Othello's of Edmond

On the recommendation of one of our twitter followers, we went to Othello's in Edmond. One of the biggest draws for us was the fact that on Sundays they offer half price pizzas. Turns out that it's half off on only the first two pizzas. And the cheapest two pizzas. Ryan learned this the hard way. Oh, and adding pine nuts, basil, and sun-dried tomatoes to smashed avacados does not make guacamole.

What other lessons did we learn?

The Cheese Pizza
The hand-tossed crust was uneven in thickness, with a sprinkling of both corn meal and flour on the bottom. Because it did not have a consistent thickness, the crust was unevenly cooked, sometimes with being hard and crackery and in other places being soft and bready. Taste-wise, it was fairly bland. The sauce was a similar story. Distribution problems plagued the pizza to the point of almost no sauce on areas to giant pools of it other places. Sometimes it left a good crust handle, and others it went clear to the edge. Flavor-wise, the sauce was sweet but bland, with no herbage and very little tomato flavor. There was a sprinkling of oregano over the cheese, but it was too little too late. The cheese was the breakout star in this pizza, but never got far from being a one hit wonder.

The Pepperoni Pizza
This was essentially the same as the cheese pizza, with the same problems, but with the addition of bland pepperoni slices. The pepperoni were honestly some of the most bland we've had. The best that could be said about these pizzas is that they are very kid friendly and 'safe'.

Ryan's 'Thousand Dollar' Pizza
This was a custom pizza with Alfredo sauce ($3.95), Italian sausage ($3.95), sun-dried tomatoes ($1.75), and fresh basil ($1.00). No, it didn't actually cost a thousand dollars, but at $24, it was the single most expensive pizza we've ordered. The crust was cooked perfectly and the cheese was much more bountiful than on the other pizzas. The Alfredo sauce was rich and creamy without being too heavy. Individually, the toppings were fantastic, and they worked together extremely well. The one point of contention is that some of the slices were so huge they were unwieldy. The fact that this pizza came out of the same place at the same time as the others blew our mind.

One of the most interesting things about eating at Othello's tonight was the how fundamentally different the standard pizzas came out compared to the custom pizza. It really would have been nice to have photographic evidence, but you'll have to take our word for it. The pepperoni and cheese pizzas had irregular crust and sauce that was just haphazardly thrown on. Again, there were several instances where the sauce covered the crust all the way to the edge. It was almost as if there were two people making pizzas in the back, one who cared and one who didn't.

Something we had to keep repeating to ourselves as we ate at Othello's was that it's not really a pizza place, but rather an Italian restaurant that also makes pizzas. From what we hear, the pasta is the big draw to Othello's, and if their Alfredo sauce is any indication, than it's a good bet. But if you do go for pizza, go on a Sunday and have fun making your own pizza, it'll be worth it.