Full disclosure: I was invited to Grimaldi’s Pizzeria for a complimentary preview of their new fall menu. The opinions expressed here are my own and do not represent them.
I’m no stranger to Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. It’s one of my favorite pizza chains in Florida. You can taste the freshness in the tomato sauce and their pizza dough is truly superb. Prices aren’t too bad either, although they have climbed in recent years as with most restaurants due to inflation.
Grimald’s invited me to check out their fall menu this past week after a few Hurricane Ian related cancellations. The new fall menu includes Buffalo Chicken Pizza, Fallin’ “Wedge” Salad, The Bridge Board, Pumpkin Cheesecake, an Italian Old Fashioned, and an Amalfi Martini.
The seasonal menu is available for dine-in and takeout at locations nationwide, though not available in New York or New Jersey. Guests can also place carry-out and delivery orders directly from grimaldispizzeria.com or delivery orders via DoorDash, GrubHub and UberEats.
A variety of appetizers impress
We started off with Bruschetta and The Bridge Board. The board offers a generous assortment of Italian meats, cheeses, colorful antipasto and pears, garnished with balsamic glaze and served with sliced bread. Diners can add a bottle of EOS Cabernet Sauvignon or EOS Chardonnay for a bundle price of $30.
The bruschetta was delicious as always and the board had a variety of cold meats which were good. The bread served with it would be better toasted but was still good. The pears tasted caramelized. The fresh mozzarella cheese was maybe the best part of the cheese and meat board. For $30 it is definitely worth the price to share with friends or family or on a date.
The pizza of course!
The pizza is always excellent at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria as expected. It starts off with their excellent crust which is filling and tasty down to every last bite. There is really a wide-variety of toppings and sauces you can dress your pie with though. It’s hard to decide! The pizzeria also offers a variety of pre-set menu options. My favorite of these remains the Brooklyn Bridge which has delicious roasted red peppers and pizza sauce. The pesto is a close second.
We tried the Buffalo Pizza in the interest of their new fall menu. Buffalo Pizza makes sense as football season gets underway, and everyone has chicken wings on their mind. This Buffalo Chicken pie comes with Fire-Braised Chicken Breast, Sweet Baby Ray’s® Hot Sauce, Mozzarella, Gorgonzola Crumbles and Celery. To me the pizza is pretty damn good, but the celery might be a turnoff for some so definitely take it off if you’re not a fan as the pieces are quite big. Some Buffalo pizza pies can be spicy, this one was not so.
Like I said before, you cannot go wrong with the pizza options at Grimaldi’s, it’s all about preference.
Dessert is a class of its own
Pumpkin Cheesecake was immediately catching my eye from the minute I received a press release about the new fall menu at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria and this one did not disappoint. Decadent pumpkin with a true New York Cheesecake taste. Grimaldi’s does not cut any corners on cheesecake, and it is probably one of the closest slices you’ll enjoy to actual New York.
We ended up ordering another dessert after the waitress told us about the Dessert Trio. This option lets diners share 3 different dessert options on the menu. It’s a great way to have a little bite of sweets if you’re too full for a complete portion. In this group we enjoyed a Chocolate Cannoli, Oreo Cookie Cheesecake, and Tiramisu. All were incredible. I recommend them all. I would even recommend Grimaldi’s just for dessert! It’s just that good.
It doesn’t really matter what your mood is like, Grimaldi’s Pizzeria will not disappoint you. I recommend sitting on the patio. The inside is an old-school style pizza diner and I think the patio is better during this time of year. That’s a matter of preference though.
Our waitress was excellent as usual, and I highly recommend taking a trip to Grimald’s soon.
Restaurant Name: Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
Cuisine: Pizza, Italian
Address: 218 Westshore Plaza, Tampa, FL 33609
Phone Number: (813) 287-2500
Website: grimaldispizzeria.com
Carlos Eats 