Beto's Pizza & Restaurant

03/08/2008 Posted by tonytank

everybody knows ya go there and order and by the time you get home the cheese is melted and that's when it tastes the best. friggin jag off out a townas

02/13/2008 Posted by PizzaNak

One of the top 3 Pizza Shops in the Tri-State Area. This place does too much business to deliver. Eat in or take out! Buy it by the slice and order only 2-3 slices per person tops. Watch them drop fresh extra cheese onto the pie just before closing the box. Pizza Nak

Pros: Fresh Pizza by the Slice

Cons: No Delivery - Pick-up Only Also, no Cranberry Location. I drive 30 miles to get it.

12/31/2007 Posted by fitz_skeets

I don't get it and doubt I ever will. Seems to me that if you didn't grow up with Beto's you will hate it. And as I grew up 40 minutes from Wooster St. to the East and 40 minutes to White Plains Ave. in the Bronx to the West, we already know my feelings on this. For those who've been to Pepe's or any of the "Rays" or eaten a pie in say, Bologna or Naples, think of it this way... let's say the only meat your mom ever cooked was London Broil, well done. And that's your basis for what all meat should taste like. One day you find yourself at Morton's with a medium rare porterhouse in front of you. You take one bite and send it back, chiding the waiter with the notion that, "This is not what meat should taste like!" Cook this until it's tough and bloodless! I've tried to figure out the charm of Betos. But it escapes me. Cold toppings are cold toppings. The crust is like wet kleenex over thin cardboard. The sauce is sickly sweet. The shredded cheese is not of particulary good quality. But, many Pittsburgh diners seem to love "LOTS OF" and Beto's can certainly deliver LOTS OF cheese, toppings, whatever. As I told my wife, a South Hills native, I've had better slices at Shea Stadium and drive-in movies. The unapologetic love for places like Beto's is probably why Pittsburgh will never be included in Zagats. On the plus side, it IS unique and it isn't a chain. So it's got that going for it.

Pros: not a chain

Cons: a very strange interpretation of pizza

10/16/2007 Posted by jofortunato

We still miss that great pizza. It is the first meal we get when we arrive and the last meal before we leave to go back home to Michigan. Have talked to the owner and told him his delivery man from Pillsbury stole the dough recipe while he was in the kitchen watching the preparation. And believe me the Pillsbury dough in the cooler of your grocery store is pretty close to it. But, not quite the same. We take the sauce and the cheese home every time. And it was delivered to Memphis, Tn. and was still good, but must have it put in dry-ice. Every new friend and family we have introduced to Beto's loves it too. Beto's Pizza has low overhead in his little shop and if he enlarges it, he may lose a great thing, as so many restaurants do when they go bigger. Anyway why improve on a good thing and a GREAT pizza.

Pros: great pizza and hoagies

Cons: awful hard booths seating, parking

08/31/2007 Posted by kitakatt

After reading all the reviews I was expecting COLD toppings and truly a pretzel-like bottom. Both, I feel, were exaggerations -- much to my pleasure. The pizza is crunchy/crispy. There is a lot of nice cheese on top. But it's not deathly cold and very easy to eat as I think it becomes room temperate quickly. I wasn't a fan of the mushrooms as they are canned. The pepperoni was good. I liked the onions on the pizza best. I also added hot sauce since I like my food spicy. The service was amiable and overall I really enjoyed it! I ate 4 cuts myself. My boyfriend ate 4 as well and got full. We usually don't eat the same amount so that was surprising. But I will definitely be back - though, I won't be fighting crowds for it.

Pros: Value, Food, No Frills

08/13/2007 Posted by lefty431

Grew up on this Pizza. Takes some getting used to if you have never had it, but it is great. Other food is really good to. The booths could use a replacing.

08/16/2006 Posted by pdppg

Not many booths, not many seats and it's a shame because the best way to eat the pizza is right out of the oven. However it is good no matter how you eat it. with the cheese and other condiments added after the oven it is a unique pizza for a city that is acned with pizza shops.

Pros: the food

Cons: Not enough seats

08/01/2006 Posted by mabelson

It's like no pizza you have ever had, so keep an open mind. The magic is in the combination of textures and temperatures. The crust is pretzel-crisp on the bottom, but only for the first millimeter. The dough above the crispy bottom layer is like pasta, having absorbed the moisture of the tomatoes. Then comes the sauce: it is not thick and spicy, but rather little more than crushed pieces of whole canned tomato. The crust and tomato are scalding hot. A small amount of cheese is sprinkled on while the pizza is cooking, but after the crunchy crust/tomato slab is pulled from the oven, it is doused with an avalanche of excellent cheese in long shreds. The cheese is piled up so high that the top is at room temperature when you get it, as is the pepperoni sprinkled on at the end. It is good pepperoni, spicy and salty. It is important that you eat this pizza the moment you get it - - even if you have to vacuum your car and de-stain your shirt the next day. The magic of the hot / cold and bland / spicy and crisp / soft paradox is lost if the pizza is reheated. How do they do it? I can't count the times I have tried to duplicate this pizza at home, without success. It should be easy: there is nothing exotic in the recipe, as far as I can tell. But there is no domestic oven on earth that can duplicate that unique pretzel-like crispness. My next attempt will be to coat the pan heavily with oil and literally fry the pizza on top of the stove for a few minutes before baking it. It won't work, of course, but at four in the morning there is no alternative. Residents of Pittsburgh, count your blessings. And keep these guys in business!

07/10/2006 Posted by travelingone

If you write a bad review for this retaurant, shame on you. Shame on your tastebuds. They need to be rearranged. I'm telling you that I've eaten pizza in France, England, Belgium, and New York City. Beto's is still the best. This stuff is fresh, never generic and always just a tad different every time you order. Their food is made to order and you can taste the freshness in the chunks of stewed tomato in the pizza sauce. Go so far as to order extra cheese on your cut and there's no doubt you'll be cleaning cheese out of your ears when you're finished. My pick for best pizza in the world. The only negative thing I really have to say is that they don't deliver, but one would think that the food must be the best if they've been in business for decades without delivery. Think about it.

08/15/2005 Posted by capone226

Next to visiting my family, Beto's is my favorite thing about the Burgh. The mild provolone rather than typical mozzarella and the chunky, savory tomato sauce make this a different sensation than other pizzas. While beginners might be surprised by the cold cheese thrown over the warm pizza, the secret is to get it to go and let it melt on the way home. It's hardly a glamorous place, but that's part of its charm. For more than two or three people, it's probably best to get take out. You have to figure that a pizza restaurant that's survived 50 years without delivery has to be worth checking out.

Pros: Unique taste, Inexpensive

Cons: Small dining room, Way too far from LA!