Gino's East - Nashville

I’m normally a NYC-style thin crust pizza guy, but I discovered Gino’s East when I was in town for a convention at the Music City Center. A short walk from MCC, Gino’s serves deep dish, Chicago-style pizza “pies.” After perusing the menu, I decided to order a 9” pizza with all the meats(pepperoni, sausage, ham, and Canadian bacon). They do offer a “personal” deep dish pizza with salad and drink as a lunch special, but I wanted to experience the regular pie. Because of the preparation and cooking process, it takes about 45 minutes for your piping hot pizza to arrive at the table. I ordered the mozzarella sticks as an appetizer, which helped with the wait. Once the pizza arrived, I knew that I would not be able to eat it all. The 9” will easily feed two people. Unlike thin pizza, this is definitely a knife and fork eating experience. And, oh what an experience it was. The sauce, cheese, and toppings were perfect. The taste was outstanding, especially the crust, which did have a pie-like quality. Even if you typically eat thin crust pizza, Gino’s is well worth the change-up (and slightly higher price) if you find yourself in Nashville needing to quench a pizza craving.

For those less familiar, deep dish pizza features a thick and crumbly crust, followed by a lot of mozzarella, toppings, and a layer of chunkier-style tomato sauce. Gino's East deep dish has a rich, tangy and acidic tomato sauce atop a cornmeal crust that is crisp on the bottom yet cooked through so not to be doughy from the cheese and other toppings. Being a deep dish fan my FAV is Giordano's, but with very limited legit options in Nashville knowing that the Gino's East folks have been at it since 1966 this place is a welcome site. I stopped in for the $9 lunch special recently and had a 1 topping and a salad. The Italian style dressing was amazing BTW and the pizza was good as usual. Quite a bit of dough on the personal DD so you'll leave full. Hours later and I'm still full actually. A couple of months ago had dinner here with my parents. We ordered a large DD. More than enough for the 3 of us. At $22 - $29 for a large it may seem pricey, but its in line with other deep dish pizza spots. For those who like DD, I would say give Gino's a try.

This was my first true deep dish experience, so we went all out and ordered the cheeseburger pizza. When the waitress said it was like a pizza adaptation of a Big Mac, she wasn't joking! The pizza was delicious! However, unless you're sharing with more than two people, opt for another pizza. It's A LOT of food. Glad we tried it, but I wouldn't do it again. The buffalo mozzarella sticks are also a great choice! We were here to see Zach Martina's stand-up comedy show, which was such a good time! Other than the slow service, this place was great!

This place is known for their deep dish pizzas. However, they let you know it will take at least 45 minutes to get it. We started with the spinach artichoke dip, it was decent. Definitely fresh ingredients. We went with the thin crust meaty legend adding green peppers. The pizza wasn't cut all the way through so we had to get the cutter to cut it. The edges were burnt. But, all ingredients are fresh and cut up pretty small so if you're picky, best to ask without because it will be hard to pick off. The sauce and cheese was also great. Overall a great pizza. Staff was friendly. I would come here again.

I am a fan of Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Hard to find in the South. I live in the Huntsville, AL area and luckily came across Gino's East in a search that I didn't expect. I drove all the way from Huntsville to try Gino's East. Let me say that I'm a Giordano's fan and this was my first try of any Gino's East locations. Gino's East did not disappoint me. I ordered Homemade Spinach Mozzarella Sticks for an appetizer. I really didnt need them knowing that a Deep Dish Pizza was coming my way. Those Spinach Mozzarella Sticks were really good opening act for the pizza. I ordered a 12"Deep Dish Meaty Legend that has pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Canadian Bacon, and Bacon. Let me say again that I am a Giordano's fan. I've had Lou Malnati's and Connie's Pizza. This pizza was great. It was worth my trip to Nashville for pizza. I will be back now that I have found Chicago Deep Dish Pizza closer than 600 miles away. My server Lala was fantastic. She took really good care of me. Again, a great pizza that is a lot closer than going to Chicago.

The pizza was solid, not terrible, not great, just...good. Service was the same. Got water but no refill and there was plenty of time since I ordered an appetizer and pizza and the place wasn't full. Lastly, the price...wow! 44 dollars for soso pizza and mozzarella sticks. If the pizza had knocked my socks off, I wouldn't bat an eye at 44 dollars.

The staff definitely makes this a five star rating! The pizza was good, don't get me wrong, but they were really great to take care of the large party I was with. The pizza was expensive, to be sure. I did the 'thin crust' variety since deep dish isn't my thing, and it was still good. The building certainly has a personality, look at these pictures! If deep dish pizza is what you are craving, this would be a good solution.

Fantastic taste of Chicago, everything is authentic and tasted great! Staff and Manager very friendly and took time to chat and see how things were! (Only slight downside to keep it from a 5, as a personal preference I prefer my pizza, burn your mouth, hot - and our pie was just barely hot.). Will definitely come back!