Despatch Pizza Kitchen, East Rochester

Despatch Pizza Kitchen is a takeout and delivery place in East Rochester. It's in the former location of a Piatza's, and in fact the sign looks roughly similar to the Piatza's logo.
Unlike Piatza's, the slices at DPK are not "mega" in size, and they're also less expensive, so you're not forced to buy a quarter of an extra-large pizza if you're only in the mood for a normal size slice.
I never tried the pizza here when it was a Piatza's. Assuming that it was similar to the pizza that I had at the Piatza's in Brighton, though, the pizza at Despatch differs in some other ways besides the size and the price.
For one, it was not cooked on a screen. It was, however, very soft. In fact, the first thing I noticed about this slice - which was thin-to-medium in thickness - is how soft it was. No crispness or crustiness at all.
It was also on the greasy side. Some of that certainly came from the pepperoni, but the underside also had a slightly oily feel to it. It looked and felt similar to a soft bread that's been baked in a well-greased baking pan.
As for the components, this was a fairly saucy slice. The sauce was laid on pretty thickly and had a cooked-down, concentrated flavor. Some flecks of dried herbs were visible but I didn't really taste them. The cheese was rather browned, and with the thick layer of sauce between it and the dough, it separated quite easily from the crust. The wide and thin pepperoni was a little crisp and greasy enough to call for a bit of sopping up with a napkin.
Between the soft, moist crust, the ample sauce, and the grease from the pepperoni, this was a pretty "wet" slice. The crust was really quite overwhelmed by the toppings. The overall flavor was good, but I like a little more substance or backbone to my crust. This one was really all about the toppings, which may be to some people's liking.
Speaking of toppings, DPK has a long list of toppings and a wide assortment of speciality pizzas, including a "cheeseburger pizza" with 1000 Island dressing, pickles, onions, tomatoes, ground beef, and American and mozzarella cheese. It may very well be quite tasty, for all I know, but it sounds like a good candidate for this site. (In fairness, I should mention that there are more "healthy" alternatives, including several vegetarian pizzas.)
They also have a long list of subs, plus salads, wings, sides, "plates," calzones, wraps, a few Italian entrees, fried fish and shrimp, and even some desserts like "midnight fudge cake" and cannolis.
As for the pizza, again, my slice had some decent flavor, but the crust just didn't do it for me. Too soft and just not enough "oomph" to stand up to the toppings. I'll give it a C-.
Despatch Pizza Kitchen, 115 W. Commercial St., East Rochester. 381-6170
Sun. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.

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