Cleveland Eats–Geraci’s Restaurant, University Heights, OH

During my trip to Cleveland a few months back, I was asked to choose a restaurant for a family dinner. I could have picked someplace new, hip and trendy, but when local favorite Geraci’s, a basic red-sauce Italian joint, was suggested, I jumped at the chance to try their famous pizza. Having just seen a feature on them on the Food Network’s Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (a show I love for its content just as much as I hate its host), I was curious to see if they’d live up to the hype.

Geraci’s is the type of place so frequented by locals that when you sit down, the server asks if you want a menu instead of just handing one to you. Our hosts for the evening, my cousins Mel and Lois, didn’t–there was no question that they would be sharing the antipasto and a large pepperoni pie.

Geraci’s is famous for its pepperoni, which, as you can see in the picture below, is smaller and cut thicker than most. I can’t attest to its taste, but if the crowds lining up to get in are any indication, not to mention the folks raving about it on TV, I can guess it’s pretty spectacular. And on a side note, this will probably be the most pornographic picture of meat you will ever see on this blog.

Not as well-versed with Geraci’s as my cousins, my grandmother and I needed menus, and I have to admit that I grappled with the desire to order eggplant parmigiana, my usual go-to in Italian fare. But I’d gone there to try the pizza, so my grandmother and I ended up splitting a large pie with mushrooms (file with Guy Fieri under the category of “Things I Hate”) and onions on her half while mine featured green olives, which I can never resist if they’re available.

At Geraci’s, your pizza arrives at your table whole and is then sliced in front of you by your server, four “cuts” for the small pie, eight for the large. Even the large pie is not very big–at least by NYC standards–and I managed to eat 3/4 of my half, which works out to be . . . well, you do the math.

With its thick, bready crust, this is definitely not a NY-style slice, and not being a pizza aficionado, I can’t really compare it to other styles. Also, it’s been too long since I was there to properly describe its taste, but the fact that I don’t have any notes suggests that I was too busy enjoying my dinner to take any. I also devoured my remaining slice straight from the fridge the following morning and remember enjoying that as well. The one thing I can say for certain is that I now understand why locals are willing to wait in line for Geraci’s homestyle Italian favorites.

One final note: I don’t usually post personal photos on 5CentsPlain, but I couldn’t resist this one of my cousin Mel and my grandmother, the real reasons for my trip to Cleveland (and you thought I’d only gone there to eat). Aren’t they the cutest?!

 http://www.geracisrestaurant.net