Monday, August 17, 2009

Little Louie's, Spencerport

Little Louie's Pizzeria on Urbanspoon
Little Louie's in on North Union St. (Rt. 259), just off Rt. 104 in Spencerport. It's in a small strip plaza that it shares with a dance studio and a fireplace dealer.
The way the pizza is served here is a little unusual. You can get a "1/4 moon" or "1/2 moon" slice, a 9" "personal" size pizza, a 13" medium, a 13" x 18" large, or a "full sheet," which measures 18" x 26".
So a large here is what you might call a half sheet. (Some places might call this Sicilian but Louie's doesn't make that claim, so I won't get into whether this is "authentic" Sicilian pizza.)
Ordinarily I stay away from sheet pizza. Some pizzerias that make perfectly good round thin- or medium-crust pies turn out sheet pizzas with a crust that's thick and greasy, with a fried-crunchy texture. But on this occasion, this wasn't just research, it was also the family dinner, so I made an exception.
I'm not sure it mattered, because when I arrived to pick it up, I got a look at some round pies that, size and shape aside, looked pretty similar to what I got. What I got was a fairly thick pizza with a thick layer of mozzarella cheese, on the "medium rare" side.
The underside was rather pale, and not exactly crisp, but not soft either. "Firm" is the best way I can describe it. Only along the edges was there just a bit of crunch.
Taking a bite, I found that the crust had a texture somewhat reminiscent of focaccia - lighter and softer than I expected, not dense and chewy, and without the large air (actually CO2) holes that you find in some crusts. The dough had something of a white-bread flavor to it - not a lot of complexity here.
The sauce was more tomatoey than herbal, with a bright, tangy flavor. The thick layer of mozzarella was done just to the point of melting, with no browning at all. The wide and thin slices of pepperoni were OK, nothing remarkable.
Little Louie's offers the usual assortment of toppings, and a handful of specialty pizzas. The pizza is also available with red, "pink," or white (garlic) sauce. They also have wings - which were quite good, by the way, big, meaty and crisp, with a good "Buffalo" flavor even in the mild version - hot and cold subs, grilled sandwiches, sides, and "Big Louie plates." There's a little seating, but it's mostly a takeout and delivery place.
Getting back to the pizza, this one is kind of a tough call. This was better than a lot of sheet pizzas I've had, since it wasn't all greasy on the bottom, nor was it overly soft; the crust had a bit of backbone to it. And though the toppings were a little heavy - the cheese in particular - that was appropriate, given the thick crust, and overall the components were in pretty good balance with each other. Still, I would've liked it to have been a little darker and crisper underneath, with a bit of browning on top, though I'm not sure if a higher oven temperature or simply a longer baking time would be the better way to achieve that.
But that's not a fundamental flaw in the pizza, just my preference. Next time I'd ask them to make it more "well done."
And there probably will be a next time. This was a pretty enjoyable pizza overall, and I'd like to check out their slices or round pies sometime. I'll give it a C+.
Little Louie's Pizzeria, 1835 N. Union St., Spencerport. 349-3393
Mon. - Sat. 10:30 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., Sun. noon - 9:00 p.m.

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