Cordello's is one of those places that's been around for a long time, but not always in the same place. It seems to have had an odd kind of existence, with Cordello's locations opening and closing, here and there, over the years. There always seem to be a few around, but it's never quite taken off as a chain.
At the moment, as far as I know, there are Cordello's locations in Irondequoit, Webster, and Chili. I did a
post on the
Chili location back in 2010, which apparently is still going strong.
Recently I stopped at the Irondequoit Cordello's. (I still need to get to the Webster location).
I often go for a simple cheese slice, but on this occasion the veggie slice looked good to me.
This slice had a very thick cornicione (a fancy Italian word for the edge), but was otherwise on the thin side. The underside was more browned than charred, but displayed some slight exterior crackling, and had a bit of exterior crunch. It was better than I expected, frankly, and better than the photo shows.
Up top, the toppings were, overall, decent. The melted mozzarella was pretty good, nothing out of the ordinary, but nicely melted, without that separation into solids and orange-colored oil you get at some places.
The vegetable toppingss were OK. The black olives were canned, which I used to use myself on homemade pizzas until I realized how much better the uncanned variety is. (I would say "fresh," but that wouldn't be accurate, since all olives that you buy for immediate consumption have been cured in some way, but you get my meaning, I think.)
The slice was also topped with a few small shreds of spinach, chunks of tomato, and artichoke. They were all, again, pretty good, and this was a good combination. If you're going to go the veggie route, you want to use vegetables with relatively assertive flavors, and these were good choices.
I finished off the slice - which was quite hefty, as I think you can see from the top photo - with the cornicione. There are slices where I leave the "bones" behind, but the edge of this slice was like a good breadstick. It didn't get left behind.
So, all in all, a good slice of pizza. Not so far ahead of the pack that I would put it in my top tier, but better than average. And so I'll give it a B.
Cordello's Pizzeria, 117 Pattonwood Dr, Rochester, NY 14617
(585) 266-6620
Open daily 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., till midnight on Fri. & Sat.
http://cordellospizza.com/
sschum and Paul Milhausen, who left comments here on March 25 at 3:20 and on March 28 at 11:12, respectively, have each won a $25 gift certificate to Pontillo's in Penfield. Congratulations to you both!
