Jreck Fusion, Greece - CLOSED

NOTE: This establishment has closed.
There are certain establishments that I've known about for a long time, but just never got to. Such is Jreck Subs.
It's a name I've seen around, and although I get the occasional sub here and there, I just never paid much attention to Jreck. I knew it was a chain, of some sort, but I'd never heard anything about it, and it just never occurred to me to go there.
But I recently heard of a new place, Jreck Fusion, in Greece. This got my attention because they offer pizza.
I've since looked at their company history online. Jreck is a regional chain centered around Syracuse. Jreck Fusion is a relatively recent addition to the chain, offering subs, pizza, and "froyo," which is short for frozen yogurt.
I picked up a cheese slice and a pepperoni slice the other day. They looked good, at least initially. Thery were thin, with a layer of melted, slightly browned cheese.
As I examined them further, however, two things struck me. First, the slices were not just foldable, there were rollable. There was no underlying crispness or backbone. And the cheese slice in particular was rather pale underneath.
Now I should note that I declined to have these slices rewarmed. Maybe that would've helped. But I was also told that they had just come out of the oven, and I'm sure that's true, because they were steaming hot. Maybe I should have had them rewarmed, just to crisp them up. I think some pizzerias may intentionally take out pies a little early, to use for slices, to allow them to be reheated without getting overdone.
Understandable, but if that's what they do, they should let the customer know.
The slices were very thin, and the undersides were crisscrossed by screen marks. I like a thin crust, but I still like an interior to the crust, and these didn't have much of an interior to speak of. They were almost like thick flour tortillas.

That's unfortunate, because the toppings were pretty good. The cheese was well melted, a bit browned, and stretchy. (The fact that the cheese was a little browned, though, makes me think that if I'd had the slice rewarmed, any added crispness imparted to the crust might've come at the expense of the cheese, which might've gotten overcooked.) The sauce was tomatoey, with a nice balance of sweetness, acidity and salt, and the pepperoni was crisp.
Jreck Fusion offers a wide variety of specialty pizza (the menu is available on their Facebook page), including chicken pesto, Philly steak, and Country Sweet. Pizzas come in 14" and 18" sizes.
Their are also two dozen subs on offer, both hot and cold, as well as calzones, a few sides, a couple salads, and a "Fusion Plate," their version of Rochester's signature dish.
And there's the aforementioned "froyo," which interestingly, is priced by the ounce - 48 cents an ounce, to be exact, though there's a $0.25/oz. special Monday through Thursday from 2 - 4 p.m. (Not a criticism, but I always figured people get frozen yogurt because it's supposed to be better for you than ice cream, mostly because it's lower in fat. So I find it a little humorous to see that the available toppings include Oreo's, Reese's Pieces, and cookie dough.)
So a mixed bag here, from my perspective. The pizza tasted good, and there was a lot to like. But I found it wanting in the crust department. If Jreck Fusion can get the crust more crisp underneath, and maybe give it a little more rising time, I think they'll have some seriously good pizza. I'm hopeful in that regard and I'll be interested to see how things go.

Jreck Fusion
2846 W. Ridge Rd.

(585) 471-8570

Sun. - Wed. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Thu. 11 a.m. - midnight, Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m.

T.C. Hooligans Giveaway

Thanks to the generosity of the folks at TC Hooligans in Greece, I've got a $25 gift card to give away to a lucky reader.
My daughter and I shared a couple of pizzas at Hooligans recently, and I came away impressed. Their menu prominently features wood-fired pizza, and they do a very nice job.
I got my usual Margherita, which Hooligans tops with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella, shredded basil, olive oil and garlic, while my daughter got her usual meat lovers (mozzarella and red sauce, bacon, pepperoni, ham and sausage). (Check out their other pizza offerings here.)

We sat at the bar, where we were able to watch our pizzas being prepared. The (gas-assisted) oven was blazing away with a hardwood fire, registering about 700 degrees F.

The results were good indeed. The crusts on both our pies were thin, crisp but pliable, with some charring underneath and along the edges. The toppings were tasty and well baked. All in all, they made effective use of their oven, to achieve pizza that was evenly charred, neither pale nor burned, and crisp but still bready.

Hooligans' menu is extensive, and includes, beyond pizza, wings, "hand pressed" burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads, and a range of sides and specialties, including "pickles and peppers" (fried pickle chips and banana pepper rings, served with cajun ranch dipping sauce) and mac 'n' cheese. My daughter doesn't yet have quite the tolerance for heat that I do, so we enjoyed a side of fries, which were nice and crisp.

As I said, we sat at the bar, right in front of the pizza oven. There's a separate dining area, but at dinner time on this evening, I had no problem sitting at the bar with my daughter. I don't know how things are later in the night, but the atmosphere was lively but civilized.

I'd go back, maybe to check out some of the other items on the menu. Those pickles and peppers sound very intriguing. But I'd also like to explore the pizza menu a little further. Based on this visit, they're doing a good job.

Why not see for yourself, on the house, to the tune of $25? To enter to win, simply email me at RocPizzaGuy@gmail.com, before noon next Friday, May 1. I will announce the winner here, on Facebook and Twitter, and directly by email. I will not use your email address for any other purposes. If you win, I will need your full name and mailing address.

The $25 gift card is good toward anything on TC Hooligans' menu, so you need not use it on pizza, but I highly recommend that you do. My thanks again to TC Hooligans for their generosity!

TC Hooligans, 134 Greece Ridge Center Drive (at Greece Ridge Mall)

585-225-7180

Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sun. noon - 2 a.m.

Bella Pasta Review and $25 Gift Card Giveaway

I learned a few weeks ago that Romeo's on Ridgeway Avenue, a wood-fired place that I've reviewed before, had closed, and that Bella Pasta had moved into its space.
Bella Pasta is not new; it opened in March 2009 on West Ridge Road in Greece, and its roots go back to the fondly remembered Portico restaurant on St. Paul Boulevard in Rochester. I reviewed Bella Pasta's pizza in December 2009, giving it "a solid B+."
This move does give Bella Pasta more room, with a large dining room on one side and additional seating adjacent to the spacious bar on the other. More importantly from my perspective, Bella Pasta is now using the wood-fired oven for its pizza.
I had lunch there recently with two friends, and was able to sample three pies. I was not in a carnivorous mood that day, so I went with a "veggie" pie. I opted out of the mushrooms, which left artichokes, onions, peppers, and broccoli, along with garlic sauce and mozzarella. One of my companions got a "meat lovers," with meatballs, pepperoni, and sausage, and the other got a pepperoni pie.
The crusts were dotted underneath with dark brown spots, indicating a quick bake at a high, but not super-high temperature. So these weren't quite charred, in the way you'd get from an extremely hot oven (which not everybody likes), but neither were they burnt or pale, two faults I've run across at some wood-fired places. The crusts were pliable, with a chewy but not tough texture and a pleasantly bready flavor.
I found my veggie pizza quite flavorful and satisfying, thanks to the tasty mix of vegetables, which were fresh tasting and not overcooked. Where a red sauce might've overwhelmed the flavor of the toppings, the garlic sauce on this pie complimented the toppings nicely.
At the other end of the spectrum, the meat lovers' pie offered plenty of meaty flavor. While the toppings were certainly not skimpy, the pie was - wisely - not overloaded either. Like most wood-fired pizza, Bella Pasta's pies are thin-crusted, and the toppings here were added in good proportion to the crust - enough for flavor, but not so much as to throw the pizza out of balance.
I also tried a slice of my friend's pepperoni pie, which was likewise tasty, with a scattering of crisp pepperoni slices and a light dusting of grated Parmesan. Both it and the meat lovers' pie were also topped with a tomatoey red sauce, and the mozzarella on all three pizzas was nicely melted, with a good balance of stringy and chewy.

So yes, these were three good pizzas. But don't just take my word for it, see for yourself, on the house. I've got one $25 gift card, compliments of Bella Pasta, to give away to one lucky reader.

In the past, I've had readers enter by leaving a comment on the blog, but there have been some problems with winners not realizing that they'd won. So to ensure that the winner gets notified, I'm going to try something a little different this time. To enter, email me at RocPizzaGuy@gmail.com. Leaving a comment here will NOT get you entered; you must email me. One entry per person, please. The deadline to enter is next Friday, January 30, at noon. I'll pick a winner at random shortly after that, and email the winner directly. If you win, I'll need your full name and mailing address, but I will not publish those or use them for any other purpose but to mail you your gift card.

Thanks to Bella Pasta for this generous donation. Whether you win or not, do check them out sometime, for pizza or otherwise. And when you do, please be sure to mention the Rochester NY Pizza Blog. Now send me those emails!

Friday Feature: Pontillo's, Penfield

In the midst of a recent snowstorm, I stopped by Pontillo's in Penfield. It was open, despite the weather, and I got a cheese slice to go.
I was happy with my slice, which was on the thick side of medium, with a medium-brown underside that was dry to the touch, with a light dusting of cornmeal visible. There were no screen marks, and it had a fresh-bread aroma.
The interior of the dough was nicely breadlike as well: a little chewy, but not dry or tough to chew. It was well complemented by the melted mozzarella and thin layer of tomato sauce, as well as some distinct notes of oregano. All in all, a very satisfying slice of pizza for a cold winter's day.
Afterwards, I spoke on the phone with Jon, the manager at the Penfield Pontillo's. I asked him about the perception - which I've gotten from readers, in addition to my own experience - that some Pontillo's are better than, or at least different from others. He agreed that Pontillo's runs a pretty decentralized organization, but said that from his perspective, that means he can tailor his pizza to his customers. I can see his point, and I guess that's both a weakness and a strength. The more you tailor your pizza to suit local tastes, the less the brand name means. But it seems to be working for this link in the loosely-knit Pontillo's chain, as there's been a Pontillo's in Penfield for three decades, and fifteen years in this particular location. And I have to say again, this was good pizza. So if this is tailored to local tastes, then the locals must know their pizza.
Jon himself has been there for about as long as the pizzeria itself, so that continuity doesn't hurt either. Nor does the fact that the dough is made fresh daily, onsite. This is not stuff that's been shipped in from some central bakery in Indiana.
Pontillo's does more than just pizza, but they keep it pretty simple:  pizza, wings, subs. And a single order of wings here still means a dozen, not ten, as at so many other places these days. For pizza, I'd go with their regular crust, since they do it so well, but they also offer a thin crust option.
If you live in the area, or are out that way, there are plenty of pizzerias to pick from, but Pontillo's is a good one. But why not see for yourself? I have two $25 gift cards to give away to two lucky readers. I'll do a separate blog post for the giveaway - here's the link - but whether you enter or not, Pontillo's in Penfield is well worth a stop.

Pontillo's, 1811 Penfield Rd., Penfield

(585) 385-4848
Store Hours:
Mon-Thu 10AM-11PM
Fri-Sat 10AM-12AM
Sunday 12PM-10PM

Romeo's, Greece: Pepperoni Pie

Two years ago (wow - has it been that long?) I did a post on Romeo's in Greece, where I tried a Margherita pizza. The crust wasn't quite as crisp as I would've liked from a wood-fired oven, but it was good enough to rate a B.
I've been back since, with friends, one of whom got a pepperoni pizza. I opted for pasta, but I got to sample the pizza.
This had a surprisingly thick crust for a wood-fired pizza, although that was partly owing to my companion who ordered it. She could've opted for a thinner crust, but went with a "regular" thick crust, which is probably more in line with what people are used to on Rochester's West side, which is a bastion of traditional Italian-American food.
In a nutshell, the flavor was good, but, for my taste, the crust was a little soft. There was a generous amount of sauce, which had a very tomatoey, slightly herbal flavor. It was topped by well-melted, slightly gooey mozzarella, and tasty, crisp slices of pepperoni.
So far, so good. But the crust - to go with Romeo's golf-themed menu terminology, a holdover from its former incarnation as Bogey's Woodfired Grill - was not quite up to par. It tasted all right, but it was rather soft underneath. Now that might be fine with some people, but it was also slightly gummy where the dough met the sauce, and to me that's a no-no. It wasn't terribly gummy, mind you, but a little.
This was a well-balanced pizza, with crust, sauce and cheese in good proportion to each other, but I think this was a case were less might've been more. If they had simply scaled back on everything, the crust might've been crisper, without that gumminess that results when liquid from the sauce strts to dissolve the dough before it gets a chance to cook.
Still, that was the only real flaw here, it was, as I said, attributable in part to what was ordered, and otherwise the pizza was pretty good. I don't see any reason to depart from my previous "B" grade for Romeo's.
Romeo’s Restaurant & Bistro, 2500 Ridgeway Ave.
Tel. 342-9340
Mon.-Wed. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Thu. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. (Bar opens at noon on Sundays, stays open every night till ?)

Pizzeria 5, Ridgeway Ave.

Pizza Guy Note, 9/14/12: Pizzeria 5 is now closed. The space is now home to the second location of The Pizza Stop.
About a year ago, I did a post about Chili pizzeria Good Guys' second location on Ridgeway Avenue in Greece. I thought it was pretty good (as is the pizza from the Chili location) and gave it a B.
For whatever reason, though, Good Guys on Ridgeway has closed. Maybe it's a cursed spot for a pizzeria - Good Guys replaced another pizzeria, Constantino's - but yet another pizzeria, Pizzeria 5 (not sure what that means), is going to give it a shot.
I stopped by last week and got a couple of slices, one cheese, one Buffalo chicken. They were pretty thin, except for the very thick cornicione along the edge, which was quite puffy on the Buffalo chicken slice.
The undersides differed between the two slices. The cheese slice (bottom two photos) was dusted with cornmeal, and the underside was dry and what I can best describe as bumpy. The Buffalo chicken slice (second photo from top) was rather greasy underneath, which is not unusual for Buffalo chicken pizza, and which is one reason why I'm not a huge fan of this style. The cheese slice in particular was somewhat bready on the inside, and both showed signs of having risen nicely.
Though floppy, both slices tasted pretty good. The sauce on the cheese slice had a slightly herbal flavor, and the mozzarella was moderately applied, while the Buffalo chicken slice was topped with a few chunks of breaded chicken, a thin layer of oily, medium-hot sauce, and oily melted cheese. It was noticeably heavier than the cheese slice, not just from the chicken, I think, but because of the oil as well.
Pizzeria 5 offers 8 meat toppings, 9 vegetable toppings, and 6 "other" toppings (pineapple, garlic, black or green olives, anchovies, and extra cheese), plus 7 specialty pizzas, none of them too exotic or unusual. They also do wings, strombolis, burgers, plates, sides, and some sweets, including cinnamon buns, cookies, and ice cream by the pint.
This was, as I said, pretty good pizza. I did like the cheese slice better, and even taking into account my natural predilection toward "regular" pizza over Buffalo chicken pizza, it just seemed to be a better-made pizza, with a better crust and far less oil. But both crusts showed some good signs of a slow rise and internal breadiness, and both tasted decent enough. They were a little floppy, but still enjoyable, and I'd peg them at a B-minus.
Pizzeria 5, 2532 Ridgeway Ave. 225-5552
Mon. 11 a.m. - midnight, Tue. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sun. 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Carmine's Express Nikki's New York Style

Having just returned from New York City, where I sampled as many local pizza parlors' wares as I could, I thought it might be a good time to look at some local versions of New York style pizza.
We'll start wtih Carmine's Express on Elmgrove Road, which offers "Nikki's New York Style," which is described in the menu as "thin crust - red sauce with a hint of garlic flavor and mozzarella cheese." For some reason, it only comes in one size, 14 inches in diameter.
The crust on this pie was very thin indeed; the crust and cheese together measured about a quarter inch thick. The interior showed little evidence of the dough having risen, though the light brown underside was marked here and there by some concave pockets suggesting that some bubbles had formed on the bottom. The crust was a bit oily to the touch, with an overall oily sheen on top and bottom. As is true of genuine New York pizza, these slices folded easily. They lacked crispness, though, and were floppy and soft. After the pie had cooled a bit, the thin lip along the edge turned rather hard, which is a sure sign of oil.

The pizza was topped by a uniform layer of orangey, well-browned cheese. There was very little sauce in between the crust and cheese. Some dried herbs were visible atop the cheese, and the aroma was a blend of french-fry-like cooking oil, garlic (powder, perhaps) and herbs.
In its own, slightly weird way, this pizza was sort of good. Sort of. Well, almost. It was kind of tasty, at least, between the cheese, herbs, and flavor-conveying oil. But New York style? I think not. A good New York pizza achieves an almost magical balance between crispness and pliability, with crust, sauce and cheese likewise staying in Zen-like balance with each other. This pizza was more like a soft, thin layer of dough topped with cheese, a smidgen of sauce and some dried herbs. Again, not the worst combination, but not great either, and certainly not New York style pizza. I won't deduct points for failing to be true to style, but on its own merits, I have to give it negatives for the soft, slightly greasy crust as well as the relative lack of sauce. I think a C- feels about right on this one. Carmine's Express, 3872 Lyell Rd. at Elmgrove, Gates, 14606, 247-7575 Also at 400 Ridge Road W. at North Ave., Greece, 14626, 225-5111 Gates hours: Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. Greece hours: Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - midnight

Good Guys, Ridgeway Ave.

Last month, Constantino's, a pizzeria on Ridgeway Avenue that I reported on a year ago, closed for good, which is too bad, because they made some decent pizza.
The good news is that the space is now home to the second location of Good Guys. I did a blog post on their original location in Chili in May 2009, giving it a B- for pretty good thin crust pizza. I was curious to see how the new Good Guys stacked up, so I swung by recently to check things out.
My cheese slice was quite thin. The crust itself was maybe 1/8 inch thick. The non-greasy underside was a bit floury on the surface, and nearly but not quite charred. It was a little crisp, and easily foldable. The thin lip at the edge had pretty good flavor and was nice and crisp.
There was not much sauce on this slice. It leaned more toward the cheesy side of things, with a uniform layer of melted, slightly tangy mozzarella. I could taste the sauce, which had a tomatoey flavor with a touch of herbs to it, but it stayed mostly in the background. The herbal flavor of this slice was accentuated by a fairly generous sprinking of dried herbs, which were visible across the surface.
Good Guys offers 20 pizza toppings, and five specialty pizzas, mostly geared toward carnivores. They also do calzones, wings, wraps, quesadillas, salads and sides.
This was not quite the same as the slice I got at the Chili location of Good Guys, but for the most part I liked it. For me, the crust could've been just a tad thicker, or at least had more of an interior, with some interior air holes. And a little more sauce would've helped balance out the crust and cheese. Still, it was a reasonably good thin slice of pizza, with pretty good flavor, and I'll give it a B.
Good Guys Pizza, 2532 Ridgeway Ave. 225-8788
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. noon - 9 p.m.

Pino's Deli, W. Ridge Rd.

Sometimes you find pizza in places where you're not necessarily expecting it. Take Pino's Deli, for instance. This small storefront in a strip plaza on W. Ridge Rd., looks like a basic Italian deli, but if you look closely at the sign, there's a pizza in the lower right hand corner. So, on a recent trip to Rowe Photo & Video next door, I stopped in, and sure enough, they had some slices.
The crust on this one was very soft, and somewhat oily underneath. It had an unusual browning pattern on the underside, with an array of brown spots that I couldn't make sense of.
The crust had a soft texture, even along the edge, which is often the one spot that gets crisp. The top of the crust was rather gummy, although that might've been because it had been out of the oven for a while. Sometimes the water in the sauce soaks in to the top layer of crust and turns it gummy. The crust was relatively thick, but still quite pliable.
There was a pronounced garlicky aroma to the slice, and the sauce, which was moderately applied, had a distinctly herbal flavor. The cheese was just a bit browned, with a few bare spots, and congealed but a bit gooey. The pepperoni was slightly crisp along the edges.
Given the softness of the crust, I almost had to fold this rather wide slice, with the result that the toppings all sort of glopped together in the middle, making this something like a pizza wrap. I was thankful for the aluminum foil, to catch any sauce that squeezed out along the sides when I took a bite.
Besides slices, Pino’s offers full pizzas. Aside from a separate listing for Buffalo chicken pizza, I couldn’t find any pizza topping list on their menu, but I assume they have all the basics, particularly since it’s a deli. The menu on their website has what seems to be an incomplete list.
And because it is primarily a deli, pizza is not the main focus at Pino’s. Most of the menu is taken up by sandwiches, which come in a wide array of hot and cold varieties. They also offer wings, pasta dinners, sides, “garbage platters,” salads, and a Friday fish fry. Freshly baked breads and some Italian grocery items are also available.
I liked what I saw at Pino’s, and I’d go back for a sandwich, a loaf of bread, or just to look around at some of their other stuff. But this wasn’t great pizza. Too soft and too messy, and rather oily underneath to boot. For the pizza - not the deli - I can only give it a C-.
Pino’s Deli, 2590 W. Ridge Rd. 227-6194
Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Romeo's, Ridgeway Ave.

Although there are now quite a few places around Rochester making pizzas in wood-fired ovens, almost none of them are on the west side of town. They’re all either downtown or on the east side. In part, I think that’s simply a reflection of the broader culinary landscape, which finds more upscale or trendy places in the city or eastern suburbs, and more traditional fare on the west side.
At this point, the only place doing wood-fired pizza west of the Genesee is Romeo’s on Ridgeway Avenue. This location in a Greece shopping plaza was formerly the home of Bogey’s Wood Fired Grill. When Bogey’s closed in 2006, Romeo’s, an Italian restaurant with a long history, moved in from its previous location in Irondequoit, and inherited Bogey’s wood-burning oven.
I recently picked up a Margherita pizza from Romeo’s. Measuring ten inches across, it had a crust that was thin in the middle and a little thicker toward the edge. The underside was dry, not oily, with a little surface flour and some moderate charring. It was a bit soft in texture, leading me to wonder if there was perhaps some oil in the dough. The edge was formed into a soft, chewy lip, and the interior of the dough had some small air holes and bready flavor.
This was another Margherita made with sauce rather than fresh or simply crushed tomatoes, and it was indeed saucy. With less cheese than a typical American pizza, a Margherita probably calls for a somewhat lighter hand with the sauce. On the plus side, the sauce had a very straightforward, no-nonsense tomatoey flavor that didn’t get in the way of the cheese and basil.
The cheese consisted of five islands of thick-sliced, fresh mozzarella, which had melted quite nicely, with some shredded parmesan that added a little bit of cheesy tang. The moderately applied, shredded basil was a bit dried out, and contributed rather less flavor than on some Margheritas I’ve had. I also picked up a hint of garlic (I neglected to ask for fresh garlic on this one), suggestive of garlic powder, either in the sauce or lightly dusted over the pizza.
Romeo’s offers nine pizzas, nothing too exotic. Some of them have retained their Bogey’s-era golft-themed names (again, cutesy menu names are one of my restaurant pet peeves - I’d feel slightly ridiculous asking for an “Out of Bounds” pizza. Plus an “Eagle” pizza sounds like something that could get you.in trouble with the Fish and Wildlife Service). Or you can create your own from Romeo’s modest list of twelve toppings.
The rest of the menu is divided between Italian standbys (a friend of mine give the tripe here a thumb’s up - I’ll take his word for it) and basic American fare, including hot and cold sandwiches, burgers and other grilled items, and N.Y. strip steak.
If you choose to eat on the premises, you’ll find a dining area on the right, and a bar area with additional seating on the left. The atmosphere is casual throughout, and despite the strip plaza location, Romeo’s has a “neighborhood” kind of feel.
Most of the wood-fired pizza that I’ve tried around here has fallen into the “good but not great” category, and this was no exception. In theory, the high temperature of the wood fire should produce a fast-cooking crust that’s slightly but evenly charred, crisp yet chewy, perhaps with some subtle smoky overtones. Although a handful of local places (Tony D’s and Veneto come to mind) manage to pull that off, the majority, in my experience, do not. Instead, they tend to produce pizza that’s either crackerlike - nothing but crunch - or disappointingly soft.
This pizza fell into the latter category. It was tasty, and I enjoyed it, but it was virtually indistinguishable from pizza cooked in a conventional oven at relatively low temperatures. If this had been my introduction to wood-fired pizza, I’d have been left wondering what’s so special about it.
Again, though, I don’t mean to say that I didn’t like this pizza. The flavors were good, and on the whole it was well balanced, if a bit heavy on the sauce. I’d have liked to see better advantage taken of that wood-fired oven, but I still liked this enough to give it a B.
Romeo’s Restaurant & Bistro, 2500 Ridgeway Ave. 342-9340
Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m. (Bar stays open later.)

Bella Pasta Cafe, Greece

Bella Pasta Café opened last March in a small plaza on West Ridge Road, across from Ridgemont Plaza in Greece. It’s a family affair, owned and operated by two brothers, Randy and Danny Connor, with other relatives pitching in or employed there.
I ate dinner at Bella Pasta on a recent Sunday evening with my family. As we approached the entrance, all I could see on the inside was a walk-up counter near the front door, and I began to wonder if this was a less formal restaurant than I had expected - one of those places where you order at the counter and they bring the food to your table on a tray.
Thankfully, it wasn’t. It’s just that Bella Pasta has kind of a split personality, with a takeout counter on one side, separated by a partition from the dining area on the other.
The food offerings reflect the same dichotomy, with takeout staples like wings and subs sharing the menu with more substantial, mostly Italian dishes, many of which were mainstays at the old Portico Restaurant on St. Paul Street, where Danny Connor used to head-chef.
But we know what I was here for: the pizza. I ordered a medium (I always like to order at least a medium for review purposes), and though Bella Pasta bills itself as the “home of the 4 free toppings,” I went with straight pepperoni.
The thin to medium crust was fairly pale - “golden brown,” shall we say - underneath, but surprisingly crisp. It seemed a bit shiny with oil, but was not particularly greasy to the touch or in flavor. It was dotted with a number of small puncture holes, which I assume is done to keep the dough from bubbling up or blistering as it rises or bakes. The crust was not especially bready, but it had a pleasant, freshly-baked flavor, and was enjoyable. The outer edge was crunchy and formed into a thin, narrow lip.
This was a verrry cheesy pizza. It was topped by a thick layer of melted, stringy, slightly browned mozzarella. The cheese might’ve overwhelmed the whole thing had it not been balanced out by the sauce, which was also pretty generously applied. Like nearly everything else on the menu, the sauce is made on the premises, and it had a pronounced tomatoey flavor, neither very herbal nor too sweet. The pepperoni was of the cup-and-char variety, though sliced more thinly than I’m used to seeing it. It was just a bit crisp along the edges.
The plentiful sauce and cheese made this the kind of pizza that might best be eaten with a knife and fork. My silverware, however, stayed clean, though I can’t say the same for my napkin, as I stuck with the hands-only approach.
Bella Pasta offers 12 pizza toppings, and seven specialty pizzas, including a calamari pizza. Somewhat surprisingly, given the takeout and counter service, they don’t serve slices, even at lunchtime, though I suppose that ensures that when you do get a pizza, it’s going to be fresh, not something that’s sat in a warmer for an hour or more.
As for the entrees, all the usual Italian favorites are here, such as lasagna, Chicken Marsala, eggplant parm, shrimp scampi, and veal french. On that note, though I generally try to stick to the pizza, the food in general seemed to be of very high quality here. My wife raved about her Chicken Asiago, my daughter’s steak fries were crisp but not greasy, and my tiramisu was among the better examples I’ve tried around here. Service was good too - our waitress handled our six-year-old’s spilled chocolate milk with aplomb, and the owner checked in on us during our meal and gave us a warm goodbye upon leaving.
As I mentioned in my post on Rizzi’s, there tends to be a certain difference between the pizza you get at a restaurant and what you typically get from a takeout pizza joint. That held true here. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but this was “restaurant” pizza. But it was good restaurant pizza, and that’s the important thing. I can’t say I’ll go back for more of it, if only because I want to check out some of the other items on the menu. I will, however, give it a solid B+ for its crisp crust, tasty sauce, and ample but balanced toppings, enhanced by friendly and efficient service.
Bella Pasta Cafe, 2846 West Ridge Road. 340-6100
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. 1 p.m. - 8 p.m.

Tony's Birdland, Greece

Tony's Birdland has two locations, on West Ridge Road and Dewey Ave., both in Greece. I recently picked up a cheese slice at the former.
The crust was thin to medium in thickness, with an overall appearance that would put it in the New York style category. It had clearly been baked on a screen, but the underside was dark, even a bit charred, and had a pleasantly toasty character.
The sauce, which was applied fairly generously, had a balanced flavor, with both tomatoey and herbal notes. The cheese was moderately applied, and had been baked to the point that it had developed some brown blisters across its surface.
The slice ended with a thin, floury, crunchy lip, that had a nice bready flavor.
Tony's Birdland has a pretty big menu. The pizza selections are fairly standard, but they also offer - you ready? - calzones, wings, fried chicken, wraps, hot and cold subs, "plates," burgers and hots, salads, various sides and appetizers, and dinners that include chicken (no surprise there, given the name of the place), ribs, fish and fried seafood. The desserts include fried dough (which I've never cared for, though I love the straightforward, unabashed descriptiveness of that name), Oreo cheesecake, and a few pie selections.
By the way, about those wings: if you like either of Tony's two sauces (sween 'n' sour or Buffalo), you can get it to go, in quantities up to a gallon.
But back to the pizza - I liked this slice. It was well balanced, with no one component taking center stage. The crust had a good flavor and some crispness, but would've been even better, I think, had it not been baked on a screen. The crust didn't have quite the mix of crunch and breadiness that makes for truly outstanding pizza.
I suppose there are practical reasons for using a screen, but from my experience, producing great pizza isn't one of them. So while this pizza fell a bit short of greatness, it was still pretty doggone good, and I'll give it a B.
Tony's Birdland & Pizzeria, 2680 W. Ridge Rd. 225-4720. Also 3800 Dewey Ave. 621-3277. (The Ridge Rd. location is open for lunch; I think the Dewey Ave. location doesn't open until sometime in the afternoon.)

Constantino's, Ridgeway Ave.

Constantino's must be serving up some pretty good pizza, because they've been in business now for several years, despite an almost total lack of self-promotion. No website, only a handful of relevant search results on Google, no Yellow Pages ad, and no menus. At least on my visit. There was a laminated menu on the counter, but when I asked for a menu to go, they looked around a bit, and said, "No." But they were pretty busy, so they must be doing something right.
And, truth be told, the pizza is pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. It's thin and foldable, and qualifies, in my mind, as New York style.
The crust, however, was quite soft. Mine was done to more golden than brown - forget charred - and only the very edge had any crispness at all to it. It had some bready flavor, though, and although I like my crust on the crisp side, it wasn't unpleasant.
The pizza also had a very noticeable garlicky (I think) aroma. As soon as I opened the box, it hit me. It seemed to come from the dough itself, as if it had been dusted with or contained garlic powder, or, perhaps had been brushed with garlic-infused oil. There might've been some onion powder or herbs in there too, as I did see some flakes of dried herbs here and there, but mostly I detected garlic.
It was a fairly saucy slice, with sauce oozing out as I bit into the folded slice. The sauce had a mild tomatoey flavor.
The cheese on my slice, which was fresh out of the oven, was melted to the point of creaminess. It was a little greasy on the surface.
I wish I could tell you what else Constantino's has to offer, or give you more details, but I wasn't about to stand there and copy it all off their display menu. There is a little seating, including a couple of outdoor tables.
I should also mention that, at least at lunchtime, if you ask for a slice, you get two - essentially, a quarter of a large pie - for $3.25.
That's a very reasonable price, but it makes me wonder what this thing is about double-size slices. Whether they cut it in two, or serve it as one "mega slice," a lot of places around here pretty much require you to buy a quarter of a pie at once. Maybe that makes some sort of business sense, and maybe I'm in the minority on this one, but I like the option of buying a "standard" 1/8-of-a-pie slice, the kind you can get in any pizza joint in New York City. For one thing, I may not be that hungry. Or I may want to eat it on the go, and it's a lot easier to eat a standard-size slice while you're on foot than a giant slice.
That's not a rant about Constantino's, in particular, so much as about what seems to be an unfortunate trend. If any pizza parlor owners are reading this, take note, please.
Again, I don't mean that as a knock on Constantino's. I liked their pizza. If they could get their ovens hotter and crisp up that crust a little, I'd like it even more. I might even buy two slices at a time, of my own volition. For now, I give it a B-.
Constantino's, 2532 Ridgeway Ave. near Long Pond Rd. 227-0170
Note:  as of May 2010 Constantino's appears to have closed. This address is now the home of Good Guys Pizza.

Trotto's, Fetzner Road, Greece

Trotto's is another one of those little family-type pizza joints with which Greece seems to be particularly blessed. It's in a small strip plaza on Fetzner Road near Maiden Lane.
The pizza at Trotto's is what I call "Rochester style" pizza - on the thick side, with healthy doses of sauce and cheese, nothing too fancy, and they're often "square" rather than "pie" cut.
Trotto's particular take on Rochester pizza is maybe a little thicker and breadier than average, and a little lighter on the cheese.
The underside was a uniform golden brown and not greasy, except for a couple spots where the pepperoni grease had soaked through between the slices. It had just a little exterior crispness, not much.
Eating this, the word that came to mind here was "bready." This was very bready pizza. And by that I'm referring to the kind of Italian bread turned out by your local bakery. Not some complex, airy, chewy "artisanal" bread, but not bland, characterless white bread either. Just a good, solid, straightforward Italian loaf.
If you like bready pizza, that's a good thing. If you don't, well ... I guess you could ask them to make it thin, but as I've said before, I believe in letting a pizzeria do what they do best. Personally, I'm a thin-crust guy, but I liked this, although to me the breadiness of this pizza nearly overwhelmed the toppings.
Speaking of which, the sauce was a basic, tangy tomato sauce, bright in color and flavor, with a medium consistency. The moderately-applied mozzarella was dotted with browned spots, and the wide-and-thin pepperoni was, well, pepperoni.
Trotto's is open from 4:30 till 10 Monday through Thursday, 4 till 11 on weekends, and 3 to 9 on Sunday. There's no seating, so this is a takeout and delivery place only. Pizza and wings are pretty much all that they do, although you can get some appetizers, mostly of the fried variety, including pizza fritta, which apparently is a kind of deep-fried mini pizza.
Like the pizza itself, then, Trotto's is a pretty down-to-basics kind of place, which I kind of like. Better to do one or two things well than to do 20 things poorly or inconsistently. And Trotto's pizza and wings are obviously neither poor nor inconsistent, because it's been in business, in the same location, for about 20 years.
I love Italian bread, and I enjoyed the bready quality of this pizza. Still, for my taste it seemed a tad out of balance, so bready was it. I'll give it a B-.
Trotto's Pizzeria, 861 Fetzner Rd. 227-4095