Georgio's

After a five-year run, the Pizza Stop location in Pittsford Plaza closed last year, which was sad news for local fans of New York style pizza. (The original location on State Street in downtown Rochester remains open, as do locations in Greece and Pultneyville.)

So I was happy to see that the location was purchased and recently reopened as Georgio's Pizza, which "specialize[s] in authentic New York-style pizza, wings, and fried favorites." I recently gave it a try.

I got a cheese slice and a Margherita slice. Both were appropriately thin, and looked pretty good, until I looked underneath.

Out of habit, I almost immediately turn the pizza over to get a look at the underside. Uniform brown? Pale? Spotted? Any screen marks? That tells me something about how the pizza was prepared and baked.

This was a tale of two pies. The Margherita was pale with a little spotted browning, and the cheese slice was blackened to the point of charcoal.

That was unfortunate as the toppings weren't bad. The cheese slice was reminiscent of The Pizza Stop, although the cheese had passed the melting point and was beginning to congeal. Just a bit. The Margherita toppings were quite nice, with a tomatoey-sweet sauce, melted fresh mozzarella and wilted fresh basil. I generally like fresh ingredients but I could've done without the tomato slices. Not necessary and throws off the balance.

Back to the crust. Despite how dark it was, the cheese slice wasn't particularly crisp or crackly underneath, it was just overdone. And the Margherita was underdone, despite the slight browning.

Whatever defects these had, I think were a matter of execution, and by saying that I don't mean to suggest I'm an expert or that I could have done better. But clearly something was amiss.

As for the Margherita, I do know that fresh mozzarella and fresh basil generally needed to be added near the end of the bake, so they don't get overdone. Maybe these were added too soon, so the pizza was pulled out too soon. The cheese slice? Harder to explain. Just a hypothesis, but too long at too low a temperature? 

To be clear, this was not bad pizza. It just needed a bit of tweaking. And Georgio's may still be working things out. So not a complaint, just telling you about these two slices on this one occasion. I'll keep Georgio's on my go-to list.

Georgio's Pizzeria

3349 Monroe Ave #18, Rochester, NY 14618
Phone: (585) 851-0770
georgiospizzaroc.com

Mon. - Wed. 11 am - 8 pm 

Thu. - Sat. 11 am - 9 pm 

Sun.    12–8 pm