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Baris Pasta & Pizza
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- None
11 reviews for Baris Pasta & Pizza
They have ok food with great prices. The wait staff is friendly and out-going. Honest, maybe a little too honest. She told us she was a recovering meth addict. TMI? Maybe? I was proud of her for trying.
The bread is hot and looks yummy. It seems to be seasoned well and the presentation suckers you in! A bite reveals it's just baked rolls with italian season sprinkled over it. Eh, ok. However, I enjoyed my meal both times I've been and you wouldn't have to twist my arm to go back. But, you have to go with the right mind-set. It's not great Italian food. It's fair and the for the price you will get full. So, take it for what it is.
The Pizza here at Baris has always really been very very good. I mean if i want pizza i will not bother on ordering from the Hut or Gatti'ish chains. Its a good step up from that kind of expectation.
As others have mentioned though the other dishes are sometimes blandish/runny. Not bad or something i wont go ahead and eat. But i generally stick with the pizza's here.
The staff is going to be mostly Plugerville High School part timers for the most part so you get that juvenile 'tude sometimes. The family that runs Baris though has always been friendly and attentive.
So when we need a quick pie its always going to be Baris over anyone else local and the pizza has never disappointed.
This probably is a 3 1/2 star but will err on the upside since i never had a bad experience here and the pizza is quite good.
Blech.
My husband worked at a furniture store close by and several people had come into the store and mentioned how unbelievably fabulous Baris was...how odd!? So we went...expecting the best meal of our lives, I mean really, who goes furniture shopping and just can't shut up about a sub par diner in a strip mall pretending to be an italian restaurant? Looking back, I suspect they were paid for 'word of mouth' advertising.
It was a mess. The menu is very impressive looking and the wait staff kept saying how EVERYTHING was just so wonderful, I'm convinced they get bonused on how many times they sell the place to diners that are already there. WOW, we were really excited now!!
How do you screw up pasta and a salad so completely?
I read a few reviews here just now claiming the pizza was good and we did order the pizza. It was edible, but that's about all I'll say for it. I had fettucine primavera, sounded good, however the alfredo sauce was quite literally oregano flavored milk. Runny, flavorless, pasta way overcooked.
OH and the salad...what was that dressing on top?? It was neon orange and I thought catalina left town in the 90s...it was an italian dressing though...Ohhhh Kaaaayyy....
Oh, and as if realizing we'd been duped wasn't slap in the face enough, my husband came home with explosive diarrhea. He had a pizza and some sampler platter..
WARNING: THIS REVIEW IS SOMEWHAT MIXED AND NEEDS FURTHER EXPLANATION SO PLEASE DO NOT GO BY THE STARS ALONE
This place definitely has a large crowd following. Whenever my guy and I go there to eat or just to pick up a pizza they are packed, I mean PACKED. Is this place the best pizza or Italian food I've ever eaten? No. But Baris' staff is decent enough and the price is pretty great for what you get...at least with the pizza.
I have to stress that I was pretty torn on what star rating to give this place because although the wait staff is friendly and the pizza is somewhat tasty and could probably receive 3 stars TOPS, the rest of Baris (in my eyes) should get a 1 star rating. So I could only compromise by giving it 2 stars. I have eaten the salads, soups, sandwiches and a couple of pasta dishes and ALL of what I just mentioned are pretty bland and gross.
I would think a salad would be very hard to mess up, but the dressing is what made it very distasteful. The dressing was I guess what they consider the "house" dressing which i assumed was a oil based dressing, but instead it was a pinkish sweet and tangy sauce. Don't ask me what it was because I still can't figure it out. The pasta sauces are watery and lack flavor and the noodles are always wet and soggy (not sure if this is due to the sauce, the way the noodles are cooked or both). The rolls always look so good because you can actually see a bunch of garlic and butter on the top, but for some reason it doesn't taste like it looks. I would think so many flavors would be bursting in my mouth after a bite but it just tastes like dry baked bread. It's strange.
So back to the pizza. I do like the pizza. Although it may be the same sauce they use on pastas, this marinara tastes better on pizza crust. We have bought pizza with just pepperoni and also with veggies like jalapenos and bell pepper. Like i said, it's a decent price and the size is very big (in fact we order one for pick up and the box won't fit in our fridge which actually can be a bit annoying).
You may wonder why I even go there if i only give this place 2 or 3 stars and really it comes down to three things: convenience (it's literally down the road from us), price, and because my boyfriend LOVES their pizza. Let's just say if I don't agree on Baris we have to order from one of the sorry pizza chains like Domino's or Pizza Hut and I can not handle either of those disgusting pizzas. So Baris it is!
Everyone says the pizza is the best thing at Baris, but both times I've been I foolishly didn't try it.
The baked pasta is awful. It's always watery and bland. I have no idea why anyone likes it. Apparently I forgot this observation the 2nd time I went and had lasagna or similar again and hated it. My dining companion had a sampler "trio", but it was all served in 1 baked dish and there was no way to distinguish one item from the next. He never figured it out, he said it all tasted the same: mediocre.
I agree with the previous reviewer that said the rolls smell and look great but then don't taste like anything.
Such a shame, I wanted to like this place since I like to support local businesses and families. Maybe I will try the pizza someday and if I do I will come edit my review. But until then, one star is all I can give...
Simply the best pizza for the price that I've had in the 8 years that I've lived in Texas. Let me say that again for emphasis: the BEST pizza for the money that I've eaten anywhere in this state. There are a couple of other places in the Austin metro area that make good pizza, but a large one topping will run you $14-17. Not here.
I work in RR, but I hardly ever eat out when I'm at work - but today (Friday - remember this, as it will be important later on) my brother called, and asked if I wanted to meet him somewhere for lunch (he works in P-ville). Now that we both have young kids we don't get to hang out much, so I said "sure, I'll do some research and call you back". I poked around on Yelp, and found Bari's, so I googled it and found reviews of it on some other sites as well - everyone seemed to like the food and prices here, so we decided to try it out.
We got there a bit late for lunch (about 2:45) so the place was pretty empty, which was fine with us; when we walked in, the girl said "sit wherever you want" - kinda informal, but we're low maintenance guys and so we didn't care. Then she came over to take our drink order; I had noticed when we walked in that there were daily lunch specials on the board by the door - today they were "Cheese Ravioli" and "Spaghetti and Meatballs"; I was pretty sure we were getting pizza (I'd been craving it all day), but I figured I'd ask about the specials anyway, so after telling her what we wanted to drink I said:
"So, what can you tell me about the lunch specials?"
"We've got Baked Ziti and Chicken Parm". Before I could even react, she was gone.
I've never worked in foodservice, so I don't pretend to know anything about it, but Brian was a waiter for awhile in his early 20's; as I turned from the retreating waitress to look at him, I must have had a confused look on my face, because he started laughing and said "Not terribly detailed, was she?"
Nope, not very detailed - or very accurate, since the two specials she had blurted out weren't even the ones on the board.
When the waitress returned, we ordered a large pepperoni pizza and some garlic bread; before she left out table, Bri asked (with a small smile): "So, just for future reference, could you please ELABORATE a bit on the specials?"
"Sure", said she, "They come with salad and a roll."
Pause..."Actually, they're all on the back of your menu, right there".
And so they were. In case anyone was wondering, according to the menu, Baked Ziti and Chicken Parm were the specials YESTERDAY (and, apparently, every Thursday). Friday's spacials are, as far as I could tell, the advertised Cheese Ravioli and Spaghetti and Meatballs.
On to the food...
The garlic bread was unremarkable - I wouldn't order it again. But the pizza was quite another story...
The crust, sauce, cheese, and pepperoni were all...perfect. Really, this was as good a pizza as I've had in a very long time - and a 16" pepperoni pizza was $9.25, which seemed ridiculous.
After about two bites Bri said enthusiastically "This is just like what we used to get back home". To which I replied: "If this place was in Cedar Park, I'd order from here at least twice a week, this is fantastic". After that we pretty much just shut up and got our grub on - we didn't leave so much as a scrap behind, and I very seriously could have sat there and eaten another pie (and probably another one after that).
They lose a star because the service was all over the place, but seriously: if this place was close to my house I'd order out from them frequently. If you like pizza (particularly the thin crust style that is popular in the northeast), you really need to give these folks a shot. Odds are you'll like it, and even if you don't it won't have cost you much.
I've been visiting this place for a couple of years now. The service is a bit sketchy, but what do you expect from a bunch of high school girls? I do like the family vibe and generally prefer that my Italian food be made by Italians with accents. The thing that keeps me coming back is the food. I really do dig their pizza and most of all....(don't judge me) the veal sub. You just can't find these in many places in Texas (maybe Reale's is the only other place I'm aware of that offers this, it's a Yankee-thing).
I know that I was probably raised wrong, but my off-the-boat-Italian grandfather instilled in me a unabiding love for veal in any shape or form. How can it be wrong if it tastes so good? (He grew up during the Depression and had the ability to see "food potential" in just about anything...dandelions: salad, turtles: soup, etc. )
Great prices for lunch specials.
I've been here several times, all at lunchtime. Everyone here says the pizza is good and it is; I've only had it a coupla times. I always go for the daily special, because it comes with the house salad. Their bleu cheese dressing is very tasty and usually has big ol' hunks of the aforementioned cheese in there.
Their calzone is my favorite (Wednesdays). It is a big football filled with lots of ricotta, sardiche, and other goodness. The pasta is OK. I understand what's going on with other people's opinions of the pasta. Ragu from the jar is quite tasty. Lotsa salt and flavor and stuff. Baris reminds me of the pasta I'd get in Italy. WTH is this? Its like fresh tomatoes and pasta. That's what you're tasting. If you've been to Italy you know what I'm talking about; its not Ragu.
Waitstaff. The source of everyone's comment about the bitchy service is really propagating from one individual. How she remains employed there is anyone's guess. Like I said I go at lunchtime so my waitresses are not in HS. I try to never sit in her section but sometimes I lose and end up having to sit there anyway. One of the girls I work with said she used to date her and she has some real issues. Avoid her at all costs.
The owner is a cool cat and his family are always present. Nice atmosphere. And yes, they do have booze, so someone should change that in the description up there.
My first experience at this place was a bit uncomfortable for the reason that i had a one and a half year old that was not behaving, but for some reason on that visit everything went wrong. The waitress was on the rude side and didn't have a good personality. So I was on a year or so hiatus on this place. About a year ago, i stopped being mad and since then we have gone about a half a dozen times.
So in saying that the food is really good and it is really affordable for itailian. My wife always gets the sausage, black olive and cheese calzone, she loves it and puts it up to any Itailian place in the Austin Area. I am all over the menu, the Pizzas are better than the delivery places by far. It has a real New York atmos (well for the middle of P'ville TX).
This is hands down GREAT Italian food. First off, you will feel like you are in little Italy as soon as you walk through the door. Odd considering you will be in Pflugerville instead! It's owned by a family and has been for several years now and considering they have a good reputation in Pflugerville, this speaks volumes for their food.
The pizza is perfect-o and is served in the traditional style. Their salads are succulent thanks to the dressing! I kid not when I say that it would be extremely impossible to be disappointed by anything you order here. Every chicken dish I've tried here is Pfantastic, as is their lasagna - classic stuff I remember when I dream of New York lasagna made by generations of Italian-Americans. The service has always been great too! Short of having to look out the windows and remind yourself you are in Pflugerville, this place is as authentic as Italian gets without prices being overbearing or waiters being cocky!
It's also a wonderful place for kids and one of the few places I've found you can find Peroni, an Italian beer (although, and in all honesty, reviews on this beer are mixed). Frankly, the only thing you'll probably mind is the drive. And if you live in Pflugerville, you have no excuse. Also, I'd consider buying shares in this place in case they turn into a chain and blow Olive Garden and Carabba's out of the water.
We started going to Baris when we lived in Waco. They have locations all over the state. While I like the Waco location a little better, they are still one of my favorite pizza places. The crust is thin and the cheese is perfect. I personally enjoy the Baris salad (salad topped with tons of mozzarella cheese, black olives and mushrooms with the house dressing. The house dressing is a oil based dressing. I have had several of the pastas and have to agree with the other reviews. A little watery and unremarkable. I had the eggplant Parmesan once and it was awful. My best advice is to stick to the pizza. They do have great prices and this is a great place to take kids.
