Suavé Kitchen

 The other day I had to take a drive to drop off our tax forms with our tax preparer up near Ridgeway Avenue, so I thought to look for nearby pizza places. Lo and behold, there was one I hadn't heard of:  Suavé Kitchen, on Spencerport Road. Checked out their website, photos looked good, so I gave it a shot. 

I didn't order ahead, as I wasn't sure how long I'd be at the tax place. So I ordered on the spot and was told it would take about 20 minutes. I ordered a large pie with cup-and-char pepperoni. I asked for it a tad on the well-done side.

From there, I took it to a friend's house, where we shared it for lunch (although there's a small table it's pretty much takeout). Initial impressions, looked good on top, with nicely crisp pepperoni. The cornicione was well-formed.

 I was a little dismayed after a check underneath, however. The underside was browned but not at all charred, and not crisp. I don't think that all pizza needs to be blackened on the bottom, but I generally like a little bite to it, and this didn't have that. There was an imbalance between the doneness of the bottom and the top.

That was my main issue with this pizza. It was in most respects typical of Rochester pizza, with abundant sauce and cheese. The sauce had a cooked-down flavor, and the cheese was stretchy.

The crust didn't quite match up, though. Medium thick, but not much in the way of crispness, chewiness, or gluten development. Or flavor development from the heat of the oven. The cornicione, though nicely formed, wasn't so good that I would want to finish it off. Too soft and bland.

As I've said before, to me it starts with the crust. I'd rather have a great crust with mediocre toppings than a mediocre crust with great toppings.

This was closer to the latter. 

It was okay, don't get me wrong. It didn't go to waste, apart from some of the cornicione. The crust was serviceable, it got the job done, but if they can get it better, Suavé Kitchen could achieve pizza greatness.

I will add that the service was very good. I got the sense that they are trying hard, which is encouraging.  And I did go there around noon, which might or might not matter, in terms of how long the dough had to rise and the oven to heat. Shouldn't matter, but it's a variable.

 On a non-pizza-related note, I noticed a sign on the wall advertising their "10 Wings 10 Minute Challenge." "Finish 10 Bomb Ass Spicy Wings in 10 Minutes to Win!" Do it and the wings are free, you get your photo on the wall, a t-shirt, and a social media shout-out.

 I could absolutely do that, in terms of the heat. I just don't want to eat ten wings in ten minutes. Hell, I don't want to eat ten wings in an hour. Not that I don't like wings, I just know how I'd feel afterwards, even if they were mild. But I'm thinking about it.

 Suavé Kitchen 

 489 Spencerport Road, Rochester, NY 14606

585-212-2222 

Open daily 11 am - 10 pm

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