The Tulsa Forum by TulsaNow

Location(s) Being Reviewed: Regal Plaza 105th & Memorial
Date/Time of Visit: 11-13-11 @ 2pm
Quality of Food (1-5): 5
Menu/Food Options (1-5): 5
Quality of Service (1-5): 5
Atmosphere (1-5): 5
Overall Rating (1-5): 5
Price ($-$$$$$): $$$$
What makes this restaurant unique: Excellent one-off pizzeria concept.

Tell us about your experience:  We had set about to find some local BBQ we had not tried.  Failing to find anything in south Tulsa county, we decided on a whim to give Savastano's a try since it had been so highly recommended on TNF.

We walked in through the bar area which was pretty busy with people watching Sunday NFL and did not find an open table.  They explained the restaurant was overhead with additional seating.  We went upstairs and the first thing we noticed was a fresh salad bar and then the piano in the corner with life-size Jake and Elwood figures.  There was only one other couple in the dining area at the time.  One thing you notice right away is the place is kept very clean and the interior actually looks like something you'd expect to see in a chain because it is so well finished out.

We ordered the "Hancock Building" ($18.95) which is their five cheese mix and home-made Italian sausage.  While we waited on the pizza, we took a trip through the salad bar ($4.99 unlimited).  All the ingredients were fresh and top-shelf.  Nothing looked like it had been sitting out all day or that they put any of the dregs from the bottom of the produce box out.  The cottage cheese even stood out as extra creamy.

The pizza arrived after about 20 to 25 minutes which is about what I would expect for a deep dish pizza.  We ordered the small which is about 11-12" and we wound up taking 1/2 of it home with us.  If I had to guess, there must have been 3-4 pounds of cheese on it.  They do not go heavy on the sauce which is something I usually like.  The sausage had great flavor and the crust was well-baked which can be a trick with deep dish style.  Every bite is very heavy on the cheese.  If that's not your thing, you might want to try something else.   I'm not positive, but the mozzarella very well could be made in-house.

We were both really impressed with the service, attention to detail, as well as attention to ingredients.

Overall it was $35.92 including two ice teas.  We left a $7 tip.  Sure $42.00 is a lot to spend for lunch.  But considering the quality ingredients and the fact that the pizza turned into two meals for each of us, I didn't think it was unreasonable.

We will go back.  I usually don't take the time to dine out south any more, but this is one place I'm really sorry I did not try much sooner.

Foil pouch the leftovers and reheat at 375 for 35 minutes.  It won't hold its form but so what?

Good deep dish.

Nuked it for five minutes and it still was not heated all the way through

The cheese/sauce ratio is my main complaint with that place. I've thrown out the leftovers before because it's not physically possible to consume that much cheese in a few days.

I always ask for extra sauce and light on the cheese, which they sometimes get right.

Last time I went we (myself and three co-workers) had the Sears Tower and it damn near destroyed us.  I'm usually not one for pizza places, but I was in a good mood that day (Friday noon; I had the rest of the day off) and the food was good.  My only gripe (only) was that they only had one style of Marshalls in the cooler (OPP).  But that pizza was top shelf.

I have had their pizza once. It was good pizza but my only complaint was the heaviness of the ingredience. We had two large pizzas and both when picked up would lose half of the toppings falling off because of so much weight. I know, what a problem to have huh.

We enjoy Savastano's semi regularly, and love it.  However, we avoid the Chicago deep dish simply because there is so much there, and it is so heavy, that we end up making ourselves sick on it.

Remember that chicago style is knife and fork pizza, not new york hand style.  There pie is killer.  I love it.  I wish they had one at a location that I might ever go to.  (pssst! downtown!)

Agreed! I've been there a couple of times and loved the pizza, but I'm very rarely ever in that part of town.

The east side of Memorial south of 101st St is actually in a foreign country, Bixby.  Consider the trip to Savastano's as a mini vacation to an exotic land.  ;D

Actually, I understand the reluctance to drive a long distance for a pizza, beer, whatever.  That's one reason why I am rarely in downtown Tulsa.  It needs to be something special.

It's fun just to drive around downtown once in a while just to see what is going on.

There's got to be a spot in the Brady which would work great for Savastano's.  I could easily picture them in a re-purposed brick building.

There definitely needs to be a Chicago-style pizza joint somewhere not in South Tulsa.

You southies have Savastano's, Marley's (71st and Sheridan) and Gusano's (101st and Mingo).

Now that there are three in South Tulsa, can we get one up here?

It seemed like and exotic land last time I was there. TU was capping one of their best wins in program history (Notre Dame), and I was the only one even watching the game. Nobody else even noticed. It was surreal.

We do love our large quantities of melted hunks of herbed cheese on a crust out here in the South.

I have actually done that occasionally on a Sat or Sun that I don't have something else to do.  Some day I may even stop to buy something.

There was one in the old McDonald's at 11th & Pittsburg, but it didn't make it 6 months.  The food wasn't bad either, I just don't think they knew how to run a restaurant.

I miss that place. I went there a few times with no complaints. Now the only time I eat pizza in Tulsa is when I make it out to a Chicago-style joint in south Tulsa.

Or when I've had enough beer to overlook the crappiness of Papa John's. It's quite an accomplishment to be that drunk before midnight or whatever too-early hour it is that Papa John's closes on weekends.

Next time I do a mass order from Lou Malnati's Chicago style, I'll get an extra for you. You can compare/contrast. I think Savastano's is pretty close.

Do you get them shipped frozen?

Yep. And it really is not that expensive. 6 pizzas for $99 includes shipping. And there are other menu items. If you don't know about Malnatis, just check Food Network or Travel Channel because that place has been featured numerous times.

That's stupid cheap unless they are 4" pizzas.

I think they are between 9-10" and weigh 24 oz. Big enough to feed me and jr.

Chicago's on 11th st. was excellent pizza! I am sad they didn't last. Last time I had a hankering for Chicago style, I didn't want to go all the way to Bixby and went to Marley's where I was greatly disappointed. It wasn't terrible, but not good enough for me to make a special trip to return. The place on 11th was. And I used to eat at Uno's often before they went away.

Guess I'll have to make the trek next time I want good deep dish.

You guy's keep talking about Chicago style pizza as being so different. I remember a Chicago style Hot Dog place at 73rd and Mingo and was wondering. Is there a Chicago style Dog that is any different from other Dog's ? and I am not sure that place lasted very long either.

Also: I remember a M*A*S*H episode where Hawkeye sent off for a certain type of Ribs and I think they were from Chicago. What's up with Chicago style food ?

It was Adam's Ribs on Dearborn.

I don't recall all the requirements to be a Chicago dog but it's basically like emptying the veggie drawer on your dog.

And never. EVER.  put ketchup on a hotdog.  In Chicago that's considered sacrilege.

Sent from my AT&T Atrix4G using fat fingers

It's sacrilege 100% of the time...and nasty.

And mayo just looks wrong on a hot dog.

It's from Chicago!  (The attraction should be self-evident...)

Most Chicago style things are pretty good.  Dogs, barbeque - sometimes, pizza not so much - northeast varieties are better.

Ketchup serves only two purposes:
1.  Making tomato soup in a restaurant when you have no money.
2.  Adding color to horseradish for coctail sauce with shrimp.

I've never thought of Chicago as a BBQ mecca.  What is the Chicago style as opposed to Memphis, KC, or the Carolinas?

Don't know for sure, but if I had to guess, based on other Chicago stuff, that they stole the barbeque style from somewhere else.  (There was even a pretty good barbeque place in Milwaukee called Saz's.  Kind of a KC style.)  There was a LOT of meat processing/shipping through there at one time.  They could have learned a little (stolen ideas) about barbeque from all the livestock related travelers through the area

My personal preference is dry rub style and dab it in the sauce if one must.  I think the highest compliment I ever got on my ribs was my future mother in law telling me "don't bother" when I asked what flavor rib sauce she wanted "because putting any on your ribs would be sacrilege." 

Sauce on ribs and brisket is a sin. I only use it on pulled pork and sausages. Why do I feel dirty after posting this?

They do have a style!  Very very sweet sauces.  Usually wet ribs, and the sauce is a deep caramelized ketchup based mop.

I do not like it.  Every time i'm up there I have a friend that insists I try it again and again.  Last time I was at either Ray's or Woody's and the sauce (ketchup skin I call it) literally stuck to my teeth like taffy.  The main technique is that they "mop" it during the smoke, then hit it with the ultra sweet ketchup sauce,  flame kiss it on the grill until it caramelizes, and serve it sticky.

There are several good BBQ spots in Chicago, and most of those advertise "Texas Style."  The ones I've tasted still use the sweet sauce but they use a dry rub only and serve the meat dry.

Thanks guys, you mentioned Chicago style dogs and gave me a craving for something I can't get here.

https://chicagogyros.biz/iTake-Out-Menu.pdf (https://chicagogyros.biz/iTake-Out-Menu.pdf)

https://chicagogyros.biz/ (https://chicagogyros.biz/)

No gyros in Oregon?

Not within 20 miles of where I'm at, and that place in PHX was great. Nice little family run place. Went there so often they would start making what I wanted before I got to the register.

I've quit eating gyros very often once it dawned on me they are probably loaded with all sorts of preservatives.  I've got a recipe to make it myself but still have not done so.  I've seen a few places on Diners, Drive Ins, & Dives which make their own from scratch on a spit using thin sliced beef & lamb.  Jim's Never On Sunday is still the place in Tulsa for gyros.  Next time you make it here, lunch is on me.

They have good ones, but I think there's a challenger out at Shisk-A-Bob's on 31st/Garnett.  And they have, quite simply, the best cucumber sauce I've ever had.

Patiently awaiting BB's 16 year old like remark in 3...2....1

I wouldn't have picked up on that had you not invited a remark. Allow me.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxuCeHUxoBY[/youtube]

Self-depracation.  One of my strong suits.  If you can't openly laugh at yourself or allow others to do so, get the F off the planet.  It also doesn't give you the right to laugh at someone else if you can't laugh at yourself.

Fartknocker.

 ;D

DBack am I to understand you are a Duck now ? Oh the shame of it all ! ...............lol  ;D

We went back yesterday with my Italian friends from Belleville, Ill.  They love the place.  High compliments considering they owned an Italian restaurant for 25+ years.  This time we tried the thin crust “City Dump”.  Much more manageable, and I didn’t feel like I weighed 500 pounds when we left.  Love their home made sausage.

Last time I went there it was four of us, and we had the 'Sears Tower' pizza?  I think that was what it was named.  Appropriate.  I could barely eat one piece of it.  It was good, don't get me wrong, but it was a lot.

EDIT: Ugh, just realized how old this post was and also realized I just repeated myself...oh well, age.

Hoss your starting to sound more like Little Joe. If their crust wasn't so darn flimsy I probably would like it. I just don't like loosing all the toppings while trying to serve it from the pan to my plate. It looked terrible after scooping them back on but it was tasty. I was one and done.

There is a new invention - just within the last few hundred years - that works wonders for that problem.  Fork.  I have tried it a time or two and love it!!  (Just the kind of smart-a you needed today, I bet...)

Ya I know back East they call it a pie. I just don't really like eating one that way.

From the Phila PA area:
I remember calling it Pizza or even Pizza Pie (which is actually a bit redundant).  i kind of remember the loaded down versions sometimes having a name of their own.  That was a long time ago though. 

One of my cousins was in Italy during his hitch in the USAF in the 60s.  He said that most Italians considered what we call Pizza to be poor peoples' food and it typically was not served in "better" restaurants.  That may have changed by now.  When I was in Germany in 1995, my German friends all ate Pizza with a fork after cutting it with a knife.  It was not picked up and chomped on like most of us eat Pizza.

That sounds about right Red. We are the Barbarians of the food World.

It’s been over 30 years ago since I was in Italy, but my recollection is similar.  Seems like theirs was served on rectangular sheet pans with sparse ingredients and that a round pizza piled high with everything in the fridge is an American thing.

It perhaps began here, but it definitely didn't stay here. Many years ago I had a very nice, upscale pizza in Vienna, of all places. Great toppings and an appropriately subtle use of tomato sauce on a hand-tossed crust.

From my time in New York I recall a difference between Neapolitan pizza, which I think is the kind we are used to, and Sicilian pizza, which used a thicker crust and was baked in a square pan. I stuck to the old reliable "slice of cheese pizza" that you could get everywhere on the cheap, the kind with a crust so thin that you had to fold it before eating it.