Lagondola Spaghetti House

It’s sad that we had to go out to the Midwest for some excellent Italian food. Spectacular bread, meatball subs, and pizza.

This place CAN be great. I recently moved to Peoria from Chicago and so far, I’ve had nothing but great experiences here. I would recommend a few things to make this place GREAT. 1) Adjust the lighting, it’s extremely bright in there. At least tone it down a bit or put some shade covers over the light bulbs at each table. I would suggest someone bring out some fresh baked bread or rolls to the table before the order. The Sinatra music is a nice touch though ;)

I have only had the pizza from this establishment because Leonardo’s was always the best pizza in the area. Thick crust, with chunks of tomato, and just plain delicious. My order is always the same, and it is perfect every time.

I had a horrible experience at this dive. I called in my order fora pizza and two torpedoes, the person seemed very uninterested, and impatient, and hung up abruptly. When I got there, surprise, they didn’t have my order. I casually stated that the person on the phone seemed abrupt, and the cashier got defensive, and said” sir it’s saturday, wer’e extremely busy (Too busy to put in an order?)
Places like this need to understand that the day of dissatisifed customers just being limited to telling their frined of bad seervice ARE OVER!!! Langondola needs to be accontable to the nth degree!

Review of Leonoardo’s/La Gondola Peoria (War Memorial) Location:
Leonardo’s makes darn good pizza. If you’re a fan of deep dish with a thick, bready crust, you will love it. Instead of traditional sauce, they use diced tomatoes, which gives it a unique taste and texture. However, if you don’t like chunks of tomatoes, this might not be the pizza for you. Also, be aware: The prices are higher than you’ll pay at a chain restaurant — but you will also taste the difference.
The La Gondola menu has never wow’d me, although I’ve eaten their food on several occasions over the past 15 years. The pasta is very basic and bland to me, and none of the sandwiches are anything to write home about. La Gondola bread has a sweeter quality that tastes to me like grocery store bakery loafs. If you want the best gondola (or ‘torpedo’) in Peoria, go to Avantis. Avantis bread tastes fresh baked.
The War Memorial location still has all of the Leonardos décor. It’s a really nice little space with lots of character. Weekends can be incredibly busy (sometimes with live music), so I prefer the quietness of a week night dine-​in. It’s a great place for a date or for catching up with friends!

Sorry, but I had a pretty good experience at this place. The parmesan-​heavy garlic bread is something I really enjoyed, and the sauce (though admittedly underspiced) was hearty and meaty. We’ve been twice; the ravioli were mild but meaty; the lasagna was cheesy. No, it’s exactly what the first reviewer said; it’s a quaint family eatery. Service was excellent, food was delivered fast. This was at the War Memorial location, but we’ve also been to the Washington, IL location. They both were doing a land-​office carryout business, too. Is it flashy or «authentic»? No. Is it inexpensive, fast, and predictable? Yes, definitely. Next, we have to try their pizza.

La Gondola is a quaint family eatery where you order at the counter and polite servers bring the food to your table. I’ve only been there once and ordered their signature sandwich, the Torpedo and highly recommend it. It’s a simple sub sandwich with ham, salami, lettuce, American cheese and sandwich spread. What makes this sandwich special is the bread baked on site. It’s perhaps the softest I’ve ever tasted. There’s a hint of sweetness, which combines nicely with the saltiness of the cold cuts. Also, the sandwich is HUGE. With tax, it’s $ 6.60 and a steal considering it lasted me for two meals.
The staff did seem to be overwhelmed during lunch hour and it took a long time for our food to arrive. I came back for another sandwich three hours later and received it within minutes.