Cordellos, Lyell Rd., Gates

Cordello's has four, five or six area locations - it's a little hard to tell from the published information - including the Gates location on Lyell Rd. near Howard Rd., a stone's throw from the Lyell Ave. Wegmans. There used to be an Italian restaurant and bar here until a few years ago, though I forget the name.
The lunchtime slice choices were cheese or pepperoni. I got two pepperoni, which got a rewarming in the oven prior to serving. As always, I first took a look at the underside, and was struck by the remarkable charring, which made a kind of camouflage pattern.
The crust did have some toasty flavor, but in spite of the charring it was pretty soft, for the most part. It was also thin toward the point and got gradually thicker, breadier and crunchier toward the edge. My guess is that prior to going in the oven, the dough was thinner in the middle, causing the sauce to pool there, and soak all the way through, so that the middle of the pie never got crisp. (You'll notice in the photo that the charring stops about halfway to the point, which tends to confirm this theory.)
The dominant component, though, was definitely the cheese. If you had told me that this was a double-cheese slice I'd have believed it. It seemed to be all mozzarella, and was pretty chewy. If you like a lot of cheese on your pizza, this would be for you. The sauce, meanwhile, stayed very much in the background. It didn't add much flavor and I hardly noticed it. The wide and thin pepperoni was OK, a little crisp along the edges.
The Gates location has its own menu, so I don't know if the others are the same, but they have a number of pasta and other Italian entrees, salads, wings, appetizers, hots and burgers, and hot and cold subs. There's a decent range of pizza toppings available.
The Lyell Road Cordello's also has a dining room, though on my visit it was totally empty. The menu claims that there is a "Bar Opening Soon!" but I didn't see any signs of that.
The menu also claims that they have the "largest delivery area of any pizzeria in Rochester and Monroe County," and says that they do catering for up to 100 people. Apparently they deliver areawide till 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
This pizza wasn't bad, but I was a little disappointed that the well-charred crust wasn't crisper, and it had more cheese than I care for, though others may differ. But the outer half of the slice did have some pleasant charred flavor and breadiness, and for that I'll give it a B-.
Cordello's Pizzeria, 2445 Lyell Rd., Gates. 254-6110