Rabbit Hole Tavern

So my wife and I had dinner at the Rabbit Hole Tavern in Rochester. I had it on my to-do list, since they offer "'12' Pizzas prepared in our stone deck oven, baked to perfection." 

When I see "to perfection," that's generally a red flag for me, as it's meaningless and overused, but okay. Let's check it out.

We ate in the dining room, not far from the bar. I didn't realize when I made the reservation that the Bills game would be on at the time (they went on to lose to the Broncos), so it was rather loud. But that's on me.

We shared two pizzas:  the "Pipin Hot" (described as "Louisiana style red pizza sauce (spicy), Grande mozzarella, crushed red pepper, jalapenos and pepperoni"), and the "Simply Cheese" (tomato sauce base, melted Grande mozzarella and Romano cheese). 

The crust didn't wow me. The cornicione was rather dry, and not particularly interesting. The underside showed a bit of browning here and there but I didn't pick up much in the way of gluten development or flavor. I would describe the crust as dull. 

There was no lack of cheese. And they use Grande mozzarella, which is a good brand, but that didn't help matters. If anything, these were overloaded with cheese. It was stretchy, but to my taste too gloppy. That's a subjective opinion, but that's my opinion.

 I didn't see a whole lot of difference between the two pizzas. My "Pipin Hot" was not all that hot. I put hot sauce on almost anything but ice cream, and I occasionally eat raw hot peppers as a snack, so I admit I have developed a tolerance for the stuff, but I was expecting more heat. 

I wish I could say more about this pizza. Thick, stretchy cheese, a serviceable but soft and uninteresting crust, and okay toppings. It was all right, but about what I would expect from a bar where the pizza is a menu item more than the focus.

 Which is fine. It is a bar. And if you're out with friends or on a date and you want some drinks and pizza, it was okay. But based on this visit, it seemed like more of a bar that serves pizza than a pizza restaurant that serves alcohol.

 Rabbit Hole Tavern

284 Exchange Boulevard
Rochester, NY
14608

 Hours
Closed Mondays
Tuesday - Thursday 11:00am - 10:00pm
Friday 11:00am - 12:00am
Saturday 12:00pm - 12:00am
Sunday 12:00pm - 10:00pm
Kitchen closes 1 hour before closing 

 https://rabbitholetavern.com/

The Pizza Stop

From the time that I started this blog, and many times thereafter, I published posts about The Pizza Stop, primarily the original location on State Street. That was no coincidence, as it was (1) close to my workplace and (2) the made terrific New York style pizza, which is my favorite pizza style.

The original owner, Jim Staffieri, sold the business in 2023, at which time I was taking an extended break from blogging. 

After resurrecting this blog in 2025, I got a query from a reader asking whether I'd been back to The Pizza Stop, as some folks claimed that the quality of the pizza had slipped. I hadn't, largely because I retired last year, so it's no longer convenient.

But spurred by the reader's inquiry, I recently went back, for a lunchtime pizza to share with a friend. I ordered a medium pie, half regular pepperoni and half beef pepperoni. I also asked for it well done, thinking that since I wasn't planning on reheating it after getting it to my friend's house, the bottom would be a bit more crisp.

After picking it up, I put the pizza in an insulated pizza bag and got to my destination in about ten minutes. In general, it looked like the Pizza Stop pizza I remembered. But I suppose I gave it more scrutiny than I ordinarily would, so I did notice a few things.

The baking was just a bit uneven, with one side of the pie noticeably more charred underneath. Not to a great extent, but a bit. Not a criticism, but an observation. A few seconds is all it takes in a pizza oven, so I'm not faulting them.

The crust was crisp, but not crackly, with some charring, and quite thin. The sauce and cheese weren't skimpy, but not over-applied either, and balanced each other and the crust. The sauce had a basic, cooked-tomato flavor, without much in the way of herbal notes, which is as I recall from before. The cheese was melted and slightly browned, not stretchy but not congealed, as one finds with some lower-quality cheese.  

As for the pepperoni, I was intrigued by the choice of both regular and beef pepperoni. I've seen beef pepperoni, but never gave it much thought. It's like bologna: there's regular (usually a combination of beef and pork) and all-beef. Never really thought about it, frankly. I guess it's primarily for people who don't eat pork, for religious or cultural reasons. Or if you just prefer it.

I found the beef pepperoni chewier and meatier than the regular, which was saltier and oilier. It would be difficult to say I preferred one over the other. The regular was more what I would expect from a New York slice, and I did sop up some of the exuded oil with a napkin. The beef pepperoni had more flavor without the saltiness, but it wasn't "classic" NY style pepperoni.

So, how does this compare with The Pizza Stop pizza of old?

Alas, I cannot honestly say.  Memories fade, and nostalgia takes over. All I can do is describe my current impressions. I've re-read some of my old blog posts, but even so I can't fairly compare this to what I had so many years ago. Even having re-read them, some Pizza Stop pizzas looked a bit different from others.

With that in mind, this was good, for sure. As I said, it's been too long to compare it to pizza I last reviewed over nine years ago, but I enjoyed it. Despite my nitpicking from scrutinizing it more than I ordinarily would, it's still good NY style pizza.

The Pizza Stop

131 State St., Rochester

 Sunday 1:00PM - 6:00PM
Monday - Thursday 11:00AM - 6:00PM
Friday 11:00AM - 8:00PM
Saturday 12:00PM - 8:00PM

(585) 546-7252  

 

 

Brandani's

Back when I started this blog, one of my favorite spots was Brandani's on West Henrietta Road. I posted about it a number of times, and was generally impressed by its pizza. 

The original location closed some years ago, and when I stopped updating the blog I wasn't keeping track of places as closely as I had been, so I kind of assumed Brandani's had just gone by the wayside.

So it was with some surprise when recently I happened to notice Brandani's on Crittenden Road in Brighton, just off West Henrietta Road. It's in the former site of Piatza's, which I wrote about way back when. I'm sure I must've seen it before, as they've been open for several months (maybe longer, I neglected to jot that down in my notes), but it just never registered.

 They had a nice selection of slices, as I remember from when they were on West Henrietta Road, and the slices looked to have about the same thickness as before.

 I got two slices, a pepperoni & banana peppers slice (always one of my favorite combinations) and a mango-habanero slice. I don't typically go for sweet/hot combos, but it sounded intriguing.

I opted to have them reheated to crisp up the crust a bit, and then gave them an additional quick reheating on a cast iron pan when I got them home about 15 minutes later. 

The crust showed some internal air holes from the dough's rising, and the underside was dry in a good way, as in not oily. Thanks in part to the two reheatings, it was also crisp, with some spotty browning, but the cornicione was a bit more pale than I would've liked. I realize this wasn't baked in a wood-fired oven, so the perimeter is not going to get blistered and charred from direct exposure to a flame, but I found it a bit underdone and uninteresting. With great pizza of any type, I enjoy the "bones" as much as the interior. Not so much here.

The toppings were okay. The cheese was nicely melted, but not stretchy.  The tomato sauce was fine but very much in the background. Nothing wowed me, but it was ... okay.

The mango habanero slice was surprisingly good. The flavors both contrasted and complemented each other. 

 In writing this post, I went back and read my prior posts about Brandani's. In many respects, these slices were comparable to those I had before. So I don't know if my standards have changed, or if Brandani's pizza has changed, or both.  I dunno, but at some point I have to publish this post, so I will just admit to some personal uncertainty and leave it at that.

 Having said all that, I want to emphasize that this wasn't bad pizza by any means. For a medium-thick, tasty slice, not bad at all. But with acknowledgment of my subjectivity, it wasn't quite as good as I remembered. That's about all I can say.

Brandani's Pizza

1703 Crittenden Rd.

Rochester, NY 14623

(585) 272-7180 

 

 Sunday 12pm-7pm

Mon-Sat 11am-9pm