The Gate House, Rochester

The Gate House is in Village Gate on Goodman Street in Rochester. It's in the space formerly occupied by Salena's, which has moved to a different location in Village Gate. The Gate House is a full-service restaurant that, according to its website, prides itself on fresh ingredients. Much of its menu is taken up by its burgers and its pizzas. Here's what they say about their pizzas:
"[O]ur pizza dough and sauce [are] made daily. We pay homage to traditional Neopolitan pizza making techniques by using Tipo OO Italian flour, tomatoes from the San Marzano Valley, fresh mozzarella and a wood burning pizza oven."
I tried their "Strong Margherita" (most of their entrees are named after local landmarks or celebrities, usually with no apparent rhyme or reason, although I guess margherita, which was named for Queen Margherita in the 19th century, kind of fits with Margaret Woodbury Strong), which the menu describes as topped with "tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmigiano, olive oil and basil."
Upon arrival at the table, it looked pretty good - very thin crust, bright red tomato sauce, nicely melted cheese, a few "islands" of fresh mozzarella, and wilted shreds of basil. The edge, though, was just a bit browned, without the telltale blackened spots you might expect from a high-temp, wood-fired oven. The underside was a surprise, too, with some dark brown spots here and there, but mostly a uniform, pale hue.
The slices were very easy to fold, and biting into them, I found that they had no crispness at all, again a surprise, since pizzas cooked in a woodburning oven are often so crisp they're almost crackerlike. These were quite chewy, and not at all bready; although the edges seemed to have some small air holes, I really wasn't sure that any yeast had been used in the dough, which didn't seem to have risen at all.
The dough also seemed to have a fair amount of shortening in it. It wasn't really flaky, but it had a slightly greasy feel that seemed to come from the dough itself rather than from the surface on which it had been cooked. And despite the charred spots, it didn't seem to have been cooked all that much. It reminded me, a little, of one of those flatbreads you can get at Indian restaurants that has been cooked in a tandoor oven, only this was not cooked to quite the same degree of doneness.
The toppings were good, with a thick tomato sauce that seemed to have bits of garlic in it, a nice contrast between the two cheeses, and a subtle basil flavor. But it was hard for me to get past the crust. It was such an attractive pizza I almost hate to say it but the best short description I can give would be slightly undercooked (for a pizza) pastry dough.
I might go back to The Gate House sometime, but only to try their burgers and fries, both of which looked pretty good. As for the pizza, well, I've never been to Naples (the one in Italy I mean, not the one with the Grape Festival), but it was not what I think of as Neapolitan pizza. I won't presume to offer advice, but I wonder if their oven is not as hot as it could be. I'm sure the pizza at The Gate House has its fans, but for me, it rates only a C.

Rookies Express, Monroe Ave.

Rookies Express Pizza & Pasta has been open for a few months now on Monroe Ave., in a former location of Mark’s Pizzeria, which moved up the street a little. They are open all day, past bar closing time on weekends. Besides regular and “gourmet" pizzas, they offer baked chicken wings, pasta and subs.
I had a “Hugia Slice” with pepperoni, the name of which is derived from a local auto dealership ad. The huge/mega/jumbo slice thing seems to be hitting Rochester lately. It may be an overgeneralization, but I would say that when you see a place advertising how enormous their slices are, that’s not a good thing if you’re looking for really good pizza. Same as when a restaurant makes a big deal about how generous their portions are: it’s putting quantity over quality.
My “Hugia Slice” did nothing to dispel that view. It was big, for sure, but, almost strange. The crust was very doughy, with a soft, spongy texture and yeasty flavor that reminded me a little of the crepe-like injera bread they serve at Abyssinia, the Ethiopian restaurant on University Ave. The underside was pale and soft too, but the edge was slightly burnt and crunchy, with an oily flavor and mouthfeel.
There was not much sauce on the crust, but above that was a medium-thick layer of cheese, with flecks of brown, cooked spots. The cheese adhered to the slice when I bit into it, although it pulled away in a single mass quite easily when I tugged on it with my fingers. The pepperoni was of the “cup and char” variety, with a nice crunch to it.
The counter service (there is virtually no seating) was friendly and polite, but despite that I have no plans to go back. Rookies’ menu says that they have three dough styles to choose from if you order a full pie - “original pan, thin, or crispy” - and I assume that I got the “original pan” version - but nothing about it made me want to check out the other two. My take on Rookies is that, like a lot of the big-slice places, it caters, or appeals, primarily to the bar crowd looking for a cheap way to fill their guts and soak up beer. This would certainly do the trick, but I’m afraid that’s about all. I give it a D.
Pizza Guy Note:  Rookies Express has closed.

Bay Goodman Pizza, Rochester

Years ago, Bay Goodman Pizza, at the corner of Bay and Goodman Streets, would certainly have been on anybody's short list of classic Rochester pizzerias. It combined a bar with a pizzeria, which turned out medium-thick pizzas with a thick, stringy layer of cheese, and it had been around for a long time. It may not have been the greatest pizza ever, but it was one of the definitive Rochester pizzerias.
At some point both the bar and the pizzeria closed, as the surrounding neighborhood went downhill, and the bar itself became a trouble spot. In name at least, though, Bay Goodman Pizza has reemerged as "The Original Bay Goodman Famous New York Style Pizza," incongruously located near the corner of North Winton and Blossom Rd. on the city's eastern edge. As before, it adjoins a bar, Mickey Flynn's.
I stopped by recently for a lunchtime slice. Would the pizza be the same as I remembered?
The choices were plain cheese or pepperoni. I chose the latter.
The slice, which seemed pretty fresh out of the oven and had not been reheated, was covered with a generous helping of "cup & char" pepperoni slices, which were nicely crunchy along the edges.
Beneath that was a fairly thick layer of congealed cheese, more chewy than stringy, which adhered fairly well to the underlying crust, from which it was separated by a thin layer of sauce.
I would characterize the crust as medium thick. Perhaps a bit on the thin side of medium, by Rochester standards, but hardly what I would call New York-style thin. Maybe at one time this is what people around here thought of as NY-style pizza, but not today.
It was, I have to say, a bit on the greasy side as well. Some of that was undoubtedly from the pepperoni, but the healthy dose of cheese certainly had something to do with it too. Still, it wasn't so greasy or crunchy as to have obviously cooked in its own grease, and the crust, though lacking the exterior crispness of a good NY-style pizza, nevertheless retained a noticeable interior breadiness reminiscent of Italian bread. It also had a subtle but pleasant herbal flavor, and was flecked with what I'm guessing was oregano. The crackled underside bore a thin coating of flour and several large grease spots.
So was it as good as I remembered? I'm not sure. At first I didn't think so, but upon reflection, it was close enough to the original that it left me wondering if I'm simply remembering the old Bay Goodman through nostalgically tinted glasses.
Bay Goodman would not be among my choices for a regular pizza stop. It's thicker and greasier than I like, and a bit too heavy-handed on the cheese for my taste. Given the medium-thick, chewy crust and the substantial amount of cheese, it also would have benefited from a bit more sauce, of a heartier consistency, to balance out the other components.
I will say, though, that Bay Goodman is well positioned next to a bar, as I could see a bready, greasy slice or two hitting the spot at the end of the night, or as a sponge to slow down the effects of your drinks.
Speaking of the bar, I should mention that there is no seating in the pizzeria, and the bar doesn't open until sometime in the afternoon, so lunchtime orders are strictly to go. I didn't see any indication that they deliver, but I didn't ask. Various subs, sides and wings are available as well.
The bottom line? The "new" Bay Goodman is still turning out some pretty decent pizza, in a style that, at one time at least, typified pizza in these parts: medium crust, plenty of cheese, nice and bready. But things have changed over the years, rendering its sign a little inaccurate, in more ways than one. Perhaps it should now read, "The Original Bay Goodman Blossom Winton Famous (Rochester) New York Style Pizza." It gets a C+ from me.
NOTE: since this was posted, Bay Goodman has moved a few blocks north, to the corner of Winton and Browncroft. There is a second location on Titus Ave. in Irondequoit.