East of Chicago Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: East of Chicago Pizza
Business Category: Regional Chain (about 70 locations, mostly in Ohio)
Website: https://www.eastofchicago.com/
Location: 111 Pike Street in Marietta, OH (on SR 7 about 1 mile west of I-77)
Date of Review Visit: October 2023
What I Ordered: medium (12") Authentic Chicago Style pizza with pepperoni and sausage; Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $22.69 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

 

The Micro:

Crust: East of Chicago Pizza offers several crust styles, but I chose the Authentic Chicago Style pizza.  As advertised, this crust is a true Chicago style crust similar to Uno's or Lou Malnati's.  This crust is thick and crispy but soft enough you can cut it with a fork.  It's a great crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: Also true to the Chicago style, this pizza has a thick layer of sauce.  The sauce has a nice tomatoey taste, but you can also taste and find bits of other things in the sauce.  I don't like finding bits of anything in my sauce, so a small deduction applies.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: The cheese comes in a nice thick layer on top of the crust but below the sauce and toppings. Again, this is true Chicago style.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: I had a hard time finding the toppings amidst all of the sauce, so maybe the toppings are too sparse.  Both toppings taste OK, but I have had fresher-tasting sausage and pepperoni elsewhere.  Score: 8/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: East of Chicago Pizza has an almost perfect appearance for a Chicago style pizza, i.e. it is dominated by the sauce and crust.  Their Marietta location has a nice casual dining atmosphere with a couple of TVs for entertainment.  The service was friendly, helpful, and prompt.  Score: 10/10.

Value: East of Chicago does not make cheap pizza, but I've paid a lot more for similar pizzas elsewhere.  Thus, the value is better than you might think.  Score: 6/10.

Taste: The sauce dominates the taste buds, and not just with tomato taste.  I would have liked to have tasted the toppings more.  Score: 17/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

Chicago style pizzas are typically my favorite kind of pizzas, and East of Chicago delivers what the name promises.  If I still lived in Ohio, I would head to East of Chicago (and not Lake Michigan) regularly.  Score: 70/80.

LaRosa's Pizzeria in Cincinnati, OH: Montgomery Inn Pizza

The Facts:

Pizza: LaRosa's Pizzeria
Business Category: Local Chain (over 60 locations, mostly near Cincinnati, OH)
Website: https://www.larosas.com/
Location: 3291 Heritage Green Drive in Monroe, OH (near SR 63, in the same strip mall as Kroger)
Date of Review Visit: October 2023
What I Ordered: small (8") pan Montgomery Inn Pizza with pulled pork, 20 oz. Cherry Coke to drink
Price: $11.75 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

The Micro:

Crust: LaRosa’s offers three choices for crust: thin, super crust, and pan.  On this visit, I chose my usual choice: the pan crust, the thickest of the three options.  The pan crust has perfect thickness; it has the crunchy outside but chewy inside texture that makes for a good thick crust.  The pizza is well-baked, and the bottom of the crust has that special LaRosa’s taste that I still have not quite figured out.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce on this pizza is Montgomery Inn's standard barbecue sauce.  Although it is a tomato-based barbecue sauce, it is very sweet, sweeter than any tomato sauce I have ever tasted.  I like this sauce on ribs more than I like it on a pizza.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The pizza is well-cheesed, and LaRosa’s uses only high quality provolone cheese, the perfect pizza cheese.  Hence, there is a very small amount of grease.  Perfecto!  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The pulled pork is very tender and has a fresh pork flavor.  The pork comes in large chunks, and therefore it tends to be concentrated on some parts of the pizza and scarce on others.  Score: 9/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The concentrations of the pork give the pizza an unbalanced appearance.  The Monroe location has no dining room, although many of LaRosa's locations have nice casual dining rooms.  I have always enjoyed the service at LaRosa's.  Score: 8/10.

Value: The price is somewhat low given the quality of pizza and dining experience you get.  LaRosa’s stacks up far better than its casual dining competitors in this category.  Score: 8/10.

Taste: The sauce makes the overall taste of this pizza too sweet, a statement I have rarely made in this pizza blog.  Eating this pizza is more like eating cheese covered pork on bread than eating a traditional pizza.  Score: 15/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

LaRosa's and Montgomery Inn are both Cincinnati legends, and I make sure to eat at both every time I go to Cincinnati.  But I prefer them separately rather than this combination, and I prefer LaRosa's double sausage pizza to this pizza.  Score: 68/80.

Cavoni's Pizza and Grinders in Battle Creek, MI

The Facts:

Pizza: Cavoni's Pizza and Grinders
Business Category: single store
Website: https://www.cavonispizzagrinders.com/
Location: 5424 Beckley Road Suite D (in Minges Creek Plaza near Big Lots)
Date of Review Visit: October 2023
What I Ordered: small (8") pizza with sausage and pepperoni; fountain drink
Price: $12.92 (includes drink and tax)

 

The Micro:

Crust: Cavoni's Pizza has a fairly thick crust that looks hand-made.  It has a nice crispy texture, and it does a good job of supporting the rest of the pizza.  I like this crust.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: The sauce is way too spicy; I tasted more spices than tomatoes.  It appears in average quantity.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: This pizza comes with a nice thick layer of cheese.  The cheese does not produce much grease.  It also does not have much flavor until you sprinkle on some parmesan.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The pepperoni is unremarkable.  The sausage has a little spice but not much other flavor.  For veteran pizza eaters, I will remark that this sausage tastes like Domino's sausage from 25 years ago, which I liked more than the sausage Domino's uses today.  That's not exactly a high endorsement, but it's something.  Both toppings appear in sufficient quantity.  Score: 6/10.

 

The Macro:

Appearance/Atmosphere/Service: The thick crust dominates the appearance, and it looks kind of odd sitting on a contoured plate.  Cavoni's has a small casual dining room with no TVs or anything else for entertainment.  The service is counter service, and it was quick and friendly on my visit.  Score: 7/10.

Value: The price is low for decent quality pizza, and hence the value is quite high.  Score: 10/10.

Taste: The spiciness of the tomato sauce and sausage dominate the tongue, so the overall taste is unimpressive in spite of this pizza's other positive qualities.  Score: 13/20.

 

The Final Judgment:

I like Cavoni's, but they need to upgrade their sauce and toppings to become elite.  Score: 60/80.