Andre's is a neighborhood pizza joint that has survived for a number of years by individually preparing each pizza, cooking it fresh when you order it, and making sure that there is a consistent quality. It tried expanding to various locations throughout El Paso, and while some of the branches did not survive, the original restaurant at Westwind and Belvidere is still going strong. Probably the most popular location is the one near UTEP, with a pizza joint and college campus being a logical combination.

In spite of the fact that the pizza at Andre's is much better than the average chain and delivery pizza, I never understood the popularity it seems to have. A Cheese Pizza consists of three components: cheese, tomato sauce, and crust. While the cheese here is good, the crust is soft and very tasteless. The tomato sauce, however, is probably the most disappointing part of the pizza. Lacking spice and flavor in the sauce, I think it relies on extra toppings for the pizza flavor (which the cheese pizza does not have). Perhaps the pepperoni and other toppings are quite good, but I do not think the pizza's basic components provide much enhancement to them.

The worst part about the pizza is that it leaves a "heavy" feeling in my stomach. I am almost ready to put Andre's pizza in the category of fast food becase of the aftertaste it leaves and the way the crust seems to sit in my stomach the way some chain pizzas do. I think the pizza here is actually freshly made and more nutritous than most, but it just does not leave me with a good feeling. Hopefully I am in the minority, and others will enjoy it more than I do.

Greek Salad at Andre's

Pizza, subs, and salads make up the whole menu at Andre's. Although the pizza seems to be the restaurant's claim to fame, that is the part I would skip.