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Monday, June 7, 2010

Barbeque & Pizza Too - Extra Large Pie


Last August, I did a post about a slice that I had picked up at Barbeque & Pizza Too in Henrietta. It was surprisingly good for a screen-baked pizza, and I gave it a B+.
I'm the first to recognize the limitations of basing a review on one visit, and especially on just one slice, so I decided to go back recently and get an entire pie.
BBQ&P2 offers a large 16-inch pizza, and, for three dollars more, an extra large 20-inch pie. The menu specifies that the 20-incher is a "N.Y. Style Thin Crust," and since the 16-inch pie is not given the same designation, that leads me to if they aren't made with the same amount of dough, just stretched out to different dimensions. 
Now if that's true, then three dollars might seem like a lot to pay just for another four inches in diameter, but if my math is correct, going from a 16" to a 20" diameter means an increase in surface area from about 201 to 314 square inches, so you're talking considerably more sauce and cheese. Looked at that way, the extra three bucks seems reasonable.
At any rate, I wanted to try the thin crust, so I ordered the 20 inch pie. It was extremely thin, about 3/16 of an inch, on average. Given that thinness, it came as little surprise that the crust had no real interior to speak of, except closer to the edge where it got just a bit thicker.
As my slice had been last year, the underside here was screen baked. The underside was also well browned - certainly more browned than charred - and I detected a very faint aroma of cooking oil. It wasn't soggy or greasy, but it was not crisp either, and between that, the thinness, and the 10" radius, these slices were floppy. So floppy, in fact, that they could not only be folded, but rolled up like a crepe.
The sauce and cheese were applied modestly, but in good balance with the thin crust. And the components were well integrated - the cheese didn't come off in one piece when I took a bite, or go sliding around on a bed of sauce. The overall flavor was pretty good, with some lactic tang from the cheese, and enough sauce to add some lubrication as well as a little flavor.
In my prior post on BBQ&P2, I ran down the other basics about the place - the menu, seating, etc., so I won't bother to repeat myself here. And of course you can peruse their menu on their website.
I will mention, though, that along with this pizza I picked up one of their fire-roasted veggie salads. As you might imagine, I'm generally not real big on salads, but this was really tasty, with a pronounced roasted flavor that was well complemented by the balsamic marinade. That sweet/smoky combo enhanced the flavor of the vegetables and gave the salad much more character than you get with the average side salad.
Getting back to the pizza, it wasn't world class, and I'd honestly have to say I wasn't quiiite as impressed this time around as when I got that one slice last time. I like thin crusts, but I like a crust with some backbone and substance to it too, and on a return visit I might opt for the 16-inch large with a "regular" crust. But if you like really thin pizza, you should like this one. One of the things I like about thin crusts is that, assuming the pizza tastes good, it's easy to eat several slices before you get full. With some thick crusts, one or two slices and I'm done.This was very definitely good "slurp down" pizza. Quick and easy down the gullet, and pretty tasty too. The crust was only so-so, but overall this pizza was still good enough to rate a B from me.
Barbeque & Pizza Too, 3105 E. Henrietta Rd. 334-3300
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. 12:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

2 comments:

  1. This place is called "Nick's Barbeque and Pizzeria" now. Not sure if its the same owners or not.

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