Zio’s Pizza: THAT’s Amore!

Let’s hit play on the Dean Martin song, the one that goes “When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that’s amore.”  In the city of Baguio, whether it’s a large pizza or just a regular sized one, you’re still going to be love struck if you get this pizza from Zio’s.

The Zio’s Military Cut Off scene

If it’s any testament to the Zio’s success, the city has three Zio’s Pizzeria branches now (with other branches opening in locations outside Baguio, too).  Choose from the Military Cut Off main branch, the one on Leonard Wood Road or the one on Magsaysay Avenue to get good and also budget friendly pizza.  For as little as P200, you have a pan of pizza that you can eat yourself or share with a friend (or two).

P3 having beef melanzana pizza – post New Year post lunch meal *snicker snicker (“,)

Particularly with the salsiccia and the beef melanzana pizzas, you just have to love the toppings they think of putting on pizza.  Water spinach, fresh spring onions, eggplant, fresh tomatoes, wow. ^^,  I’m not really a thick crust pizza type of person but the dough used for Zio’s pizzas is magnificent.  Even on its own like when you get to the crust, I like that it isn’t dry or hard but chewy and tasty.

Zio’s Salsiccia Pizza

(“Pizza was…offered to the gorgeous Swedish actress.  Showing her wonderful teeth, the beautiful Sylvia bites into a typical Italian product which, with its colors and its aroma, is as joyful as our country (Italy)”. ~ commentator, La Dolce Vita, 1960.)

Half and half, Zio’s quattro formaggi (oh my, creamy pizza!) and pepperoni and mushroom (bleh for the pepperoni here. I like the pepperoni from Yellow Cab better ^^,)

Besides pizza, you can also get salads, calzone, pasta and other stuff I couldn’t recall because it’s store policy not to take photos of their menu.  I’m no spy for corporate/kitchen secrets but okay, I will cease and desist =D.  (And even if I was a spy, I don’t really cook so what’s that going to do me? *heeharhar.  Ohhh, I’ll give it to Karla, our resident baker so she can also become our resident pizza maker. =b)

The Zio’s Magsaysay scene

Their crunchy Sicilian salad (from our 2011 visit) was an interesting and tasty salad.  *crunch crunch. (“,)  (It looked beautiful too …says Xine, the cow =)).)

Zio’s crunchy Sicilian salad (“,)

Their beef penne rigate (which Race and I got today) was our day’s favorite, mega zingy and filling.  We still had a small portion of that left on the plate and we were already full.  We succeeded in finishing it off, however, and we made it a point to wipe the garlic bread (that was as hard as a crouton but if you chew on it a bit longer, its flavor transforms into cheese, yes, like eating cheese on its own. Salty delish!) on the plate to get every last bit of the sauce.  The pizza crust did the job of cleaning the pasta sauce away too. =D

Zio’s beef penne rigate (beef pene regatti from the menu~I remember that =D) pasta and chicken calzone – get a load of that basil green hue of the inside! \m/

The chicken calzone (a big and heavy dish …imagine a giant empanada =b) was packed for take away and it’s going to be dinner now.  I sliced into it at Zio’s, though, just to see what it looked like on the inside.  When the knife poked through the bread, it had a greenish residue on it, that’s the basil and cheese.  In a few seconds, the air over our table smelled like basil.  Yum!  I just had to give it a taste.  Stringy cheese, strong basil flavor, pieces of chicken, tomatoes, bell pepper, and onions, dipped into the sauce, yow-zah! (“,)

It seems that for pizza as well as the other Zio’s offerings, it’s amorreeeeeeee!

It’s a sign! A sign for good pizza! Amore! ^^,

X marks Zio’s Pizza for good food (marvelous pizzas most especially) in Baguio.

Food: 

Service: 

Ambiance:  for the main branch (Military Cut Off).  for the Leonard Wood Road branch, it was sort of small.  Also for the Magsaysay Avenue branch.  I couldn’t put my finger on it but it seemed sort of …overused and to think, it’s the newest (I believe) branch in the city.

Price: 

Zio’s Pizza

Military Cut Off (Main Branch)

Leonard Wood Road

Magsaysay cor. Private Road

Baguio City, Philippines

***Jamie’s 15-Minute Meals:  He made some sort of crispy bread crumb topping for prawn linguine -it’s an old Italian technique, he said, used by people who couldn’t afford Parmesan cheese. I’m thinking that must be what the bread on our penne rigate tasted like. Whoo! \m/