Michelli's Pizzeria in West Melbourne, FL

Basic Information:

Pizza: Michelli's Pizzeria
Number of Locations: 1

Location Reviewed: 145 Palm Bay Road NE in West Melbourne, FL (beside Publix)
Website: http://www.michellispizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: January 2021
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with sausage and pepperoni, 2 16.9 ounce Dr. Pepper's to drink
Price: $15.27 (includes drinks and tax)

Photos:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: Michelli's Pizzeria makes thin crust New York style pizza.  The crust is nice and crispy on the outside but a little soggy and droopy underneath.  While not terrible, I have had plenty of better crusts than this one.  Score: 6/10.

Sauce: The sauce appears in decent quantity and has a nice tomatoey taste.  What's not to like?  Score: 10/10.

Cheese: This pizza does not have a lot of cheese, but it does produce a decent amount of grease.  Therefore, this cheese is not the best.  Score: 5/10.

Toppings: The sausage is excellent: it comes in nice big slices with just a little spiciness.  The pepperoni is more mundane.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10.

Overall Taste: The sauce and toppings work together very well, and the crust and cheese do not get in the way too much.  I like the overall taste of this pizza.  Score: 9/10.

Pizza Appearance: As usual for a thin crust pizza, the toppings dominate this pizza's appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The dining room was closed due to Covid-19 on my visit, but it looked like nothing more than a couple of tables with chairs.

Customer Service: The service was OK but not particularly helpful at decoding the somewhat complicated menu.

Monetary Value: This pizza has fairly high quality, but the price is high, even when you factor in the two drinks.  Therefore, the value is below average.

The Final Judgment:

I was amazed by how many New York-style pizzas there are on Florida's east coast these days.  Michelli's is not the worst of the lot, but I like nearby N.Y. Pizza Spot more.  Score: 75/100.

N.Y. Pizza Spot in West Melbourne, FL

Basic Information:

Pizza: N.Y. Pizza Spot
Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 2231 W. New Haven Ave. in West Melbourne, FL

Website: http://nypizzaspot.com/
Date of Review Visit: January 2021
What I Ordered: 2 slices of Sicilian crust pizza with sausage and pepperoni; Mr. Pibb to drink
Price: $11.56 (includes drink and tax but not tip)

Photo:

 

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Detailed Review:

Crust: N.Y. Pizza Spot offers 2 crust styles: hand-tossed and Sicilian.  I chose the latter, which is a true Sicilian thick crust.  The pizza looks blackened and very overbaked, but in fact mine was only slightly overbaked.  The crust has a nice crispy-on-the-outside chewy-on-the-inside texture.  I like this crust a lot even though it may be a little too crispy.  Score: 9/10.

Sauce: This pizza has a nice amount of tomato sauce, but the sauce is slightly overspiced.  Score: 8/10.

Cheese: This pizza features plenty of cheese, and it seems to be 100% mozzarella.  The cheese also does not produce much grease, and therefore it is excellent.  Score: 10/10.

Toppings: The thin slices of sausage are a little spicy but not overly spicy.  The same is true with the pepperoni.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 10/10.

Overall Taste: Everything works together pretty well.  Maybe there is too much spiciness when combining the sauce and the toppings.  Also, the blackened crust is a little too crispy.  Score: 8/10.

Pizza Appearance: The blackened crust somewhat tarnishes the pizza's appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: The restaurant has a small dining area with some TV's for entertainment and pictures of New York City on the walls.

Customer Service: The service was prompt and attentive on my visit.

Monetary Value: This pizza is high quality at a reasonable price, and therefore it offers above average value even though the price is not cheap.

The Final Judgment:

I like Sicilian pizza, and N.Y. Pizza Spot makes a pretty good one.  I'm not sure how New York this pizza is, but I like it regardless.  Score: 88/100.