An exploration of pizza in and around Rochester, NY, one pizzeria at a time
Friday, August 20, 2010
KC's Smokin' BBQ & Pizza Pit, Revisited
In June 2009, I did post on KC's Smokin' BBQ & Pizza Pit on Lyell Avenue, which at the time had just opened. Based on one cheese slice, I thought they were off to a pretty good start, and I gave them a B-.
Not long ago, I stopped back, this time for a full pie, to see how things have been coming along.
I often don't ask for any particular thickness with my pizza, figuring I'm best off letting them do what they usually do, but KC's menu specifies that pizza comes in thin, regular and thick, so I asked for thin. My slice last summer was thin, and I thought it was pretty good, though not as crisp as I would've liked, so thin seemed like a good bet.
My pie was thin indeed, very thin, so much so that the crust had no real interior, except along the very edge (which was still pretty thin). But I asked for it thin, so no complaints there.
Unfortunately, the crust was no crisper than last time. The slices were quite floppy, partly, of course, because they were so thin, but also I think because the crust lacked any real backbone. The pale underside was criss-crossed with screen marks, and while the crust tasted all right, it was a tad gummy.
The sauce on this pie had a straightforward tomatoey flavor, similar to a basic NY style pizza sauce. I wouldn't say that there was too much sauce, but a crust this thin doesn't need a whole lot of sauce. This one didn't cross the line, but it was saucy. The mozzarella was moderately applied, in pretty good balance with the crust, and was nicely melted, just barely to the point of browning.
I still haven't tried KC's barbeque, mostly because I don't eat barbeque all that often, and when I do I like to go to my local BBQ joint. A few menu items worthy of note here are the BBQ spaghetti with pulled pork and the southern fried chicken & waffles. Among KC's specialty pizzas, you'll find a trash plate pizza, chicken wing pizza, and of course a pulled-pork pizza.
The good news here is that KC's seems pretty consistent. This pie wasn't much different from the slice I got fourteen months ago, not long after KC's opened for business.
The bad news is that, well, it hasn't changed much. I thought that June 2009 slice was OK, but would've liked a crisper crust, and I guess I was hoping to find an improvement this time. The crust on this pie, though, was soft and pale, nearly to the point that I'd call it underdone. In fact, it was even paler than last year's slice, which probably benefited from rewarming in the oven.
Overall though, the flavor was pretty good, so if I were to order from here again, I think I'd specify that I'd like my pizza on the crispy side or, in steak parlance, ask for it medium-well. I think I'd go with a medium-thick crust too, to get more of an interior crust and to balance out the sauce. Until then, I'm dropping KC's down one notch, to a C+.
KC's Smokin' BBQ & Pizza Pit, 2346 Lyell Ave. (Gateway Plaza behind Arby's)
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m. - midnight, Sat. 3 p.m. - 10 p.m., Sun. 3 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Pizza Guy Note, 11/30/10: KC's has closed. Mac's Pizza now occupies this location.
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