There’s a little old restaurant at 45th and Woodlawn that’s a bit out of the way for most people. Most people are never in that area unless you go to school, live in the area or just happened to drive that way for a wedding or really needed to rent “Django Unchained” at the Family Video at the intersection. (Editor’s Note: Django Unchained is worth the rental).
Looking for a place to eat at for lunch in the area, I was told about Bob and Luigi’s. They are a locally owned family restaurant in Bel Aire, KS.
Address: 4559 N Woodlawn St
Bel Aire, KS 67220
Phone:(316) 744-9510
www.bobandluigispizza.com
Bel Aire, KS 67220
Phone:(316) 744-9510
www.bobandluigispizza.com
They are open Mon-Thu: 11 am-2pm and 4:30pm-8:30pm; Fri-Sat 11 am-2pm and 4:30pm-9pm; Sun 12pm-2pm and 5pm-7pm.
It’s a small building with not much seating.There were about 11 tables when I walked inside. Lots of local flare up on the wall and many pictures or posters supporting charities.
They serve Italian food; a mixture of pizzas, calzones and pastas. I went there twice to get a good feel for their level of service and quality of food. I cannot give a review of the pizzas or calzones as both times I went, I wasn’t craving either one and went with their pasta menu.
I asked quite a bit of people for their opinions on Bob and Luigi’s and received a mix reaction from likes, dislikes, and indifferences. My goal into going there with zero expectation was going to be easy to do.
The very first time I went there, I ordered the lasagna for $6.49. I’m so thankful I had extra lactose pills in my car or else I would have been a major mess after lunch. The entire top of the lasagna was loaded with cheese. Regardless of all the cheese, it was pretty decent lasagna. Good amount of flavor, just the right size for $6.49 and the garlic bread was very tasty.
Service wise it was pretty slow. I think I waited about 20 minutes for my food and there was maybe four other people in the restaurant. If I had some quarters on me, I would have gone into their game room and played Galaga or some Lethal Weapon 3 pinball. I do love myself some pinball.
The second time around, I ordered spaghetti with meatballs ($4.99) with a side appetizer of spicy wings ($3.99). If I thought the first time was bad on wait, the second time was worse. I sat there for well over 30 minutes for my food. There might have been four people ahead of me that were waiting on food. Could have been a huge order of pizzas in the back but that’s just too long of a wait over lunch for food. Once I received my food, it kept going downhill. First bite of the spaghetti and the noodles were a little hard; felt undercooked. The noodles and sauce lacked flavor probably due to the lack of sauce on the noodles and the meatballs were…..well how should I put it lightly……I’ll just say they weren’t good. Right around this time, there’s one of the least well behaved kids a few tables over just yelling at the top of his lungs; then too much cologne guy walks and I’m pretty sure he bathed himself in a bottle of “Fierce” cologne.
I look over at my plate of wings, 5 wings for $4, a little pricey if you ask me. Tell myself, “Eddy, you love wings so this should ease your lunch.” First bite in of the spicy wings and I could make a distinct comparison of what they tasted like. Tyson Spicy Wings you can find in your frozen food aisle at your nearest Dillon’s or Wal-Mart. I’ve been to many places with wings and tried them all and Bob and Luigi’s might be the lowest on the totem pole of wings.
Between the long wait, low value on food, ambience of the experience, the second time was enough to tell me I doubt I’d be going back to Bob and Luigi’s. Mainly the food, just didn’t justify it for me. It’s unfortunate because the place had a real “Ma and Pop” feel that I love in restaurants but everything else about the place turned me away. One friend told me the calzones and pizzas were delicious so there might be a 10% chance I’d go back for that but it’s highly unlikely.
Until next time.
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Try the pizza … its similar to the bowling alley pizzas. If you like those pizza's it's worth it but the wait does get a little long so order a head. This is my boys and hubby's fave pizza place … mine is still Knollas (which they are developing a Wichita, Pizza).