pizza

It's time for another giveaway!

I have two $25 gift cards for Perri's Pizzeria at 2485 Rochester Rd. (Rt. 332) in Canandaigua. They are good for anything on Perri's extensive menu, from pizza to wings to subs to ... well, there's a lot to pick from.

I will be giving these away to two lucky readers in one week, on Friday, May 11. All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment at the end of this post, and provide me with some contact information. That's it.
You don't have to give me the contact information right now - you can wait until you win - but I will need to be able to identify you as the legitimate winner. So an anonymous comment will not cut it. I need at least a screen name or email address.
I'll pick a winner at random shortly after noon on May 11, so get your comment in before then. Leave as many comments as you wish, but multiple comments will not increase your chances of winning.
Though Perri's also has locations in Gates, Greece, and now Brockport, these gift cards are only good for the Canandaigua location. But even if you don't live out that way, if you're like me you visit Canandaigua now and then, so why not get some free food while you're there? And if you are an East Sider, this one's for you, so get commenting!
Perri's Pizzeria, 2485 Rochester Rd. (Rt. 332), Canandaigua
585-394-6060
Sun. - Thu. 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Fri. & Sat. 10 a.m. - 10 p.m.

After I gave Acme Bar and Pizza a B-minus back in November 2009, I got several responses saying that their pizza deserves a better grade, and that I should try it again. And it has been a long time, so a return visit was overdue, and I went back recently.
I got a medium cheese pizza. The crust was super thin - about 3/32nds of an inch thick, on average (the quarter in the middle photo will serve as a reference point). The bottom was dry and quite pale, and the slices were very supple. There was a small amount of corn meal underneath.
The sauce was thinly applied, though in proportion to the very thin crust. I spotted a lot of dried herbs, and to some extent they were noticeable on my palate.
The cheese was pretty good, a nicely melted layer of shredded mozzarella, without much exuded oil, which I took as a sign of high-quality cheese.
This pizza was broadly in the New York style, at least in appearance, but aside from its thinness, the crust was not typical of a true NY pizza. Way too pale, and lacking in both crispness and breadiness.
I don't want to get hung up on taxonomy, but you could, I suppose, call this "bar pizza." In a literal sense, it is just that, of course, but stylistically, if there truly is a subspecies of American pizza that falls under the heading of bar pizza, that term generally refers to a pie that's not only thin (so as not to be too filling), but very crisp and crackly or crunchy, and maybe a bit oily. That's probably because most bars don't have true pizza ovens, or the time and wherewithal to make fresh pies, using pizza peels, so when they do make pizza, it usually involves baking a pie on an oiled pan in an ordinary commercial oven.
This pie certainly had the thinness part down, but not the crisp/crunchy/crackly part. And it wasn't oily, which was fine with me.
Not that it's not particularly important to me whether a pizza fits some preconception of what it "ought" to be like in order to fit within the parameters of a given style. I do have certain criteria of my own that I look for, and I know what I like and don't like. Categories can be useful to help explain what a pizza is like, and so I mention this just to say that this pie didn't really conform to either NY style or the bar-pizza paradigm.
But in the end, what matters is, was it good or not? Well, I like crisp crusts, and this just wasn't crisp. Some places make their pizza this way on purpose, so that when somebody orders a slice, they can reheat it and crisp it up. But I didn't order a slice, I ordered a pie. I don't know about anybody else, but I like my pizza crisper than this. And I like it a little more well done underneath.
Having said that, this did taste good, and that's not nothing. I had no problem slurping down several slices at one sitting.
But this could've been better. The fact that some readers have said that they got great pizza from Acme means that either their likes and dislikes are much different from mine, or that Acme is inconsistent. And inconsistency is not good for any pizzeria.
I'm not going to say that I disliked this pizzeria, but given that pale, soft crust, which lacked any sort of bready qualities, I can't say it was above average either. So it gets a C from me.
Acme Bar & Pizza, 495 Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY 14607
271-ACME (2263)
Mon. - Fri. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sat. & Sun. noon - 2 a.m.

More travels to our south today.
Every small town should have at least one pizzeria, and Perry, which is just west of Letchworth State Park, has Daryl's, on Rt. 39, a/k/a Main St.
This slice, which I got in mid afternoon, was pretty fresh, from the looks of it. It was medium thick, with an underside that was not particularly dark but which was reasonably crisp. There was a light dusting of corn meal adhering to the crust. (I should mention that I declined to get it rewarmed, which would of course have made the crust a little darker and probably crisper too.)
What was most interesting to me about this slice was the pebbly surface of the bottom of the crust. It's somewhat exaggerated in the bottom photo, because of the angle of the sunlight, but it'll give you an idea of what I'm talking about.
The standard, wide and thin slices of pepperoni were OK, a little oily and more chewy than crisp. Aside from a light sprinkling of grated cheese,the moderate layer of cheese seemed to be all mozzarella, and it had a pleasing bit of subtle tanginess. The sauce was also added in good proportion to the crust and had a middle-of-the-road flavor and medium-thick consistency. A few flecks of dried herbs were visible but this was not an assertively flavored sauce.
Daryl's offers 13- and 16-inch pies, as well as pan pizzas in a range of sizes. They have 16 toppings and five specialty pizzas. Other menu items include wings (Buffalo, breaded or boneless), subs, burgers, sandwiches, wraps, tacos, salads, fried chicken and seafood dinners, and sides. Wednesday is pasta day, with spaghetti, baked ziti, and ravioli available, and on Tuesdays you can get a large pizza for the regular price of a small pizza (about a $3 savings).
Not only should every small town have at least one pizzeria, it should have a good pizzeria. This was just a single slice, but based on this brief stop, I'd say Daryl's fulfills that role for Perry. This was good, and I'll give it a B.
Daryl's Pizzeria, 163 S. Main St., Perry, NY 14530
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m. - 10 p.m.
Lunch delivery Mon. - Fri. 11 a.m. - 1 p.m., delivery every day after 4 p.m.