Chet W.
Yelp
(January 2025)
Seeing this location as I was making my way to the hotel, I made a mental note to check out the reviews and try out the pizza and food while staying in Fort Lauderdale.
The reviews were glowing for this place, so I happily made my way to Luigi's Coal Oven Pizza.
Once I got here for lunch, I was immediately seated, and unsurprisingly, as a single diner, was sat near the kitchen exit/entrance. After a look at the menu, I selected an 8 inch margherita pizza, fried buffalo cheese, and fried calamari with a blueberry lemon martini.
The fried calamari was supposed to be served with a spicy marinara sauce; the fried buffalo cheese was supposed to be served with (regular?) marinara sauce. When these two came out, the sauce was exactly the same-- and it tasted like it came straight from a cane of watered down tomato paste. The calamari was indeed cooked, but it was certainly the palest I've ever seen fried calamari.
The fried buffalo cheese was another surprise. As you can see in the picture, there were three pieces. The first was not cheese, but a battered and fried slice of tomato; the second was half tomato and half cheese, and the third was all cheese.
Remember I had ordered the 8" pizza? I finished the two dishes and waited. And waited. And waited. I honestly thought the server forgot to put in the pizza order. After all, the two men in the kitchen were standing around and talking. I figured I would ask for the ticket when suddenly the pizza came out. The pizza was a smaller size - no trouble there - but again, this was the blandest pizza I've ever had. The dough was tasty, but tasted more like a toasted pita then coal-fired pizza crust.
The servers were not particularly over or under attentive- something I like. I didn't park a car, so I can't attest to an experience there.
Based on my experience at lunch, I would not recommend visiting Luigi's Coal Oven Pizza. There are so many more places in Fort Lauderdale around the same price point with better seasoned food.