Palermo Pizza

Man, this was an award winiing pizza house back in the mid 90s, But once Nikkos and the rest left, it all went down hill, I loved to order a pizza and sit at the bar waiting for the pie, I also loved the view (the pictures of all the Greek Islands!!!)

I should have checked Unilocal before I went. It was mediocre at best and not the Palermo’s I remembered. In fact it looked nothing at all like a Palermo’s pizza. What a disappointment. Not that owners care — it’s their last week. Not a soul in the place either.

Oh my goodness — how many times am I going to update this review? (Probably as many times as they’ve changed ownership!)
This was the first place I ever wrote a Unilocal review about and I was sure thinking it would probably be the last… but alas! Lightbulbs seem to be clicking on everywhere with this location.
Palermo Pizza? Now closed. {jumping for joy}
What’s next? The sign on the door (change of ownership in liquor license, blah blah blah) suggests the new name will be DiMaggio’s II.
Now, what this neighborhood has really needed with this location is to completely divest itself of anything related to the last few incarnations of Palermo and while we’re at it, for goodness sake, get a decent pizzeria in there run by folks who not only know how to run a pizzeria, but have done it all their lives (like Nikkos and Michele did).
Neighborhood… your time has come! {jumping for joy}. We are on the cusp of getting an authentically run pizzeria back in the hood! {jumping for joy}
I couldn’t stand it — I called DiMaggio’s and they are resting on prayers that all goes well too. {jumping for joy} We need this. I expressed my blessings and hope for them. If they build DiMaggio’s, I will come.
I’m looking forward to this being the last review I’ll ever write for this Palermo. I look forward to the next one being a brand new review for DiMaggio’s. {jumping for joy}
Note to new owners: Let the neighborhood know WHO YOU ARE so that they will clearly understand WHO YOU ARE NOT (hybrid Palermo pizza slums). You’re about to give us something we have been missing for many, many, many years — make sure you give us a chance to embrace you! {hug}

Went there for their lunchtime pizza and salad buffet because it was so cheap and I hadn’t eaten there in forever. I remember my parents ordering pizza from there when I was younger and it was the best. We payed for our buffet and saw the pizza that had been sitting under a heat lamp for… well for far too long. We started at the salad bar which was your usual generic pizzeria salad bar but the lettuce was limp and tasted like dirt. We waited for at least 15 minutes to see if he would replenish the old nasty pizza supply (there were only 3 or 4 pieces left). He never did so we each got 2 pieces and smothered it in peppers and cheese to try and cover the taste. When we were on our way out he asked: «Don’t you want to stay I’m about to bring a new pizza out?» after we’d finished.
Some customer serrvice. Clearly under new-​ownership and I hope they can get it together. I gave them 2 stars simply because it has some sentimental value.

I just came home last night with an extra large combination pizza with an extra topping of jalapenos. It was very reasonably priced, it was a lot of food, and it was very good pizza. My 16″ XL Combo w/​jalapenos ran me $ 19.99 + $ 1.50 + tax. A coupon would have knocked a couple of dollars off of the price as well.
BTW, Linda L. has an excellent series of reviews for Palermo’s, but the pricing has been updated since she reported them. The pricing has gone down significantly. It’s now $ 4.49 + toppings for Personal 8″ pizzas and $ 13.99 for the 16″ XL without toppings.
I’ve ordered one pizza a month from there since it re-​opened under new ownership a couple of months ago. This is my third and it was much better than the previous two that I got. They knew they were screwing up and sometime around late November/​early December, they started trying different things and added burgers, fries, and other things to the menu.
The new owner’s name is Harry. It’s not the same guy who tried to turn Palermo’s into some bizarre Ristorante/​Kabab Cart/​Bazaar.
I may be in the minority here, but I actually like the pizza I got last night better than the original Palermo’s pizza that won awards with one special qualification (I’ll get to that later). The ingredients that are used in the new Palermo’s pizza taste like the same stuff that was on Nikkos’ pies though applied in different quantities. The Italian sausage and Linguica taste like the kind that Nikkos used. You get a healthy serving of toppings, but you don’t get pizza topping casserole on your Palermo pizzas like Nikkos made them.
Now about the qualification that I alluded to above. There was no better pizza than Nikkos’ award winning combination pizza if you ordered it without cheese. That’s my opinion. I could not eat Nikkos’ pizza with cheese because it made it too greasy mixed with the pizza topping casserole that topped his pies in his prime years managing Palermo’s. I’m tempted to ask for no cheese and extra heavy toppings sometime to see if it’s close to what Nikkos used to serve. I have my Palermo’s PIzza with cheese now and I don’t get sick from it being too greasy anymore.
As Linda L said, the new owners are still getting their feet wet and they’re starting to get the kinks worked out. They’re starting to get it right and the pizza’s improved to a point at which I’d feel comfortable in saying that I’ll be a continuing customer instead of an experimental customer willing to give it one more try one month at a time.
As for the frozen dough charge… that’s silly. Palermo Pizza crust v. 1.0 may have been bland, but I don’t think it was because it was frozen. I worked in pizza for several years at Little Caesars. It doesn’t get any cheaper than Pizza! Pizza! and even there we wouldn’t be able to tell you what frozen pizza dough looked like. Frozen dough only exists as a comedic foil in Round Table Pizza commercials because it’d actually be more expensive. Think about it… what costs more: transporting bags of dough or transporting heavy and space consuming boxes of pre-​made frozen dough that need to be refrigerated along the way? Besides, I’m sure they they bought more than just a sign that said «Palermo’s» when they took over the business… I have a sneaking suspicion that maybe the equipment inside was part of the deal.
Anyway…enough of Econ 101… the crust is a lot better than it was a month ago.
My truly honest review is a solid 4 star, but since this is actually a new business based on the old and it’s still getting dragged down by 1 and 2 stars that have nothing to do with it anymore, I’ve got to be a little generous to balance things out.

best pizza lunch deal in the area. Tucked away in a residential area you can’t beat $ 5.99 including the drink pizza is better than those franchise guys friendly owner check it out price was a little high for dinner though.

Really mediocre and bland pizza. Might as well go with frozen. Would be only 1 star, but the price was at least cheap (with a coupon). The new management has spent a lot on signage, but there’s little traffic in this area. They need to create quality food, and people will come find it.

I hate giving bad reviews, but I have to say I was truely disappoinnted. I used to go to Westmont H.S. (we wont say how long ago), and it was the hidden gem. No frills but good pizza ! Now, under new management … one step up from frozen pizza ! The whole family agreed on this. We ordered a salad as well and that too was disappointing. I would say save alot of money and go elsewere (like the frezzer section at the grocery .). On the brighter side the people working there were very nice
Sorry Palermo … we probably wont be coming back.

«Under New Management,» the coupon said. It used to be a family-​run hole-​in-​the-​wall in a purely residential neighborhood. Now it’s a sad, stark eatery stuck in a sci-​fi time warp.
The personal pizzas we had were no better than from the frozen section of the supermarket. So THAT’s why there was only 1 car in the parking lot on a Friday night.

It has been up and down, back in 2006 the pizza was to die for!!! In 2007 and early 08 it changed owners and the pizza was nasty to say the least!!! Now it seems they have switched back to the old recipies cause its good again. Smaller servings for sure but the pizza is pretty good.

Used to be really good! But the last time we went here my fiancé was up the whole night sick… So Im thinking we’ll never return.
Greasy, and the ingredients tasted kind of old.
Bleh!

sorry you guys that we had to sell… It really saddens me that they have not kept the product the same… However we did open one in Westminster Co if you should ever get out in the area come and say Hi…
Michelle
The Original Palermo Pizza
303−487−6901

I don’t know how to do this. I haven’t been there in about 3 years ago when I used to walk there from my house off of hacienda. It is a shame to hear from all these reviewers that they have changed so much. I was going to give them a 5 star review and now I see that they are an Market/​deli hybrid thing (?).
The Palermo Pizza I remember was incredible, the pizzas were huge and for the price, well worth it. They were the embodiment of the little Italian restaurant. They had the checkerboard table clothes and the old school Chianti bottles turned into lamps that you mainly see in the movies. It was a very romantic place for a date.
My favorite dish there was the Chicken Marsala. It was the best I have ever had, super tasty complete with little chunks of thick cut bacon in it, and for $ 14 you had enough for an army. The girl who used to work there a lot, and the Owner were very friendly and always made sure that the customer came first.
I am going to miss this place. i will have to go check out the new style of it to give it a proper review, but for now I am keeping it at a one star because i don’t know why anyone would want to ruin such a great place.

I’ve been going to Palermo for at least 10 years now. We were in the neighborhood so I asked my husband if he’d like pizza because i knew of a great little place with good ambiance.
When I drove up and looked in the windows, I was completely confused. It looked like it’d been turned into a grocery store. Gone are the little tables and Chianti bottles with candles in them. It’s been replaced with stainless steel shelves filled with various ethnic cooking ingredients and god awful chartreuse green walls. I didn’t see any relevant italian goods in the store besides ragu and spaghetti noodles. All the food items were either asian, indian or middle eastern. On the right wall, the booths remain.
I used to recognize the people running the place before but there was an asian woman behind the counter this time. I figured this meant ownership had changed and I was ready to walk out when she asked if she could help us. I asked her if this was still the same place or if it had changed ownership. She said, «no, it’s the same owner. He had to add a convenience store in the middle of the restaurant because the rent went up». I told her I’d been coming here for years and wanted to know if it was the same. I asked her if the recipes were the same and she said that they were.
After reading the reviews on here, I can see that she was lying to me because it looks that the ownership changed hands last year. That is why I’ve knocked off a star.
My husband and I decided to order and took a seat at one of the booths. I almost immediately regretted the decision. A combination of the neon ceiling lights, bright green walls and blaring spanish music just made me feel anxious… not relaxed like you’d typically expect from a restaurant.
I just can’t stress enough about the terrible interior decorating. Someone is color blind. You just can’t mix a traditional rustic patterned material such as the one covering the booths, which was nice by the way, with neon green and red walls, a light blue ceiling, and pink asian plants. They could have fashioned some sort of room divider between the booths and the «store». I was staring at some terribly marked up mustard and basmati rice from where i was sitting.
The food was pretty ok. It wasnt as good as I remember it. The crust was still good. I’m thinking atmosphere can really make food taste better. I’d only recommend them for takeout. And even then, the nice, crispy crust only has a short shelf life before it becomes soggy, which is why you’d better live close or eat at the restaurant like I opted to do.

I’ve been going to Palermos for a long time– the service was always slow but the pizza was worth it.
I’ve been away for 2 years and I guess the new owners are running things differently now.
First about the pizza– I enjoyed Palermos because of the hearty toppings and thick crust. Well, the pizza is different now. The dough is different. Think Pizza Hut dough and you’ll be getting the idea. The crust is still thick, but the recipe is different. I didn’t enjoy the crust like I used to. The toppings on my Hawaiian/​Combo pizza were different than they used to be. The Hawaiian used to have large chunks of pineapple and slabs of ham. Now the ham is thin and the pineapple looks like it was crushed. I think a lot of the pineapple flavor is lost using the crushed pineapple.
The combo portion of the pizza wasn’t as flavorful as I recall it being. The dough was soggy (old dough used to be crisp on the bottom) and not nearly as greasy. The bell peppers were fresh and the onions were decent though. I could have sworn there was more meat on the older pizzas than the new style. Maybe it was light on toppings compared to pizza past.
Price wise, low $ 30’s for a extra large. Thats pretty expensive but it used to be worth it. I’m not so sure now.
I’m going to give them another chance one day– but mostly because i can’t think of another pizza place in the area that is much better. Thats not saying very much I’m afraid.
The dining area is different now, they sell a large selection of pasta’s and Italian food. You can still dine in though the campy atmosphere of the old Palermos dining area is gone.
One amazing thing– the pizza was ready in 35 minutes and they called to tell me it was ready.

I’ve been going to Palermo Pizza for years — either for takeout, or sit-​in dining. The service was always horribly slow, but the Pizza made up for it — *definitely* the best pizza in Campbell. The advantage of the Pizza being slow — sitting at the cash register, ordering a draft (they had a great selection, and NOT expensive) and sipping while waiting the extra 10 minutes for them to finish cooking.
I recently had their pizza for the first time in over a year, and boy was I disappointed. The place obviously has a new owner and a new cook. The pies were NOT the delicious delights that I remembered. The crust was dry and heavy, the ingredients didn’t seem «fresh».
I ordered several different pizzas to bring over to a friend’s house for a small get-​together — it wasn’t the case of one bad pizza — they were all pretty bad. What I got was basically «chain store» pizza — cardboard quality, and not the slices of heaven that I had been eating for over 12 years. Sigh. Now I have to find a new Pizza place.

OMG!
Okay, I live to buy those little entertainment coupon books and those little ones you get for schools fund-​raisers and I have seen Palermo Pizza’s coupon many times in the small fund-​raiser coupon book but I never had the urge to try them out.
The other night my partner and I were looking for something to eat in the coupon book when we ran across the Palermo Pizza coupon and we thought, what the heck? Let’s try a new pizza place since we live in West San Jose and they deliver to our area.
We called and after explaining we were newbies, the nice guy on the other end suggested since it was our first time to try their combination pizza. We ordered the large Combination and it was a Friday night at 7:00PM so they warned us it would b about 45 minutes, which we agreed to.
The pizza arrived on time and LET ME TELL YOU!!! The pizza was FANTASTIC! The crust was thick and not chewy and the pizza was LOADED with yummy and tasty toppings!
There are a couple of other pizza places that I love who shall remain nameless in this review (see my reviews on them if you like) but I think now that this place is the best in the south bay.
Definitely give them a try and you will NOT be disappointed!

I must agree the food at Palermo Pizza is Fantastic. The services is ridiculously slow. My husband and I order @7:00pm got our main dish @7:45pm. We were waiting for the rest of our order to come and it never showed. Ater about 10 mins, I had notice that another party was eating our food. I had to informed them that we never received the rest of our order and that our main dish was cold. @8:00pm we received the pasta and then @8:05pm we finally received the garlicbread. My husband was fuming. They made a SMALL gesture and refunded us $ 10.00. I do believe we spent $ 65 that nite.
I will go again because the food is fantastic. I will check who running the pizzaria and then I will decide if I want to order or go some where else were is there is good service. I will give them a 1 star due to poor poor service

Their food is great and they are very friendly and accomodating. I even had them cater my wedding as they gave me the freedom to create my dream italian buffet and I did! I like the idea of supporting local businesses vs some stuffy caterer who gives me 6 options and a whole lot of attitude. The only thing that keeps me from 5 star-​ing it is that it takes a long time to get served! This makes it hard to fit in both dinner and a movie in the same evening. But its great food, at a great price!

I love this place. The pizza is priced really nicely. They’re bread is great… plus they don’t skimp you on the toppings. They pile them on really thick, and trust me you will be full.