Besides South Sound Estuarium, visit Pizzeria La Gitana in the vicinity. The Italian cuisine is good at this pizzeria. To try perfectly cooked mushroom pizza, prosciutto and bolognese is a truly nice idea. Try tasty tiramisu, gelato and affogato. A lot of visitors order delicious house wine, bellini or martinis. Great espresso or good lemonade are among the best drinks to degust. Pizzeria La Gitana is well known for its great service and friendly staff, that is always ready to help you. Here you will pay democratic prices. There is a spectacular atmosphere and modern decor at this place. This spot is rated on Google 4.6 by its visitors.
First off I would like to appreciate the design of this establishment. The plants and low lighting provided an exceptional atmosphere.
However, that is the only statement of praise this "pizzeria" will be receiving.
Dining in on a Monday evening, there was no one to greet us when we walked in. We waited for about 7 minutes before being acknowledged by any staff.
Dirty tables galore.
Likely due to poor management not scheduling enough employees to work during week days.
Once seated I noticed how painfully small the table for two was.
On top of being small, the table was crowded with everything but a shaker of parmesan.
We ordered drinks, the basil martini and the peach bellini.
Martini- poor ratio which made the gin taste like licking an evergreen tree.
Bellini- very sweet but no complaints.
Espresso martini- extremely over powering and far too sweet.
I had been intrigued by the pesto dishes but had to settle for what we got due to nut allergies. (this was not mentioned on the menu)
The pasta tasted like gnawing on anIkeaa end table due to the offensive misuse of blue cheese. This was promptly returned to the kitchen.
The Pizza had a residue of sauce, nothing to write home about. Could have had better quality for a fraction of the price from Mod Pizza.
The only sauce options were pesto or marinara. No alfredo.
All in all, this was a terrible dining experience for $67.
Save your money, and go to Mod Pizza instead.
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Great local restaurant. Whenever I have family from out of town visit, this is one of my go to spots. Lots of options for every palate.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Bolognese
If you’re reading my review, you’re probably asking yourself why I gave this place three stars, when I gave all the individual categories four or more stars. There is a reason, and if you are interested, then please read on…
First of all, I want to start out by saying all the good things about this place because there are many. The atmosphere is wonderful and cozy without sacrificing classy. The light accents are excellent. The music is calm and enjoyable. They have a spectacular stone hearth centerstage in the open kitchen. Great wine list. The food ingredients must be locally sourced and are fresh; very high-quality and tasty. The appetizer I had, which was a cheese selection, was perfectly done with just the right amount of the savory sides. And my waitress Sarah was excellent. She timed everything perfectly, and was very nice and approachable. Would love to have her again.
So why the three-start overall review? In two words: the pizza sauce. If this restaurant had been advertised as just an Italian restaurant that happened to serve some pizzas, I would’ve given this place four if not five stars. But because they advertise it as a pizzeria, front and center, I cannot forgive what they have done, or more accurately not done, to their pizza sauce.
To the point, their pizza sauce is nothing more than a plain unseasoned tomato purée. That is it. No salt, no seasoning of any kind. Just plain tomatoes, puréed in a blender to a sauce like consistency. I don’t know about you, but I look for more in my pizza sauce than that. Maybe I am ignorant, and authentic Italians like to put plain flavorless tomato purée on their pizzas for their red sauce, maybe they don’t. I am inclined to think they don’t do that, because Italians love their salt and their flavor. But in any case, that is what this place has done. I’m going to ask my Italian friend what’s up with their pizzas in Italy.
The first few bites were a confusing mix of enjoyment and disappointment. I was tasting the sausage, and the mushrooms and the pepperoni. Everything was great. But what was happening, there was no robust flavor. What was it missing? And then dawned on me…Where was the red sauce? The place uses a thin crust, so it is important to go light on the sauce so that you don’t reduce the crust to a mush. This, therefore, is all the more of an important reason to season your sauce. If there isn’t much of it, you need to make it represent for what little bit is there. But La Gitana did not do this. I was eating pizza, essentially without the flavor of sauce.
I don’t understand why any place that calls itself a pizzeria would shoot themselves in the foot by doing this to their pizzas. Why? How much money and time could it possibly take to infuse some flavor via some salt and other seasonings to a sauce? I mean they spent a lot of money and time on everything else, but the sauce? Hello guys…
Do you think when you’re putting food together, you could have someone, I don’t know, wander by the sauce pot and put some salt or something in it?
Since this otherwise wonderful place has chosen to underserve their pizzas in such a basic way, I cannot give them any more than three stars. I simply can’t do it. It pains me, because I really wanted to give them five stars. But this is just culinary lunacy.
If they weren’t so good otherwise, I wouldn’t have even bothered. Like imagine you’re a parent and you’re watching your kids’ Little League local football game, and for whatever reason not much has been put into the team over the years, and they suck, and everyone knows they suck, so you’re there and cheer your kid because you’re a good parent, but that’s where it ends. Not much is going to go into the peptalk. But now imagine you have a super spectacular known statewide Little League team, and they have everything going for them to be nationally known, but they lose games because someone forgot to field the quarterback. Can you imagine the amount of peptalk that would go in to that team and at that coach to get it where it needs to be? Yup. Same here. Same type of rant.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$50–100
Food: 4
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Pepperoni Pizza
Absolutely love this place! Service is always awesome and fast. The food is delicious, especially their pizza! Crust is just perfect and light.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Lunch
Price per person
$10–20
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Bolognese
Love La Gitana!!! Staff was very tuned in to the timing of our plan to dine then walk directly to an evening at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts! Food was delicious, service was excellent.
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
The portions ample, the prices fare, the reservation easy. The salad was included and the lemon drop cocktail was primo!
Service
Dine in
Meal type
Dinner
Price per person
$30–50
Food: 5
Service: 5
Atmosphere: 5
Recommended dishes
Flan
