Falcone's

[Nixon7]

Went there last night with my girlfriend. My only complaint is that the Yankee stuff needs to come down, and Red Sox stuff needs to be added...I know it's NY Pizza, but still...

[Patrick]

My wife and I ate at Falcones last night for our anniversary.......

I actually wasn't impressed. The crust tasted like pre-made crust from the grocery store. And there was 1 pepperoni...that's right....one....on my slice of pizza. The service was a bit hectic as well. Seemed like they had enough employees but there were a lot of people standing around in the back, looking clueless. But, I'll give them some leeway...it was their grand opening.

To be honest, I wish we would've eaten at Park Avenue Grill inside the Skirvin instead.

[Doug Loudenback]

Went there tonight with my wife ... I'll give it a 4 out of 5 rating ...

Pepperoni Pizza: VERY good .. good cheeses, sauce, nice thin crust
Salad: Kinda bland, not zesty enough for me but the lettuce, etc., was fresh and crisp
Spaghetti with some kinda marianara (?) sauce (I don't like meat balls): VERY good ... 1 serving is more than enough for 2 people
Artichoke hearts: Tasty
Stuffed peppers: I didn't try, but my wife liked 'em
Negative: No "plain" iced tea ... had to settle for some sweetened raspberry tea (I'm not fond of sweet tea, but, for sweetened tea, it was ok)

I'll go again. It was a good stop.

[lkberry1]

Patrick,
The crust of Falcone's pizza is definitely not store bought. The dough is made fresh daily and created for each pizza. Just fyi.

[BailJumper]

Well, we took in Spiderman 3 Saturday and then lunch at Falcone's.

While I've enjoyed several meals at Falcone's N. May Ave. location, I was dissapointed with the pizza at their new location.

The crust on my cheese pizza was like cardboard and the rest was room temperature at best.

My wife's pepperoni slice was better; softer crust and the pool of grease was warmer than mine.

The house salad was very gross - it had apparently been made at least an hour previously and the lettuce was soggy.

We will try it again in a month or so after they have gotten the kinks worked out hopefully.

[mwmcl]

The pizza by the slice will never taste as good as buying a pie and eating it fresh.

[Patrick]

Patrick,
The crust of Falcone's pizza is definitely not store bought. The dough is made fresh daily and created for each pizza. Just fyi.

Yeah, I saw them tossing the crust. I'll give it another try.

I will say my pizza was loaded with cheese. I liked that.

I just wish I would've gotten the spaghetti and meatballs. I saw that someone else had ordered that and it looked yummy.

[Patrick]

The pizza by the slice will never taste as good as buying a pie and eating it fresh.

Yeah, I noticed that. The full pizzas on people's tables looked way better than the pizza by the slice that I ordered. So, maybe next time my wife and I just need to order our own pizza.

[jbrown84]

Yeah, when I go I always order a fresh pie.

[Martin]

so how much do they charge for a whole pie, anyway? -M

[jbrown84]

I believe a large is somewhere around 15 bucks but it's HUGE.

[Martin]

cool... figured that was the ballpark, but wanted to make sure. -M

[metro]

My wife and I ate there last night. I would say it was on par with their May location as far as food, decor was a little bland compared to their other location. I ordered a slice of sausage and a slice of pepperoni and one arancini (rice ball type appetizer) and my wife ordered a pepperoni Calzone. All in all I'd say its pretty good, but I'd have to agree with Doug or Patrick or whomever it was that ate there earlier this week and say the crust was a little hard to be NY style. It needs to be thinner and softer. It was comparable to Little Caesars crust to me. I can back up my claim because I was in NYC this week and ate at the famous Ray's pizzeria and some others. By far Falcone's wasn't close to the original Ray's or other NYC eateries. I will say it is more east coast style than Chicago. I do like the fact that Falcone's uses fresh authentic ingredients, except last night he used the small pepperoni's you can get at Wal-Mart and tasted like it instead of the big authentic ones he has used in the past. The arancini was good, although it had broccoli in it and I wasn't expecting that, I'm not a broccoli fan. My wife's calzone was good as well although on the expensive side given the size of it. All in all we got 2 slices of pizza, 1 arancini, 1 calzone, and two ice waters for $17.00. I thought the price was high for so little, but not too bad. Quality I'd give a 7 or 8 out of ten. Atmosphere was good, we ate out on the patio because it was a nice night and to encourage more foot traffic outdoors. I'll definitely be visiting this place in the future, at least until the downtown Gaetano's opens in Legacy Summit at Arts Central.

[jbrown84]

I can back up my claim because I was in NYC this week and ate at the famous Ray's pizzeria and some others. By far Falcone's wasn't close to the original Ray's or other NYC eateries.

I went to a Ray's when I was in New York and found it very underwhelming. Worse than Sbarro. Falcone's got Ray beat in my book.

[jdsplaypin]

There are about 20 places in NYC that call themselves "famous Rays". None are related. However, i believe a couple of them are indeed more "original" than others.

[jbrown84]

They all had the same logo and signage.

[metro]

correct jdsplaypin, there are multiple "Rays" in NYC, but very few actually affiliated. I ate at the original.. In summary, this topic as any other is forever debatable since its a matter of personal preference.

[Martin]

went to falcone's bricktown tonight... ordered a 14" pepperoni to go. after tax and a small tip, it was 17 bucks... no bargain for a one topping pie. the crew was fast and friendly. the pizza was fresh and tasty, though i think i would've been happier with the crust's texture had i ordered a larger pizza. all in all, it was great pizza albeit a little pricey for what i got... it seems as if there's no benefit in price than getting it by-the-slice, which seems kinda weird. definitely will be going back, though.

if anyone wants me to scan in the menu and post it, lemme know. -M

[Patrick]

It's like 30 bucks for a large with several toppings on it.

[Oh GAWD the Smell!]

It's like 30 bucks for a large with several toppings on it.

Wow...That's pretty pricey. It should come with a free palm reading or something.

[BailJumper]

I noticed at his May location that a large 3-5 topping would cost a hefty amount.

Honestly, for those living/working downtown, the best and cheapest pizza is in the building at Park and Robinson (SE corner - 1st Nat'l Bldg. ?). It's called Italian Express. They have an excellent lunch buffet for about $6. It has salad, 3-4 different kinds of pizza, lasagna, meat balls, different kinds of pasta, etc.

You can also order a large pie to go from $6-$10 that is better than any of the chain pizza places. Best price in town for the money. The place is packed at lunch.

[Easy180]

Best bang for the buck downtown is Ricoletto's in the conncourse....Pizza isn't bad at all and they have a great salad bar

I miss working downtown for sure

[metro]

Pizza Town is a pretty good deal to at Main and Walker.

[Steve]

As a former New Yorker, let me explain Ray's.... there are three major Famous Rays, and then a bunch of knock-offs. The original Ray sold his restaurant to a guy not named Ray. That second "Ray" turned his pizzza place into a huge success and opened multiple locations. The original Ray then got back into the business and opened a new restaurant, with more to follow. Confused so far? Heck, it gets better, because yet another guy who really is named Raymond opened a restaurant as well, and the other two got mad at him and as I recall, it all ended up in court. The first two Rays eventually formed an alliance, trademarking their name and going after all the "fake" Famous Rays.
So, if you ate at Famous Rays in New York, it may or may not have been one of the two Famous Rays.
(Only in New York......)
-Steve

[jbrown84]

Hmmm. What about a location at 8th and 50th or so?