Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Sully's Pub: Buffalo Chicken Pizza

NOTE: Sully's Pub is now closed.
Back in April 2010, I posted a review of Sully's Pub downtown. I really liked all three of the wood-fired pizzas I tried on that occasion, and gave them a collective A-minus.
Recently I went back to Sully's, and though this time around I just had one pie, I did venture further into their pizza menu, with Sully's Buffalo chicken pizza.
This pie had a thin crust, with a crisp bottom that was lightly charred. There wasn't much of an interior crust to speak of, except along the thicker outer edge; this is not what I would call a bready crust - it's just too thin for that.
The edge was also crisp and charred, though in one spot it was blackened to the point of being what I would call burnt, meaning that it extended past the surface into the interior of the cornicione. The top side was well cooked, and the cheese was browned, but still chewy and not dried out.
Sully's take on Buffalo chicken pizza uses a combination of tomato sauce and hot sauce, resulting in a pizza that's something of a cross between a traditional red pizza and the Buffalo-chicken-on-a-crust that you find at a lot of pizzerias. It had a medium level of heat, but some tomatoey sweetness in the background.
Also differentiating this pizza from other Buffalo chicken pizzas that I've had around here were the additional toppings. The mozzarella was dotted here and there with small chunks of blue cheese, which, interestingly, seemed to be more noticeable the next day eating the cold leftovers. Big chunks of diced chicken were spread over the entire surface, and it looked to me as if Sully's had taken breaded chicken, fried it, and then cut it up before putting the pie in the oven.
Also unusual was the addition of vegetables. Although they were few and very small, this was the first Buffalo chicken pizza I've seen with celery slices. More prominent were the carrot slices, which contributed some crunch but little in the way of flavor, relative to the other toppings.
Since I've previously given the rundown on Sully's menu, hours, etc., I won't repeat myself here. You can also see a copy of their menu on their website.
I was a fan of Sully's pizza after my prior visit, and I remain one. I haven't been rating Buffalo chicken pizzas, just because they're so dissimilar from each other that it's hard to compare them, so I won't start now. I will say that the overall preparation and quality of this pizza was very much in line with my prior experience. As for this particular example of Buffalo chicken pizza, it was not one of the more "wing-like" pizzas I've had, despite the presence of carrots, celery and blue cheese. I think the use of tomato sauce pushed it closer to traditional pizza than some versions that only use hot sauce, or a mix of hot sauce and blue cheese. But I found it very enjoyable in spite of, or perhaps because of, that. I'd order it again, which is, after all, the basic test for any menu item.
Sully's Pub, 240 South Ave. (Woodbury Blvd.), Rochester 14604
(877) 805-3570
Their hours seem to change with some frequency, so check before you go, but -
Wed. - Fri.: 11 a.m. to close, Sat. 4 p.m. - close

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