Rudino’s Pizza and Grinders

I absolutely love pizza, New York Style, Chicago Deep Dish, doesn’t matter, it all has the potential to be good (or bad for that matter). And I’ve tried most of the main pizza places in Austin; Mangia, Conan’s, East Side Pies, Home Slice, etc.
In my opinion Rudino’s is hands-​down the best pizza in town by far. Their cheese and toppings always have the best flavors and they aren’t stingy with them either. The crust & sauce are also spot-​on.
We always get the Rudino’s «Royale», add meatballs & X-​cheese. Totally addictive.
Some of the reviews here have some negative things to say about the live music which I totally understand. I don’t like eating around live music either. And as far as the friendliness of the staff, we always do take-​out so I only have minimal interaction with the staff.
But for straight-​up fantastic tasting pizza, Rudino’s is the best in town as far as I’m concerned.
Don’t forget: the Rudino’s «Royale», add meatballs & X-​cheese. Dang.

Grinder was good! Nice atmosphere for a place where you just want to chill out have a drink or something eat.
I’d recommend checking this place out.

Best cheese pizza ever

We had our family at Rudion’s. The pizza was great. Clearly not chain pizza, high quality ingredients, and served steaming hot. I would have both again. Ordering is done at the counter, but was managed well. The server was helpful and was nice in making sure we had all of the items we needed. Not the first time here, relaxing atmosphere for what we expected. We will be back for the pizza!

Hey Unilocal snobs, get over yourself! This place had great food and reasonable prices. I’m glad it has opened back up. Upiddy Unilocalers not allowed

So far so good! I started going to Rudino’s about 3 weeks ago, and I’ve eaten a lot of their food. All of it was very good, and they have a pretty nice happy hour. The bar is never crowded when I go in, which is a mystery to me because it’s a nice place. The Bartenders that have served me were both super cool and friendly, and since its near my home, I’m now there twice a week. Give it a try, you’ll be back.

Love theirs is a thinner crust. Pizza cut in squares makes for easier handling. Nice patio area outside. i recommend «the royale»

One of the best places to go on the Northside for drinks and pizza! Nice, cozy atmosphere and incredible pizza and grinders. We would go once a week for a beer after class and their homemade pizza is amazing. Always a great time with great service!

This place was cutesy enough but we won’t be going back.
We went there this weekend… the staff was unenthused… the food was mediocre.
I tried the cinnastix and it was alright… the fries tasted homemade so that was cool.
The variety of grinders (AKA sandwiches) was nice… the large grinder is HUGE! So get ready!
The prices were too high overall though. The soda machine was jacked up and not on Mt Dew. The fizzy drinks were flat and the sweet tea was warm and had no sugar taste in it at all at the time of our visit. Bleh.

Never Again.
We lived out on 620/​2222, there are few places to choose from in that area. The husband and I finally agreed to eat at Rudino’s one night after debating awhile on where to eat. I had the wings, they were NOT good. Hubby had the rueben and he said it was okay.
There was a live performer on the patio, he sounded like a bull being castrated. No matter where we moved inside the restaurant we could hear him.
There was nothing that makes me want to give this place a 2^nd try.

I am a fan, and have been a fan of Rudino’s pizza for several years and tonight I found out that they started delivering! Yeah!
I called in and told them I would like to pick-​up, and the very nice guy on the other side of the phone offered me delivery, so I said, «why, sure!» I was really happy about that because I didn’t have to get my lazy duff off my couch and put on a bra: D
The very friendly and very nice guy on the phone took my order and told me it’d be there in about 30. It was! Kudos for making good on your promise for fast pizza!
I took it to the kitchen and opened it up, hungry and eager to devour my cheese pizza. I was a little sad that all that liquified cheesy goodness had ran off the side of my pizza in transit to me. I also ordered a pepperoni for my husband and it was in pretty good shape. I kinda scraped the cheese that ran off back onto the pizza and tried to pull it apart and redistribute it back on the pizza, but it was just too messy and too mixed up with the sauce to really salvage. I ate the pepperoni one I ordered for my husband instead and it was delicious.
The pizza from Rudinos is super tasty, and such a better choice to chain pizza that despite the minor mess up with my plain cheese pizza I will most certainly order from them again, and will probably even give delivery with them another try. I think that since they have just started doing it they might have some kinks to work out until they get the hang of it. The staff is always so nice, and the pizza is always soooo good. My delivery guy was so cute and friendly, and I think he was the same guy that took my order over the phone that I didn’t want to call and complain about my one messy pizza. I think they were just trying to get it out to me really fast and the cheese was just so melty that it ran a little. I still enjoyed the other one and I am still very happy at how fast they got it out to me.
Now let me tell you why their pizza is better than most.
The crust is perfectly chewy. It’s not too thick and not too thin. Their sauce tastes homemade and has so much flavor and it’s the perfect ratio of sauce/​crust/​cheese/​toppings. Its a very balanced, tasty pizza. They have great customer service and they are priced fairly reasonably.
Good non-​chain pizza joints are hard to come by on this side of town. This little place is a gem. They are a refreshing change of pace to rude, yucky chains and they are also much faster. Give them a go, they are really yummy and the folks there are nice.

Great place for a beer, a shot and a slice of pizza. They also make grinders.
Great for before — during or after the game eating, or just if you’re cruising by and need something with a beer.
The staff is super friendly, and there is almost always a contingency of Hospitality/​service personnel from other restaurants there which is always a sign for a cool place.
Ben C. is my favorite bartender there… Even if he looks like a pedophile with his new moustache… just kidding Ben.
I believe there is also a location in CP.
Stop by and say hi.

The five stars is for their Italian sub sandwich. It’s fantastic. We want to try more items and definitely try the pizza.
A lot of other Unilocalers have stated that the service has been terrible. I’ve just gone in for orders to go and I can’t say that I was mistreated or found the servers/​cashiers to be anything but attentive, helpful, and friendly. Maybe it would be a different story if we dined it, but needless to say, the service has not disappointed me just yet.
We definitely want to get in and try the pizza one of these days.

After living in the neighborhood for 6 years, I finally decided to take the kids to this place that’s right by our house that we’ve never been to. I think the universe was holding me back all those years from the horror that’s Rudino’s.
Ok, so I totally agree with reviewers who say the service here is terrible. For the life of me, I cannot understand how anyone would say their pizza is anything but total garbage.
Service: The lady at the counter was rude, condescending, and we got the type of service which the rest of the reviewers describe. I remember that sort of service from L&B Spumoni Gardens, except those guys have a kick-​ass pizza.
Ambience: The tables are all scratched up (one we sat at was heavily scratched) and greasy residue was present all over. Entire right side of the fountain machine was out of order and the ones that did work were mixed wrong making the soda from 2 different nuzzles undrinkable.
Pizza: These guys have the word «pizza» in their name — I don’t think they know exactly what it means. They basically kneaded lotsa cheese, threw some dough, bit of tomato sauce, couple of pepperoni slices, and 2 mushrooms, and called it a slice. Maybe this wouldn’t be such a terrible place if they just used quarter, or even less, of cheese, but what they served was a disgusting lump of melted cheese. Who does this?
With Saccone’s across the street, I do not see why I’d ever want to consider this joint again.

I wish I could give a better rating, as the food wasn’t half bad. We got a veggie pizza, my husband loved the cheese and it was good overall. My complaint about the pizza itself is the tomatoes on the pizza; I wish they were diced or sliced instead of quartered cherry, which made them a little large to bite. Other than that, it was fairly decent.
Okay– the service… BAD. This is one of those places that I might consider coming back to for food, but I’d really rather not have to endure the bad atmosphere and costumer service.
It’s Sunday afternoon, only two other tables are taken, looks to be only two people in the back working and a cashier. So why is it that when I come to ask for an extra plate the cashier is too busy watching TV to help me? And why is there a woman that is letting her kid lay crying on the floor keep walking into the kitchen when she clearly doesn’t work there? Oh wait, her boyfriend/​husband does. But he doesn’t seem to be working either. And they have another friend screaming at the top of his lungs to some game on TV in the bar. And as I write this draft he walks past with his beer– bare foot.
Also, the soda machine was barely there. Three of the fountains were out and one of them didn’t even have a nozzle. Not much to choose from there.
I wish the owners would care a little more about how this all looked from the outside, because I can honestly say that I won’t be back.

It is my tendency to judge a pizzaria by the quality of its Margarita first. I mean if you can’t wow me with the most simple and original of pies, we may just have an issue, and sadly I did. The basil was almost non existent, they used cherry tomatoes so it was actually sweet. They did however pile on the cheese. The dough was nothing to write home about. Some of it was actually stuck to the box.
The service however was incredible. I was the last order of the day, and I was not rushed out the door or anything. I would definably go back to try another dish, but with Real’s just on the other end that may not happen anytime soon. Perhaps something else on the menu is great, but they should either amp the margarita up or take it off.

We’ve been to Rudino’s twice and just can’t make it work for us.
CONS
The veggie options are all loaded with cheese, so leaving out the cheese to make something vegan is quite difficult. I ordered their veggie grinder without cheese and two other ingredients. I asked if I could add jalapenos instead… and was charged .25 for them. Really? I just had you take off the most expensive item you sell and still get charged for the tiniest item you sell? hrumph. So, I basically paid ~$ 9 for bread with a few veggies scattered on it.
Even my carnivore date was not impressed. from the description his dish sounded like it would be loaded with meat. Not so much. His meal was also not impressive… which made the price tag seem high.
They sell Pepsi products. At least the bartender warned us.
The whole place felt lame/​weak. it’s as if the owners/​management has scared the employees into doing everything the cheap way instead of the right way. The owners are probably sitting pretty in some big mansion with a great view over the edge of their infinity pool.
PROS
We did get excellent service (seating on the bar side)!

Put the Rude in Rudino’s!
Ordered a bunch of pizzas cause this is my nephews’ favorite. Walk in, yeah! they are sitting in the window. I am all ready to take the pizzas to my brothers house.
No, you can’t have your pizzas. The computer is down. But they’re right there! No. But why not. We can’t tell you how much they are without the computer. What? Just add it up. I’ll pay cash! Seriously.
Manageress looks at me with such hate, I had to leave. Went to the pizzeria next door. Granted it wasnt very good but they were glad to have my business!

We came for the music on a Friday night, but stayed for the food and friends.
i have never been here before, but my friend and I wanted to get together to hang out whilst having our kids and family while listening to music. We found Rudino’s fit the bill.
We arrived about 6:45 p.m. and ordered some French Dips, Cheesy Garlic Bread, Cheese Pizza for the kiddos, and a really good Tabasco Chipotle Chicken Pizza. The pizza was fresh, slightly crisp and crunchy on the crust and all flavor from the seasonings. (definitely want to order that again)
That night they had a one-​man band playing and he started around 7:20pm on what I would call the «bar» side. He was a good performer, and we bought his CD to show him (plus we like to support local performers when we can)
It seems that they recently have made the «bar side» addition to the joint. One side mostly casual tables and chairs, and one side dimly lit for the casual drinkers, meet-​n-​greets, and others that would like their drink specials away from the family types like me. No harm. I actually appreciate that.
The servers were fast and friendly. They made our orders on time, and as my daughter (as any 3 y/​o sometimes does) grabbed a bag of chips from a rack near the counter, in an attempt to eat them. they attempted to just give it to me; nope, I insisted on paying for it. (but the gesture was great)
I also noticed the popularity of the place around 8 pm when many groups came in to pick up orders or get seating. The outside area was filled with soccer groups and a couple that had the dogs. Everyone out there was able to drink what they wanted, and hang out casually showing the signs of a neighborhood place people trust themselves to relax in.
I like Rudino’s… I wish I had more time to spend there, but most of all it was a good place that we could hear some music, the adults could talk, and the kids could be themselves eating pizza and the sort without the fuss and muss of a chain place, or the drama of a music venue where little ones are not welcome.
Thanks Rudino’s and I will see you again soon.

My husband and I got a great deal for a meal at Rudino’s with a Morgan’sDeals voucher. We were really surprised at how good it was! It’s a solid 4, almost 5.
The atmosphere is a pretty basic pizza joint, but I find that charming. It’s all about hanging out with family and friends over a good pie or, in our case, calzone. My husband and I each ordered a calzone, thinking that it would be a good sized meal for us each. Holy calzone! It was huge! He got his with jalapeño and olives and mine had pineapple and mushrooms. Not only were they huge, it was really tasty as well. The pizza dough was perfectly chewy and soft and the accompanying marinara was really good too.
I also ordered a Greek salad so that my meal would consist of primarily vegetables. I don’t know what they served as salad dressing, but it looked more like a science experiment and tasted about the same. Needless to say, I had my salad sans dressing. It was actually pretty good that way and the freshness really balanced the richness of the calzone, which I only ate ¼ of that night. I had leftover calzone for days!
This will be my go-​to place should we ever be in the mood for calzone again.