Gia Mia is a small chain of sitdown Italian restaurants here in the western suburbs. It is NOT an exclusive pizza joint. It is much more of a modern Italian restaurant than a classic takeout focused pizza spot. With that being said Gia Mia is known locally for the pizza and has a wood fired oven at all of their locations. Approximately 30 percent of the menu consists of pizza, while the remaining options are primarily pasta and salad. Gia Mia is part of the Vera Pizza Napoletana, which is an organization that certifies the authenticity of the Neapolitan traditional pies. There are only a few restaurants here in Chicagoland that have this accreditation.
For the most accurate rating I got the classic margherita style pizza. In general a neapolitan margherita style pizza is hands down the most attractive looking pie. With that being said this pie was good looking but not jaw dropping. The first thing that caught my eye was that the placement of the basil could use a little improvement. You could tell I ordered this on a busy saturday night just by the basil. The looks of the pie would have benefited from some more color as well. This pizza does seem to be slightly underdone. I say this because there are little to no charred edges and the leopard spotting on the crust was few and far between. The crust leaned more toward doughy rather than light and airy. I was surprised there wasn't more crisp at the base given the wood fired oven. The sauce was thin and light which was great, but was a tad sweeter then I would have preferred.
Overall, Gia Mia is a great local chain with solid pizza. Based on my past experiences this pie doesn't seem to reflect the average quality I have seen before so it is eligible for a rejudge at a later date.
