Little D's, Lake Ave.- CLOSED

Note: this space is now occupied by Mama's Pizza.
In March of this year I did a post about Charlotte Pizzeria on Lake Avenue.  I didn't care much for their pizza, which had a a soft, spongy, oily crust, and gave it a C-.
Apparently not many other people cared for it either, because Charlotte Pizzeria has since gone out of business, and its former location is now the home of Little D's House of Pizza, where I stopped recently.
The slices here are quite a bit different from what I got in March. For one, they're bigger; Little D's "monster" slices are cut from a 28-inch pie.
The crust is medium thick, perhaps a tad thinner than Charlotte's, but the underside is where I noticed another big difference. Where Charlotte's pizza had the telltale look and scent of cooking oil, the crust here is screen baked and dry. Now I'm not a huge fan of screen-baked pizza - in my experience, it tends to result in a crust with less crispness than I'd like - I'll take it any day over a crust that's oily underneath. The underside here was fairly soft, but it had some faint charring, and it was not at all greasy, with just a touch of exterior crispness that was more noticeable along the edge. The interior was decent too, with some visible air holes, and a pretty good, bready texture, despite just a bit gumminess on top.
The cheese, which I took to be 100% mozzarella, was slightly browned, with a faintly tangy flavor. It was moderately, and somewhat unevenly applied, with some bare spots here and there, where the sauce was exposed, and where there was cheese, it was a little thicker in some areas than others.Unless it's done to excess, which it wasn't here, I don't consider that a flaw, as it lends some variety to the eating experience.
This was not a particularly saucy slice, with just enough sauce for some added flavor and a little moisture. It had a mild flavor that was neither noticeably sweet nor herbal, just a middle-of-the-road tomatoey flavor. Overall, the components were in good balance with each other. The thin-to-medium crust formed a solid base, and was pretty evenly matched by the cheese, except near the edge, where the crust got thicker and became more dominant. The sauce, by comparison, stayed more in the background, but was not overwhelmed by the other components, or missing in action, as it is on some pizza. The cup 'n' char pepperoni was pretty evenly applied as well, with just about one slice per bite.

Little D's pizzas come in five sizes, from 10 to 28 inches in diameter, and they have a long list of specialty pizzas, which run the gamut from carnivores' delights like shredded pork or grilled steak to vegetarian options such as a spinach pie with pesto, or a veggie parm pizza with eggplant or artichoke hearts. They also serve wings, hot and cold subs, burgers, hots, plates, calzones, salads, sides, and fish fry (every day, not just Friday).
All in all, this was not bad, particularly for a big slice. All too often, the quantity you get at these "mega" slice joints tends to come at the expense of quality, but even at four dollars a slice, this was a pretty good deal. Though far better than its predecessor's, Little D's crust didn't quite thrill me, but this was good enough to rate a B from me.
Little D's House of Pizza, 4410 Lake Ave. 287-6040
Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 3 a.m.