Bono's Italian Restaurant in Golden, CO

The Facts:

Pizza: Bono’s Italian Restaurant
Business Category: Single Store
Website: https://www.bonositalianrestaurant.com/
Location: 14799 W. 6^th Ave. Frontage Rd. in Golden, CO (near US 6 and Ellsworth Ave.)
Date of Review Visit: July 18, 2020
What I Ordered: personal (10”) pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Coke to drink
Price: $14.21 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: The crust at Bono’s has slightly more than medium thickness, but it is not too bulky.  The crust has a nice texture: crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.  The crust’s taste is not memorable.  My pizza was baked to perfection.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This pizza is slightly undersauced, but the sauce that does exist has a pleasant tomatoey taste.  Score: 8/10. 

Cheese: The cheese appears in high quantity, and it does not produce much grease.  Sprinkling on some parmesan adds some additional flavor.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage is not my favorite: it comes in flavorless and somewhat salty tiny ground-up pieces.  The pepperoni comes in thin slices and adds a little spiciness and flavor.  Both toppings appear in satisfactory quantity.  Score: 6/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza’s appearance is dominated by the sausage, but the 6 slices that made up my pizza varied greatly in size.  The dining room has some nice tables and a bar area.  The service was a little slow on my visit.  I was the only customer in the dining room, but they were doing a lot of carryout business when I was here.  Score: 7/10.

Value: The price is somewhat expensive, but the quality is also pretty good.  Therefore, the value is about average.  Score: 5/10. 

Taste: This pizza would be fantastic with some better sausage.  As is, everything still comes together fairly well.  Score: 15/20. 

The Final Judgment:

But for some better sausage, Bono’s would be a real winner.  It is a solid choice as is, but maybe not one that really stands out.  Score: 60/80.

 

Lil' Ricci's Pizza in Denver, CO

The Facts:

Pizza: Lil’ Ricci’s Pizza
Business Category: Regional Chain (2 locations, both near Denver)
Website: http://www.lilriccispizza.com/
Location: 16950 W. Colfax Ave. in Golden, CO (near the DMV)
Date of Review Visit: July 15, 2020
What I Ordered: 2 slices of sausage and pepperoni pizza; Mr. Pibb to drink
Price: $12.50 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: Lil’ Ricci’s makes New York-style pizza, so it comes with a thin foldable crust.  My pizza was overbaked, so the crust around the outside was slightly blackened and very hard.  This is not one of the better crusts I have had recently.  Score: 4/10.

Sauce: True to its New York style, this pizza does not have much sauce.  The pizza was so overbaked that the sauce near the pizza’s edge had become a dry red paste.  The sauce near the middle of my pizza had a nice tomatoey flavor.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: This pizza does not have a lot of cheese, and the cheese it does have does not have a lot of flavor.  The cheese does produce a lot of grease.  Score: 2/10.

Toppings: The sausage comes in cut slices and offers some spiciness but no real flavor.  The same can be said for the pepperoni.  Both toppings appear in adequate quantity.  Score: 5/10.

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The pizza’s appearance is dominated by the grease and blackened crust, which is not a good thing.  The dining room offers a nice quick-casual environment with TV’s for entertainment.  The service was excellent.  Score: 7/10.

Value: The smallest pizza they have is 14” and I had no place to store leftovers, so I ordered pizza by the slice.  The quality is not very good, but it is still somewhat expensive.  Lil’ Ricci’s larger pizzas might score better on this metric.  Score: 4/10. 

Taste: I do not have a lot to say here that I have not already written above.  The pizza might score better on this metric if it was not overbaked.  Score: 11/20.

The Final Judgment:

I really don’t care for Lil’ Ricci’s, but I might give them a second chance because a lot of the problems documented above stem from the preparation of my particular pizza.  Score: 38/80.