
From the GF: «I give the atmosphere a ²⁄₅ and would recommend sticking to the original off cedar unless doing carryout or delivery»

This was by far the most BIZARRE lunch I have ever had. My wife and I had a coupon for $ 20 free and we found the place after driving around about 20 minutes.
Then we tried to get in the restaurant and you had to buzz your way in. This was after the door wouldn’t open in the first place. Seriously, just getting into the place was an adventure. It truly took 5 minutes to get into the structure.
So we finally get in the place and it is 30 old guys sitting around a bar. We notice that there looks like a restaurant piece off to the side. They have paper table mats and crayons. Like this would be a good place for kids to hang out. There are graying guys cussing and drinking whiskey 5 feet from the restaurant side.
Another thing, the server didn’t speak English very well. It was like being a visitor to Korea as a tourist. Hoping they would understand our broken English, EXCEPT I AM IN BLOOMINGTON, MINNESOTA!
They did have Surly Furious on tap which was awesome, as well as Bells 2 hearted. I got 2 Furious beers while I was there.
The menu was completely different than their regular menu. I didn’t see the Rib Eye sandwich I wanted, so I ordered the garlic chicken hot sub. We had to wait at least 10 minutes for my first beer and the server had my wife’s pop in her hand, yet didn’t bring it over. I am telling you, it was like Bizarro world.
My wife got the pizza without cheese and spinach. It was sooooo good. The crust was crispy, yet supple. The sauce has a little kick to it like a small child kicking a soccer ball into the net. Not too hard, not too soft.
My chicken sub was AMAZING! The sour bread was soft, yet hard on the outside. Lots of veggies and chicken. I could only eat half of it. I finished the rest for dinner and it was still a top 5 sandwich.
My favorite, if this experience wasn’t enough. I asked if they had gelato (My wife is a huge gelato fan) The waitress said, «I don’t think so» Now I am the most non confrontational guy in the world, I asked, «Would you check please?» Turns out they did.
She got some vanilla gelato to finish off the meal. It was delectable. Very dense and full flavored. Good stuff.
This was by far the most strange lunch in my life. My wife said, «5 stars for the food, 1 star for the atmosphere.» Weird place.