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Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Gallo's Pizza & Subs, Greece

Gallo Pizza & Subs on Urbanspoon
Gallo's is a takeoput and delivery pizza place on Stone Road in Greece. It's in a small strip plaza that it shares with Frear's Garden Center, a very popular spot this time of year.
I went at lunchtime, and arrived just in time for a couple of pepperoni slices that had just come out of the oven.
The crust on these was medium thick, with a brown underside that showed that it had been cooked on a screen. The crust was fairly soft, with just a slight crispness on the bottom surface. (At this point I must mention that the more pizzas I try, the more I think that cooking a pizza on a screen is not a good thing. It just doesn't give the crust the same outer crispness that you get from cooking it directly on the floor of the oven. In physics terms, I suppose it involves the difference between convective and conductive heat.)
The edges had a bit of crunch to them and were thick enough to lend a bit more bready flavor, though this appeared to be a fairly fast-rising dough that was closer in flavor to white bread than to a slow-rising loaf.
The cheese, which seemed to be 100% mozzarella, was not browned at all, just melted, and very stringy, which was not surprising since the pizza had just come out of the oven. The sauce had a mild tomato/herb flavor. It was of a fairly thin consistency, and formed a water-based barrier between the crust and the fat-based cheese, so that the cheese would easily slip off the crust. The pepperoni was wide and thin, and added a healthy amount of grease on top.
Gallo's offers a few "gourmet" pizzas, including "FPC's Signature Pizza," which comes topped with spinach, artichoke hearts, alfredo sauce, roasted garlic, nutmeg (!) and quattro formaggi (four cheeses). There's also an "Old World Style" pizza with a "crispy crust, topped with fresh herbs & spices in a traditional red sauce and grated parmesan." Might be worth a try sometime.
Besides pizza, Gallo's has cold and hot subs, wings, salads, fried sides, and a few dinners, including chicken parm, several varieties of pasta, and a beer-battered fish fry.
Gallo's has been open since 1990, and appears to be a true neighborhood pizza place. Its sign and menu advertise it as being run by "John and Alfia," who I assume were the middle-aged couple behind the counter on my visit, making it a genuine mom 'n' pop joint in the best sense of the term. They turn out a solid, traditional Rochester-style pizza, and I hope the folks in the area continue to support them. I give Gallo's a B-.

2 comments:

  1. I love pizza. Born in Italy until now i have been disappointed with pizza in the U.S.A .
    I like it when it is kept simple with excellent ingredients.
    Instead very often there is too much of everything and the ingredients are of poor quality.
    I will follow your advises
    Thank You
    Tommaso

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  2. Wow! I never thought I'd have a native Italian following my advice about pizza. I've never been to Italy, unfortunately, but I'll do the best I can. I do agree with the "too much of everything" comment, so I think our tastes are probably similar, but I'd love to hear your opinions about what you like or don't like about local pizzerias or pizza in general. Thank you for your comments.

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