I occasionally get down to the Southern Tier, where I grew up, and wherever I go, I'm on the lookout for pizza. The village of Allegany, in Cattaraugus County, is pretty far afield for a Rochester pizza blog, but in the absence of a Southern Tier pizza blog, I'll offer an occasional review of pizzas from that part of the state.Allegany is something of a college town, as it's right next door to St. Bonaventure University. That usually bodes well for pizza, especially in upstate New York, where you'll find a lot of students from the NYC area. So I wasn't surprised to find a pizzeria in Allegany serving "real NY pizza" (according to their logo).
Mangia, on Main St. (and yeah, pretty much all the businesses in Allegany are on Main St.), is a small place, with just a few tables by the front window. I got a couple of cheese slices around midday.
They weren't bad, but if I had gotten these in New York City, I would've been disappointed. They were thin, but the underside was a mottled brown, not particularly crisp, and had a bit of oven soot stuck to it. The mozzarella was OK, but a bit bland. It had been melted enough to liquefy but not enough to develop much flavor. The sauce was a basic red tomato sauce, good enough but not particularly memorable.The components were well balanced, and with a bit of tweaking these could've been very good slices. As it was, they were just kind of, meh.
Mangia has a fairly extensive menu, with 18 specialty pizzas, calzones and strombolis, wings, tacos, subs, sandwiches and wraps, salads and sides. And they're open late, as any college town pizzeria should be.
I had no major complaints about these slices, really, but I can't say they lived up to their billing of "real NY pizza." Again, a little more attention to detail, and these could've been the real item. But I can only give them a C.
Mangia, 65 W. Main St., Allegany, NY
(716) 373-2754
Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 3 a.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 1 a.m.
