Geno’s Pizza
109 N. Riverview DriveLast Friday was one of those rare Friday night’s I was home alone.
J and L were in Dallas for a figure skating camp. I asked J’s parents if they would take B for the night because I didn’t know when I would get off work. Whenever we plan for me to get off a little early or on time, I end up getting stuck at work for several hours of overtime. They didn’t mind coming to get him and I didn’t want to take the chance.
Usually when I’m alone, I hit up a bar I haven’t been to yet but I was a little worried about stretching money this week. I had to make a trip back to Illinois on Saturday so I knew we’d be eating out a little and with J and L in Dallas, they were going to have to eat out several meals.
I decided on pizza thinking I could stretch it for two meals. The question was, which pizza place.
There are a few places I realized I haven’t been to in years and haven’t blogged about in even more years. It just became a matter of which place I was going to pick.
My choice ended up being Geno’s Pizza in Parchment. The restaurant almost closed last year when the original owners retired but a new owner stepped in to continue the legacy of this small town pizza joint.
Geno’s Pizza is on North Riverview Drive just north of Parchmount Avenue in what can be considered downtown Parchment. The building is big enough for two business and before the restaurant switched hands, Geno’s actually took up both spaces with the southern part of the building being used as a large dining room and bar area. The current Geno’s still has the whole building but they’re only using the northern part of the building right now as the liquor license didn’t transfer over. Parking for the restaurant is on the street and there’s usually plenty of space to park right in front of the building to pick up pizzas.
I used the online ordering system to put in an order for a 14″ thin crust sausage and pepperoni pizza plus an order of breadsticks. The total cost was just over $27 and the estimated pick up time was about twenty minutes. I ordered this right around 1:00 so I could eat it for both lunch and dinner.
I got the restaurant just about twenty minutes after ordering. The restaurant has a pickup window next to the kitchen. The hallway leading to the old dining room is still there but the room is dark. There was a guy waiting at the cash register when I walked in and asked if I had a pick up. I said yes and he disappeared in to the kitchen to grab the boxes.
There is a small dining room in this part of the building with a little over a half dozen tables. The dining room is really bright with lots of natural light and green walls covered with art. The furniture is the black, heavier wood pub tables alongside a few smaller two and four top tables.
I was really hungry when I got in the car so I popped open the container with the breadsticks first. There were six thick, buttery, golden brown pieces of bread. They were covered in garlic butter and Parmesan cheese. I grabbed the smaller one and bit in and it was an instant lover affair. There was a cup of marinara in the box too but I didn’t even use it. There was a buttery, garlicky, salty crunch on the bite through the bread but it was so soft on the inside. I ran down to the Speedway down the street to get a coupe of Pepsi’s and ended up sitting in the parking lot there and finishing off all six of them.
You can order pizza in thick, thin, original and cauliflower crusts. I picked the 14″ thin crust, added pepperoni and sausage then did a party cut because thin crust pizza is better in squares. I didn’t ask for it but the pizza came out almost well done. It was very reminiscent of a Chicago tavern pizza.
I don’t actually remember if Geno’s had a thin crust before. I can only remember having the original crust. This pizza is the kind of pizza I really like. Thin crust, crispy, and salty, crispy pieces of meat in each bite. I only got a 14″ but I wish I would have ordered a larger one. I still hit my goal of stretching this out over two meals but I had to show some restraint to do so.
I always like Geno’s Pizza when I had it in the past but this is probably the best pizza I’ve ever had from them. I really prefer thin crust pizzas and this is the kind of thin crust pizza I want to see when I open a box.
SW Michigan Dining 