Critic's Review
I felt like a little Italian today, so why pick this place? Big Louie's was a big, bad chain 15 years ago, and now they just have a few restaurants left. I'd had good and bad slices here. But I'd never been in the dining room. They have decent specials so what did I have to lose?
At 2:30 the place was dead empty; so much so that I asked if the dining room was open. These are strange times. There's only 1 booth in the place, and when you're the only customer you get to sit where you want to sit.
The dining room is an odd shape and the best seat has a view of the kitchen. I wouldn''t be watching TV today.
There's a server and a hostess in this dining room with no people; my order was taken and a beverage was delivered in short order.
The full dining experience: paper table cloth, plastic cups, a paper napkin rollup and a mask. Dining 2020-2021 style.
The place has a pretty cool view of Sunrise.
Music here is OUTSTANDING. Simple Minds, "Hichin' A Ride", Voices Carry. Blood Sweat and Tears. Whatever happened to the music industry?
I ordered the Slice, Soup and half sandwich special for $7.99. It comes in 3 courses.
Pasta e fagioli. I needed to add salt, but this was much better than you usually get in this kind of a place. The beans were firm; this was not out of a can. Just a sample, but needed fiber and pretty good.
The slice came out next. The first thing I thought of was the scrawny slice I got at Pizza Spot. The was a huge slice with generous cheese; this is what pizza is supposed to be.
Their sauce isn't perfect, but this is one of the best slices I've had in years in terms of size, cheese and crust.
Even the crust was edible. High foldability. A NY Quality slice for sure.
You can tell by the pattern on the crust that they still have the conveyor oven; who knew you can make decent pizza with one of those things?
Between the soup and the monster slice I'd had enough calories, so I asked for the 1/2 Veal Parmesan sandwich to go. Just as I was checking out Three Dog Night came on the sound system. Good Stuff.
I wasn't going to eat the veal parm sub; before I wrapped it in foil I took a look and it was a pretty good size and had a decent amount of cheese (if not short on sauce).
2 days later I had this for dinner with a salad; I admit to adding some sauce and more cheese. 5 minutes in the air fryer at 350 degrees yielded this masterpiece.
Good stuff. Note this yields a crisp crust and soft interior for the bread; if you want it soft you should use a lower temperature.
Conclusion
As you can see from previous reviews, you get a different slice every time you come. It's the big problem in South Florida; you can't count on consistency. Whoever they have in their kitchen at the moment knows what they're doing, so for the time being this is a place worth trying.
The special ($7.99) doesn't sound like such a great deal; figure $2.75 for a slice and $4 for a half sub and you're getting a thimble of soup for $1.24. But with a very big slice and a good sized 1/2 sub, it's a lot of food. Unlike the other places in town that offer 2 scrawny slices and a soda for $6.99; these guys are still charging $5.99 for bigger slices.
Review 7/23/13
Big Louie's is the first place that I ever had a slice in South Florida; fresh from NY, I couldn't have hated it more. A bad chain that has since closed quite a few locations, I was surprised when I stopped in again in 2010 and it was very good (see review below).
I went in today, and it's like the place is stuck in time. It looks bigger than it is from the outside; it's a small room with checkered vinyl tablecloths. Very dingy. I saw the pizza out and it reminded me of the first time I went into Big Louie's. Dark red sauce, cheese with burn marks on the top; burned ends.
As expected, the sauce was too pungent; now that I've adjusted, it's an edible slice. But when you go to a place, the pizza shouldn't be completely different every time. This wasn't anything like what I got the last time.
Review 9/24/10
I hadn't been in Big Louie's in a long time and I really didn't want to this time, but I figured I should keep myself up to date. I was fully expecting to take 2 bites and them re-iterate my disdain for this establishment.
But something has changed here. The rude counter girl is gone, and a nice, accommodating fellow provided good service. Some places act like you're bothering them when you just order 1 slice, but they even gave me a box. The slice itself looked different than before; it actually looked pretty good.
And in fact it was good. The crust is just right, and the cheese is particularly good. Whatever they changed, it is for the better. This particular Louie's ain't half bad.