Big Deal Revisited

My less than favorable review of Big Deal Pizzeria back in May generated a number of responses, many of which disagreed with my criticisms. Since it had only recently opened when I reviewed it, I figured it was worth going back for another visit to see if things had improved or if perhaps I just caught them on a bad day.
I’ve actually stopped their twice recently, once for a midday slice and again for a large dinnertime pie. The pizzas on both occasions were pretty similar to each other, and so I think I’ve got a pretty good idea now of the kind of pizza that Big Deal is turning out these days.
Some things haven’t changed since May. As before, the crust falls somewhere between thin and medium, with a well-browned underside marked by pizza screen indentations, and it was still a bit on the floppy side.
Some things have changed, though, and for the better. For starters, the crust wasn’t greasy underneath, and it had at least a little crispness, which was more pronounced with the rewarmed lunchtime slice than with the pie, which sat through a 20-minute car ride before I got it home. The outer edge had a nice baked crunch and some interior bready chewiness.
The toppings were also better balanced than they were on the slice I got last May. In particular, the sauce had a more noticeable presence this time around. It had a mild tomatoey flavor and was applied a bit more thickly than on my prior visit. That helped to better balance out the cheese, which in May I described as thick and chewy, and the dominant player. It was much less dominant here, but I’m not sure if that’s because there was any less of it, or simply because it was better balanced out by the sauce. Either way, this time around it seemed to be in better proportion to both the sauce and the crust.
As you can see, the cheese-only side of my pie was quite well browned, more perhaps than some people might like. But if you want to call that a fault, then I’ll take the blame for ordering pepperoni on only half, in order to please everyone at home. Tough to get the pepperoni crisp without browning the cheese side a little.
And the slices of pepperoni here were a bit crisp along the edges. That’s another plus, because I don’t like it when the pepperoni is cooked just long enough to turn soft and flabby. As before, the pepperoni had a fairly mild flavor, but was more generously applied, which cumulatively gave the pizza a bit more spicy aftertaste.
So - what do I think of Big Deal now? Well, for starters, I think it’s improved since last May. It’s recognizable as the same pizza I had before, but on the whole it’s better made and better balanced. I would no longer say, as I did then, that it’s “just another big, heavy greasy slice.” I’m not ready to put it into the top echelon, either - the screen-baked crust still lacks the toasty, crackly character that can really put a pizza over the top - but this had good flavor, the components worked well together, and it seemed to have been made with care.
It's also a good sign that my single slice and my whole pie were consistent with each other. Although I give generally high marks to Big Deal's competitor down the street, I have to say that over the years I've found Acme to be plagued by inconsistency - great NY style pizza one day, and dry/burnt/misshapen crap the next. There's something to be said for knowing what to expect when you order a pizza.
So with all that in mind, I’m going to bump up Big Deal's score. That relatively soft, screen-baked crust is still dragging it down a bit, keeping this pizza from realizing its full potential, but given its other positives, I'd say this pizza was a little better than average, so I'll peg it this time at a B-.
Big Deal Pizzeria & Grill, 475 Monroe Ave. 544-2144
Mon. - Wed. 11 a.m. - midnight, Thu. 11 a.m. - 3 a.m., Fri. 11 a.m. - 4 a.m., Sat. noon - 4 a.m., Sun. noon - 10 p.m.

Petrella's, Dewey Ave., Greece - CLOSED

Petrella’s opened recently in the space formerly occupied by Slapshot Pizza & Subs in the Dewey-Latta Plaza. I never got around to Slapshot, but I stopped into Petrella’s the other day.
This is one of those places, like Carmine’s, where whole pizzas come by the (round) pie, but individual slices are rectangles cut out of a sheet pizza. I just wanted something for lunch, so this review is limited to those. I’ll have to go back sometime for a pie.
I got two slices and a drink for $4.50 + tax, which wasn’t a bad deal. The slices were pretty thick, with a slightly oily underside, all of which is typical of a sheet pizza. The medium-brown crust was dotted with airhole craters, evidencing a long rise in the pan before baking. It had some crispness, and a crunchy edge.
The sauce, which was moderately applied, had an acidic bite to it. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it was just acidic from the tomatoes. I didn’t get the impression that Petrella’s adds any sugar or other sweeteners to the sauce, which is fine.
The cheese seemed to be straight processed mozzarella, and was melted but not browned. The surface was crisscrossed by rivulets of oil that had seeped out of the cheese.
As I said, whole pizzas here come in pies - 10, 14 and 16 inches - as well as half and full sheets. For now, the toppings list is relatively basic, 12 in all, and there are four specialty pizzas - chicken wing, steak, veggie and BLT. Other options include calzones, wings, burgers, hot and cold subs, sandwiches, pasta, chicken (french and parm, plus eggplant parm), salads, sides, and “plates.”
There’s some room for eating in, though for the time being at least, the space is pretty austere looking. I’m sure they’ve got better things to worry about right now than decorating the walls, though there is WiFi. They also deliver.
These slices were pretty straightforward and basic: decent crust, tomatoey sauce, melted mozzarella. But they were well balanced, and well made overall. Keeping in mind that Petrella’s hasn’t been open long, and that I have yet to try a pie from there, I’ll give them a somewhat provisional C+.
Petrella’s Pizza Plus, 4425 Dewey Ave. 663-1210
Sun.noon - 9 p.m., Mon. 4 - 10 p.m., Tue. closed, Wed. 4 - 9 p.m., Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

Acme, Monroe Ave.

Given the affinity between beer and pizza, it’s a little odd that there aren’t more bar/pizzerias around. There are certainly restaurants that both serve pizza and have full bars, and there are a handful of bars that are next door to pizzerias, but genuine bars that make pizza are a surprisingly rare breed.
One of the few exceptions that I can think of around here is Acme Bar & Pizza on Monroe Avenue. If memory serves correctly, Acme started out, I’m guessing, ten years ago or so, as sort of a sister establishment to Richmond’s downtown. There have been some ownership changes since then, but from the start Acme has been serving thin, New York-style pizza to its customers.
I stopped by recently to pick up a large pie to go. It had a very thin crust, and the slices were kind of floppy, with an underside that was rather pale, just lightly browned, that didn’t have much crispness, though it wasn’t greasy either. It tasted OK, but was not particularly bready. The outer lip was thin and somewhat tough. There was a bit of oven soot on the underside, and one black, burnt unidentifiable blob stuck to the inside of the box.
The cheese, which had a tangy flavor and had congealed by the time I got the pizza home, was fairly heavy for a pizza this thin, adding to the floppiness of the individual slices. The sauce was thinly applied, and didn’t have a very noticeable presence. The pepperoni was of the cup and char variety, was moderately applied, and had a decent flavor.
Acme doesn’t really do specialty pizzas, other than white pizza, and the toppings menu is pretty basic. They also make calzones, as well as a full range of standard bar food, from wings (pretty good ones, in my experience) to burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches, hot subs, salads, fried munchies, chili and homemade soup. There’s a modest but interesting lineup of beers on tap, and over 75 beers by the bottle. Another plus is that food is served right up until the 2 a.m. closing time, seven nights a week.
I’ve always thought that Acme turned out some pretty good pizza, even if it’s not in quite the same league with some of the other local purveyors of New York style pizza. The crust just doesn’t seem to have quite the flavor and texture that makes for truly great pizza, but all in all, it’s certainly not bad, and I can easily put away several slices of this stuff without complaint.
Which reminds me: as I was enjoying this pie, it occurred to me that what this really was, was good bar pizza. If you’re a bar owner, you don’t want to be serving up some thick pan pizza that’s going to get the customer full after a slice or two. This is the kind of stuff you can eat several slices of, for some time, without getting too stuffed to keep on drinking. I’m not endorsing excessive drinking, but truth be told, that’s probably what a lot of your customers prefer, too. On its own, I consider Acme pizza to be better than average, but not outstanding, so I’ll give it a B-.
Acme Bar & Pizza, 495 Monroe Ave. 271-2263
Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sun. noon - 2 a.m.