Grimaldi's - Not For Everyone\n\nI almost gave Grimaldi's 3 stars, because it seemed to be fairly popular and busy, but when I mentally compared their pizza - which I thought was good - to the many other pizza restaurant options, it didn't hold up well, so I knocked them down to 2 stars. I've ordered pizza at dozens of restaurants, including most of the major chains, over the years, and I've also made hundreds of pizza at home from scratch.\n\nTo me, only a few factors determine the quality of a pizza. For the most part, onions are onions, peppers are peppers, olives are olives, mushrooms are mushrooms - most toppings are pretty much going to taste the same wherever you get your pizza. \n\nWhat sets pizza apart for me are: crust, sauce, pepperoni and sausage. Grimaldi's crust was descent. On the plus side, it was only burnt a tiny bit near the edges, but it was mushy and gooey at the center. Many brick oven pizzerias are cavalier about burning their crusts, ignorant to the fact that a burnt crust ruins the taste. I always send a burnt pizza back for one that is cooked properly.\n\nAs I watched the pizzas being made, they seemed to put very little sauce on their pies, but it seems to spread out as the pizza cooks. Still, my pizza seemed dry, in need of more sauce, at the edges, and the sauce itself lacked any zesty flavor - it was fairly bland. Grimaldi's has options other than the tomato sauce that I ordered, but I can't comment on those\n\nGrimaldi's pepperoni was good, not great. On a positive note, they don't slice it paper thin like virtually every other pizzeria in town, it was a nice, thick slice, like pepperoni should be. I'm reminded of a pizzeria I went to once in Philly - their pepperoni was so delicious, I asked what type it was and where they got it. They ended up selling me 1 one pound stick which I brought back to Phoenix. I was better than any pepperoni that I've sourced locally. Grimaldi's sausage was also just okay, my main complaint is that they - like most pizzerias - don't offer a hot sausage option. I want sausage to be more than just another topping - I want to taste it. \n\nAt one time, I thought Streets of New York made was best pizza restaurant in town, but that was nearly 30 years ago and in my opinion their quality has come down significantly over the years. My current favorite - though not strictly a pizzeria - is Red, White & Brew. Though I never order pizza when I dine in, I order their pizza often as take out. Grimaldi's popularity puzzles me.