The “legendary taste” moniker adorns every Grotto Pizza restaurant and advertisement: it’s a distinguished trademark for a pizza chain, but being “legendary” is subjective to the biased corporate owner, and doesn’t automatically mean good – a restaurant can be legendary for lots of things, and not all of them good: see e.g., our review of Grotto Pizza competitor in Dewey Beach, Starboard Sauced, which is legendary for its pizza, though not in the way its owners likely prefer.  Grotto is essentially the Pizza Hut of Delmarva, offering strombolis, pastas, salads, and the like, and all of it strip mall pizza restaurant grade.  There is worse pizza at the beach, if you care to brave local walk-up boardwalk joints, but no pies are more ‘saucy’ or runny than Grotto’s.  Here’s a tip to corporate HQ: offer patrons the option of passing the pie through the conveyor belt oven a second time before serving.  Grottos should be applauded, however, for its generous donations to local charities and all of the jobs and good will it fosters in the community – apparently, tourists with large families keep flocking to Grottos because it is easy, fast, and, to them while on vacation with impatient kids, more than passable and perhaps even a bargain.  The average profit margin for pizza restaurants nationwide is 15%, higher than any other fast-food option (fast service restaurants average 6%-9%).  Given the breadth of its charitable contributions, Grottos’ model apparently is even more efficient, and patrons keep visiting, probably because it is often the only pizza restaurant option around.  Until a competitor steps up with multiple locations (hello, Nicola Pizza), Grottos will still pack them in, if only for that one uninspired visit, until next season of course, when the kids want pizza for dinner.  Cheers to Grotto for its impact on the local community and all of the good philanthropic work it does locally; jeers for its style of pizza.

Various Locations Throughout Delmarva