Little Venice Pizzeria has been a South Wedge mainstay for many years. They used to have a hole-in-the-wall place doing takeout and delivery only. A few years ago they moved into a bigger space across the street, with a few tables, and, I think, a bigger menu.I got a couple of lunchtime slices. The crust was thin, and just a little browned underneath. There was no charring at all, though there was a bit of oven soot.
The texture was a little crunchy, and they were kind of greasy. My fingertips were left a little oily from holding them. That crunch, then, I'd say was more from the oil - kind of a fried crunch - than from any high oven temperature.
Aside from that crunch, there wasn't a lot going on here texturally. I didn't get the sense that the dough had risen all that much, as there wasn't really any interior breadiness to speak of.
They were fairly cheesy slices. The cheese was on the thick side, was lightly bro
wned, and gave the pizza a certain tangy flavor.The sauce, on the other hand, seemed almost nonexistent. There was really very little of it, although what there was had a slightly herbal flavor. The wide and thin slices of pepperoni tasted fine, and were applied pretty generously.
Turning to the menu, Little Venice offers a handful of specialty pizzas, including "Doc's Special," which is a white pizza with garlic, mozzarella, oregano, spinach, tomato, artichoke, ricotta and parmesan. They also do calzones, strombolis, wings, hot and cold subs, burgers, and several dinner entrees, including homemade cheese manicotti, chicken, veal, or eggplant parm, and lasagna.
There's not a whole lot of seating, but there are a few tables inside and out. It's an informal place, and the service was friendly. On my visit, just listening to the banter between the two guys working there - one of whom I
took to be the proprietor - was pretty entertaining.As for the pizza, it had no major flaws, but it loses points in a number of areas, particularly the soot, the greasy feel, the pale underside, and the general lack of breadiness of the crust. A longer rise and higher baking temperature would go a long way toward improving this pizza, in my opinion. (And scrape out that oven!)
None of these were major problems on their own, and overall the pizza tasted OK. Personally, I'd like a smidgen less cheese and a tad more sauce, but that's mostly a matter of personal preference, and I won't really fault them for that. But the soot and pale underside are harder to overlook. Bottom line, I'd say this was pretty much average pizza, and taking off some points for that unattractive bottom, I'll give it a C-.
Little Venice Pizzeria, 742 South Ave. 473-6710. Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 11:30 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 12:30 a.m., Sun. 1 p.m. - 11:30 p.m. Free delivery.
That's too bad! Little Venice is one of my favorites, locally anyway. I'm ok with lack of sauce, but I must admit I've gotten some bad pies with some of the oven soot on it :-/
ReplyDeleteI used to get it fairly often when I lived in the Wedge. I don't remember there being a soot problem. Maybe they just need to tighten the quality control a little.
ReplyDeletePizza Blogs need to be run with the utmost subjectivity. Unfortunatley, this site does not offer anything but non-sense babble that supports only the sick and twisted inner workings of the writer's mind. I've been going to little venice for several years now and i have nothing but good things to say about it. They have, by far, the best slices in the city and as far as soot goes, i have not noticed any blemishes on (or under) the pizza. I also believe that they have the best subs and wings of any pizzeria in the city and surrounding county. Next time you want to start a pizza blog try doing it with a little class.
ReplyDelete"Pizza Blogs need to be run with the utmost subjectivity."
ReplyDeleteI think maybe you mean "objectivity." Actually I'm not really sure what you mean.
Regardless, as I've said before, I can only base my reviews on my own experience. Look at the photo. It was sooty, what can I say? I didn't put it there. I may be sick and twisted but I didn't make that up.
Thanks for your comments. Feel free to start your own blog while you're at it.
Eating here seemed like an enjoyment coming from what others suggested. Unfortunately it was a dig in the dirt down out worst place ever. My fries were cold and burnt my fish was as hard as a rock in case if you could not tell it was a fish dinner. Growing in New York State, home of the Fish Fry, I did not know there was a difference in ordering a fish fry on Friday or Saturday. Thank You little horrible venice I will never eat a fish fry again. On top of that the owner refues to refund a portion of my money back to me.
ReplyDeleteWorst sub ever. I ordered it too be delivered. It smelt wonderful, so I did not check it and its' layered slices of meat. I literally could take the meat and put in on half the sub roll, too make a nice portioned 1/2 sub. The wings looked like I might be able too rant and rave too given them at least 4 out of 5 stars: The wings where still slightly pink and cold!. I feel so bad for whom ever put this meal together, either something is wrong in the management or they have been given bad instructions on building a meat ball sub. Something seems a little off with the business, as I got a separate call after the order was placed, with a well I am packing this up for delivery. Then after having let the person taking the order know it was a apartment, I got can you come down here and get this. One would think I had ordered during rush hour and I even asked if they where still able too make deliver, in-case they stopped delivery early, too help the cooks start the cleaning or preparation for the next day. I am so disappointed I could cry. Its' as if customers whom try too make sure life goes smoothly for those involved in a business who delivers, just get such an awful meal and service your not going too want too order from them again.
ReplyDelete