Martino's, Long Pond Road

Look up "Martino's Pizzeria" in the White Pages and you'll see two locations, one on Long Pond and one in Webster. So you might assume it's one pizzeria with two locations.
You'd be wrong. At least now. Apparently they were related at one time, but no longer. And I don't know if the pizzas were pretty much the same back then, but they're not today. Similar in some ways, but definitely not the same.
We'll start with the Long Pond Martino's.
I got a pepperoni slice at lunchtime. It was pretty good sized, though not quite in the "mega" or "huge" category.
Thin and floppy near the tip, the crust got suddenly thicker about two-thirds of the way to the outer edge. I’m not just talking about the lip itself, which was fairly narrow; the underlying crust was simply much thicker for a good three inches or so along the outer edge, then thin the rest of the way to the tip. It was as if a thin-crust slice and a thick-crust slice had been joined together in the middle.
The crust also had a bit of a split personality in tems of the texture. It was crisp on the surface, but doughy inside, especially in the thicker part, which had a distinctive aroma of undercooked dough. The lip in particular displayed this dichotomy, as it cracked and separated in two when I tried to fold it, as you can see in the bottom photo.
In one respect, though, the crust was the same from stem to stern: the underside was rather pale, with heavy screen marks.
This was a fairly saucy slice. The sauce had a tomatoey flavor, with some background herbal notes. The mozzarella cheese was applied moderately and baked just to the point of browning. The slice seemed to be sprinkled with some grated cheese as well. I couldn’t really pick up its flavor, but it looked like a cannned romano or parmesan.
Martino’s has quite an extensive menu. Pizza can be ordered “regular, thick or skinny” (mine was both thick and skinny, so I’m not sure what it was; regular, I assume), topped with one of five sauces: red tomato, white garlic, “zesty” (a mix of the red and white), pesto, or alfredo. There are several specialty pizzas, and they do calzones. Other items include wings and various munchies, quesadillas, burgers, hots, wraps, subs, “plates,” seafood, pasta, desserts, and even breakfast, which is served all day.
Martino’s offers takout, delivery, and dine-in service, and they do catering too. The dining area is fairly large, and on the day I visited it seemed to be a popular lunchtime spot for both police and ambulance personnel.
As for the pizza, well, I wasn’t too crazy about this one, though I didn’t dislike it as much as my comments might make it sound. It tasted OK, it just seemed a little underbaked. And while I like a crisp exterior and a bready interior, this one had more of a crackly shell beneath a doughy interior.
Thing is, too, I’ve had Martino’s pizza before, prior to starting this blog, and I thought it was pretty good. So I have to take some points off here because of the things I mentioned, but I won’t knock it too much. I’ll give it a C-.
Martino's Restaurant, 1742 Long Pond Rd., 247-5030
Mon. - Thu. 8 a.m. - midnight, Fri. 8 a.m. - 1 a.m., Sat. 10 a.m. - 1 a.m., Sun. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.