An exploration of pizza in and around Rochester, NY, one pizzeria at a time
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Pizza San Giorgio, Canandaigua
With this post, I begin a look at some Canandaigua-area pizzerias. No particular reason, just a combination of happenstance and my discovery of a couple of places out that way that I'd never been to.
In the case of Pizza San Giorgio, on East Lake Road, I had to travel out that way recently, so I stopped by. It's a deli/convenience store, but also a full-fledged pizzeria - there's a kitchen with pizza ovens, unlike many convenience stores where the pizza seems to emerge out of nowhere.
I got a couple of cheese slices, which were reheated in the oven. The crust was medium thick, with a soft texture, and indented underneath with screen marks. The underside was also somewhat oily, and in some areas an oily sheen was visible.
I'm not sure if that oil had exuded from the dough itself, or was on the pan it had rested in, or seeped down from the top. I don't think it was the latter, because although the top also showed some oil, it was that orangey kind of oil that you see on top of some pizzas, that I think exudes from the cheese. And the oil underneath wasn't orange.
But speaking of which - this was very cheesy pizza, and frankly it didn't seem to be great cheese. Maybe if I'd gotten a freshly made pie, or stopped in right after this pie had come out of the oven, things would have been better, but this was more chewy than creamy or gooey (hey, a mini-poem!).
Maybe it was mostly the abundance of cheese, but the sauce kind of got lost in the mix here. I tried to taste it separately but it really seemed overwhelmed by the cheese and to a lesser extent the crust. I did pick up a hint of garlic powder, the presence of which might have explained the light layer of black dust on the cornicione.
Pizza San Giorgio offers nine specialty pizzas, and fifteen toppings, including dill pickles, which is so out there that I really want to try it. They also do wings (in a wide variety of styles, including a black pepper-based "Pepe Nero" wing that they claim you won't find elsewhere this side of Malaysia), subs, calzones, sides, breakfast sandwiches, and ice cream. There are tables in the back, and a diner-type counter. And a small grocery section stocked with snacks and drinks.
So I like the place. The staff was friendly, and it seemed like a great spot for local residents and visitors heading down to the east side of Canandaigua Lake.
But I have to be honest - I didn't care for this pizza. Now again, maybe things would have been different had they been fresher, but I always say that if you offer slices, then it's fair for me to rate the slices.
The overall flavor of these slices was OK, but they really weren't that great. The crust was soft, they were unbalanced - too high a cheese-to-sauce ratio - the cheese itself didn't seem to be the best, and they were oily, top and bottom. I wish I could rate them higher, but I have to give these slices a D. In spite of that, I would stop back, but probably for a sub, snacks, Pepe Nero wings, or maybe to try a dill pickle pizza.
Pizza San Giorgio, 4502 NY Rt. 364, Canandaigua
585-394-4817
Mon. - Sat. 7 a.m. - 9 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m. - 9 p.m.
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