pizza

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.

Lying on the outskirts of Rochester's East End, Richmond's is one of those bars that seems to have been, and will be, around forever.
In fact, though, it was closed for much of last year, but reopened in early 2012 under new ownership. As a former habitué of Richmond's myself, I was perusing some web page or other about the "new" Richmond's when I noticed that pizza had been added to the menu. So off I went.
I wasn't sure what to expect, in more ways than one. I had the impression that the current owner was going for something more upscale than Richmond's had been in the past, which was either comfortably worn or downright seedy, depending on your point of view.
Physically, the interior has been given a facelift, though the basic setup remains the same. There's a new tiled bar, and a few more TVs than I remember, but they seemed to have done a good job of preserving the essential neighborhood-tavern feel of the place.
The menu hadn't changed as much as I expected (or feared) either. Richmond's had always had a classic bar-and-grill menu, doing just a few things but, for the most part doing them well. And those basics - wings, burgers, grilled chicken sandwiches - remain the core of the menu, with just a few new additions.
Like pizza. Now I didn't see any pizza ovens, so I can't say I was expecting much from my Margherita pizza, and, well, frankly, my expectations were fulfilled. This clearly used a premade crust, which had a golden-brown surface that was slightly oily to the touch. The underside was marked by concentric circles (just visible on the left of the second photo), which I suppose were created during the manufacturing process. The crust was medium thick, and while not unpleasant, it was not very bready, and it lacked the aroma and lively quality of freshly baked pizza dough.
Aside from the inherent qualities of the crust itself, one of the problems with premade crusts is that the toppings tend to simply lie on top of it, whereas a pizza made with fresh dough typically displays a better integration of the crust and the toppings. Because the toppings are applied to the unbaked dough, the sauce and cheese tend to fuse a bit with the top surface of the crust, so the finished pizza emerges from the oven as an integrated whole, not just an assemblage of disparate components.
Not so here. The mozzarella easily peeled off from the crust, and you can see the result in the third photo.
Appropriately for a Margherita, there was no sauce on this pizza - just the aforementioned cheese, some thick sliced but flavorless "slicing" tomatoes, a dusting of Parmesan or Romano, and a light sprinkling of dried herbs.
On a happier note, my two companions were both quite pleased with their burgers, which did look very good - thick, meaty and juicy, as seen in the bottom photo. I would've happily traded with them, but neither was willing.
Though I am giving this pizza a D+, let me emphasize that I'm rating the pizza, not Richmond's. Again, I think they've done a good job of preserving its essential physical character while giving the interior some much needed TLC, and from this one brief experience, Richmond's still turns out a mean burger. If the wings are as good as they used to be, then all the more reason to go.
But I'd stick with the tried and true basics, foodwise. Richmond's has a lot going for it, but sometimes places try to do more than they're capable of doing well, and this was one example. Given the physical limitations of the space, which as far as I can see preclude a full kitchen, Richmond's culinary future probably lies rooted in its origins:  wings, burgers, and various fried edibles. I'd drop the pizza from the menu, or at the very least drop the price ($9.95), which, with a $2.50 pint of Diet Coke on ice, yielded a pretty hefty lunch bill for what I got. With a good atmosphere, and good bar food, Richmond's should continue to be Rochester's favorite "neighborhood bar without a neighborhood," but I don't think it'll ever be a pizza destination.
Richmond's, 21 Richmond St.
270-8570
11 a.m. - 2 a.m. daily

I have previously posted about Napa Wood Fired Pizza on South Clinton Avenue, and I've been impressed with their pizzas. Wood-fired pizza has become trendy in recent years, and when that happens, people tend to jump in, thinking it's a good way to make a buck, without necessarily knowing what they're doing. With wood-fired pizza, what happens all too often is that either they don't take advantage of the high heat afforded by a wood-fired oven, so that the pizza comes out with a soft and pale crust, or they go over the top, turning out burnt pizza that they assure their customers is the way wood-fired pizza is "supposed to be."
The South Clinton location of Napa, in my experience, gets it right. The crust is crisp, and charred in spots, yet still pliable, with the flavor of baked - not just burnt - dough.
On a recent visit with two friends, I got Napa's Diavola pizza, with house-made red sauce, crushed red pepper, roasted red peppers, spinach, and a blend of Mozzarella and Provolone cheeses (the "Napa cheese blend," on the menu), finished with house-made garlic oil. One of my companions ordered the Cuban pizza, topped with BBQ sauce, pulled pork, ham, dill pickles, Mozzarella and Provolone, and finished with fried onions, while the third member of our group got the "Tasty," with pepperoni, sweet sausage, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, Mozzarella and Provolone.
All three were nicely cooked. The undersides were charred, in spots yet evenly, and I would not describe any of the crusts as burnt. (By the way, is it "burnt" or "burned"? Here's one take on that question.) The crusts were thin and pliable, yet crisp, and in short, were pretty close to what I expect, or hope for, from a wood-fired pizzeria.
I would also note, in that regard, that the charring here wasn't just along the edges. I've had wood-fired pizza that is relatively pale underneath, but charred along its circumference. I think what happens there is that the oven floor is not all that hot, but by getting the pizza close to the flames, the pizzaiolo can achieve some charring along the edge. That's fine, as far as it goes, but I'd prefer to see charring underneath, which means that the whole crust - not just the edge - got the benefit of the wood fire's heat.
The toppings? No complaints there. Napa offers a dizzying array of 32 pizzas, as well as 35 toppings if you want to go the create-your-own route, so the possibilities are, if not endless, virtually so. My Diavola had just enough peppery heat to excite my taste buds. The Tasty was, well, tasty, and though I found the Cuban a bit overloaded, that's not the kind of topping-heavy pizza I would have ordered in the first place. But if you like a well-topped pizza, or unusual toppings, you'll almost certainly find something to satisfy your tastes on Napa's menu.
Following our meal, I stopped by Napa's kitchen, located just off the dining room/bar area near the patio, and spoke for a few moments with the pizzaiola, Bridgette. She informed me that Napa uses a 100% wood-fired oven, with no "assist" from natural gas or any other fuel source. For that reason, the fire is kept going, 24/7 - each morning, the embers are stoked, and give birth to a new fire for that day.
The oven temperature is typically somewhere in the mid 600s. That's hotter than what's achievable in the typical home oven, but not outrageously hot, and from the results, it's obviously hot enough to yield a nicely charred pizza.
I'll defer to the experts, but I sometimes wonder if the quest for hotter and hotter pizza ovens, and shorter and shorter cooking times, doesn't result from the same kind of peculiarly American, more-is-better mindset that's given us inedibly hot pepper sauces and mouth-puckeringly bitter microbrews with alcohol levels that often exceed that of wine. As a home pizza baker, it's nice to know that it's quite possible to achieve excellent results at temperatures well below that of the surface of the sun. (On that score, check out this video of a very nicely charred pizza made in a conventional - though no doubt expensive - home oven by no-knead guru Jim Lahey.)
At some point, I think I need to make a return visit to Napa's sister location in Fairport. I reviewed a pizza from there once before - and wasn't terribly impressed - but a revisit is in order. I can only hope they're comparable to the pizzas turned out by the South Clinton Napa, which, based on my experience, I'd say are among the city's best. I'll give these pies an A.
Napa Wood Fired Pizzeria, 573 S. Clinton Ave.
232-8558
Sun. - Thu. noon - 9 p.m., Fri. & Sat. noon - 10 p.m.

There are a number of restaurants around town that offer pizza, but that aren't the kind of places you go to to get a pizza to go. Those tend to take me longer to get to, since I can't just get one at lunchtime or on the way home. But I do try to get to them when I can.
One such place is Otto Tommoto's in Victor. When I first heard about it, I assumed it was a chain restaurant. Something about the cutesy name, I guess. But it's not. It's an independent Italian restaurant, in a strip plaza on Rt. 96, a little east of Victor.
I had dinner there recently with my wife. Pizzas were listed as an appetizer, so I got one as such, although I could've easily made it my entree. With a pasta entree, another shared appetizer that my wife ordered, and a salad (which also proved to be superfluous, given the greens on my pizza), I had way too much food, and ended up taking some of the pizza home.
Otto's has five grilled pizzas on the menu - the original (basically a red-sauce pizza with four cheeses), a mushroom pizza, a "Tuscan Grill" pizza with olives, veggies, herbs and truffle oil, a clam pie, and a zucchini-crusted pie with veggie toppings.
Ordinarily I'd go for the most basic option, but the zucchini-crusted pie was the winner of Otto's 2011 Wooden Spoon Scholarship competition, submitted by Michael Piccone of the Finger Lakes Technical Career Center. Every purchase of this pizza adds another dollar to next year's scholarship fund. And it sounded pretty good, with a grilled pizza crust infused with shredded zucchini, and topped with sun-dried tomato pesto, Kalamata olives, Roma tomatoes (which are somewhat annoyingly, to me, spelled "tomottos" throughout the menu), Feta cheese and roasted peppers. So that's what I got.
The crust was soft, and reminiscent of pita bread. But it was enjoyable - I have nothing against pita bread - and had some added flavor imparted by the grilling, which was evident from the marks underneath. I didn't particularly notice any presence of the zucchini "infused" into the crust, but that's kind of how it is with zuccini. I mean, zucchini bread doesn't sound that great to me, but it's OK because it doesn't really taste like zucchini. Zucchini just seems to blend into dough without adding a lot of flavor or texture. It did leave me wondering, though, what Otto's regular, non-zucchini-infused crust is like.
With all the toppings on this pizza, it was a pretty "busy" pie, but the toppings worked well together, even if the total effect wasn't quite as flavorful as I'd expected. It was almost like a salad atop a grilled flatbread, but I enjoyed it well enough.
And I did like the restaurant in general. I should mention that our other appetizer, "Otto chips" (bottom photo) were downright addictive. These were homemade potato chips topped with roasted red peppers, scallions, Alfredo sauce, bacon, olives and Asiago cheese. As the menu says, they're essentially "Italian nachos." Not exactly diet food, but delicious.
And I must also mention that the service was good. It was good throughout our meal, but what stood out was that at the end of our meal, our server asked if my wife's entree was all right, since she left a lot of it on the plate. When my wife said that she wasn't thrilled with it, our server took it back to the kitchen, and emerged to say that it had been taken off our bill. That's good service, and I appreciated that.
This is one of those places I'd go back to, but probably not for the pizza. I am kind of curious about their regular pizza crust, but there are other things on the menu I'd like to try, and overall I was well pleased with the restaurant. This pizza was so different from conventional pizza - and it was pretty accurately described on the menu - that I don't think it would be fair to rate it. I will say that it's not a bad option, but there are other items on the menu that I'd probably opt for next time.
Otto Tomotto's, 300 Phoenix Mills Plaza, Route 96, Victor, NY
Tel.: 585-742-2070Hours:  Tue. - Thu. 11:30 - 9 p.m., Fri. 11:30 - 10 p.m., Sat. 4 - 10 p.m., Sun. noon - 8 p.m.

Two years ago (wow - has it been that long?) I did a post on Romeo's in Greece, where I tried a Margherita pizza. The crust wasn't quite as crisp as I would've liked from a wood-fired oven, but it was good enough to rate a B.
I've been back since, with friends, one of whom got a pepperoni pizza. I opted for pasta, but I got to sample the pizza.
This had a surprisingly thick crust for a wood-fired pizza, although that was partly owing to my companion who ordered it. She could've opted for a thinner crust, but went with a "regular" thick crust, which is probably more in line with what people are used to on Rochester's West side, which is a bastion of traditional Italian-American food.
In a nutshell, the flavor was good, but, for my taste, the crust was a little soft. There was a generous amount of sauce, which had a very tomatoey, slightly herbal flavor. It was topped by well-melted, slightly gooey mozzarella, and tasty, crisp slices of pepperoni.
So far, so good. But the crust - to go with Romeo's golf-themed menu terminology, a holdover from its former incarnation as Bogey's Woodfired Grill - was not quite up to par. It tasted all right, but it was rather soft underneath. Now that might be fine with some people, but it was also slightly gummy where the dough met the sauce, and to me that's a no-no. It wasn't terribly gummy, mind you, but a little.
This was a well-balanced pizza, with crust, sauce and cheese in good proportion to each other, but I think this was a case were less might've been more. If they had simply scaled back on everything, the crust might've been crisper, without that gumminess that results when liquid from the sauce strts to dissolve the dough before it gets a chance to cook.
Still, that was the only real flaw here, it was, as I said, attributable in part to what was ordered, and otherwise the pizza was pretty good. I don't see any reason to depart from my previous "B" grade for Romeo's.
Romeo’s Restaurant & Bistro, 2500 Ridgeway Ave.
Tel. 342-9340
Mon.-Wed. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Thu. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 4 p.m. - 8 p.m. (Bar opens at noon on Sundays, stays open every night till ?)

It's not uncommon at Greek or Near Eastern restaurants to see some variant of pizza on the menu, usually involving pita bread. Despite - in fact, because of - my love for pizza, I typically don't order those. If I want pizza, I'll go to a pizzeria. If I'm at a Greek restaurant, then I generally want more traditional fare like souvlaki or a gyro. (Now for all I know, the Greeks may have been eating pizza-like flatbreads for thousands of years, but I'm talking about traditional American-style Greek food, or what most Americans think of when they think of Greek food.)
But on a recent visit to Sinbad's on Park Avenue, I decided to break from my usual routine and try one of their "pitzas." There are eight on the menu, and several of them did sound tempting. Hot sauce or peppers are usually the clincher for me, though, so I went with the "Ganbari" pitza, which the menu described as topped with "our hot sauce as a base, with shrimp, spinach leaves, roasted pep­per, arti­choke hearts and parme­san cheese."
It was a good choice. Not terribly spicy (though I've built up quite a tolerance for spicy-hot foods over the years), but very tasty indeed. The mélange of flavors worked quite well, as the toppings complemented rather than clashed with each other. And while the toppings were laid on pretty generously, there wasn't so much going on here as to overwhelm my taste buds or to turn into a mismatched mishmash (try saying that three times fast). The savory, peppery shrimp played off the tart artichoke hearts (kudos for the absence of hard, unchewable artichoke leaves) and the sharp grated Parmesan, with the roasted red pepper slices and wilted spinach leaves adding some welcome, subtle background flavor.
And I must say that I liked the crust as well. I was afraid that it might either be brittle and crackerlike, or simply like an ordinary pita, soft and chewy. This was crisp but not brittle, and a bit bready as well. Judged purely as a pizza crust, I might not give it exceptionally high marks, but for what this was - a flatbread-like hybrid between a pita and a pizza crust - it was pretty good.
The fact remains, this wasn't a traditional pizza, so I'm not going to give it a rating. If you really want pizza, I don't think you'd go to Sinbad's to get it. But it was pretty good. And you may want to check out some of the other "pitzas," like the "Sultan's," with tahini, char­broiled beef and lamb, onions, pep­per rings, toma­toes, feta and pars­ley, or the "Ali Baba," with gar­lic sauce, toma­toes, char­broiled egg­plant, feta, olives and pars­ley. And there are plenty of other dishes to choose from - I've been going to Sinbad's for years, as I've always enjoyed their various Mediterranean dishes.
Sinbad's, 719 Park Ave, Rochester NY 14607
Tel.: 473-8270
Hours: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily

I've long been familiar with Rubino's, going back to when they had a location at the Midtown Plaza food court. I always thought they made pretty good subs, but Midtown's only a memory, and in recent years I kind of stopped paying attention to Rubino's. I think they also had a small place on State Street across from Kodak for a while, but that's gone too, and since I started this blog my sub consumption has declined precipitously.
So I owe some thanks to the reader who recently informed me that Rubino's has a place in Webster that serves pizza. Come to find out, their other locations do too, according to the menu on their website, but Webster's the one that I checked out.
I ordered a medium pepperoni pizza to go (the photos were taken immediately after I got it, so it was still fresh and hot). It had a thin to medium crust, with a soft pale bottom. It was a little doughy, and just a bit crisp along the edge. As is often the case with soft-crusted pizzas, I liked the crisp edge better than the soft middle.
The crust was topped by a thin layer of sauce, which had some herbal flavor, but was nonetheless on the bland side. The melted mozzarella was a little chewy and easily separated from the crust.
I haven't been to any of the other Rubino's, but the one in Webster is, I believe, unique among them in that it includes a sports bar. The atmosphere, at lunch anyway, was more deli than bar, and they close at 8 p.m., so it's not a place to go hang out all night, but the bar and numerous HDTVs make it a good option for watching a daytime or late-afternoon game over a cold pint and a pizza.
Or more likely, a sub. Rubino's is still primarily a deli, not a pizzeria, as one look at their menu confirms. It's dominated by the subs, which are far too numerous to list here, but they've got as wide a variety of hot and cold subs as you'll find in the area. And prices include up to seven toppings of your choice. I'm particularly intrigued by the "garlic subs" - which I guess means on a toasted, garlic-bread style roll. They also offer panini, pasta and salads.
The pizza? Well, it was OK. Not great, but good enough. But the subs are a better option here, and for pizza I'd probably go elsewhere. I'll give the pizza a C-minus.
Rubino's Italian Submarines and Sports Pub, 44 E. Main St., Webster
Tel.: 265-0870
Mon. - Sat. 10 a.m. -8 p.m.
Other locations at 343 East Ave. and 1659 Mt. Hope Ave. in Rochester, and 349 W. Commercial St. in East Rochester

Rochester has an embarrassment of riches where Italian restaurants are concerned, with everything from old school, "red sauce" places to higher-end establishments that aim to take Italian food to the level of high art.
Mario's on Monroe Avenue falls somewhere in the middle, with items ranging from spaghetti and meatballs to pricier fare like osso bucco and cioppino, with a touch of steakhouse on the menu as well.
And pizza, which is what drew me here on a recent weeknight for dinner. Although it's listed under antipasti on the menu, I made an entree out of Mario's Margherita pizza, which is described as a "crispy thin crust stone oven style, [with] fresh tomatoes [and] fresh buffalo mozzarella."
The thin-to-medium crust was pale on the bottom, with some faint markings that could've been from a grill or other cooking surface. The edge was dry and crunchy, but the rest of the crust was lifeless, with little evidence of yeast activity, and a doughy flavor. I wondered if Mario's uses frozen crusts.
The slices of fresh mozzarella were evenly distributed, spoke-fashion, around the pizza, and were nicely melted, with a smooth, creamy texture. Although not mentioned on the menu, there was also a layer of what appeared to be low-moisture, processed mozzarella underneath. It was rather dry and didn't add a whole lot of flavor or texture.
Between the two layers of cheese were some thick slices of fresh tomato. Unfortunately these were quite bland, contributing little other than color. Some shredded basil, which appeared to have been added after the pizza came out of the often, added some complexity to the overall flavor profile, though most of it had been piled onto one side of the pie.
Overall, this pizza tasted all right, though it was a bit on the bland side. I was glad that I accepted my server's offer of some grated Parmesan.
But the biggest problem was the crust. It just had nothing going for it, in terms of flavor, texture or otherwise. That was disappointing, given the menu's reference to the crust being "stone oven style" (I'm not sure what stone oven "style" means, but it sounded promising.)
It was doubly disappointing because Mario's other food seemed pretty good. I only had a salad, in addition to my pizza, but I couldn't help stealing a few glances at my neighbors' plates, which looked quite appetizing, and for much of my meal I was treated to a wonderful aroma that I'm guessing came from Mario's grilled steaks (I meant to ask my server if she could identify it for me, but I forgot).
So while I would put Mario's on my mental list of places to revisit, I can't recommend it for the pizza alone. If they are using frozen crusts, well, not much you can do to improve those. But if they are using fresh dough, it seems to me it needs to rise a little longer, and be baked at higher temperatures, because this wasn't that great. I'll give it a C-minus.
Mario's Italian Steakhouse and Catering, 2740 Monroe Ave.
Tel.: 271-1111
Winter hours (Nov. 1 - April 30): Mon. - Thu. 5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m., Fri. 5 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., Sat. 4 p.m. - 10:30 p.m., Sun. brunch 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., dinner 4:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Summer hours (May 1 - Oct. 31): Mon. - Thu. 5 p.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. 5 p.m. - 11 p.m., Sat. 4 p.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. brunch 10 a.m. - 3 p.m., dinner 4:30 p.m. - 9 p.m.

While pizzerias are easy enough to find, there's plenty of pizza out there at local restaurants, where you wouldn't necessarily expect to find it. One such place is Towpath Cafe in Fairport.
This location was formerly Fairport Village Coffee, and like that establishment, Towpath Cafe features coffee, wine, and live music. But it's added pizza to its menu, which I don't think was offered in its previous incarnation.
The pizza, which is described as "fire grilled," comes in five varieties, which I'll let you read on the Cafe's menu. As I often do, I went with the "Margarita," which is topped with "garlic & oil, tomatoes bruschetta, mozzarella and fresh basil."'
My pizza had a very crisp crust that was on the thin side of medium. The outer edge was crunchy and a bit oily on the surface, with some interior chewiness. The underside bore prominent grill marks.
The menu's use of the term "tomatoes bruschetta" is a fairly apt description. This reminded me of bruschetta, the name of which comes from the Italian "bruscare," which means "to roast over coals," a reference to the bread, which is typically drizzled with olive oil and grilled, and topped with tomatoes, garlic, basil or other toppings. This was topped with finely diced tomato, bits of chopped garlic, and flakes of basil, on a bed of stringy, chewy cheese. I found the overall flavor quite good, with some herbs in the background. The tomatoes weren't fantastic, but they did have some tomatoey sweetness, which puts them ahead of a lot of fresh tomatoes around here at this time of year.
Besides pizza, Towpath Cafe offers burgers, paninis, wraps, and salads. The atmosphere is laid back and casual, kind of a cross between a coffee house and a restaurant, with outdoor seating overlooking the canal in the warm months.
This was decent pizza. It had a pretty good overall flavor, and the crust wasn't bad, with a bit of external crunch and some grilled toastiness. And importantly, it was distinctive. I'll give it a B-minus.
Towpath Cafe, 6 N. Main St., Fairport, 14580
Tel. 377-0410

Mon. - Thu. 8 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 8 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sun. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

I'd driven by Hugo's Italian Bistro in Henrietta once or twice, but only recently did I learn that they were serving pizza. That's probably because until this past October it was known as Hugo's Market Cafe, which, I think, didn't serve pizza.
So the other day I made it there with some friends, one of whom got a pizza, so I was able to sample hers as well as mine.
I was torn between the Margherita ("homemade pizza sauce topped with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, basil and oregano") for $8.59, and the Traditional ("fresh made red pizza sauce with mozzarella, oregano, basil and pecorino Romano and the choice of one topping") for $7.59.  I ended up going with the latter, with the addition of roasted garlic and green olives. One of my friends also got a Greca pizza, topped with "a blend of pesto and red sauce, mozzarella, roasted red peppers, fresh roasted garlic, kalamata olives, oregano and basil topped with feta cheese."
Each of our pizzas was about the size of a dinner plate. The crust was on the thin side, golden brown underneath, and medium firm on the surface. The slices were quite pliable and easily foldable.
Both pizzas tasted good, although I have to give the edge to my friend's Greca for overall flavor. I didn't pick up a whole lot of flavor from the sauce on my pie, and the mozzarella cheese dominated. The cheese lent the pizza a bit of tanginess, and the salty olives and the garlic were welcome additions to what otherwise would have been a lackluster pizza, due to the relatively soft crust.
The Greca had the same crust, but more flavor. I'm always wary of feta cheese on pizza, because it can so easily dominate a pie, but this was well balanced, with the slightly sweet peppers, savory olives, herbs and garlic acting as a counterweight to the sharp, salty feta. I actually liked it better than mine, which seemed a bit boring by comparison.
Hugo's other pizza offerings include a bianca, with olive oil, roasted garlic, oregano, basil, Romano and a topping of your choice, and a verde, with pesto sauce, roasted garlic, mozzarella, baby spinach, Ricotta, basil, oregano, Romano, and Gorgonzola. But it's far from just a pizza place, with a wide variety of Italian dishes on the menu (unfortunately I don't have their full menu handy and it looks as if their website isn't entirely up and running just now, so I can't go into detail about the menu). There's also a full bar on one side of the dining room.
I really liked the flavor of these pizzas. And although some of the pizzas on the menu sound rather "busy," with lots of toppings, Hugo's seems to know how to use combinations that work well, and to use enough restraint that the pie doesn't get overwhelmed with the toppings.
I was less impressed with the crust. It wasn't bad, but it was only what I'd call serviceable. It got the job done, to act as a base for the toppings, but it wasn't very crisp or bready, and lacked the subtle complexities of flavor, aroma and texture that make for a great pizza crust. That's often the case with restaurant pizza - I suspect the ovens have a lot to do with it - and it was the case here. So all in all, good, and good enough to order again, but not quite great. I'll give these a B-minus.
Hugo's Italian Bistro, 3259 S. Winton Rd.
Tel.: 427-0540
Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m.

I recently had occasion to stop in Batavia, and took the opportunity to check out Pauly's Pizza.
When I stopped in around noon, there were plenty of slices available, but pepperoni was about the only choice. There may have been a cheese pie in there somewhere but pepperoni seemed like the way to go. Always best to go with a high-turnover choice when you're getting slices.
My two slices had a thin-to-medium crust, with a considerably thicker edge. The underside was dry, not oily, nicely browned, and lightly dusted with corn meal. The slices were soft enough to be folded, with a little exterior crunch, and a bit of interior breadiness as well. Which means it was a pretty good crust.
These slices had a "heavy" feel to them - in other words, they felt heavier than I expected them to, from their appearance. The crust wasn't particularly dense, so I think that was mostly due to the generous layer of cheese, and to some extent the sauce as well. The pepperoni wasn't applied in abundance, but these were cheesy, saucy slices.
The cheese - which Pauly's stressing is "100% high quality REAL cheese," seemed to be all mozzarella. It was uniformly applied and melted to just short of browning. A few flecks of dried herbs were visible, and tasteable (which is a word) in the sauce.
Pauly's (which has one of the busiest - and I'm not talking about web traffic - websites I've seen) offers 17 pizza toppings, and six specialty pizzas, plus a substantial menu of wings, subs, ribs, pasta, and more. Beer and wine are available.
This was good, well-made pizza. Decent crust, generous but not overloaded toppings, and good flavor. I'm not going to say it was head and shoulders above other pizzerias around here, so I'm not giving it an A, but it was above average, and without any real flaws to speak of, so I'll give it a B+.
Pauly's Pizza, 314 Ellicott Street, Batavia
Phone:  (585) 343-3100
Also 9980 Main St., Clarence. (716) 759-7700
Open from 11:00 a.m. daily

During my recent mini-tour of Rochester pizzerias with fellow pizza blogger "Lapp" from WorstPizza.com, one of our stops was Tony D's in Corn Hill.
I've done a couple of posts now about Tony D's, the most recent being this past April. But I knew there were more pizzas on the menu that I wanted to try, so when Lapp mentioned that somebody had recommended Tony D's to him, I happily seconded the idea.
As things turned out, I made no further progress on the menu, though. As I was perusing said menu while sitting at the bar overlooking the open kitchen, a freshly made pie was briefly placed on a tray next to me, before being whisked off to a customer's table.
Sometimes when you're eating out, you see a dish, and you think, "That's what I'm getting." (Which is far preferable to seeing it after you've already gotten your food, and you think, "That's what I should have ordered.") This was one of those times. This pie looked simple but delicious.
I was able to corral a nearby server and found out that the pizza in question was that night's special, a tomato pie with sun-dried tomatoes, Romano and basil. It had sounded promising when our own server told us about it, but seeing one up close clinched it.
Lapp chose a 10-inch pie for his dinner (check out his review of his pie here), but I went with the large, which is 14 inches in diameter. But I didn't have to fly home the next day, so I knew I could take any leftovers home without much difficulty.
My pie tasted as good as I expected. It wasn't all that much different from Tony D's Margherita pizza, perhaps a bit more tomatoey, with a sharper cheese flavor, but overall there was a good balance among the tomatoes, cheese, basil and crust.
As for that crust - visually, it bore all the hallmarks of a great, crisp crust from a super-hot oven, with charring along the edge and underneath. In fact, in some spots on the bottom, the outer surface of the crust was charred right through (see bottom photo). And it did have a certain smokiness to it.
So it was a surprise to find that the crust was really quite soft. It wasn't mushy or spongy or anything like that, it was just not at all crisp.
Now before I go criticizing Tony D's about things I don't really understand, let me say that I have read that pizzas in Naples typically have a soft, pliable crust. It mostly has to do with the flour they use, which is relatively low in protein. Clearly heat wasn't the issue here, so it seems to me that it must indeed be the dough that resulted in this soft, pliable crust.
Technical matters aside, then, this crust may not be far off from "authentic" Neapolitan pizza. But for me there was still a bit of a disconnect between the appearance of the crust and its texture.
I must admit, though, that I prefer a crisp crust. And I guess I also expect to get a crisp crust from a place with a coal-fired oven (actually they were using both coal and wood on my visit, but no matter), which conjures up images of old-time pizzerias in New York City, with crusts that crackle a bit when you bite into them.
So that's where rating a pizza gets tough. I don't want to downgrade this pizza purely because of my subjective preferences, but it's hard to completely put those preferences aside.
I've given Tony D's an A-minus before, and I think I'll stick with that. As I've said in the past, the grades are no more than a rough guideline, and readers should focus on my descriptions to decide if they think they'd like the pizza at a given establishment. If I thought that Tony D's had been striving for something else here, but fell short of the mark, I'd lower the grade, but as far as I can tell, they simply use a dough that bakes up rather soft. I've downgraded places for soft crusts before, but generally only if the crust was greasy, spongy, or had some other defects. So with the caveat that Tony D's serves up a soft-crusted, but well-charred pizza, I'll again give it an A-minus rating.
I do have one thing to add, though.This 14-inch pie cost $18, while Lapp's 10-inch pie, with custom-ordered toppings, was less than half that amount, at $8. If you're going by surface area, his pie was a little over half the size of mine, and unless sun-dried tomatoes are more expensive than I thought, mine seemed pretty pricey. Cost doesn't figure into my grades, but I think it's worth making readers aware that if cost is an issue, ordering your toppings a la carte may save you a dollar or two.
Tony D's, 288 Exchange Blvd. 14608
Tel. 340-6200
Hours:  Sun.  4 - 10 p.m., Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Fri. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Sat. 4 - 11 p.m.

Park Point, the retail / residential development that opened a few years ago at RIT, has several dining choices available, including a full-fledged pizzeria, Paradiso.
But Paradiso is not the only place at Park Point where it's possible for a person to purchase pizza (how's that for alliteration?). Pizza's also on the menu at Lovin' Cup, a restaurant / bar / coffeehouse that features several personal-size pies on its menu. I had lunch there recently.
Though I really dislike cutesey names for dishes, I sucked it up and ordered a "Stroll Around the Moon," which is a Margherita in everything but name.
Before I get to the pizza, I must digress for a moment to say that I've no idea where they came up with the name for this pizza. A lot of menu items at Lovin' Cup - which itself is named after a Rolling Stones song - are taken from popular music, like the "Blue Suede Shoes" pizza and the "White Rabbit" burger (which is not made with rabbit meat, by the way). But googling "Stroll Around the Moon" did not turn up any songs of that name; the closest I got was "Circling Around the Moon" by John Mellencamp, "Walking on the Moon" by the Police, and several variations of  "Ring (or Rings) Around the Moon," by a number of artists.
At any rate, my pizza (which I will henceforth refer to as a Margherita) had a thin-to-medium thick crust, which was a little charred here and there underneath. It was very firm, and quite crunchy along the edge.
This is strictly my subjective impression, but to me there was something about this crust that seemed pre-made. Probably it was that firmness - the slices weren't really supple at all, and though they were a little chewy on the inside, they lacked the fresh-bread aroma and texture that marks what I consider a great pizza crust.
The crust seemed to have been given a light coating of olive oil, atop of which lay finely diced tomatoes, thinly shredded basil, and a layer of melted mozzarella. The menu describes the cheese on this pie as fresh mozzarella - the only pizza here given that "fresh" designation - and it was good cheese, with a smooth, creamy texture, but it was not the bright white fresh mozzarella that's typically applied in sliced rounds. It was beautifully melted but was gooier and spread more uniformly across the pizza than the fresh mozzarella I'm used to seeing. Maybe I just need to learn more about the different kinds of mozzarella.
Overall, this pizza was pretty flavorful, with a certain tanginess and a prominent flavor of basil. I frankly wasn't thrilled with the crust, but my impression was that the pizzas here are more about the toppings than the crust.
Lovin' Cup is a good-sized place, with a large dining area and a full bar, which features a well-chosen, oft-changing selection of microbrews. The rest of the food menu runs toward soups, salads, and hot and cold sandwiches, and there's a wide variety of coffee drinks available. I liked the place; the pizza, well, it had its ups (good cheese, good flavor, albeit a bit heavy on the basil) and downs (stiff, lifeless crust), which kind of cancel each other out, so I'll give it a right-down-the-middle C.
Lovin' Cup Bistro & Brews, 300 Park Point Dr. Suite 101 (at RIT).
Tel.: 292-9940
Hours:  Mon. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Tue. & Wed. 11 a.m. - midnight, Thu. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 2 a.m., Sun. noon - 10 p.m.

I'm not sure what or who first alerted me to this, but some time ago I discovered that the Argyle Grill at Eagle Vale golf course has pizza on its menu. So I made a point to go there, and I eventually did, on a lunch date with friends.
I opted for the "Margarita," and one of my friends got a pizza as well - the "Argyle Classic." The menu described the latter as having a thick crust, so I asked if that meant that the Margarita was not thick, but our server informed me that all the pizzas here are made with the same thick crust.
Our pizzas arrived, nicely presented, arranged in two rows of wedges on our plates. The crusts were indeed thick, and were reminiscent of French bread pizza. They had a crunchy exterior and a golden brown underside.
The Margarita (I'll defer to their spelling) was, even apart from the thick crust, nontraditional, topped with roasted tomatoes, pinenuts, balsamic vinegar and oil, greens, and dried basil, as well as a lot of melted mozzarella. It was not my idea of a Margherita, which is usually topped with nothing but fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and basil, but it was tasty and enjoyable, and the flavors worked well together.
My friend's Argyle Classic was topped with tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni and sausage. There was quite a bit of sauce, though that was appropriate for the thick crust. It tasted fine, though compared with my Margarita it seemed a little uninteresting.
Argyle Grill's other pizza options include a "Chicago Classic" and a Buffalo chicken pizza. I apologize for my failure to jot down the components of a Chicago Classic. But as I mentioned, all the pizzas come on the same, French-bread type crust.
Interestingly, the Glengarry Inn, a more formal restaurant at Eagle Vale that is open for dinner only, also offers pizza, but it sounds like a different sort altogether - the website describes it as "brick oven pizza," and the toppings are different from the Argyle Grill's pizzas. So I'll have to make a trip here some evening if I want to try those.
While these weren't exactly what I'd expected, or necessarily hoped for, they weren't bad. Leaving aside memories of frozen French bread pizza, the crust had a nice crunch, and though it was a bit dry inside, it provided a reasonably good base for the tasty toppings. At the same time, I should mention that my second friend's "Tuscan" panini, which I got a taste of, was very good, and huge to boot. If I return, I'd probably opt for that over the pizza.
This is a hard pizza to rate, as it was rather unlike just about any other pizza I've had around here. That alone gets is some points from me. But this wouldn't be a default option for me, either. I'm going to peg it at just above average, and give it a C+.
Argyle Grill at Eagle Vale, 4344 Nine Mile Point Rd., Fairport. 377-5200
Mon. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sun.: noon - 8 p.m. Closed Mondays December through March. Opens at 4 p.m. on Sundays February & March.