Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Dom's Revisited (Twice)

Last February, I did a post about Dom's, which had just opened at the site of the former Paradiso Pizza on Lyell Avenue. The slices I got then were OK, but because Dom's had only been open a short time, I thought it would be unfair to give them a letter grade, so I just did a report and left it at that.
A few weeks ago, I returned to see how things had progressed since then.
Or not.
At my 12:15 lunchtime stop, the staff of two seemed harried and overworked, though the place wasn't crowded; there was only one other customer in the place, who was waiting to pick up a pie. Maybe some phone orders had come in.
After standing at the counter for a couple of minutes, I was asked for my order. Only two cheese slices were available, and they didn't look particularly appetizing, but there I was, so I ordered one slice.
My slice was popped back into the oven, where it stayed for several minutes. Fortunately I like my pizza on the toasty side, because it emerged rather well-done. The crust was very thin, with a crackly bottom and a rather brittle texture. The edge was considerably thicker than the rest of the slice, and wide - a good third of the slice had no sauce or cheese on it at all.
Thick, wide edge with no sauce or cheese
The dough was actually pretty good, with good flavor and some breadiness on the inside. It gave a hint of the potential that was present here. The sauce and cheese were unremarkable, but at least okay where they were present. The sauce was thick (not surprising, since a lot of the water had probably evaporated), with a slightly sweet, herb-tinged flavor.
thick tomato sauce with slight sweetness and herbs. The cheese was all right but a little overly browned.
I was prepared to do a review based on that visit, but I had the feeling that I may have just caught them at a bad time, so I decided to go back a couple of weeks later.
Again, there was not a wide selection, just cheese or pepperoni, but they looked a lot better, so I ordered two this time.
And they were better. They were thin again, but with a narrower edge and a broader covering of sauce and cheese.The bottom was dark brown and toasty, with a bit of surface crackling, but not burned or dried out. Again, the edge had a noticeable breadiness, and this time the slices were pliable enough to be folded.
These slices were a little light on the sauce, though that helped the mozzarella - which was just a bit browned this time - adhere better to the crust. The pizza was a little oily on top, from the cheese, I suppose, but not on the underside. I wouldn't quite call these New York style slices, but they weren't far off.
A mixed bag here, then. The slice I had on the first of these two visits, I'd give maybe a C-minus, though that may be a bit generous, for an essentially good crust, even if the execution left something to be desired. Second time around, a B sounds about right.
But consistency is a criterion in itself. And though two visits is a pretty small sample size, based on these visits (and my first visit back in February), consistency seems to be an issue here. I'm hoping that my most recent visit is the most indicative of what you can expect from Dom's, and I'll be back to investigate further, but for now I'm going to peg the pizza here at a C.
Dom's Pizzeria, 1074 Lyell Ave., Rochester 14606
Hours:  Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.
Phone:  647-6777

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