Tag Archives: delivery

San Leandro Eats: Chicago Pizza

There is something comforting about a solidly average American-style pizza

First, let’s get this straight: Chicago Pizza in San Leandro does not serve Chicago-style pizza. Not even close. What they do serve is very typical, American-style pizza. Their “deep dish” pizza, which is available only in a 14″ size, what I prefer, is only slightly thick. But the dough is pretty spongy and flavorful, and while it won’t win any contests, it won’t be at the bottom either.


This time I got a mushroom and Italian sausage deep dish pizza ($24). It was pretty good. The sauce was there, but did not overwhelm the other flavors. It had plenty of cheese and a good amount of mushrooms and sausages. The pizza, dough, as I mentioned, is not particularly thick, however. I enjoyed it for what it is, your typical American pizza.

Chicago’s deep dish pizza used to be thicker, this one seems more like their “hand tossed pizza” of yesteryear. But the store was sold several years ago, the menu changed (some Indian toppings have been added) and their plethora of coupons and deals went away.

Chicago Pizza is a take-out/delivery joint, I don’t think they have seating though there might be a couple of odd tables around. They have been around since I first came to San Leandro, 24 years ago, and I used to order frequently back in the aughts when my husband still liked pizza. I do appreciate that Chicago pizza continues to have its own delivery ($3), so that you don’t have to order through one of the apps.

Chicago Pizza
14278 E 14th St Ste D
San Leandro, CA
510-357-2415
Su-Th 11:00 AM - 10:00 PM
F-Sa 11:00 AM - 11:00 PM

Restaurant Review: Kabob Express – San Leandro

Kabob Express is, apparently, a food stand at Bayfair Mall in San Leandro. I say apparently because I’ve never actually been – I’ve just ordered take out a couple times. The most recent one was a couple of nights ago, and I was very satisfied with my order.

My order this time was just for my vegan daughter and I. She got a felafel wrap ($11.50), which comes with hummus, tomato, lettuce, cucumber, grilled onions and tahini sauce. You can specify for it to be vegan and it comes with a side of vegan tahini sauce. My daughter was very pleased with this wrap, and particularly liked the tahini. She’d order it again.

Mantu – Afghani dumplings with beef sauce

I had the mantu ($8), an Afghani dish of dumplings with a meat sauce. While this is listed as an appetizer, the dish is large and heavy enough that it can qualify as an entree. It is also absolutely delicious. The steamed pasta is very soft and has a consistency that I just loved, and the beef is intensely spiced. My only complaint is that it didn’t have enough yogurt sauce to balance the richness of the beef. I made up for it by adding some sour cream.

I also ordered a lamb gyro wrap ($12), which I ended up eating the next day. Once again, I was very happy with it. It had thick lamb cubes, tender and perfectly seasoned (in the past, it was a bit too salty). It was a little bit on the small side, however, and given the price I’d been happier if it came with a side.

I also ordered a mint lassi, but got a mango lassi instead. It was good, thick and very sweet. The mint lassi I’ve had in the past was a bit thin, but also tasty.

In the past, I’ve also ordered the samosas, which were very crisp and had a slightly spicy potato filling.  They were very small, maybe half the size of a regular one.  They didn’t taste like regular Indian samosas but were good.

I’ve also had the lentil soup, which was chunky and tasty. It did seem to contain meat, but it’s now listed as vegetarian, so they may have changed the recipe.

I didn’t order the hummus this time (which, beware, comes without pita bread, you must order that separately) because last time around it had a very mild flavor, more tahini than chickpeas. Beware that as with the other items, they might have changed how they make it.

Finally, I was disappointed to not find the bolani in the menu any more. This is an Afghani flatbread stuffed with potatoes, onions and herbs. I really liked it when they had it.

Prices at Kabob Express have gone up pretty radically since last year. The mantu, which was just $6 a year ago, is now $8 while the lamb gyro has gone up a full $4.50, from $7 to $11.50. Still, their prices seem in line with other local restaurants.

You can order Kabob Express through Grubhub ($5 delivery fee) or Doordash (free deliver if over $35, but a $4-5 fee). Doordash prices are slightly higher on some items. Delivery took a little over an hour, apparently because my order wasn’t ready in time (or so said the driver).

Papa Johns Pizza – Review

August 2011


Papa Johns has become our default pizza joint. We find the pizza to be good enough (no worse than what you can find at most San Leandro pizzerias and perhaps even better) and the fact that it’s 1/2 a block away from our house, so we can easily pick it up and thus avoid a long wait (pizzas are usually ready in 20 minutes) and delivery charges is very attractive. They no longer have the great deal that they had when they opened, but they usually have a deal that makes the pizza substantially cheaper than regular menu prices.  You can find these deals both at their website, when you go order, or on the flyers that come with the mail.  I’ll post some of the deals below as well.  I prefer ordering online, as it’s easier and the prices are lower.

BTW, sign up on their website and order online and you’ll get points for every pizza you order.  So far I’ve gotten 2 or 3 free pizzas that way, plus another one when they had a raffle 🙂

Deals

  • Large carryout 1 topping: $7.99 – code VAL7
  • Any large pizza: $11 – VAL11
  • Large 3-toppings + bread side: $15.99 -VAL15
  • Any two large pizzas: $20 – VAL20

June 2010 Review

As I mentioned in my last posting, a Papa John’s Pizza joint has opened at the former Peewee’s site. We were out of food last night, so we ended up checking it out. The conclusion: it offer mediocre pizza, but, right now, at an unbeatable price.

We got an x-large pizza, half with extra-cheese and ham, and half with a bunch of meats, cheeses and pineapple. The pizza dough was fine, not too chewy, tasty but not particularly so. The sauce was a bit sweet, but not overwhelmingly so. The cheese was fine, but not very flavorful. The main problem with the pizza is that Papa Johns puts the toppings underneath the cheese, which means that they slide off the pizza very easily, taking the cheese with them. So it’s a bit messy to eat. In all, it tastes OK, but it wouldn’t be my first choice if 1) it wasn’t so cheap (right now) and 2) it wasn’t just across the street from my house.

As for the prices, the regular prices are quite high. A 16″ specialty pizza will cost you $21. But right now they have a deal where you can have such pizza for only $12. And, if you order an extra-large pizza at whatever cost, you get a free three-pack of It’s It ice creams. So yeah, it’d be hard to find a better deal. Delivery, btw, is $2.

In conclusion, I’ll probably order pizza from Papa John’s while they are having this deal, but I won’t when they stop. BTW, I ordered online and it worked perfectly.

Papa John’s
2198 East 14th St.
San Leandro
510-483-7272
http://www.papajohns.com/

San Leandro Restaurant Reviews