Paisano’s Pizzeria has two locations: one in Ione and the other in Jackson. My mother and I decided to do something different for our monthly pizza dinner and pick up one of the take-and-bake pizzas available from the Paisano’s Jackson restaurant, which is in Jackson Creek Plaza next to CVS. (When you face CVS, Paisano’s is on the left side.)
Our Meal
My mother and I ordered a large 49er Veggie pizza, which has sliced white onions, artichoke hearts, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, onions, and tomatoes. When I arrived at the restaurant, there was some brief confusion because Paisano’s offers all 13 of its pizzas as fully-baked and take-and-bake. Once the confusion was cleared up, the friendly employee took the pizza out of a half-height refrigerator at the front of the restaurant.
This large pizza is 14 inches in diameter, which is larger than a large pizza at Papa Murphy’s—and the Paisano’s pizza barely fit in our toaster oven. The baking instructions that came with the pizza were spot on: when my mother took the pizza out of the oven, the crust was golden brown and crispy, and the pizza was evenly hot.
The Verdict
We wanted to compare Paisano’s veggie pizza with our usual pizza from Papa Murphy’s. The latter seems to be the only pizza chain in the area to offer more than one style of veggie pizza.
The other difference we noticed right away was the tomato sauce. Paisano’s makes it clear that the veggies are the star of the pizza. There were piles of veggies that were easy to eat—the green peppers and white onions were crispy, and the tomatoes, olives, and mushrooms were firm.
The sauce was spread thinly and sparingly, as I discovered when I got to the outer crust that only had a few spare veggies and some sauce. When I tasted the sauce by itself, the basil stood out. I couldn’t taste much tomato flavor, though, and Paisano’s wanted the fresh tomatoes to fill that role.
The crust was fairly thick but light, with plenty of air pockets in the pizza dough bordered by the crispy top and bottom edges. The bottom of the crust was a little thicker than Papa Murphy’s as a result, but it’s textured on the bottom and provides good support both for the ingredients and in your mouth. There was plenty of the outer crust to eat, and the crust is thick, light, and a good conclusion to eating a slice. You may want to have your own tomato or pizza sauce to dip the crust into.
However, the amount of tomato sauce on the pizza may give you pause. Everyone has different tastes, and there may be different amounts of tomato sauce on different Paisano’s pizzas. Paisano’s offers white garlic and other sauces on some of its other pizzas, too.
So, we’ll give a yellow light for Paisano’s Pizzeria. We enjoyed our pizza, but if you don’t like light amounts of tomato sauce, you may want to check with Paisano’s to see if you can get more sauce. Or you can order one of their other pizzas, calzones, salads, burgers, or sandwiches.
The price of our pizza was $16.95, which is $2.95 higher than Papa Murphy’s regular price for a large pizza. If you want to get a fully-baked pizza to go, then you’ll pay $5 more, or $21.95.
Want to Try Them?
Paisano’s is currently offering table dining on the covered sidewalk outside the restaurant. You can visit the Paisano’s Pizzeria website for their full menu. You can also call them at 209-223-3050 in Jackson, or 209-274-6313 in Ione, to order and/or check their latest hours.
Amador Business Ticker food reviews are adventures in local dining with Editor Eric Butow and his mom.
