Mike’s Pizzeria

WAIT! SEE BELOW! Another GREAT Fresno tradition gone! Just finding out I will no longer be able to get the best calzones ever – ever again! Looks like they closed after celebrating their 50^th! That is sad and such a loss for Fresno! I’m speaking of the one on West & Shields. It would be hard to maintain and bar/​restaurant in that isolated area of the city. 50 years ago, there was no Herndon Ave and Shaw was just rising. So sorry to see this gone!
GO to West And Shields! THAT’s the MIKE’s Pizzeria – the original!!! IT IS STILL HERE!!! Just found out today! I’m SO HAPPY! Still run by the family!

Used to be outstanding. When Tony was the chef, Italian dishes, some the best this side of San Francisco, were simply extinction. Now, it is moderately good but the chef is young so perhaps it will get better.

We stopped off at Mike’s on the way home from a school event with my 14 year old and 12 year old sons. I was pleasantly surprised to meet Maria, the sister of the prior owner. She was very personable, the Chianti I had was wonderful and served at room temperature. We will be back for more. Thanks Maria and family.

In my first visit to the newly managed Mikes, I was greeted by owner Maria who was very warm and inviting. The conversation with her exceeded the traditional «Small Talk» or «Niceties» exchanged in restaurants and gave the personal touch of a small mom & pop operation.
Keeping with the family tradition, this location has excellent calzoni’s, with a marinara that is amazing.
The Minestrone soup was far better than any I have had before. I liked it so much I had to order more to take home with me.
All in all this was an excellent meal, with fantastic service, and a very enjoyable experience.
Luigi, keep doing what you are doing. You are a very talented chef.

i LOVE the Mikes on West, so I assumed this one would be great too… but um NO. i find them rude, and the service not decent. Specifically i called one time to order a pizza at 4pm and the guy on the phone (owner maybe?) asked me if i was «sure that i wanted to order one» bc he was «so busy.» I said yes, and when I arrived at the restaurant to pick up my pizza 25 mins later, the restaurant was DEAD. NO BODY WAS THERE. Soooooo needless to say, I was not amused by his deception. Go to the one on West!

I’ve eaten at Mike’s on West at Shields a number of times, always had good service and good food. Service at the W Shaw location on 12÷28÷12 was the worst I have ever experienced in memory. I was there with four others, we get together for lunch every week, so we’ve eaten in over 100 restaurants the last few years. I would have walked out, but the rest were OK with waiting. We did the waiting; the staff did not. After ten minutes or so, a man came out and from 10 feet away took our drink orders. He then spent at least five minutes chatting with the only other customer in the joint. Another 20 minutes and a server brought out drinks. After 42 minutes in the place he finally took our order, and eventually brought some bread. Food took way too long considering there were now a total of three other customers. The server was indifferent but not quite rude. The sad thing is that my calzone was one of the best I’ve ever had, but I would never go to that location again. I do highly recommend the West & Shields location.

Real Italian food, made by a real Italian. Tony is one of the nicest owner operators you’ll ever meet. I recommend the chicken Marcella, but if there’s an item that’s not on the menu just ask, and he’ll make it how you want it.

Went here for my sister’s birthday. It’s a small place. There was another party there before us so service was slow, but there was only one guy working and he was as attentive as he good be considering how hard he was working. Pizza’s were good. Definitely better than your average Me N Ed’s or Round Table. After we were done the chef (owner maybe?) came out and apologized for the delay in getting our food which I thought was nice of him to do. We didn’t mind much because we were chatting. I’d go again. You should too. Support local businesses in Fresno!

Okay, so maybe they’re better at pizza?
First of all, we had bread brought to the table by a waiter who didn’t seem too friendly. The bread was hot, yay! Unfortunately it was also a bit scorched on the bottom. Our order was taken within a reasonable amount of time but the wait for the food was ridiculous. The restaurant was not crowded at the time and we made reservations so you would think they would be able to handle the work in the kitchen. Two of the six in our party waited an extra 5 – 10 minutes (the food came in two waves). Salads were drenched in dressing. The pastas with marinara were sweet, the sauce as liquid as water. The lasagna was way over-​salted. The clams marinara were swimming in a salty cream sauce.
Definitely not returning!

Have been going to Mike’s for over 22 years. Have not lived in Fresno for 19 years but the first place I go to when I get here is Mike’s for Calzone.
I have introduced my kids to Mike’s and every Thanksgiving, when we come to visit family, on Wednesday night we have calzone, bread, and salad. Then Thursday involves something to do with Turkey.

Mike’s Pizzeria 2 is a great place for food and friendship. It’s like dropping in on Tony’s kitchen at home and hanging out with him while he cooks. The food is delicioso! Started going here about 9 years ago while working at an office up the street. Loved the $ 4 lunch special then branched out into the antipasto salad. Don’t get by as often as I used to but every time I go I try something different and it’s always good. Not fru fru, but deliciously Italian and as I said, I can’t think of a better plac to spend a meal with friends and a bottle of Chianti.

I’ve been a loyal customer of Tony’s (the owner of Mike’s) for as long as I can remember. He’s been serving up gourmet Italian fare to the people of Fresno for over a quarter of a century now. I travel extensively and have eaten Italian food in some of my favorite places. New York, Naples, Roma, and many others. Mike’s pizza is the logical choice in Fresno, especially when compared to it’s competition, or lack of. Anyone who thinks the dog food served up a DiCiccos is good food, needs to give up going out. Try the Chicken Parmagaina, Spicy Fettucini, Garlic Chicken, or Lasagna. The giant Calzones are also world class. I have only a handful of favorite restaurants in central California, and Mike’s sits at the top of the list. And please, be patient, as food this good takes time to prepare. Oh, and the hot bread is the best Italian bread on the west coast.

Tony is the bomb! He makes the absolute best ever Calzone’s! I know they are deep fried but they are not greasy and they are huge! We only get down here once or twice a year, but Mike’s is our place to be when in Fresno.

As a fan of Mike’s I feel the need to answer the previous review. My problem is… I have a hard time believing that anyone would sit for nearly an hour in a restaurant without service before walking out. 15 –20 minutes tops and not without some acknowlegement that we are there.
Seriously, I’ve been eating here for years… its a family run place, and sometimes the service is a bit slow, but the food is so worth waiting for… I am not a fan of calzone or minestrone. and I can say I would walk on hot coals for Mike’s version of either of these dishes. and their bread? omg… like bread in heaven. My fave dish though is the linguine with white clam sauce… so many clams… so tasty… so garlickly… yum! The only head scratcher is, if they can make an excellent calzone, why is their pizza not that great? How does that work? But overall. I’d recommend it as a definite date nite place.

I have heard rave reviews about this place about the food and pizza, but I will never know because the service was so shoddy, I walked out.
Went there on a Saturday night… it wasn’t particularly busy. We walk in, and no one is there to greet us. We have to stick our head in the kitchen to let someone know we are there. The owner was like «uh, sit anywhere you want.» So we sit down.
About 5 minutes pass and a guy that looked like he was kitchen help, came out and gave us two menus and leaves. About 10 minutes pass, he comes and takes our drink and food order. He wasn’t particularly helpful either… in asking him how big the salads were he was like «one is big, one is small.» I got the impression service wasn’t his forte’. A few minutes later he comes back with our drinks. I ordered a Diet Coke… it came in what looked like a juice glass loaded with ice… two sips and it was empty.
People kept coming in to pick up take out orders, which was a little annoying… lots of food leaving the kitchen, none of it making it’s way to the tables.
I noticed there was a woman there sort of walking around, straightening flowers… she appeared to work there, but wasn’t really doing anything I would consider helpful to the customers. After we’d been seated for 45 minutes with no bread, no salad and no refills I see her emerge from the kitchen with an apron on. She walks to the front counter, picks up a couple of to go bags, walks out the front door and doesn’t return. After an hour had passed, one drink, no bread, no salad, we had had enough, threw down $ 10 on the table ($ 10 too much IMHO) and left. Some other people followed our lead.
Basically, I figure what happened was someone (i.e. a server) didn’t show up for work that night, but as a customer is that my problem? On what planet is it acceptable to be seated for an hour, had one drink, no bread, no salad? This is absolutely the worst service experience I have ever had anywhere. They could be featuring Gary Danko or Thomas Keller and I wouldn’t go back. If it were possible to give negative stars, I would.
Maybe it was an off night, maybe I am cutting off my nose to spite my face, and I am going to miss out on some primo Italian fare. But to quote Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction «…Sewer rat may taste like pumpkin pie, but I’ll never know…»