It's hard to believe that it's been about five months since I posted on Facebook about a slice that I got at Peppino's, which is in Chili, just off Chili Ave./33A. Peppino's was recommended to me by a reader, whom I thank once again. I enjoyed the slice, and made a mental note to go back for a full pie.A couple weeks ago, I finally made good on that, and picked up a pie to go.
The first question was what to order. Peppino's has some interesting specialty pizzas on the menu, including a potato pie and my old standby, the Margherita, but this was a dinner pizza for my family and me, and since it was Thanksgiving eve, we didn't want leftovers. So I went with half pepperoni and half green peppers and onions. My daughter likes the former, my wife the latter, and I'll eat either.
Allow me to digress for a moment and say that I would also have been happy with half of either, and plain cheese on the other half, but in my experience that's a bad decision. The toppings tend to act as a blanket on the cheese. So a half-cheese/half something-else pie never comes out right. Either the extra toppings don't cook enough, or the cheese gets too brown.This pie had a thin crust, with a darkly browned but not charred underside. The crust had a pleasant chewiness, and a crisp cornicione. The bottom was a little oily in spots, but I think that was due to oil that had seeped down after the pie was sliced, and mostly came from the cheese and pepperoni on top. It too about 20 minutes to get this pie home, which was likely a factor as well.
The balance and flavor were good. This wasn't a particularly cheese-heavy pie, but the cheese was a standout; nicely melted and smooth.The sauce was pretty straightforward, with a tomatoey-sweet flavor accented by a bit of saltiness, and was applied in good proportion to the other components. The pepperoni was crisp but not overdone, and the peppers and onions were cooked enough to be softened, but they retained a bit of bite.
Peppino's pies come in medium, large and half-sheet sizes, with 22 toppings to pick from, including house-made ground sausage, fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, and anchovies (which are all too rare on local pizza menus). The menu is rounded out with a mix of wings, several types of arancini (rice balls), sandwiches, and, incongruously but welcome, deep-fried, Southwest corn fritters, which are made with jalapenos, bacon and cream cheese.
To get back to the pizza -- my overall impression was that this pizza could be described as broadly in the New York style. Since Peppino's doesn't claim to make New York style pizza, I'm not going to judge it against the parameters for that style. It's a thin-crust pizza, and a good one. This was a cut above average, so I feel comfortable giving it a "B."
Peppino's Pizzas
25 Chestnut Ridge Road
(585) 247-8600
Tue. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Fri. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Sat. 3 - 10 p.m.
Sun. noon - 10 p.m.
Mon. closed
