Pizza Quixote

June, 2013: On my first ever trip to the Pacific Northwest, I did some research on the best pizzas in town. I had an eye on Handsome Pizza, but my pie-eating opportunity came on a Sunday, when Handsome is not open. Apizza Scholls, maker of old-school New Haven style pie, rose to the top of the list and I made dinner plans with a colleague.

"Drugs Benedict" pizza at Sizzle Pie

On that same Sunday, I spent the morning seeing Portland on foot. I went to Voodoo Donuts, where the tourists line up, and ate a peach fritter awash with cream cheese icing and a maple-bacon donut. After that, I feared I'd never be hungry again. Nonetheless, in early afternoon I exited Powell's City of Books (a bookstore so big, you need a map to navigate it) and my eyes fell on Sizzle Pie, across the street.

The Maple Bacon. YUM

Peach fritter could feed a family of four.

Tourists wait 45+ minutes for Voodoo Donuts

I walked over and scrutinized the by-the-slice offerings. Unlike the traditional pie I was to eat later that evening at Apizza Scholls, this was true Portlandia. Hippie-dippy, Vegan offerings, funky names and attitude abounding. When in Rome, I ate the Roman pizza. So, as they say, do as the hipsters do: I decided to sample the pizza at this local chain.

The pies were all visually attractive, sporting a thin crust that I hoped would be crisp and tasty. I had the choice of any slice for $3.50, or a "cut" for $1.75. I learned that a cut is simply half of these rather large slices, and it was the perfect way to squeeze two different kinds into the small belly space remaining after those monster Voodoo donuts.

Two "cuts"

With a Cherry Coke, my total for two cuts came to just $5.00. My choices were the "Drugs Benedict" that included shallot and white bean "cheese," hash browns, and rosemary tofu "scramble" that did resemble scrambled eggs. It was a generous half-slice of the funkiest pie they offered.

Drugs Benedict

To my delight, the crust was excellent. I'd compare to the best NYC slices - crisp yet chewy, and with the flavor of good fresh Italian bread. The shallot/bean combo was a nice cheese-replacement topping; it did not taste like nor pretend to be cheese, but I enjoyed the bean paste flavor and texture. Ditto the tofu, even thought I did not detect the rosemary. The hash browns were a minor factor. This pie won't change your life, but it was astoundingly satisfying for a Vegan offering.

Red Dawn

My second cut was the "Red Dawn," with spicy pulled pork, fresh mozzarella, scrambled eggs, and cilantro. To my dismay, it was limp and wet for more than 1/3 of its length. The counterman agreed to toss it back into the oven to re-heat and crisp up, and it made a world of difference. The pork was very picante, and the entire slice burst with powerful flavors. Another winner.

This crust could make it anywhere, New York

Had I more time and appetite, I would have tried several of the other only-in-Portland varieties, such as the "Spiral Tap" which features caramelized onion spread, marinara, and nutritional yeast.

It was on a whim, but I'm very glad to have stopped in at Sizzle Pie (which was doing a brisk trade that drizzly Sunday). In Trenton or New Haven with conventional toppings, this would be very good but perhaps not quite destination pizza. But because it is offered in such funky but successful varieties in Portlandia style, I think it qualifies. I've never had anything like it.

The crust earns an 8.5, and the funky toppings a 9. Let's call this 8.75 and well worth your time and calories.

After my morning of walking around downtown Portland that began with Voodoo Donuts and concluded with some by-the-slice hipster vegan pizza at Sizzle Pie (review HERE), my colleague and I (in town for a conference) planned a pizza dinner at Apizza Scholls.

The 18" masterpiece at Apizza Scholls

Apizza Scholls is about 4 miles west on Hawthorne Boulevard. The cab ride was fascinating and I wish I had time to walk the entire stretch, because the businesses lining the boulevard had much in common with the opening credits of Portlandia. The neo-hippie counterculture is well represented by one funky independent shop or restaurant after another. Portland is mostly free of the cookie-cutter chains that make most American towns look the same.

Photo from http://portland.daveknows.org/

Apizza Scholls is housed in a modest craftsman-style building, with two separate entrances. It had immediate charm upon entering, with several booths visible along a small but lovely wood bar. As anticipated, there was a wait for tables, but not a line out on the street. We were able to order some wine and beer, and either stand at the bar (no seats there) or grab one of the padded benches in the front foyer area. If you have to wait for your pie, this is pretty pleasant.

Bar and booths

Apizza Scholls is noted for its brusque service, but our bar man was pleasant and helpful, taking his time to help us choose beverages and offering to add our drink costs to our dinner tab. Likewise, later that night our server was warm and friendly and so much in command that he seemed like an owner.

The barkeep had accurately forecast our 45-60 minute wait time on this Sunday evening, and during that time, we saw several late-arriving diners turned away.

The bar in room two

Dining area in room two

When our name was called, we were instructed to exit the building and re-enter a separate dining area two doors down. Here was another dining room with tables instead of booths, a cozy bar with perhaps six stools, and a view to the kitchen.

By the evidence available from online accounts, and the very name "Apizza," this promised to be a New Haven Connecticut kind of pizza experience, not a neo-hippie alternative take. Thus, we opted for one of their house pies, a simple tomato pie with house-made sausage. I was encouraged by their prohibition of more than three toppings; it seemed to indicate that they know that an overloaded pizza is a wet sloppy mess.

At the bar, I had enjoyed a lovely pint of a local brew. With my dinner, I cold not resist the Anchor Steam on tap; it was delicious.

The pizza arrived soon, and its 18" span was impressive. As I pulled away a slice, a bit of cheese and sauce stayed behind, indicating that it was a little overloaded in the center. The east-coast traditional crust was medium-thin, with some crunch and some chew, but I did need to eat the first few bites with knife and fork.

Everything about this pie - the crisp, chewy, foldable crust, the red sauce, and the cheese - was east coast style. You'd find this pie completely at home in Trenton NJ, in New York, in New Haven. By the time I got to the middle of each slice, I could pick it up and eat it properly (no folding!) and it was impeccably balanced.

While both the cheese and red sauce were tasty (if applied just a tad more heavily than ideal), they were the necessary role players on this pie. The crust, as it should be, was the star. Deep golden brown, with an artistic leopard spotting on the underside lending texture and flavor.

In the oven room

Crust, cheese, sauce -- these alone made this a terrific pie, but it reached a new level with the house-made sausage. I've long been a fan of authentic rough chunks of real Italian sausage on pizza. To this point, no one had done it better than DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies (review HERE), but the sausage on this apizza is the New Number One.

It share the same rough-chunk size and texture as DeLorenzo's, but instead of fennel flavoring, it had garlic overtones that permeated the entire pie. Classic crust, balanced sauce and cheese, then punctuated with this savory punch of salty, greasy, garlicky sausage. Heavenly.

Just so that you don't forget you are in Portland, deliberately tacky bad art in abundance on the walls of the unisex bathroom

The crust earns a 9, the sauce and cheese about 7.5, the sausage is a 10. Overall, this pie is a 9 and stands right up to the stars of New Haven, even if I might have a tiny preference for Sally's (review HERE) or Frank Pepe's (review HERE) for their thinner, crisper renditions. But there really is no point to quibble. Who would have expected to find this classic old-school pie in Portland, the town where the only tradition is no tradition?

Once in a while, I get some non-pizza sustenance that is so remarkable that it earns a spot on this pizza blog.

Nearby Vendors along Alder Street; Click any pic to enlarge!

Nearby Pioneer Courthouse

Yesterday, at one of the many wonderful food trucks all over the funky town of Portland Oregon, I got a very good Viet Hoagie (banh mi). Fabulous and tasty at just $3, but not quite as amazing as my Favorite Sandwich Ever, the banh mi at QT Sandwich Shop (reviewed HERE) in Philadelphia.

From www.FoodCartsPortland.com

Inspired by that outing, I returned for one last Portland food-truck lunch before returning to Pennsylvania. There is a huge set of "trucks" (really more like mobile homes) occupying an entire block that is bordered by Alder and Ninth streets.

I circled the entire block, was tempted by Egyptian Halal, Georgian (as in former Soviet state), and Ethiopian offerings (as well as the usual Mexican, Thai, Chinese, Burgers, soups, Viet, salads, Chinese, cheesesteaks) but finally decided on a fairly conventional pressed Cuban sandwich at Rotissol and Greens, because it just looked so good in the picture.

It was pricey at $8 (compared to yesterday's $3 banh mi) but still cheap by most measures. The gent working inside was exceedingly friendly and my sandwich was ready in 5 minutes.

Well, I'm here to say that the QT banh mi in Philly now has a challenger for Best Sandwich Ever. The bread was almost as good as the picture promised, but the real payload was inside. I chose the classic (with just pork instead of chicken and/or ham) to go along with the cheese (I chose cheddar over provolone), lettuce, tomato, pickles, mustard, and mayo.

The pork was exceptional. Sliced about 1/8 inch thick, grilled crispy on the edges but tender inside, seasoned perfectly, and applied generously. Because of the mayo, tomato, pickle, and lettuce, there was a big moisture factor but the grilled bread held up and I was able to eat it without making too much of a mess.

The ingredients played together perfectly. Each bite was a delightfully perfect mix of flavor and texture.

Conclusion: QT's banh mi hold clear title to Best Cold Sandwich Ever. Rotissol and Green's Cuban (they actually call it the Puerto Rican) is the Best Hot Sandwich Ever.

I'm not ready to declare one of them better than the other; they both deserve your caloric dedication!

A few weeks back, a colleague shared a photo of his home-made "meatza." On a low-carb program, he used ground chicken as a crust substitute in constructing a pizza. While it sounded like a large, round, flat meatloaf topped with cheese and tomato sauce, his pics looked like pizza. And he brought me a (frozen) leftover slice.

I allowed it to thaw on the counter top, then I gave it my usual pizza slice re-heat: about 10-12 minutes on a perforated pizza pan at 375 degrees.

To my surprise and delight, the slice was perfectly rigid, and the ground chicken even took on the spotted golden look of a dough-based pizza crust.

One bite, and the meat ingredient was apparent - this medium-thin crust was heavy, dense, chewy in a satisfying way. One small slice of this pie had the satiety power of about two slices of conventional pizza.

The chef was apologetic about the conventional cheese and the commercial supermarket sauce from a jar, but those ingredients worked in harmony with the meaty crust. Mass-produced jarred sauce may be scorned by the purists, but this one had better flavor than the gallon-jug stuff used by the chain pizzerias and even most mom-n-pop shops.

Underside of the "crust"

Good stuff and highly recommended for those going low carb. The dilemma is, would you put on a meat topping? This may be the occasion to go veggie on top -- this crust can withstand the added moisture.

I did find some online "meatza" recipes, here's one.

Thanks, Chris, for sharing the meatza!

Just over two years in on this Quixotic Quest, and we've now identified SEVENTY pizzas for which you can justify the caloric intake.

Since our last update (58 Pizzas Worth the Calories), we've traveled a bit and added pies from Texas, California, Arizona, Connecticut, and Oregon to the list that is generally heavy with New York and Philly region contenders.

Vegan pizza from Portland's Sizzle Pie

It's become harder and harder to rank the top pies. How can I say that any one of Papa's in Trenton, Tacconelli's in Philly, or Frank Pepe's in New Haven is better than the others? So there are a lot of TIES in the Top Twenty.

Essentially, DeLorenzo's holds down the top spot, and Brooklyn's DiFara is a close second. And less than 1% separates them from the great pies tied for third.

Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen, Houston TX

Just one tiny notch down are the pizzas tied for 11th, after the Top Ten. I could rank them, but it would not be a useful exercise. You can be pretty confident of loving a Santarpio's pie as much as one from Grimaldi's, even if they are quite different in style.

Pesto pie from Gennaro's

The New Star this time is surely Gennaro's of South Philly, and the underrated dark horse is Zuppardi's of North Haven.

Even the bottom of this list identifies some GREAT pizza, like Jules Thin Crust and L&B Spumoni Gardens. That's the beauty here -- there is so much good pizza, there is rarely a need to eat ordinary pie.

Here's the list! Reviews for almost all can be found in the index (by state) on the right side of this blog.

1) DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies, Robbinsville NJ

2) DiFara, Midwood, Brooklyn NY

3) TIE: Forno Marco Roscioli, Rome, Italy

3) TIE: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, New Haven CT

3) TIE: Papa's Tomato Pies, Trenton NJ

3) TIE: Gennaro's Tomato Pies, Philadelphia PA

3) TIE: Tacconelli’s, Philadelphia PA

3) TIE: Sally's Apizza, New Haven CT

3) TIE: La Porta Ristorante and Wine Bar, Edgemont, PA

3) TIE: Pizzeria Delfina, San Francisco CA

11) TIE: Lee’s Tavern, Staten Island NY

11) TIE: Denino’s, Staten Island NY

11) TIE: Patsy’s, East Harlem, Manhattan, NY

11) TIE: Santarpio’s, Boston MA

11) TIE: Motorino, Manhattan NY

11) TIE: Forcella, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY

11) TIE: Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix AZ

11) TIE: Grimaldi’s, Williamsburg, Brooklyn NY

11) TIE: 2 Amys, Washington DC

11) TIE: Apizza Scholls, Portland OR

11) TIE: La Montecarlo, Rome, Italy

11) TIE: Pane Bianco, Phoenix AZ

23) Zuppardi's Apizza, North Haven CT

24) Nick's New Haven Style Pizzeria, Boca Raton FL

25) Nomad Pizza, Hopewell NJ and Philadelphia PA

26) Modern Apizza, New Haven CT

27) Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, Wayne PA & Boca Raton, FL

28) Artichoke Basille’s, Greenwich Village, Manhattan NY

29) Osteria, Philadelphia PA

30) Totonno's, Coney Island, Brooklyn NY

31) Pieous, Austin TX

32) Zero Otto Nove, Bronx NY

33) Cambridge 1, Cambridge MA

34) Stella, Philadelphia PA

35) Arturo’s, Greenwich Village, NY

36) Comet Ping Pong, Washington DC

37) Tucci’s Fire N Coal Pizza, Boca Raton, FL

38) Sizzle Pie, Portland OR

39) Spatola's Pizza, Paoli PA

40) Pizzeria Pesto, Philadelphia

41) SLiCE, Philadelphia

42) Zavino, Philadelphia

43) DOCG, Las Vegas NV

44) Ricca Pizza, San Gimignano, Tuscany

45) Russo's Coal-Fired Italian Kitchen, Houston TX

46) Green Parrot, Newtown, Bucks County PA

47) Massimo’s, Hamilton NJ

48) John’s, Greenwich Village, NY

49) Conte’s, Princeton NJ

50) Bar Foscarini, Venice, Italy

51) Wiseguy NY Pizza, Washington DC

52) Brick Oven Pizza 33, Manhattan NY

53) Rustica, Philadelphia PA

54) Sauce, Phoenix AZ

55) Franzone's, Bridgeport PA

56) Corropolese Bakery Tomato Pie, Norristown PA

57) Tony Roni's, Willow Grove PA

58) Pizza by Elizabeth, Greenville, DE

59) Magma, Princeton NJ

60) DeLorenzo’s Pizza, Hamilton Ave, Trenton

61) Bertucci’s (in Jersey City on Washington Blvd)

62) Iron Hill Brewery, West Chester PA

63) La Sicilia, Belleville, NJ

64) Jules Thin Crust, Newtown, Wayne, & Doylestown, PA

65) The Swiss Hotel, Sonoma CA

66) Uncle Oogie’s, Philadelphia

67) Lenny’s, Bensonhurst, Brooklyn NY

68) L&B Spumoni Gardens, Brooklyn NY

69) Morabito's Tomato Pie (From Costco)

70) California Pizza Kitchen (national chain)

For more than two decades, I lived in Bucks County, PA, which is just north of Philly and directly across the Delaware River from Trenton NJ, which is the epicenter of the Pizza Belt, that magical northeastern region stretching from northern Delaware to southern Massachusetts. In fact, Trenton is/was home to some legendary tomato pie, DeLorenzo's (reviewed HERE), Papa's Tomato Pies (reviewed HERE), and Joe's Tomato Pies (sadly, long closed).

The point of all this is that, living so close to Trenton, you'd expect to find good, maybe great pizza in nearby Bucks County PA. But my experience did not show that Bucks pie was materially better than Kansas pie. Lots of tired mom-n-pop joints cutting corners with Sysco-type ingredients.

Traditional meat pie, chicken w caramelized onions, and the "Heart Warmer"

I do recall one brief and brilliant exception. A family that owned a wonderful local Italian restaurant - Agabiti's - opened a "Pizza and Video" store on Trenton Avenue in Morrisville. The videos were nice, but the pizza was excellent Trenton-style tomato pie. Sadly, one of the mega-chain video rental stores (it was still the days of VHS, late 80s early 90s) opened nearby. That killed the video business, and we lost that great pie with it.

The new complex on the old Goodnoe site

Otherwise, I spent my Bucks years crossing the river to Trenton when I wanted pizza. A breakthrough came, finally, when the Doylestown-based "Jules Thin Crust" opened a second pizza place in Newtown when a shopping complex was erected on the site of the legendary Goodnoe's Dairy restaurant.

Buffalo Chicken, on left

Jules takes a healthy approach to pizza, and you'd sooner expect to find this kinda pie in hip western towns like Portland (example HERE), Denver, Santa Fe, or somewhere in California. On their website, Jules tells us:

"Jules was created so that everybody would have a great place for a quick and healthy meal. Our organic dough and sauces are made fresh, in-house, every day. No additives. No bad stuff. Only the good. Our ingredients are seasonal, locally-sourced if possible, and organic."

As the name implies, the emphasis is on the thin crust. The pies are crafted in long rectangles with rounded edges, somewhat in the style of pizza sold in Rome. You can buy an entire pie, but when you order a slice, you get an entire cross section lopped into two rectangles that are re-heated in a conveyor-belt system.

Forno Marco Roscioli, in Rome

At Jules' counter; looks like Rome!

There are a LOT of creative vegetarian/vegan offerings, but they also offer a hearty selection of meat-topped pies. Mostly, they are smart enough to avoid overloading the thin crust; you rarely need a knife and fork to eat a slice.

Recently, I visited with a couple of hungry college students, and we chose several different types of slices. Our choices included some of these:

Meat #1, which included pepperoni, sausage, and mushrooms with traditional cheese and sauce
Veggie #10, the "Heart Warmer" containing roasted poblano peppers, red onion, cherry tomatoes, yellow bell peppers, mozzarella and a balsamic reduction
Meat #4, "Kim's Pie" with chicken, portobello, mozzarella, balsamic BBQ sauce, chives, and caramelized onions
Meat #8, Buffalo chicken with mozzarella, Gorgonzola, arugula, and celery
Veggie #3, "Julie's Pie" including goat cheese, roasted beets, mandarin oranges, red onion, micro greens, with a lemon vinaigrette

I'm generally opposed to chicken on pizza, but these curious toppings on the thin crust -- delicious and fresh as they are -- may not quite qualify as "pizza." They are more akin to especially tasty flatbread, with creative, tasty, and kinda-sorta healthy well-considered and well-mated toppings.

"Julie's Pie" on left

My "Heart Warmer" was terrific, but a bit tame because the mild bell peppers somehow dominated the smoky piquancy of the roasted poblano.

The meat pie was very well constructed, and the quality of the toppings was evident. It pretty well captured the flavor of old-school pizza and tomato pie.

A peek under the hood

The visual star was Julie's pie with the translucent slices of roasted beets and the dots of mandarin orange. The mandarins were a tad wet and a tad mild as pizza toppings, but this slice was a standout nonetheless.

On this visit, I could not order my favorite, which is a pie constructed with fig jam, Gorgonzola, and caramelized onions. The sweet-salty-savory combo really sings on that very nontraditional pizza.

The collegiate faction

Jules continued to expand, and now includes five PA locations and two in California. It's a winner, it's destination "pizza" or perhaps destination flatbread. I don't prefer it to classic old-school pie, but it's a wonderful variant. The crust gets an 8, the toppings a 9. Great stuff and a fun place to visit. The Newtown store is clean, modern, and staffed with friendly people who get your slices to you quickly with a smile.

Through Twitter, I learned about "Pizza Slice Spice." The short version is that this company makes different varieties of shake-on pizza flavorings. Their website (http://www.pizzaslicespice.com) tells us:

"Pizza Slice Spice is an innovative and fun food company that offers high-quality, low fat, low calorie & gluten free gourmet pizza spice blends using only natural ingredients. We offer pizza lovers a healthy alternative to fatty and high calorie toppings without sacrificing flavor. As a gourmet food company we strive to not only create great tasting pizza spices, but also have a commitment to contribute to good health by developing gourmet pizza spice blends that are all natural, certified gluten free, kosher dairy, low fat and low calorie."

The toppings come in four flavors: Bacon Cheddar, BBQ, Parmesan Garlic, and Buffalo Wing. Disclaimer: The manufacturer was kind enough to send me samplers of all four flavors. In order to get a more thorough and perhaps less biased review, I enlisted three colleagues to taste and review.

FOPB says: I selected the Parmesan Garlic Pizza Slice Spice, and tried it on pizza, baked potatoes, and pasta salad. As a former saltaholic trying to limit my sodium intake, I noticed the serving size was ¼ tsp and the sodium per serving was 75 mg. This is in contrast to a ¼ tsp serving of salt that has 430 mg of sodium, so very favorable in comparison.

The holes in the shaker are large, and it took a little control to shake out a mere ¼ tsp. However, the statement on the label “just a dash on your slice makes everything nice” was true; it didn’t take much to add some flavor. As expected, the blander the food was to start, the more the Parmesan Garlic Pizza Slice Spice enhanced its flavor.

Italian pasta salad - lettuce, red onions, green peppers, tomatoes, olives, tortellini, hot Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan Garlic Pizza Slice Spice

For the pizza, I tried shaking some on a slice right out of the oven (pretty good), but actually thought it tasted better when shaken on before baking and letting it cook through with the other ingredients. I don’t buy a lot of prepackaged seasonings, but thought this one was different, adding a cheesy flavor without being overpowering. Its name is Pizza Slice Spice, but it spices up lots of other foods.

Sunny says: I was recently offered a sample of the pizza slice spice topping from a colleague. I love trying new things so I thought, "why not?" It came in three or four different flavors which were Buffalo wing, bbq, Parmesan Garlic, and Bacon Cheddar. For those who know me, I love bacon and love it in any way including chocolate dipped bacon; clearly, bacon cheddar was the first flavor that caught my attention, followed by buffalo wing.

Sunny warming up

That same day, I picked up a pizza pie on my way home just to try the topping. I came home and sprinkled some on my pizza. Without knowing what to expect, I took a bite and thought it was interesting. I could taste a little bit of bacon but not enough cheddar. Then I took another bite and thought this would be great on other items such as fries, popcorn or even on a corn on the cob! In the end, I like a good pizza pie as is so I can enjoy a good crust, sauce and cheese all together without masking the pie. At the same time, why should you only stick to pizza for this topping? I would be creative and use this topping on other food as I mentioned previously and even further use it when grilling or just plain old regular potato chips. I tried it on my grilled corn on the cob. Pretty good.

Chris says: In my house we all like different kinds of pizzas and flavors. My wife likes her pizza with veggies, my son likes his plain, and I like the rest. I applied the BBQ to a slice of (well-done) pepperoni pizza from one of our local pizzerias. I applied the seasoning and watched it melt into the hot slice of pizza much like cinnamon and sugar on toast. I found the sweetness of the BBQ seasoning worked well with the saltiness of the pepperoni and enhanced a rather generic slice of pizza. I also tried it with a plain slice and can report that it worked nicely with that slice as well.

I must say, however, that the BBQ seasoning does not replace actual good BBQ sauce on a pizza. I know that most foodies/pizza experts scoff at the idea of BBQ chicken on a white pizza with fresh garlic, but I happen to like it quite a bit. This seasoning tastes fine, but it isn't the real thing. I don't think you can sprinkle it on chicken and end up with BBQ chicken.

As with most toppings, if it's on the table I'll gladly sprinkle some on my pizza. But I usually don't find myself reaching for toppings like parmesan or red pepper flakes. I'll take advantage of them when available (and if it requires no effort on my part - I won't walk across the restaurant for it), but generally like my pizza to have its flavor baked right in.

PQ says: I spent a lot of years eating mediocre pizza when I didn't have the knowledge or means to find the destination pie spots. What I did then -- and what so many people do now -- was seek out shake-on toppings to give some character to bland, mass-produced pie. Garlic powder, red pepper flakes, grated cheese, whatever was available.

All that stuff works to elevate ordinary pie into something that better suits your tastebuds. I'm not shaking any of that stuff on great pizza, because it's often perfect right out of the oven.

However, there are still times when you have to settle for frozen pizza, Domino's, or even a mom-n-pop pie of little distinction, and that is when Pizza Slice Spice is a terrific way to broaden your flavoring options.

If you like you pie unadulterated, this product probably won't change you. But if you are inclined to seek out shake-on toppings to liven up your pie, Pizza Slice Spice is a pretty big step to broaden your options. Thumbs up!

Not long ago, I was able to sample a few slices of Sicilian pie from Via Veneto in Norristown, thanks to a colleague who shared some leftovers. I found a nice crust and promising sauce that left me wanting to know more, despite some flaws (full review HERE). It appears that Via Veneto has relocated from Norristown to nearby East Norriton (which always looks like a typo to me).

Before the re-heat

The staff at my wife's office nearby often has pizza for lunch, and one day she brought home 5/8 of a pie. This was not a Sicilian, but a conventional round pie (and very ordinary-appearing crust) topped with a deep red sauce, big islands of white fresh mozzarella, and leaves of basil. It looked like an attempt at Neapolitan, even if the crust was more "New York" style than the leopard spotted puffy texture of an authentic Neapolitan pie.

Click any picture to see larger, full detail version

Because the crust looked so pedestrian, I was not optimistic about this pie. Before the re-heat, I removed the basil leaves so that I didn't end up with burned basil. I added pepperoni to much of it, but left some without so that I could taste it more as the pizzaiolo had crafted it.

After the re-heat, with pepperoni added

I pre-heated my oven to 425 and baked it for about 9 minutes on a perforated pizza pan. I'm pretty sure that these slices with this proper re-heat were better in most ways than when it first came from the oven, because the bottom of the crust took on a lovely crisp, even as the upper portions remained chewy and bendable (definitely a New York slice). The cheese got some lovely browning/caramelization, too. And the addition of the pepperoni gave it an extra measure of salty/savory essence that so reliably comes as the payload of cured meats.

The crust, despite its nice texture, had no distinct flavor and was pretty tasteless at the cornicione. The red sauce had much of the rich taste that its color promised, and I even found some big tomato chunks mixed in. The cheese was tasty enough, especially with some top browning, but came off in disconcertingly huge chunks with even small bites. Conventional mozz would have been better.

Not a whole lot of character to the crust

It's nice that a mom-and-pop shop would attempt a Neapolitan pie, but you cannot hide a dull crust by the use of creative toppings. The crust gets a 5 (and would have been lower absent the re-heat), the sauce earns a 7, the cheese a 4, the fresh basil earns a little extra credit. Overall, this pie is a 5.5. Tasty and filling, but pales in comparison to nearby Franzone's (review HERE).

Planning a day trip from West Chester PA to Baltimore harbor destinations (Fort McHenry, Inner Harbor, Lexington Market, Fells Point), I did some research for the best pizza in town. This city is known, of course, for its crabs, not its pizzas. And most experts agree that the Pizza Belt extends no further south than the northern edges of Delaware. Still, we found some useful advice that pointed us to two choices in the Fells Point area: Italian Graffiti and B.O.P. Brick Oven Pizza.

Click on any picture to enlarge

First, some travel advice for Baltimore day trippers: Fells Point, on the same waterfront, is 3,563% more interesting than the well-known Inner Harbor tourist destination. It's an old, charming neighborhoods whose streets, often cobblestone, are lined with cool shops and restaurants and blessedly few chains. The Inner Harbor really is just another suburban mall anchored by places like Cheesecake Factory and tchotchke stores.

Parking is difficult at either the Inner Harbor or Fells Point, but on weekdays there is ample street parking for about $2 per hour in Fells Point, and conveniently at the foot of the water taxi stand. The best advice I got before this trip was to park and then use the water taxi to get around. For $12 all day, you can ride to and from many spots on the harbor, including Fells Point, the Inner Harbor, and the wonderful Fort McHenry. In fact, next time I will begin at Fort McHenry, where you can park for free (although the last boat to take you there leaves Fells Point at 3pm).

Lexintgon Market, walking distance from Inner Harbor

Meat Lover's Pie at B.O.P.

Anyhow, we chose B.O.P as our pizza stop. We arrived hungry at lunch time and ordered the 14" Meat lover's pie (not my choice, but you compromise for teen travelers). The place had a nice vibe and the staff were especially friendly. We ordered some Italian Sodas in cool flavors like peach and passionfruit, and our pizza arrived promptly.

The wood-fired brick oven

In the kitchen

Cozy interior

The pie was well-assembled and sported a nice assortment of meat toppings. The four of us devoured it easily. The crust was crispy on the bottom, wet nowhere, and was sturdy enough to support the generous toppings (BOP also has a "thin crust" pie, but the staff advised the regular crust for this meat-heavy pie).

A peek under the hood. Nice crisping

Kawah digs in

Everything about this pie was good, but nothing about it was great. The crust was light and airy, but thicker than ideal and lacking character. The sauce and cheese and meat toppings were nice -- there were no off flavors, but no outstanding flavors either.

Laugen samples a slice

What would a DiGiorno frozen pizza taste like if you cooked it in a wood-fired brick oven? Pretty much like this pizza. We liked the staff, the ambiance, the neighborhood, and the Italian soda, but we were disappointed by this pizza; it was just too damn generic. Perhaps the thin-crust pie offers more character.

Crust looked better than it tasted

Meat lover likes the meat lover pie

The crust is a 5 elevated to a 6 by the nice crisping it got in the brick oven. The sauce is a 5, the cheese is a five, the meats a 5. Overall, a 5.5 experience that was a decent belly-filler and fairly priced, but it's a better place to take kids than discriminating pizza eaters.

Few pizza joints have generated a buzz as Pizza Brain did for its September, 2012 opening. We're living now in the pizza renaissance, where true foodies are crafting lots of high-end pies (mostly Neapolitan) in the trendiest neighborhoods. In combining a pizza passion with a "museum" and art concept, Pizza Brain's owners rightly caught the media's attention.

Click any picture to enlarge

Wikipedia describes the concept as "a place that serves delicious artisan pies in a museum-like space that captures and commemorates pizza as a cultural icon."

Easy-to-miss exterior at Pizza Brain

Inside near counter and kitchen

I've been wanting to get there, even though there's been a lot more buzz about the museum angle and charismatic staff than about the pie. Many of the stories told us a lot about the owners, the concept, the history, the museum and its contents, the neighborhood -- and then concluded "Oh yeah the pizza is pretty good."

Guest pizza critics from Houston and Brooklyn

VACK (vegetable avoiding college kid)

"Pretty good" would have been GOLD Jerry, GOLD, just ten years ago, but now Philly offers a lot of great pizza competition. We've tasted and reviewed a lot of them here (click on any one to link to a recap) -- Tacconelli's, Gennaro's Tomato Pies, SLiCE, Zavino, Nomad, La Porta. Not to mention Stella and Osteria, as well.

A mural at the outside dining area

I shudder to even think about it

I had the task to be Philly tour guide to three young adults - one from Houston, two from Brooklyn. We didn't hit many of the typical tourist stops - not even Liberty Bell, Reading Terminal Market, Independence Hall, The Art Museum (these kids have never even heard of "Rocky.") Instead, we began with lunch at John's Roast Pork (a seriously awesome sandwich included in my Philly Cheesesteak ranking, HERE), then visited Rittenhouse Square, City Hall, The Mutter Museum of medical oddities (not really the place to whet your appetite), and Eastern State Penitentiary.

Eastern State Pen. Worth your time!

To reward myself for this tour guide task, I included a pizza stop and decided to visit Pizza Brain to see how gentrification is playing out in Fishtown, but more importantly to see the Pizza Museum and taste the pizza there. Fishtown is a longtime blue collar neighborhood north of center city now seeing some rising real estate prices and hipster movement with upscale shops and restaurants and clubs. It still looks rough to my suburban eye, but we saw a steady flow of young adult backpack hipsters on bikes and scooters.

From www.PizzaBrain.org

We arrived around 5pm on a Friday, well ahead of the crowds sure to show up later for a collaboration event with Federal Donuts (which I love - reviewed HERE - but I'm still not sure about donuts on pizza). Out front, a small crowd of extremely hip hipsters (bow ties and all) loitered in front of the adjoining Little Baby's Ice Cream shop.

More outdoor art

We were greeted warmly by a TALL guy with a wild shock of red hair; I recognized him - Brian Dwyer - from other stories I had read about Pizza Brain. He was sincerely enthused, gave us the overview, invited us to tour around and then come back to be seated and order our pies. Instantly, we liked him and the vibe here. It confirmed what we'd read on the Pizza Brain website:

...it’s a community-driven business; a pizza shop with a conscience – meaning we strive to do things in a socially, ethically and environmentally responsible fashion.

Pizza Brain does house a fabulous collection of pizza-related things - album covers, videos, tchotchkes, and some very funky art and murals in the outdoor seating area. "Museum" is probably an overstatement, but this stuff is authentic, varied, often unique, and a collection unlikely matched anywhere. We arrived parched from our day's trekking around Philly, and we were delighted to find some artisan bottled sodas.

Our excellent server, and some of the LP-based pizza museum. From www.PizzaBrain.org

Strolling the museum and sipping on a green apple soda imported from Mexico, I liked this place even without tasting the pie. And importantly, the college-age kids with me were digging it too. It may have been a watershed moment for VACK (vegetable-avoiding college kid, a transplanted Brooklynite), who saw a gentrifying neighborhood that he may actually be able to afford after graduation, unlike Park Slope or Williamsburg.

The red pie

We decided to order two pies, one red and one white. Our red (my selection) was the "Forbes Waggensense" that include crushed tomato, mozzarella, fontina, grana padano, fresh basil, and smoked pepperoni. Spoiler: I have very few gripes about Pizza Brain, but I'd like to see more cured meats available. PB offers pepperoni and also smoked bacon, and that's it. It is very vegan-friendly and that's a good thing, but bring on the garlicky Italian sausage and maybe even meatballs and prosciutto. However, God bless PB for leaving out the Buffalo chicken!

We allowed VACK to choose the white pie, and he wanted nothing to do with the goat cheese, bechamel sauce, or vegetable ingredients that topped many of them. I had made the mistake, earlier in the week, of allowing him to choose the pizza on our Baltimore trip to B.O.P. Pizza (reviewed HERE) and this was a risky proposition. Brian offered to craft a custom white pie, with mozzarella and smoked bacon, and without bechamel and goat cheese. It didn't sound too exciting, but I expected it to please our finicky VACK.

The red pie came, first, and it looked wonderful. Thin crust, beautiful golden browning on the cornicione, the pie looked to be cooked perfectly. The four of us dug in quickly and found negligible tip sag, even though the thin slices contained a generous amount of crushed tomato.

Crust was beautiful all over

For any pizza, the crust determines if it can be a great pie, and this one qualified easily on that metric. The crust was crispy on the outside, firm enough to support the toppings, tasty all by itself, and still had an ideal al dente chew on the inside. I asked Brian how he categorizes his pie, and he said "thin crust American." It surely is not a Neapolitan; it has much in common with the wonderful tomato pies of Trenton and New Haven, but it's a little softer. This could be the pizza crust that so many pie makers aim for (and miss) when they claim to make "New York" pizza. Regardless of the name, this crust was close to perfect.

The toppings were high quality stuff, but this was a gestalt pizza experience. Clearly, the pizza chef(s) had thought about what works together on a pie -- both the ingredient choices and the proportions. These cheeses worked together with the brightly flavored crushed tomatoes, and the smoked pepperoni was surprisingly subtle in how it affected the overall experience. All four of us loved this pizza. It exceeded my expectations.

The white pie

The white pie came next. It had that same wonderful crust, but after a few bites we realized the mistake of straying from the pies on the menu as imagined by the chef. By omitting the goat cheese, veggie toppings, and the bechamel sauce, we missed a lot of the flavors. Nothing was wrong with this tame pie -- the cheese and bacon were excellent -- the only problem was our ordering error. We took home some leftover slices, to which I later added tomato and garlic before a reheat, and that helped a lot.

So what's the bottom line? Pretty simple. A fun and delightful space, with engaging staff who know and love pizza and have a keen sense of customer service (Brian was busy the entire time, even sweeping and polishing windows when not taking orders for pie). A very cool collection of pizza stuff, and most importantly, destination pie. American Pie (we wrote about it HERE, too).

The crust earns a 10. The cheese, sauce, pepperoni all get a 9. The ambiance and service, 10. The cool sodas, 10 (wish it came with a cup of ice, though). If you care at all about pizza, this is a stop you have to make. Pizza Brain makes pizza that is a little different than any other, without being weird pizza. I rank it right alongside the giants of the Philly pie scene - Tacconelli's, Gennaro's, and La Porta.

On a trip to the lower reaches of Brooklyn (Dyker Heights and Bensonhurst), we decided to include a pizza stop. Since there really are few (if any) worthy pizza places in Bay Ridge, Dyker, or Bensonhurst, I checked online for some worthy pizza. I ruled out three excellent places - Totonno's, L&B, and DiFara (click any of them for the PQ review) because I wanted to try something new.

Three pizzas in four days!

I found a nice list of Brooklyn's 10 Best Under-the-Radar Pizzas at Flavorwire.com, and we settled on Ramagi Brick Oven Pizza in "rapidly gentrifying Prospect Lefferts Gardens." This was an interesting experiment, because in the same week we'd visited two pizza joints in comeback neighborhoods. First, we had B.O.P. Pizza in Fell's Point, a Baltimore neighborhood that gentrified successfully and completely many years ago. Then we traveled to Philly's Fishtown, still very much in transition but drawing swarms of hipsters, to sample the awesome pizza at Pizza Brain.

Prospect Leffert Gardens looks yet very rough; I didn't see much "rapid gentrification" and in fact this lovely storefront looks very much out of place in this hardscrabble neighborhood (with a Papa John's location across the street). And beyond the scooters parked in front, not much hipster activity such as a bow tie, vintage clothing, or even an Urban Outfitters location.

Traditional pie with sausage

The inside was small and cozy with bare brick walls. The staff was friendly with us and a small stream of customers. There are some appetizers (calamari, caprese, garlic knots, wings) and a few salads in addition to the pizzas.

The have a margherita with fresh mozzarella for $19, a pie with baked ziti on it, and several other varieties. We opted for the "traditional" pie with tomato sauce and conventional mozzarella. It's only thirteen bucks! We added some cost and some flavor with a sausage topping.

The pie arrived quickly. It had a classic look, and it really delivered. The crust was similar to the pizza we had at Pizza Brain; delicately crisp outside, al dente chewy inside, and sturdy enough to support the toppings. The sauce and cheese were conventional, but not ordinary. The creamy mozzarella was the perfect complement to the tangy sauce, but it was the experience as a whole that made this pie sing. The generous chunks of real Italian sausage were perfect for this pie.

Somewhat belatedly, I'm getting a feel for why folks wax rhapsodic about a "New York slice." I've eaten plenty of bad New York style pie, but this pie was wonderful. Now if we can only persuade New Yorkers to stop folding slices and turning them into pizza sangawitches, we'll be making real progress.

Happier when fed

It's splitting hairs to put precise labels on every pie, but Pizza Brain makes the quintessential American Pie; this is its New York cousin and another winner. Crust gets a 9, cheese and sauce a 9, sausage a 9, service and ambiance a 9. Destination pizza and certainly deserves to be ON your radar.

594 Rogers Ave
(between Hawthorne St & Winthrop St)
Brooklyn, NY 11225

There are several notable and distinct styles of pizza -- the soft-crusted, puffy and charred Neapolitan, the medium-thick crisp-yet-foldable New York style, the thin crust rectangles of Roman style, the thick doughy crusts of Sicilian style, and the thin, crisp, rigid crust that forms the base of the Trenton tomato pie (close relative to the New Haven pie, and not to be confused with the Conshohocken/Philly cheeseless tomato pie - see primer HERE).

Square tomato pie at La Villa in Morrisville PA

Some Trenton purists insist that tomato pie is not pizza. I would suggest that while every pizza is not a tomato pie, every tomato pie is a pizza. The Trenton version is to add the cheese before the tomatoes (chopped or crushed canned tomatoes, usually not tomato sauce). The cheese does not get buried as it does in some Chicago deep dish pies or on an "upside down pie" but the tomato is the signature.

Conshy tomato pie from Tony Roni's

Even as Trenton is home to this distinct style (which is my favorite type of pizza), the number of tomato pie slingers still within the city limits has dwindled. Trenton was once home to the legendary DeLorenzo's (Hudson Street, reviewed HERE), the other DeLorenzo's (Hamilton Avenue), Papa's Tomato Pies (reviewed HERE), Joe's Tomato Pies, Sam's Roma Tomato Pie, Romeo and Juliet's, and Maruca's.

Trenton is evolving. While wonderful mainstays like Halo Farms and the Trenton Farmers' Market remain vibrant, the heady restaurant scene of the city's Chambersburg (the 'Burg) section has essentially ended. Trenton was once filled with a great mix of upscale Italian restaurants, old-school red gravy places, and tomato pie and pizza joints, but one by one those places closed or moved.

Exterior of La Villa

Trenton's loss is the suburbs' gain. The Landolfi family runs a great deli in Yardley PA (across the river) and now makes pizza in Pawley's Island, SC (review HERE). Nearby Robbinsville was lucky enough to land the two best Trenton pie slingers: DeLorenzo (Hudson) and Papa's Tomato Pies.

Landolfi's pie in South Carolina

At the same time, Trenton natives or Trenton-inspired folks are opening up tomato pie shops within shouting distance of the city. Palermo's in Bordentown, Nutt's in Titusville, and La Villa across the river in Morrisville. I've read a bit about each of these, from my Trenton-area friends and from a tomato pie group on Facebook. A recent trip to the Bucks County Grange Fair gave me plenty of reason to get to La Villa.

At the Grange Fair

La Villa, on South Pennsylvania Avenue near Bridge Street, is walking distance from my 1987-1995 home. There were no worthwhile pizzas or tomato pies in Bucks County then, sans for a short period when the Agabiti family ran a pizza-and-video-rental store on Trenton Avenue. When Blockbuster killed their video business, the pizza went away also. So I usually would make the drive to Trenton for DeLorenzo's (when I could get them to answer the phone; they opened at 3pm and the phone was usually off the hook by 3:05) or Joe's.

Inside La Villa

La Villa is housed, ironically, in a building that was once a Pizza Hut. I recall eating a "Philly Cheesesteak" pizza there around 1990, and putting ketchup on it, and liking it! I confess, I'd probably still enjoy a pie like that, even though I know it's crap.

At some point, a large dining room was added on. It's a big space for a pizza place, but they do have a full menu of other Italian foods. We arrived around 2pm on a Sunday afternoon and the place was quite busy! That's a good sign.

La Villa makes ordinary pizzas and "specialty" pies with a great variety of toppings, but we came for the "Chambersburg tomato pie." The tomato pies are $12.95 for a round, and $13.95 for a square. Other than the square Trenton pie I had at Spatola's Pizza (review HERE) in Paoli PA, my experience at Joes, Papa's, and DeLorenzo's was solely with round pies; hence, we opted for the square.

I was dining with Mrs. PQ, who likes pepperoni as a topping; I prefer sausage, so we order half sausage, half pepperoni. The pie came out reasonably quickly from our pleasant and helpful sever.

It did not look much like any tomato pie I've known, other than the lovely piles of crushed tomato. But once I pulled out a slice, I found a very thin yet crisp and sturdy crust, loads of vibrant red crushed tomato, and a modest amount of conventional mozzarella (although more than found on a DeLorenzo pie).

As always, it all begins with the crust, and this one was nearly perfect in texture. It also delivered a good flavor, if not quite at a DeLorenzo's or Papa's level. Crisp outside, with a good inner chewiness that was remarkable for a crust so thin. I enjoy a "crackerlike" crust but this had a lot more going on.

Under the hood

The crushed tomatoes were just right - bright and tangy, perhaps a hint of sweetness. The pepperoni was good (is pepperoni ever "great?"), and the sausage was the real stuff, beautiful hunks of savory genuine Italian rope sausage.

On the first slice, we agreed that this was wonderful pizza. Every element was good or great, and they also worked in harmony; this pie was exceptionally well-balanced. We ate about two thirds of it and took four slices home, which were fabulous again upon re-heat. If I still lived nearby, this would be my certain go-to pizza. Destination pie? Absolutely.

Conventional gas ovens

The crust earns a 9.5, the tomatoes a 9, the cheese an 8, the sausage a 10, the pepperoni a 7, the service a 10. You don't need a brick oven, a coal oven, or a wood-fired oven to make top-shelf pie. Some irony that destination pizza comes to Morrisville now that I've moved to West Chester.

For four years during the 80s, I lived in Ewing NJ, a suburb of Trenton. During that time, there was no pizza or tomato pie worth eating in any of the boroughs surrounding Trenton - Ewing, Hamilton, Hopewell, Bordentown. If you wanted the real thing, you went to Trenton's Chambersburg section.

But as Trenton evolves, the pie makers have taken to the burbs. The top three Trenton legendary pizza shops are now in Robbinsville or Hamilton, and others have begun making tomato pies outside the city. Recently, we had the excellent tomato pie across the river at La Villa (review HERE). A summer trip to the still-wonderful Trenton Farmers Market provided the occasion to stop for a tomato pie at Palermo's III in Ewing.

Palermo's III, Ewing NJ

Palermo's is a pie maker with three locations. The flagship location is in Bordentown. Palermo's II is in Roebling (the town that supplied the steel for the Brooklyn Bridge cables), and Palermo's III in Ewing. Most of the good things I had heard were about the Bordentown location, but I anticipated that a successful formula could travel to at least three locations.

I arrived in the early afternoon, and it was quiet in there. I think two other customers came by while I waited for the pie I had ordered, including an elderly gent ordering "Italian hot dogs." The staff was friendly, and the gentleman at the counter explained to me (and showed me) the difference between their Sicilian pie (rectangular with a thick crust), pizza (round, thin crust, tomato sauce, cheese) and tomato pie (round, thin crust, crushed tomato, cheese).

He explained that they could do almost any of their specialty pies in the tomato pie style. I was intrigued by the "Vince" which featured spicy sausage and potatoes. Sausage is my preferred pizza topping. The potatoes were a bold choice, but I've enjoyed potato-topped pies at Jules Thin Crust (review HERE) and especially at Sally's Apizza in New Haven (review HERE).

A Vince divided, minus one huge bite

Still, I feared that the potatoes may be too wet and heavy for a tomato pie crust, so I asked that instead of a pie covered in sausage and potatoes, that the sausage go on one half and the potatoes on the other.

My plan was to take the pie home, about an hour's drive. That's not the best or fairest way to evaluate a pizza, but in my experience a thoughtful reheat at home on a perforated pan restores a pizza to 98% of its fresh-outta-the-oven glory. Sometimes, if the pizza is improperly cooked or overloaded with wet toppings, the re-heat can substantially improve the pie. Still, I felt compelled to take a few bites from a sausage slice as I placed the box into my trunk. The crust was a bit droopy but the few bites were salty, spicy, savory, and overall delicious.

The sausage side

Later on at home, I re-heated two sausage slices and two potato slices, in my standard method of 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees on the perforated pan.

The sausage slice had a crust that was thin and certainly well cooked (originally and by the re-heat) yet it was limp for the first few bites. Probably a bit too much sauce and cheese for that crust. The tomatoes had a bright and fresh flavor. The sausage was generous chunks of real Italian rope, and the entire slice was seriously spicy, as advertised. I'm not certain if the fire came from the sausage or the liberal coating of red pepper flakes. The cheese was a role player, and there was a bit too much for a tomato pie, but it was in harmony with the other toppings.

The potato side

The crust, however, disappointed. It was constructed and cooked properly, but it was low on flavor and character. Crispy outside, but little chew inside. It was little more than a vehicle for the excellent toppings. In fact, I suspect it's the exact same crust they use for their ordinary-looking pizza, and may even be mass-sourced. I'm a so-so pizzaiolo and I can make a better crust in my 550 degree home oven.

Well cooked

What about the potato pie? Of course, the crust and cheese and tomato were identical to the sausage side. The potatoes were a significant letdown. They were cut thickly (might have been much better on that gent's Italian hot dog), they were wet and heavy and lacking flavor. Not only did they add nothing to the pie, but they detracted from it. I quickly removed the potatoes. When I reheated the other potato slices, I filled the void with fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes, BBQ beef, asiago, and garlic. Much improved!

Potato slice at Palermo's III with oversized slices

Potatoes on pizza done right, at Sally's in New Haven CT

Conclusion? Ordering the potatoes on the pie was my mistake, but the crust was the real failing here. Because it was an attempt at tomato pie and the sausage and crushed tomatoes were excellent, this is still an above-average pie. Far from destination pie, however. Still, it's fixable. Change the recipe or the supplier for that dough; the toppings and technique are on target.

Doctored-up on the re-heat

The crust gets a 5, the cheese a 6.5, the tomatoes a 9, the sausage a 9.5. Not gonna hold the potatoes against them; Vince and apparently others must enjoy thick slices of potato on a tomato pie. Overall, this pie gets a 6.5.

An annual social occasion has put me, two years in a row, in a Pottstown back yard in late August, where about 15 people gather to eat pizza and toss back a few beers. Last year, one of the locals ordered the pizza from Palermo's in Pottstown. It was fresh and tasty, but otherwise unremarkable - full review HERE.

2012 pie from Palermo's in Pottstown

This year, I accepted the assignment to choose and to haul in the six pizzas. Because I was coming north from West Chester, I calculated that it would not be too much of a detour to swing by the much-acclaimed La Vecchia in Phoenixville. However, Neapolitan pie does not travel well, so I decided instead to hunt for the best pizza in Pottstown.

Mike's, on 601 N. Charlotte St.

Internet searches yielded little useful information beyond Yelp, where most reviewers seem to be inordinately fond of the piemaker closest to their homes. No foodies (that I could find) are writing about the glories of any particular pizzaiolo, and no pie maker's website has anything more than stock images.

In fact, Pottstown was beginning to look a lot like West Chester: Pizza Kansas. Lots of pies, none that are special. I finally settled on Mike's because the brick oven seemed to signify that they were making an effort to differentiate their offerings.

I called and ordered six pies: Plain, White, Sausage, Meatball, Mushroom, and a Sicilian with pepperoni. I arrived to a small and tidy place with a friendly staff. The pies were nearly ready, but when they boxed them up, only five of the six were found. They forgot the plain pie, so they hurriedly put one together.

Meatball pie

While I waited, I checked out the kitchen and oven. I suspect that the "brick oven" means "brick facade for a conventional gas oven."

"Brick oven"

Because I had to wait, the staff gave me a free 2-liter soda and a coupon for $5 on the next visit. A great gesture and a sign that they understand good customer service. Soon, I was on my way.

Sicilian

Our large crowd dove in and devoured the bulk of these pies, with most agreeing it was tasty and/or above average. What did I think? To me, they had soft, thick, doughy, Sysco-style crusts, decent tangy sauce, and way too much bland cheese. The meatball and sausage toppings were quite good; the mushroom and pepperoni quite standard.

The Sicilian had a nice fluffy base, and may have been the best of the lot if the cheese on top had been cut in half and cooked longer. The white pie was a mess -- it was simply an over-cheesed pie with no sauce and no nuance and no added touches like ricotta, garlic, or even olive oil.

The six pies came to $96, so the prices were fair. The crust gets a 5, the cheese a 4, the sauce a 6, the toppings a 6. Overall, pretty much standard fare here, given a boost by the nice staff. Fills your belly, but not your soul. The search for Pottstown area destination pie continues. If you know one, leave a comment!

Sometimes, a good pizza place gets a lot of buzz, such as Pizza Brain in Philly's Fishtown section (full review HERE). Other times, there are small out-of-the-way places that enjoy a near cult-like local following, yet remain nearly unknown to outsiders, even to the pizza cognoscenti.

In my youth, we got wonderful square pizzas baked by the chef at a local social hall. His real job was cooking for the members, but he had a side business selling pizzas out the back door of the kitchen to those in the know. The adults called him Chet; we kids referred to him as "Chetty Cheese."

There have been a few such places on my radar for a while. One, I still haven't visited - Clank's Bar in Marcus Hook, PA (leave a comment if you've been there). I also heard a lot of testimony about Felicia's. I pressed one fan to tell me why the pie was special. He mentioned the crust, and my interest grew. I found a menu and a few Yelp or Urbanspoon reviews online, and finally took the time to make the arduous drive on Lancaster Avenue for a pie.

From my office in Malvern, I called and ordered a large pie with sausage (they offer a lot of speciality gourmet pies, but most had too many vegetables for my taste). I departed in a driving rain thunderstorm that slowed me down a lot. When I got to Rt. 30 on the main line, power and the traffic lights were out, slowing me even more.

When my confused GPS finally got me close, there was no sign of 18 W. Lancaster Ave beyond the yogurt shop occupying that space. I remembered reading that Felicia's is hard to find, and a local advised me how to get behind the row of stores; access to Felicia's is only from a rear parking lot.

The power was out in Ardmore, and in Felicia's when I arrived more than a half hour late for my pie. The door was propped open on this steamy evening, and the only light inside came from the wood-fired oven. The counterman greeted me cheerfully; I sympathized with him over the loss of power, and he sympathized with me over my difficult journey from Malvern.

Felicia's is a small space, only a few tables for eat-in diners. My pie came to a few cents over $15, and I left on the journey home to West Chester. I gave it a standard oven reheat on a perforated pan, and we sat down to enjoy it with a nice bottle of old-vine red California Zinfandel.

The crust was on the thin side, but very dense and rather chewy (in a good way). It was not like a classic Trenton, New Haven, or even Neapolitan pie with char marks; the bottom was completely pale, colored only by the corn meal coating (beyond its effect on the texture, corn meal makes a pie slide off the peel into the oven more easily). The crust was thick and puffy at the cornicione, and one edge had a crispy darkness from being closer to the fire.

It had a generous cover of big chunks of real Italian sausage, and also a thick layer of conventional mozzarella on top of conventional red sauce. All told, a pretty handsome pie despite the pale color of the crust.

In terms of flavor, the sauce and cheese were tasty, but unremarkable role players. I would have preferred that the cheese be reduced by a third to a half, but I expect that most customers appreciate that deep layer of cheese (which was cooked enough to give it some color and tooth feel). The sausage was a little bit concentrated in the center of the pie, but that is a small matter. It was spicy and authentically flavored.

Underside of crust

The crust was clearly not a mass-produced Sysco-type product, but nor was it high-end flour. The best analogy I can find is that I got the sense of a bigger, somewhat thicker bar pie. If you read my review of Lee's Tavern in Staten Island (full story and pics HERE), you know that I see bar pie as a composition of conventional ingredients, made special by the skills of the pizzaiolo. And I think that is taking place at Felicia's, too.

This is not gourmet, high-end pie -- it is ordinary ingredients made into something special by the skill of the chef. In my view, ovens rarely make the difference, but a wood-fired oven can help a lot if the chef has sufficient skills. Bravo to Felicia's for the magic taking place in that tiny kitchen.

Destination pizza? Not quite, but surely superb local neighborhood pizza. If I lived near Ardmore, I'd eat a lot of pie from Felicia's. Crust gets an 8, sauce gets a 7, cheese a 6, sausage a 9, and the cooking skill gets a 10. Ambiance and friendly counterman? Another 10. Overall, a very nice 8.5 pie, worth the calories!

"Conquering All Five Boroughs"

Veni, vidi, edi

No matter what trendy or controversial new polls and lists might claim, New York City remains the epicenter for destination pizza in America. If you measured by ratio of great pizzerias to residents, maybe New Haven could challenge. But for sheer volume of truly wonderful pie, New York rules.

I've had many of the legendary pies in Manhattan (click any for my review) -- John's, Arturo's, Artichoke Basille. I've enjoyed pizza from Denino's and Lee's Tavern in Staten Island. I enjoyed the pie at Zero Otto Nove in the Bronx. I had great pie all over Brooklyn: Totonno's, L&B Spumoni Gardens, Ramagi, DiFara, Lenny's, Motorino.

From NewParkPizza.com. Click any pic to enlarge!

What was missing? Queens! With a trip scheduled from my Pennsylvania home to Plainview in Long Island, it prompted me to search for great Queens pizza. Online research pointed to Nick's in Forest Hills, or New Park Pizza in Howard Beach.

New Park got the nod because it is just a minute off the Belt Parkway, and because pizza guru Adam Kubanhad written that he finally appreciated a slice by ordering it "well done." He noted that " The slice will have some serious pizza-burn potential—but you won't care."

Glassed-in picnic tables in the front

I arrived shortly after 1pm on a sunny October Tuesday. There is inside seating, and it was perhaps half full. I was more charmed by the four or five picnic benches enclosed at the front near the takeout windows. I noted one fellow sloppily folding a soft slice (folding is a horrible NY habit) and that reminded me to order mine "well done." Good pizza doesn't require folding!

I ordered two slices there - one sausage, one pepperoni, and a root beer. A plain slice is $2.75, a slice with toppings is $3.50. Total was $8.75 with the soda.

At lunch time, most of the patrons are solo, so the tables serve as community spots. I sat down opposite an elderly gent just finishing; his spot was then taken by a woman who had more restraint than me, having ordered just one slice. She was a lifelong native to the area and confirmed that New Park serves a quality slice, even as the proliferation of dollar slice joints makes it more difficult to find good pie.

I shared my theory that too many mom and pop joints are pushed to use cheap mass-sourced ingredients so they can compete on price with the big chains. So Americans get bigger, cheaper, soft lousy greasy pizza. Happily, many legends like New Park and Tacconelli's live on, and I'll gladly pay the extra for authentic pie.

When I asked for my slices well done, the friendly counterman two of the darkest slices from a pie already well cooked. To my dismay, they were plain slices to which he then added the meat toppings. He then tossed them in a gas oven, and they were ready for me quickly.

The generously applied pepperoni slices were thin, so they were able to get some oven cooking in that short re-heat. Sausage, though, is my go-to pie. Best is real Italian sausage, in big uneven chunks, best exemplified at DeLorenzo's in Robbinsville NJ (formerly Trenton). This was pre-cooked sausage, sliced into fat half-rounds, and piled on in a heap.

The problem here is that these thick carvings of sausage barely got warm on the slice re-heat, and did not meld into the slice at all. Still, I enjoyed the slice, ate the whole thing, but it was an ordering error. It's better to spend more words of this review on the pepperoni slice, which had an identical crust, sauce, and cheese.

The crust was on the thin side, beautifully crisp, and loaded with flavor. As Adam had warned, the cornicione was burnt. I love the entire slice, and I always eat the pizza bones, but here I had to leave a little bit of that carbon behind. My table mate - and most folks - would have been unhappy with a slice burnt that way, but I saw it as a small price to pay for the lovely crisping of the slice and the extra browning of the cheese.

The crust was so remarkable - rigid, crunchy, but not dry or starchy - that I paid little attention to the sauce and cheese. They were excellent role players here. I regret not ordering a plain slice, so that I could better appreciate the cheese.

I like a salty pie and generally add some table salt; here, (like Denino's) adding salt was not required. Kuban explains that the crust is baked on a surface where salt has been applied. I think the salt is in the sauce at Denino's; either way, I feel that the saltiness of both pies helps account for their popularity.

New Park Pizza opened in 1956, and I understand why it's a legend. This is great pizza and an absolute classic "New York slice." It is not quite destination pie with the magic of DiFara or La Porta, but the great texture of the pie and old-school ambiance are special.

Visiting a friend at lunchtime on a Wednesday in the Throgs Neck section of the Bronx, we headed out to Tosca (full review HERE), a lovely full-service Italian restaurant with a great bar, friendly staff, and a brick oven dating back to 1922.

Large pie barely fits in the box! Click any pic to enlage

After lunch, my pal Ken returned to his nearby office, and I prepared to set out for my drive home to Pennsylvania. Aware of my pizza passion, Ken suggested that we cross the street to Tommy's, a hole-in-the-wall old-school pizza shop. Ken endorsed the pie there and suggested that I buy one "cold" to take home and re-heat.

We entered around 2pm. Tommy was behind the counter, and about three locals sat at the counter (there is a small dining room in the rear, also. Ken announced my fondness for great pizza, and each patron volunteered a unanimous endorsement of Tommy's as "best pizza in the Bronx." Now, generally you can't put much stock in the locals' opinions, because most folks love the pizza place that is closest to home. But somehow these Throgs Neckers had more credence.

Tommy and Ken

Tommy had a handful of full-size plain pies cooked, just waiting to be re-heated and sold as slices. This made the perfect take-home pie, because it would not be steaming in the box. The huge pie was just $11, and we were shortly on our way. Tommy was quite congenial, but he won't likely ever see this review because he's "off the grid" regarding the Internet.

Some artistic flourishes in the rear dining room

When I got home, I noticed that this huge pie barely fit into the box. I re-heated four slices for our dinner. I added some pepperoni to two slices, and bit of fresh garlic to the other two. I made sure to leave some surface area mostly unadulterated so that I could sample a slice in a way as close as possible to the re-heat it would have received in Tommy's gas oven. As a final touch, I added fresh basil, post-bake.

This was deja vu pizza. Thin and crisp crust, yet not crackerlike - it had a distinctly delightful al dente airy interior. The sauce and cheese were perfectly complementary, and all the elements were in harmony. This pie was balanced in taste and texture. The deja vu part was once again finding an expertly rendered New York Slice, much as I had found at New Park Pizza (review HERE) in Howard Beach just a day earlier.

Under the hood

Thin and crisp, yet light and chewy

Here's a terrific quote from NYC Food Guy:

Tommy’s likely gets overlooked because of more hyped places in the neighborhood such as Tosca and Patricia’s, but there is always a heavy stream of locals popping in for a slice. Tommy’s is not a life-changing pizza experience, but it tastes the way pizza should, something that’s not as easy to find in New York as it once was.

I'm in complete agreement. My pal Ken knows Tommy well, as did the customers we saw that day. I would too if I lived nearby. Every neighborhood deserves a real pizza joint like this, with a guy like Tommy who eschews the mass-sourced supplies and who makes his own dough. Bravo!

A business meeting in Long Island provided a great opportunity for driving through New York's outer boros. En route to Plainview, I went through Staten Island, Brooklyn, and Queens. I opted to have a few slices in Howard Beach at the legendary (since 1956) New Park Pizza - full review HERE.

Click any pic to enlarge

Returning home to West Chester PA, I stopped by the Throgs Neck section of The Bronx to meet my friend Ken for lunch. For those not familiar with the outer boros, Throgs Neck is a waterfront section on the southeastern corner of the Bronx, overlooking Long Island Sound. Entering this quiet and tidy neighborhood via the Throgs Neck Bridge offers some picturesque views; with all the sailboats, it looks like New England.

Ken noted that there were several good restaurants within walking distance of his office; after a quick discussion, we settled on Tosca Cafe for its Italian heritage, its coal oven, and its pizza.

"Don't judge a book by its cover" but as we walked the quiet boulevard, Tosca's exterior seemed to give great promise of the food and ambiance inside. And right away, the vibe was warm and cozy.

We opted to eat at the handsome bar, but after we ordered, I wandered over by the open kitchen to see the coal oven that dates to 1922. A friendly staffer offered to take my phone closer to the oven for a better close-up, and the pizzaiolo obliged by opening the oven door.

PQ and Ken at the bar

We ordered the small (six slices) "Soppressata Picante" pizza and a platter of grilled vegetables. The vegetables, grilled and then served on a bed of frisee, were superb. The mix usually includes eggplant, but we opted for roasted peppers, portobellos cut on an angle, and lots of zucchini. Zucchini can be be mushy or bland, but this was al dente and bursting with flavor. A wonderful dish.

The coal-oven pizza was the star, of course. The thin crust was rigid; crispy outside, chewy inside. The Italian bread and slivers of foccacia we had as appetizers promised of a tasty crust; this base was pleasant but mildly flavored. It served very well as a palette for the colors and flavors on top - an extremely well balanced mix of sauce with the perfect tang, wonderful cheese, and the smoky soppressata. There was no detectable "picante" until I added some dried red pepper.

All told, a delightful pie if not quite a destination pie. The crust earns an 8; it could be a 10 with perhaps a bit more salt and olive oil. Cheese and sauce, 9.5, the soppressata an 8.5. Let's call this pie a 9. Service and ambiance, easy 10s. I'd visit a LOT if I lived nearby.

As of October 2013, perhaps the hottest celebrity chef in New Orleans is John Besh. Besh operates Restaurant August, Besh Steakhouse, Lüke, La Provence, The American Sector, & Domenica. Lüke is smoking hot; it's tough to get a table, even late at night. Perhaps only Cochon is trending higher at the moment. I did get to Lüke for lunch, and it was excellent. But this being a pizza blog, a visit to Domenica was necessary.

"Cotechino" - click any pic to enlarge

Domenica is at 123 Baronne Street, near but not in the French Quarter, and adjacent to the Roosevelt Hotel. The exterior is stately and the interior is a hip, airy, modern space with high ceilings. There is a full Italian menu, but other than one member of our party who chose risotto, our only non-pizza order was a shared appetizer. We chose the "Affettati Misti" - chef’s selection of assorted salumi, imported cheeses, marinated olives, roasted vegetables, and candied fruits. It was wonderful and served with superb Italian bread.

Three in our party ordered pizza. I had a very difficult time deciding on which personal-size Neapolitan style pizza (thin, puffy, charred crust) to choose, finally opting for the Cotechino, with pork sausage, scallions & tomatoes. Tony customized his white pie with soppressata, and Arthur selected the Smoked Pork pizza with mozzarella, red onion, Anaheim chili & salsa verde. I'd love to go back and try the Pizza Enzo, featuring anchovies, tomatoes, garlic & post-bake mortadella, reviewed HERE by Carey Jones of Slice - Seriouseats.

My dining companions

I had the luxury of eating my chosen pie, but also slice-swapping so that I could try the other two. In general, the Neapolitan crust was well executed - tasty enough to eat alone - and marred (properly) with just a tiny few incinerated edges. My pie had wonderful flavors, but it was the least balanced of the three. In the center, a few slices became soggy and sloppy due to excess moisture from the red sauce; also, the sausage was applied to only one half of the pie. These are minor quibbles, because the pie was satisfactory and a great bargain at $13 in a pricey tourist town.

Affettati misti

Still, I can't say it threatened the best Neapolitan pies I've had, such as at PaneBianco (reviewed HERE) in Phoenix and 2Amy's (reviewed HERE) in Washington DC.

Smoked Pork pie

White pie

The white pie was better than my pizza, owing to a better balance of toppings to crust. This crust was thus crisper and better able to support the tasty cheese and cured meat on top.

Nice char

Best of all, though, was the more-experimental smoked pork pizza. The pie also enjoyed a wonderful balance. The pork was rich and savory without dominating the other flavors, while the Anaheim chilies added just a nip of spice. At home, I've been swimming in tomatillos and hence was skeptical about salsa verde on a pizza, but it was delicious here and applied judiciously. This pie was the clear winner.

Tomatillos, the source for salsa verde

New Orleans, to my experience, is a town where it's tough to get a bad meal. The service, the ambiance, and the food here were all delightful - just enough so that this very good Neapolitan pie qualifies as destination pizza.

The crust gets an 8, the various toppings get a 9.5, service and ambiance a 10. Overall a "9" pizza and surely worth a visit.

I've had plenty of soft puffy Neapolitan pizza, crisp and rigid Trenton and New Haven pie, crunchy yet pliable New York Slices, thin Granma pies, thick Sicilian pie, flaccid Chicago deep-dish "pizza," thin round pizzas in Venice and Tuscany, and spectacular rectangle slices in Rome. But I've never experienced any American "Midwestern" pizza, despite having read some high praise of St. Louis and Detroit style pies.

Click on any pic for full-size resolution

A road trip to Columbus, Ohio (now a bigger city than Cleveland or Cincinnati, I learned) gave me the opportunity to have my very first heart-of-America pizza. Research pointed to several promising new eateries offering up artisanal (mostly Neapolitan) pies, such as Harvest, Sarafino's, Natalie's, Yellow Brick, and Bono. However, once I read THIS review on Slice - Serious Eats, I knew that Rubino's in Bexley would be my top choice.

Growing up on the east coast in the 1960s and 1970s, I never saw a pizza place that wasn't independently owned and operated. Pies were different store to store, but each pizzaiolo made his own dough, chose his own toppings, and offered a unique product in a humble setting.

Pizza making began a decades-long descent into mass-sourced hell, though, in the latter part of the seventies. Several factors were involved - pizza eaters expected pizza to be a cheap meal, but the Italian immigrants (and then their children) crafting those unique pies began to find opportunities to earn more in other pursuits.

In places without a strong Italian presence, the big chains began to sell mass-sourced pizzas that were reasonably tasty, cheap, and filling. Eventually, the chains entered into the traditional east coast pizza markets. In the 1980s, I laughed when I saw a Pizza Hut in Trenton NJ, then cried when it succeeded. Pizza had become a commodity, not a craft product.

The big chains brought a lot of price pressure to the mom-n-pop operators; too many of them turned to mass-sourced suppliers like Sysco, and began churning out fat floppy soft pies of little distinction. If you ever wondered why so many of the storefront pizza joints offer pies distinguished only by creative toppings, it's because they are buying the same low-grade dough, sauce, and cheese from the same mass supplier.

Over the last five-plus years, there has been an overdue movement returning pizza-making to an art form. Most of the new pie is Neapolitan or Neapolitan-inspired (notable exception - the old-school pizza at the newly-opened Gennaro's Tomato Pies in South Philly, reviewed HERE). Still, my grandest pizza experiences were in the long-standing (50 years or more) pizza places where the recipe, the ambiance, and the customer expectations have withstood the onslaught of cheap, mass-sourced pies.

My dining partners were long-time Columbus-area residents, but neither had heard of Rubino's. They were initially skeptical, but heartened by some warm reviews on Urbanspoon and Yelp.

We arrived on a Wednesday night around 7:30. Rubino's, which opened in 1954, has a wonderful neon sign in front of its square brick building. Inside, it was a perfect time warp. There was a strong smoky aroma of charred pizza dough, and the tables, booths, and decor looked to be unchanged for decades.

Dough entering the presser

Stacks of the flattened ovals

The staff were exceptionally friendly, allowing me to take plenty of pics while explaining the pie options. We were warned that the pies have "only a little cheese." (And, it's provolone.) We ordered one sausage pie and one pepperoni pie, which seemed like a lot for three people - but not a problem because my dining partners could take home the leftovers.

An online reviewer advised that one should order the pie "Shenked" which seemed to mean well-done. We mentioned that when ordering, but waitress simply said "Oh, you want it well-done."

Elegant!

Beverage choices included soda and water. The water was served in a curious Rubbermaid container with small Styrofoam cups; my A&W cream soda came in a can with a straw. This was charming and amusing, and - spoiler alert - the only thing about this experience that could be improved. A big paper cup of ice would have been very welcome.

These ovens have a vintage look

While we waited for the pies, we noted a brisk takeout business. I waked over near the counter and saw the staff putting small rounds of dough through a pressing/flattening machine, where they came out as slightly wider ovals. I've never seen any pizza prepared in that fashion.

The sausage pie

Rubino's is famous for the thinness of its crust, and soon we knew why. The "large" pies were modest in diameter - about 14" - and thinner than any I've ever eaten. Thinner than the legendary thin-crust pies at Tacconelli's in Philly (reviewed HERE). So thin, in fact, it probably would suffer and flop in the traditional triangle cut. Each pie was sliced into the "party cut" that yielded little rectangles about 3" by 3" in dimension.

Pepperoni pizza, party cut

Sausage is my go-to pie topping, especially the big uneven chunks of genuine Italian rope sausage used at places like Trenton's DeLorenzo's (reviewed HERE). Sliced, ground, or pellet-style sausage doesn't generally deliver the same payload. Here, however, the sausage was applied in big thin patches. I've never seen anything like it, but the house-made sausage was delightful.

The crust was thin and superbly crunchy, as expected. It had a wonderful char on one pie and a perfect - slightly darker - char on the other. And it had its own excellent flavor to accompany its crispy texture.

The sauce was thick, but not chunky. It was seasoned wonderfully and on the (perfectly for me) salty side. The key here, especially with this wafer-thin crust, is balance so that the weight and moisture of the sauce, cheese, and meat do not swamp the crust. And it was ideal - each bite offered up that wonderful snap of crust, the tangy sauce, the browned cheese serving to affix the sausage or pepperoni toppings.

The pepperoni pie was, for me, the star. It was covered in delightful cups of narrow-gauge thick-cut slices - a lot of meat for such a thin pie but not an overload. We had planned on leftovers, but we easily finished both pies and the complimentary bowl of three firm and savory house-made meatballs swimming in that same delicious sauce.

Rubino's offers pizza, salads, spaghetti, and little else. The meatballs were so good that I would try the pasta on a return visit, but the pizza is surely the star.

While it is nearly pointless to compare this pizza to others, it's tempting to classify it as "bar pie" even though there is no liquor served here. I'd love to eat this pizza side-by-side with the stellar bar pie from Lee's Tavern in Staten Island (reviewed HERE).

What Rubino's pizza shares with the best pies is the craft and dedication of the pizzaioli, the quality of the home-made ingredients, the balance in the ratio of toppings to crust, and the skill and attention to baking. This is landmark, absolute destination pizza.

Our two pies and one soda came to $23.11 with tax, before tip. World-class hand-crafted pizza at chain-store prices.

Crust is a 9.9. Sauce is a 9.5. Cheese is 9.5. Sausage and pepperoni, 10. Ambiance and service, 10. Overall, 9.9 and one of the best pizza experiences you can find.

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