Trusello's, Lewiston

As I mentioned the other day on my Facebook page, I recently took a day trip to Fort Niagara, to see a reenactment of the British assault on the fort in 1769. It was very well done, and if you're at all interested in such things, I urge you to check out their schedule of events, which is going to be quite busy what with the current bicentennial of the War of 1812.
In advance of that trip, I also mentioned that I was hoping to check out at least one pizza place in Lewiston.
Actually, what I meant was a pizza place in Youngstown, which is the closest village to Fort Niagara, but I guess I got my geography mixed up. After a reader recommended Trusello's in Youngstown, though, I decided to put it on my agenda.
We did stop there for dinner, after we left Fort Niagara. Trusello's is a little place, right on Center St., in the heart of Lewiston, that concentrates on pizza, wings and subs, with a few more substantial dishes available. (Apparently Trusello's is a Niagara Falls bakery that bought out what had been Vincenzo's pizzeria in Lewiston, as explained here.)
One thing you can't help noticing about Trusello's is their cartoon-like drawing suggesting that you'd better not say anything bad about them. I wish I'd asked where that came from, but it's got an old-time look that I really like.
I was tempted by the stuffed Hungarian peppers listed on the specials board. This is apparently a signature dish at Trusello's, with a blend of cheeses, sopressata and spices. But I wanted to save room for pizza so I restrained myself.

Alas, I probably didn't choose my pizza well. Trusello's menu had several very interesting sounding specialty pizzas available, including a white pizza topped with the aforementioned Hungarian stuffed peppers, and they also have a "Grandpa's" tomato pie.

In a moment of indecision, however (and partly with the idea of saving time and money, since the slices were cheap and ready to go), I got one each of the slices that they had available - one cheese, one pepperoni, and one veggie. Nothing wrong with that, necessarily, but in hindsight I should've gotten a fresh pie, and probably should've asked what was most popular, or what they'd recommend for a newcomer. Had I done that, I think I could've gotten a better idea of what makes Trusello's unique.

But I didn't. So I ended up with three roughly similar slices, which weren't particularly distinctive.
They weren't bad, but they weren't great either. The medium-thick crust was bready but a bit brittle (the veggie slice broke completely in half when I picked it up), though I'm not sure if that's how they came out of the oven, or if they'd just been sitting in the warming tray for a little too long. The undersides on the three slices varied somewhat, from a pale gold to darkish brown. All had some corn meal underneath, and were reasonably crisp.

The components were pretty well balanced, with a slightly sweet tomato sauce, added in good proportion to the crust, and a fair amount of cheese. The cheese was prominent on all three slices, though I wouldn't call them overly cheesy. Without any extra toppings, the cheese slice in particular allowed the flavor of the cheese to come through, and from its tanginess I'm guessing that there was Provolone on there as well as mozzarella.
In keeping with my usual practice, I won't rate this out-of-town pizzeria, but I did like it, enough to go back, at least. Again, my only regret is that I didn't try one of their signature pizzas, made to order. But after three slices and half of my wife's chicken wing order, I was more than satisfied. (I should also mention that this visit showed that the closer you get to Buffalo, the better the wings get. There are good wings to be had in Rochester, to be sure, but in or near Buffalo, even an ordinary, hole-in-the-wall joint like this turns out better wings than most Rochester places.)

It's only a matter of time before I swing out Niagara way again, for events at the fort, to see the falls, or for some other reason, and I will mentally file Trusello's away for a future visit. If you're headed that way, give it a try yourself, and let me know what you think.

Trusello's Pizzeria, 742 Center St., Lewiston

(716) 405-7031

Tue. noon - 8 p.m., Wed. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. noon - 7 p.m.