Gios Pizzeria isn’t the only pizza joint in Market Common. Nor is it the only one with other Italian options on the menu.
It’s certainly the newcomer to the bunch.
And, yet, in a short amount of time, the eatery has staked its claim as a must-try amid everything else Market Common has to offer. A high-end look combined with
top-notch pizza, pasta, calzones and appetizers means the backside of the live-work district on the south end of city limits has yet another anchor.
But none of that happens if the food sucks. And trust us, the food does not suck.
On a recent visit, we found a simplistic-yet-fulfilling menu. Ingredients for the wood-fired pizzas were hell-bent on making the taste buds pop. The crust itself was clearly rolled out by hand. And the overall presentation was exactly what you’d expect for the pies priced higher than your typical chain.
On the flip side, you get what you pay for is the name of the game.
A four-slice pizza at Gios starts at $12. And while that’s just for a cheese and the bulk of the pizzas are in the $17-$20 range for a personal, two of us ordered two different pies and both took half of them home.
(Before we move on, let us tell you about the Mediterranean we ordered. An olive-oil base took the place of red sauce, and it was topped with mozzarella, baby spinach, feta, Kalamata olives and cherry tomatoes. Just for reference, I ate one of the pieces of leftovers for breakfast today to help keep me in the mood. It still banged.)
Moving on.
Other pizzas on the menu included a White Clam (clams, garlic, oregano and pecorino Romano), a Ghiottone (essentially their version of a meat lovers), BBQ chicken, Peppadew (spicy honey, juania piquant sweet and spicy peppers) and the French Connection (shaved ham, fig dijon jam, brie and mozzarella).
The full version of any pizza on the menu tops out at $27, and that’s for twice the size of the “personal”. All of a sudden, the sticker shock started to evaporate.
Still, we weren’t here just for pizza. We split a Caesar salad – man, this was really solid – and the Cutting Board, Gios take on the charcuterie board. Theirs included brie and smoke gouda cheeses, hot Sopressata and prosciutto, fig jam and a few pieces of a French baguette. How good was this? I watched my 11-year-old son destroy three-quarters of it. The little bit I got to try was excellent, though.
Around the menu, the Caprese appetizer wasn’t on our agenda that night, but we did know it when we saw it via pics on the web site. The real thing looked even better. There are also calzone options where patrons can essentially pick and grunt at ingredients they want included. The Calzones are – how should we say this? – not small.
Gios has a small but stocked bar that features its wine selections and pizza pairings, but there wasn’t much we could think of that the bar tender couldn’t have
handled for me with a different dining partner.
After all, the last time the two of us were in this location, it was a different pizza joint that couldn’t have looked much different.
Gios has put its best foot forward, and while its relatively hidden on the backside of Market Common, the first steps have been taken toward a long and fruitful run.
Gios Pizzeria Napoletana, On the quick
Address: 4003 Deville Street, Myrtle Beach (Market Common)
Phone:843.701.1101
On the web: www.giospizzerianapoletana.com
Photos for this feature from Gios Pizzeria’s Instagram Account
