Paradise Pizza & Restaurant

I used to live near this place and left a not-​so-​great review, but it was removed with the explanation that there was a «conflict of interest». I’ve never worked there, so not sure what that was all about. Anyway, on to the review…
When I first moved to New Britain, a half block away from Paradise, many people told me how good the place is and how they travel past many other pizza places to go there. I don’t see it. The pizza is greasy and expensive, the sauce is nothing to write home about. And if you get any toppings, make sure to ask for half the usual amount unless all you want to taste is the toppings. (I guess some people might like all those toppings, but I want to taste my pizza!) I also tried a pasta dish and the sauce tasted like it came out of a can. I had a grinder there that was not bad, but not good enough to make me want to order it again. The service and décor were always average. I stopped going for my family after several tries, but would go back once in a while when company came by and wanted to order there (because it was so close). The food was always the same: expensive and meh.
Hopefully the new management has changed things, but if not, I cannot recommend this place for any dish that I’ve tried.

The pizza was not worth the money. A medium was $ 18. Way to much sauce. I asked for onion peppers and pepperoni and there was so many onions that it was taking place of the cheese. The pizza when picked up completely flipped down from the crust and everything was falling off. Don’t know who the chef is but I won’t come here again. I came here years ago and the food was great maybe different owners

I was pleasantly surprised at how good our experience was here. My daughter and I came in for a quick dinner. The place was clean and bright… the staff was friendly and welcoming… the menu was extensive and reasonably priced… and our food was delicious! We will be back!

The original owners sold it. Now, I usually like to be only the bearer of good news (especially ’cause there’s so much *bad* news on Unilocal). The most peculiar thing happened to us and maybe, just maybe, this will be a heads-​up to whoever the new owner is.
We walked in at about 9:30 in the morning looking for a late breakfast. Two young ladies were in the front, at the cashier/​greeter station. Neither even acknowledged us. After noticing no sign asking us to wait to be seated, we sat down in a booth. And waited. One of the women served a party of four, and then had a talk with a gentleman who had a complaint. The other one appeared briefly with an order for another table, passed right by us, and walked into the kitchen.
The one having a talk with the single gentleman looked right at us – and never came over, didn’t even say «I’ll be right with you.»
Ten minutes later we walked out. I’ve never done that in all of my 50+ years. My best buddy, with whom I planned on having a non-​eventful breakfast, insisted on going back in and asking the two «what’s up?» The one who was most absent said to him, without apology, «I thought the other girl was waiting on you.» He left, more disgusted than I was.
We would like very much for this place to survive because it’s near us, and we’ve enjoyed some very good food there. But on this visit, it was apparent there was no supervision whatsoever. If being absentee is what the new owners want to do, that’s fine with me. But it’s my experience that restaurants I like a lot are always staffed with either an owner or manager overseeing things — and making right what his or her employees may have done wrong.

I am writing this review because the decline in this place is shocking. Weekends use to be packed day and night. Sometimes it be hard to find a parking spot. We went last weekend and it was empty and we were the only people sitting down to eat. The service sucks. I heard they are under new management. I always had plenty good things to say, one thing that has not changed is their amazing pizza. Next time I will make sure I order pizza to go.
Our food took forever to come out and the food was cold and not that great. The portions are huge, way too much food on the plate. I ordered a grinder that ended up being cold even though i asked for it to be toasted. The meat was falling out. A whole grinder you would think it would be plated as cut in half. It was cut in half with four huge halves. It had so much mayonnaise slopped on it I was actually disgusted.
I use to come here a lot and the management they use to have was great. Always coming out saying hello to everyone, asking how their food was. Now its just a empty place, no manger in site and a bunch of waitresses standing around with nothing to do. For nothing to do our waitress was no where in site and we had to ask someone else for refills. I know not to return.

I am torn between 3 and 4 stars. The food was good and the portions are HUGE. They have everything you could want in the menu. My eggplant parm came with either a salad or one of 3 types of soup and a side. The options for sides was veggies, 3 types of potatoes or 3 types of pasta. The salad was fresh as was the side of veggies. My eggplant was piping hot, yummy and about the size of a cantaloup. The leftovers fed me for 4 more meals. Service was great. Only giving 3 stars for the atmosphere. It is more old diner like versus a romantic dining experience.

When it comes to Pizza I love my New York style pies! My initially thought… What is this weird looking oblong thing cut into squares? Connecticut pizza is what it is I guess. Not what I’m used to but who knows. Looks can be deceiving. The family members we were visiting ordered the Sicilian thick crust, we didn’t know thin crust was an option.
I proceed to dig in. Damn this crust is monstrous. Easily the size of three NY style slices combined, especially at the edges but not thick enough to be Chicago deep dish. We got half pepperoni and half bacon. I’m not gonna front, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. It had bacon on it though, there is very little you could do wrong with bacon in my book. It was still definitely mostly crust though. The sauce was laid on pretty thick and decent amount of toppings and cheese. I didn’t eat all the outer edges of crust because I was saving space for the wings but I did try it and it was nice and crisp.
The wings were great, loved them. I really liked the garlic Parmesan wings. Very crispy, well cleaned, cooked to perfection. Not over-​seasoned or under-​seasoned. The garlic flavor was slightly more prominent than the Parmesan in balance.
Overall not bad, I’d definitely eat here again if in the area but it’s still got nothing on my nyc fav spots. I think it’s also very unusual that they serve breakfast, but in a good way. I wish more of my local pizza joints served breakfast or at least were open before 11am because I can eat a slice any time of the day or night.

Usually just go for their Pizza which is delicious. Meals look to be plentiful. Have had a few grinders and have not been disappointed. My only gripe is paying $ 5.00 for a yueng ling 12 oz. beer?

Ever since I was a kid I went here and I love it. Nice people and fantastic pizza but I’ll tell you if you don’t like your pizza sloppy and chessey then you won’t like it but I love a nice big sloppy pizza it’s a good price for a large to would recommend

This place is just okay. We had to wait quite a while for our food to come out. I got a slice and a salad and the pizza kind of reminded me of Pizza Hut pizza. Don’t get me wrong, I like that sort, but I was expecting it to feel more homemade.
My dining partner got a «Sicilian» pizza, which looked like the personal pizzas that you get at the Taco Bell Pizza Hut’s. Not what I was expecting, and if I had ordered it I would have been disappointed despite it tasting fine.
Overall, I would take or leave this place.

I’ve been going to Paradise Pizza ever since I was a kid and I still go all the time. It has the best pizza and has GREAT service. From the waitresses, waiters, and co-​managers everyone there is so friendly and know their menu very well. The staff seems like a family and they treat the costumers very well. I remember as a kid, their smiley face french fries used to always cheer me and they used to always give me lollipops. The pizza is amazing and they offer a lot great types of pizza, you have to try the taco salad pizza it’s different and delicious! Their bread and cookies are also really good too and super addicting. Their grinders are also really simple, but very good. All the food they offer is very filling but not expensive. Definitely worth it! I absolutely love this place.

Very excellent restaurant for any meal.
Breakfast: The eggs benedict are the best I have ever had, period. The chef perfectly poaches the eggs, which is a difficult task for any chef.
Lunch: The chef salads are great. I always swap out the salami for turkey.
Dinner: Pizza is classic central CT style, thicker crust and square-​cut cheesy deliciousness.

All the workers make you feel very welcome. Service is quick and friendly, as soon as you walk in. Love the owner, he is such a happy and funny guy. My favorite orders to get here are the roast beef grinder and ziti! Roast beef grinder has a genuine amount of roast beef which is the most bang for your buck. They top their pizza with a lot of cheese so if you are a big fan of cheese, I recommend this place for you.

Came for mothers day. Service was good, food was even better, price was insanely low.
Eggplant parm for the wife, portion was big enough to feed 4. She took home leftovers for days. Meal came w/​pasta, salad and bread.
I got the gnocchi which was also a huge portion, came with salad & bread.
Penne for the kids, came with soup & bread.
Under $ 40 out the door with drinks.

Very appealing menu. Reasonable prices, great service. Great food. First time patrons that will return again.

Seems like everybody reviewed pizza, nobody indicated that this place also serves breakfast.
My husband and I came for breakfast. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot, but still plenty of spots left for us to choose from. When we entered the restaurant, we had many tables to choose from, too – this place is huge.
There was a good selection on the menu, everything from the «No Number Breakfast» (eggs, toast and homefries) to omelets, pancakes of various flavors and steak. It’s the only place I’ve ever been that lets you choose a single pancake, a short stack (2) or full stack (4). It’s also the only place that ever asked if I wanted my homefries regular or well done (which makes them crispy).
The waitress anticipated every possible question we could have about our orders – toast with butter or dry, extra teabag for the second cup, etc. It was busy, and it took a while for our eggs to come out, but in that time the waitress came by to refill my coffee cup and brought an entire thermal carafe for my husband for his tea. When we got our orders, everything was hot. The «well-​done» homefries were delicious.
I’ve eaten here before for dinner and with a group for our annual awards dinner, when the waitresses served 50 people ordering from the menu. They are very accommodating.
It’s a nice neighborhood place, and a good place to go for breakfast as well as what you usually go to a pizza restaurant for!

I have been buying pizza from here since I remember. The staff is always friendly, the food is wonderful. But what keeps it out of 5 stars it that in interior can be redone. I mean its not horrible, but it never changed. Not at least for 10 years.

Paradise is literally down the street from where I live so It’s convenient when I’m craving Italian style food but don’t want to go far. However, I do believe Paradise is a bit over priced for the quality of the food. Although, I can say that the lunch menu is cheap but menu selection is small and the cheeseburger and fries ($ 3.99) my boyfriend ordered was a measly portion at best. They do great business regardless of anything I have to say. The entire staff and waitress’ are always very friendly, personable and hospitable.
I enjoy the pizza because the cheese is delicious and the pie is always fully loaded with it but I also like that I have the option of New york style pizza or their usual Sicilian Style. The calzone’s are wonderful and I firmly believe they’ve perfected the French Onion soup recipe. I’ve ordered the calamari a couple of times but I’m just not blown away by it, tends to be soggy and lacking flavor.
The other morning my boyfriend and I had breakfast there which was good. My over-​easy eggs were perfect and the hash browns were tasty but the pancakes were awful which my boyfriend will vouch for as well. We were shocked because neither of us thought anyone could screw up pancakes but apparently you can because these pancakes were dense and had an odd taste almost like the chef put vanilla extract in the batter which would be OK only he added TOO much vanilla extract. They also may have been made with Bisquick from the «shake and pour» bottle *shrugs* not too sure.

I’ve heard raves about this place, and it’s right down the street, so was excited to have it nearby my new home.
Less than thrilled — the food is OK, the ambiance is a bit old school (omnipresent TV set tuned to a ball game, folks hanging out). Nothing objectionable, just nothing to rave about.
I pickup the pizza now and then, and it’s good but not amazing. I’ve come to find out that the former owners (who undoubtedly earned the raves) have moved on to Yanni’s up in Newington, so perhaps I’m holding the new owners up to a reputation from the past.
Worth a visit, but not on my «can’t miss» list.

I came from California and was looking for some pizza. Came into Paradise Pizza and was instantly greeted with smiles from the staff.
The restaurant had a very homey feeling to it and seemed like a good place to eat with your family. Me and my cousins ordered some onion rings and fries as starters and 2 medium pizzas for our main dish. The paradise special was excellent. Not used to having the pizza cut into squares and the pizza tasted very fresh and delicious. Would definitely come back again. The waitor recommended the grinders there so I might have to try those sometime