Grappa

 In late April, I had lunch with a friend at Grappa, which opened in 2015 at the Hilton Garden Inn in College Town. Although I have previously reviewed Grappa, that was in 2015, so a revisit was long overdue. 

In my 2015 post, I wrote that Grappa offered six pizzas on the menu; this time there were five. Alas, I did not list all six varieties, so I'm not sure to what extent the menu has changed since then. One change I am sure of is that pepperoni pizza is no longer on the menu. That's too bad, as I rather liked the one I tried back then.

But they do still have Margherita pizza, and as I did in 2015, I ordered one this time around as well. There were some similarities to the 2015 version, but also some significant differences. 

Then as now, the crust was quite thin. Both were browned underneath. The 2026 pie had pronounced screen marks underneath, however, which were absent in 2015. I'm a little leery of screen marks, because I generally prefer the entire underside of the crust to come into direct contact with the hot oven deck, but itself I don't consider that a sine qua non of good pizza.

 Interestingly enough, the crust on this pizza was noticeably crisper than on the 2015 pie. I described that crust as "straddl[ing] the line between crisp and pliable," whereas this crust was crisp to the point of brittleness. Make of that what you will.

Moving on to the toppings, just as in 2015, this Margherita was somewhat unusual in employing both tomato sauce and fresh sliced tomatoes.  And based on what I wrote back then, I'd say the tomatoes were more prominent on this pizza. The sauce was more heavily applied, and judging from the 2015 photo, the tomato slices were thicker, as well as more visually appealing, with a vibrant red hue; the 2015 tomatoes were paler and yellow-white in the center.

The sauce on both pies was smooth, and I honestly couldn't say if or to what extent they tasted the same. In 2015, I wrote that the sauce was "not heavily seasoned," and had a slightly sweet flavor.  That roughly describes the 2025 version, but my friend and I agreed that it tasted like canned sauce. I don't mean that it tasted metallic, and I certainly don't have an issue with using canned sauce. Plenty--I daresay most--pizzerias use canned sauce; I use it myself. But there was a certain flatness to this sauce that I tend to associate with canned sauce. It was OK; it just didn't wow me.

That brings us to the cheese. I was pleased to see the pie dotted with slices of fresh mozzarella, rather than the blanket of processed mozzarella that Grappa used in 2015.

Again, nothing wrong with processed mozzarella, or with a uniform layer of cheese. But if you're calling it a Margherita, I think you should try to stick to the stylistic parameters, and one of those, to my mind, is the use of fresh mozzarella. A Margherita pizza is not simply a sauce and cheese pizza with basil added. So kudos on that score. The cheese was also nicely done, with just a touch of browning, and a smooth, not rubbery texture.

Before I wrap this up, I'll mention that we also shared a plate of garlic Parmesan fries, which were very good. On my list of foods I love, french fries are not far below pizza, and these were crisp, potatoey, and hard to resist.

So as with myself, there have been some changes over the years at Grappa, some for the better. I've stopped handing out grades, for a combination of reasons, but I will say that I would take this pizza over the one I got in 2015 (which I gave a B). The crust was crisper and I liked the use of fresh mozzarella. So while I might prefer the 2015 version of myself, I'll take the 2026 version of Grappa's Margherita pizza.

Grappa 

30 Celebration Drive
Rochester, NY 14620

585.445.5770

Lunch
Monday - Friday 
11:00 AM - 2:00 PM 

Happy Hour
Monday - Saturday 
4:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Dinner
Monday - Sunday: 
5:00 PM - 9:00 PM