We were looking for good Italian food in the area last night, as we are visiting LeClaire Iowa from out of town and found Gilanella's across the river in Rapids City. When we walked into the mostly empty restaurant, except for 3 guys sitting at the bar, it was kind of an uneasy gut feeling I had, but decided to persist neverless. My party of 6 sat at a large table and the very friendly hostess/waitress/cook/barkeep brought us menus and took our drink order. As we sat there perusing our menus and waiting for drinks, the 3 dudes at the bar were talking about nothing in general with dropping F-bombs and about every vulgar sexual situation, more loud cursing, (at this point, the waitress who wore many cloaks) joined in and sounded more like a sailor at sea than she did a sweet, friendly waitress. At this point 2 of the loud cussing patrons at the bar left and it became tolerable. THE FOOD: I ordered the spaghetti with a couple of meatballs added, and she assured me they were home made. I also ordered a dinner salad with blue cheese dressing. The salad she prepared was very fresh and crispy and there was no issue with that. However, when the main course arrived that was a different story. The meatballs were simply balled up hamburger with no flavor, and the marinara was nothing more than a jar of dollar store spaghetti sauce that tasted like it had equal cups of sugar and salt instilled in its making. The others in my party commented on the pizza's (I agree with the review about Jack's pizza being microwaved tasting better). They stated the dough was not home made dough, but was probably more like chef boyardee pizza dough mix, however, could have also been a dollar store purchase, and was very salty as well. The Margarita pizza was more of a cheese pizza with a few tomato's tossed here and there and a basil leaf chopped into miniscule pieces . On a good note, the garlic cheese bread and plain garlic bread were pretty good. The styrofoam plates and plastic dinner ware were a nice touch to the meal as well. I can honestly say it won't be happening again. The lack of cars in the lot, empty tables, and 3 or 4 patrons at the bar, tells me this isn't really an eating joint, but a place for locals to hang and drink, then have the bar tender toss together some "drunk food" . Yes, I tipped her, as she was very nice and cordial to us, but waiting 45 minutes for our food, and all of the other lack of a sensible dining experience, will prevent another visit to this restaurant. read more

Does NOT serve QC-style pizza, and that is a GOOD THING!! I haven't had a bad pizza here, and I've been patronizing this establishment since they were take-out only. They have a well stocked bar, although the wine selection is quite limited. The pandemic has made life difficult, with sporadic hours, but they have survived, for which I am very grateful. Thanks, Jen, for being a bright spot in our neck of the woods! read more

If you like Jack's frozen pizza microwaved then you will like this, I was very excited to try this and very disappointed in the quality of the pizza and especially for almost $30.00 for 2 medium's it was very thin and soggy wont be returning! read more

GiLanella's Pizza - Cheese pizza - Pizza Near Me - Rapids City, Illinois

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Good service, great pizza. We love the daily special! Affordable food with great taste. We also really like the pretzel stick appetizer, it's nothing special but it does help hit the spot. The drink selection is also good. read more

Go by this place many times as I walk just out past there. Saturday afternoon I saw a couple cars there and thought I'd stop in after my walk and give it a try. I walked in and said hello. There was a blonde lady bartender (who turned her back on me) and continued to talk to a couple of folks at the bar, including a kid drinking orange soda out of a beer mug, while kneeling on a chair at the bar. They looked at me and continued talking. Then another blonde, pregnant lady, came out at the opposite end of the bar, saw me and began talking to the people at the bar. All ignored me??? I stood there for about another 30-40 seconds, no one saying a word to me, the place was completely empty too. I turned and left, still no one saying a word to me. I will not be back. read more

We were looking for Pizza while crossing the Illinois border on our way to Chicago and found GiLanella's on Yelp. We decided to give it a try and were pleasantly surprised. It's mainly a take out and delivery type place but we ate in the two table dining room and the staff couldn't have been more friendly. The pizza was really good and fairly priced. Also the breadsticks were a real nice surprise and better than your average breadstick. Overall we enjoyed it and would definitely recommend the short drive from the highway to try it out. read more

This was my very first time eating here.I decided to give it a try because of the now expanded bar.I ordered the firestone meat lovers.We received our pizza,and it was a bit burnt.I know fire stone pizza is a harder pizza to cook,because of the process.They politely made another one.I enjoy a good pizza,and this place definately has a good pie.As for the establishment,they have a nice upscale environment there,and was quite impressed.And the staff was very courteous and friendly eager to be at your service.I will definitely recommend them to all I know read more

Really enjoy this place. Great pizza, quick and friendly service, and lots of options. The place recently expanded and remodeled and is looking great. Always happy to get pizza here! read more

The pizza is amazing! I highly recommend the Joey Special and the taco pizza. Great little place to hang out with some friends and have a few beers or take out pizza on a game day! read more

They do not serve QC style pizza.We went there for lunch 2times(service was good).Maybe three couples there.There brick oven fired pizza was good.Appetizers are ok.mostly bread selections.Good selections of beers. Haven't been there for their evening meals and libations yet. Very clean place. Need to offer service to the boaters . Need to advertise! read more

ok well this place has defiantly got it's priorities mixed up....owner prefers to party on weekends so didn't want to be open on busiest times....so many other pizza options! read more

Second time trying it and it reminded me of why I've only tried it once. Tasteless and doesn't look appealing. Cheese isn't browned, crust is...i don't even know. Went to dip my cheese bread into the sauce, tastes like its out of a can. We'll stick to Riverbend and Casey's read more

Yuk, this pizza tastes worse than frozen. I'm not sure if was because it wasn't done, the sauce, or what...gross!

I was very disappointed. I ordered three different things, all three were incorrect or burnt. When I approached their management they didn't really seem to care that we had had a bad experience. read more

I have been here twice and I will never go back. The first time I ordered I tried to get delivery and they said they don't have a driver, um okay so I ordered carry out. They said 20 minutes so I went down at 20 minutes and waited for 15 more minutes. There were 7 people there and 4 seemed to just be drinking, what took so long? Oh yeah they messed up the guys order in front of me so that must have messed up mine because they made me the wrong kind of pizza. They said it will 15 more minutes. So I wait for a new one, which wasn't the end of the world because I know it's fresh I guess. I get that one home and it wasn't too bad so I'm thinking I'll eat it again. The second time I went down was to get pizza and wings for my wife and I. I'm trying not to exaggerate her because I like a small town local spot as well, but that pizza had to be the one I ordered the first time I was there a few weeks ago because of how old it looked and tasted. The sausage is unbelievably bland, it tastes like it was boiled in water. The chicken wings were so overcooked they were like chicken wing shaped jaw breakers. I find it to be overpriced too, $12 for a thin crust 12" pizza. Not trying to be rude, just honest. read more