Capone’s Pizza Bar in Branford, CT

Basic Information:

Pizza: Capone’s Pizza Bar

Number of Locations: 2, both near Branford, CT

Location Reviewed: 2400 Foxon Road in North Branford, CT

Website: https://www.caponespizzabar80.com/

Date of Review Visit: August 2019

What I Ordered: small (12”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Coke to drink

Price: $13.83 (includes tax and drink but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Capone’s calls their pizza New Haven-style pizza, which apparently means a thin crispy crust with skimpy toppings.  The style and texture of the crust are fine, but my pizza was overbaked with a hard, blackened crust.  This crust is a good idea that needs better execution.  Score: 7/10.

Sauce: The sauce does not appear in a lot of quantity, but it has a nice tomatoey taste.  Score: 7/10.

Cheese: Capone’s uses a tasty cheese blend that includes some yellow cheese: the orange you see on the pizza in the picture below is cheese, not grease.  The cheese appears in good quantity too, and it is the strength of this pizza.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The toppings are applied rather sparsely, and both the sausage and the pepperoni have a hint of spiciness.  The toppings that exist do the job as best they can, but the pizza could use more of them.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: This pizza could be fantastic, but the lack of toppings and the burnt crust really keep this score down.  Score: 7.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza’s appearance is odd due to the orange cheese.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining area has a nice casual dining atmosphere with Al Capone-style decorations and big TV’s tuned to sports shows.  They also have a bar side to the dining room that the Baptist I am did not utilize.

Customer Service: The waitress did not pay me a lot of attention even though I was the only customer in the dining side of the restaurant.

Monetary Value: The quality is pretty high, and the price is not crazy given that you are in Connecticut.  Also, this is a 12” pizza, not an 8” or 10” pizza most places call a small.  Overall, the value is pretty high.

The Final Judgment:

I like Capone’s, but it could be so much better.  Score: 80/100.

Bertucci's Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Bertucci’s Brick Oven Pizza and Pasta

Number of Locations: 23 across 7 states, mostly in the northeast; based in Boston, MA

Location Reviewed: 280 School Street in Mansfield, MA (near I-495 exit 12)

Website: https://www.bertuccis.com/

Date of Review Visit: July 2019

What I Ordered: small (10”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Coke to drink

Price: $18.48 (includes tax and drink but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust at Bertucci’s is crispy but not as thin as you would expect for a brick oven pizza.  The crust has a nice texture with some cornmeal baked into the crust.  My pizza was baked the perfect amount.  What’s not to like?  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza features a Pizzeria Uno-style sauce with juicy chunks of tomatoes.  The sauce appears in high quantity, and it has a fantastic tomatoey taste.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza is slightly undercheesed, and what cheese does exist is a rather bland mozzarella.  On the bright side, it does not produce much grease.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: Bertucci’s calls their chunky sausage a sweet Italian sausage, and their characterization is accurate even though it has only a slight sweet taste.  The pepperoni is slightly spicy, but the spiciness builds on your taste palette as you eat more of the pizza.  Both toppings appear in adequate but only adequate quantity.  Score: 8/10.

Overall Taste: The spiciness of the pepperoni clashes a little with the sweetness of the sausage.  The sauce really saves the day.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza is asymmetrical in shape, and the large chunks of sausage dominate the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Bertucci’s has a nice casual dining area with comfortable seats.

Customer Service: The service was prompt and friendly.

Monetary Value: Even for a 10” brick oven pizza in New England, this pizza is very overpriced relative to what you put in your mouth.

The Final Judgment:

Bertucci’s makes a nice pizza, but in the brick oven category I like Brixx more.  Score: 82/100.

Wicked Good Pizza in Rhode Island

Basic Information:

Pizza: Wicked Good Pizza

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 12 Nooseneck Hill Rd. in West Greenwich, RI (just north of I-95 exit 6)

Website: https://www.wickedgoodpizzari.com/

Date of Review Visit: July 2019

What I Ordered: small (8”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni; 20 oz. Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $9.99 (includes tax and drink)

Photos:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Wicked Good Pizza makes thick crust pizza, but the texture is odd for a thick crust pizza: it is completely chewy with no crispiness at all.  My pizza was baked exactly the right amount, but the texture really sets this crust back.  Score: 5/10.

Sauce: The sauce appears in slightly above average quantity and has a nice tomatoey taste.  I like it.  Score: 9/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese.  The blend seems to be a rather flavorless 100% mozzarella, and it leaves slightly more grease than I would prefer.  Score: 7/10.

Toppings: Both toppings appear in thin slices, and neither has a lot of flavor.  They do appear in high quantity.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The best tasting thing on this pizza is the sauce, which means that the overall taste is fairly unremarkable.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza has a well-balanced appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining area is a set of stools with a counter, which made me happy that I ordered carryout.

Customer Service: The service was counter service, and it was to-the-point and quick.

Monetary Value: The pizza quality is not great, but the price is pretty low.  Therefore, the value is above average.

The Final Judgment:

With nothing exceedingly wicked or good, Wicked Good Pizza is a solid pizza option but no more.  Score: 76/100.

Chester's Pizzeria in Hamilton, OH

Basic Information:

Pizza: Chester’s Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 2929 Dixie Highway in Hamilton, OH (at the corner of SR 4 and Bobmeyer Rd.)

Website: https://www.facebook.com/p/Chesters-Pizza-100063781013445/

Date of Review Visit: June 2019

What I Ordered: small (8”) pizza with sausage and pepperoni

Price: $8 (includes tax but not drink)

Photos:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust on Chester’s pizza is not the thickest crust I have eaten, but I still classify it as a thick crust.  The crust has great texture: gold and crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside.  The blackened cheese on the edge provides fantastic flavor.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza has plenty of sauce.  The sauce has a nice thick texture and a great tomatoey taste.  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese.  The cheese tastes like some nice fresh provolone, but it leaves slightly more grease than I would prefer.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: Both toppings appear in satisfactory quantity, but neither the pepperoni nor the sausage has a lot of flavor.  Score: 6/10.

Overall Taste: The cheese and sauce combine to give this pizza a fabulously rich taste.  No matter what toppings you order, you will get a flavorful pizza.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza looks like yummy pizza with plenty of cheese and sauce.

Dining Atmosphere: (not applicable: Chester's is carryout only.)

Customer Service: The service was friendly and prompt.

Monetary Value: Rarely do you see pizza this good for this cheap.  Only the fact that this is an 8” pizza as opposed to a 10” pizza prevents a perfect score.

The Final Judgment:

I was born in Hamilton, OH, and my birth-town’s signature pizza comes through with flying colors.  Miss Chester’s at your own peril.  Score: 93/100.

Gerry's Pizza Italian Restaurant in Rockford, IL

Basic Information:

Pizza: Gerry’s Pizza Italian Restaurant

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 7403 Argus Dr. in Rockford, IL (beside Red Roof Inn)

Website: https://www.gerryspizza.net/

Date of Review Visit: May 2019

What I Ordered: 10” thick crust pizza with pepperoni and sausage

Price: $11.47 (includes tax but not drink or tip)

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Gerry’s Pizza offers thick and thin crust options.  As will come as no surprise to any regular reader of this blog, I chose thick.  Unlike many thick crust pizzas, this crust is thick under the entire pizza, not just around the edges.  The crust has a lot of body, but it is a little too crispy and bulky in places.  Score: 8/10.

Sauce: This pizza has plenty of sauce, but the sauce has a strong garlic taste that overpowers any tomato taste and pretty much every other taste on this pizza.  I’m not a fan of garlic, and therefore I am not a fan of this sauce.  Score: 4/10.

Cheese: The cheese appears in excellent quantity, and it is a stringy mozzarella that does not leave a lot of grease.  I like it.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The sausage and pepperoni both appear in high quantity, but neither one has a lot of independent flavor.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The taste of garlic really overpowers everything else.  That’s too bad because there are some other good things going on here.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: The pizza looks like a nice thick crust pizza with the odd but not unheard-of square cut pattern.  

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered carry-out, but Gerry’s has a large dining area with a single TV tuned to game shows on my visit.

Customer Service: The service was friendly and fine.

Monetary Value: The price is fairly high considering all I ordered was a 10” pizza with no drink.  Better value can be found elsewhere.

The Final Judgment:

Gerry’s is not the best pizza in Chicagoland, but it’s not bad.  I prefer Lou Malnati’s or Uno’s to Gerry’s.  Score: 77/100.

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria (Pizza Review #100)

Basic Information:

Pizza: Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 81, mostly near Chicago, IL

Location Reviewed: 1050 E. Higgins Rd. in Elk Grove Village, IL

Website: https://www.loumalnatis.com/

Date of Review Visit: May 2019

What I Ordered: Personal Malnati Chicago Classic Pizza (8” deep dish sausage pizza); Coke to drink

Price: $11.99 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photos:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: True to its name, the crust on the pizza at Lou Malnati’s is an inch thick Chicago-style butter crust baked in a pan.  They do also offer a thin crust option, but I have no idea why.  I have not yet seen anyone do this style of crust better than Malnati’s does.  Score: 10/10.

Sauce: This pizza features a thick layer of sauce spread over the top.  The sauce has some chunks of tomato, which I don’t like.  However, the most important thing to me about any tomato sauce is that it tastes like tomatoes, and on that metric this sauce passes with flying colors.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: The cheese seems to be 100% mozzarella, and it appears in high quantity even though I had to look for it under the thick layer of sauce.  Score: 9/10.

Toppings: The sausage is an entire layer, and as you would expect on a Chicago-style pizza it appears in nice fresh chunks.  This is my favorite kind of pizza sausage.  Score: 10/10.

Overall Taste: Everything comes together really well.  Maybe this pizza has a little too much sauce with a few too many chunks of tomatoes.  Score: 9.5/10.

Pizza Appearance: The sauce and crust dominate the appearance, as usual for a true Chicago-style pizza.

Dining Atmosphere: The Elk Grove Village location has a dark dining room that is well-decorated with antique light chandeliers and antique-looking chairs.

Customer Service: The service was friendly and excellent, but the pizza took longer to make than it should have considering they weren’t that busy when I came here at 3pm on a Wednesday.

Monetary Value: The price is reasonable for pizza of this quality.  Therefore, while this is not cheap pizza, it does offer good value.

The Final Judgment:

A Chicago classic, Lou Malnati’s ranks right up with Uno’s and LaRosa’s as my favorite pizzas available.  Score: 93/100.

Paesano's Italian Restaurant in Seneca, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Paesano’s Italian Restaurant

Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 1727 Blue Ridge Blvd. in Seneca, SC (on SR 28 just north of US 123)

Website: https://www.paesanositalian.com/

Date of Review Visit: April 2019

What I Ordered: Large (14”) sausage pizza; Dr. Pepper to drink

Price: $17.71 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust on Paesano’s pizza has a crispy texture with medium thickness.  Our pizza had some blackened areas especially underneath, so it may have been slightly overbaked.  Some corn meal adds some nice texture.  Overall, this crust is not quite perfect, but I like it.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This pizza is somewhat undersauced, and the sauce is unevenly distributed across the pizza.  Also, the sauce is slightly overspiced, and it comes with a few chunks of tomatoes, which I don’t prefer.  I’ve certainly had better sauce.  Score: 5/10.

Cheese: The cheese seems to be 100% mozzarella, and it appears in decent quantity.  It also has the rather bland 100% mozzarella taste.  Score: 6/10.

Toppings: This pizza features plenty of sausage of the ground-up variety.  The sausage has very few spices, and it tastes more like a fresh pork sausage.  The sausage also has quite a bit of salt.  I didn’t notice the saltiness much at first, but it accumulated on my taste palette the more I ate.  Score: 7/10.

Overall Taste: The saltiness of the sausage really builds-up on the taste buds, and it keeps this score down.  The crust and cheese are the strengths of the taste.  Score: 7/10.

Pizza Appearance: The large amount of ground-up sausage dominates the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The dimly lit dining room has some nice Italian-like music playing through the speakers.  The metal silverware, real-cloth napkins, and before-dinner garlic knots are all nice touches.

Customer Service: The service was friendly and fine.

Monetary Value: The quality is OK, and the price is reasonable for a dine-in 14” one-topping pizza.  Therefore, the value is above average.

The Final Judgment:

Open only for dinner, Paesano’s offers a touch of class in rural Seneca, and it is a rather popular dinner option because it offers far more than pizza.  The food itself is satisfactory but not much more.  Score: 78/100.