New World Pizza

Sauced

2010-08-17T12:34:00.000-07:00

This week we finally had schedules that synced up, and so, loyal readers, we were able to once again sacrifice our bodies and our health for your edification and education. After weeks of abstaining from our favorite food, we hungered for a truly adventurous pizza. And so this week we chose Sauced because after we write these pizza reviews, we tend to get that way. So, was the adventure as good as the name?

The Cheese Pizza
First things first, the pizza slices at Sauced are absolutely humongous. We’d say a single piece is about the same size as most personal pan pizzas. Granted, the slices here are quite thin, but still, they’re massive. Anyway, with the cheese pizza, we ordered by the slice. The crust on all of Sauced’s pizzas is a New York style crust which tastes similar to toasted white bread. Because of how large the pieces are, folding the slices is the most effective method of eating it. But once you do this, the crust overwhelms everything else. The sauce was tangy, but they were a little stingy with it. The cheese was your standard, nondescript mozzarella. When you order by the slice at Sauced, they rebake the slice (with any topping additions you may want), and it comes out just a little overdone.

The Pepperoni Pizza
This time we ordered a whole pizza, which is honestly the way to go. The crust was still a bit crunchy, but less overdone. This time they were more generous with the sauce, which helped immensely. The pepperoni themselves were of the high grease, low flavor variety.

The Sausage Pizza
We had initially tried to order this as a pesto pizza with artichoke hearts, sausage, and fresh parmesan, but to our great disappointment they were out of pesto and artichokes. The crust on this pizza was a bit unevenly cooked, almost as if part of it slid off the pan when they were putting it into the oven. The sausage was quite tasty, and they put plenty of it on the pizza.

What Sauced lacks in the pizza department, it makes up in character. The atmosphere was very relaxed, and it isn’t too hard to imagine taking advantage of their late night hours and spending an enjoyable evening on the patio getting into ridiculous conversations about the musical legacy of bands like Kraftwerk or the visionary artistry of Baz Luhrman. We didn’t get a chance to try their coffee (the mild 90-degree weather was still a little too hot for drinking a cup for reasons other than to wake up), but it’s definitely something we look forward to.

Italia Express

2010-07-16T10:24:00.000-07:00

With our hectic schedule of late, we decided to make up for not reviewing anything on Sunday by hitting up Italia Express on 122 and MacArthur. A regional chain, Italia Express also has a location in Penn Square Mall and lots of stores in Texas. But we're getting a bit tired of the usual review format, so today we thought we'd spice things up.

The Cheese Pizza:
Crust of sour dough,
the cheese could be flavorful.
Sauce is barely there.

The Pepperoni Pizza:
Not like its brother,
spicy grease melts in cheese.
Tube meat saves the day.

The Chicken Pruscuitto Alfredo Pizza:
Chopped up flesh of fowl.
Creamy sauce rich and tasty.
I think it needs salt.

So, in all seriousness (ha!), hit the jump for a slightly longer review.

The Cheese Pizza
The sourdough crust was a nice change of pace from our standard crust. While not terribly innovative, it did make the pizza better. The sauce on the pizza was a typical, plain Jane, run of the mill sauces, whose biggest problem was the lack of quantity. The cheese was very bland, but not in an entirely off putting kind of way. It was very much the highest quality cheapest cheese scenario, or at least we think so. It's like being the skinniest kid in fat camp.

The Pepperoni Pizza
The least fun part about the weekly (mostly) reviews are the pepperoni reviews. Too often it reads out 'like the cheese, just with pepperoni'. This is no such situation. If the cheese tasted like a has been, this was definitely '68 comeback special Elvis. Somehow the pepperoni transformed the weak, simple cheese pizza and imbued the powers of pizzaz! It seems the grease, which is usually the enemy, seeped through to everywhere else in the pizza and fixed what it was lacking. While we're not saying it's the greatest pepperoni pizza out there, it's still worth a taste.

The Chicken Pruscuitto Alfredo Pizza
This pizza had everything the title promises! The sauce was the big star, but like Johnny Depp, almost too rich. The weirdest part of this pizza was the lack of salt. Not to say that we want a salty pizza, but when your promised pruscuitto, you expect a slight salty taste. Here, the pruscuitto bits barely contributed any flavor, let alone any saltiness to balance out the rich and creamy Alfredo sauce.

Dan's Pizza

2010-06-28T00:00:00.000-07:00

To our faithful readers, you may have noticed that we have posted pretty much weekly since the inception of this blog. You may also have noticed that for the past two weeks we have posted nothing. Why? We accidentally went on an Odyssey. In the last two weeks we survived eight rounds of International Bear Fighting, a great flood, hours and hours of being pestered by radio personalities, at one point we thought Ryan had been turned into a toad (he got better), and sought a great fortune, which led us down a road of great peril, which eventually led us to our salvation: Pizza.

We here at New World Pizza pride ourselves on being Dapper Dan men. We drink Jack Daniels, we read Dan Slott comics, and we’ve even watched every Dan Aykroyd movie (yes, including Crossroads). This week, we ate at Dan’s Pizza, located at 121 W Waterloo Rd. Ste. 13 in Edmond.

Was the journey worth it?

The Cheese
Typically, we’ve come out against or been unimpressed by pizzas that are thin crusted, use corn meal as a release agent, have a single cheese “blend,” and have a herb free sauce. Now it’s time to eat our words. Dan’s pizzas are built upon a thin crust, but their thin crust is nigh-perfect. Like Walt Whitman in Song of Myself, the pizza crust contradicts itself. The bottom is soft and flexible, perfect for folding and eating New York style. But the handle part of the crust provided ample support and a crunchy texture that, when coated with the garlic glaze and sprinkled herbs, provides a perfect counter balance to itself. So, yes, it contradicts itself, but it is large, it can feed multitudes. On to the sauce. The sauce, as previously mentioned, had no flavor enhancing herbage. Yet it seemed to pack a large flavor underneath all the cheese, penetrating all receptors for the tangy, true essence of tomato. The cheese itself was bona fide, being gooey without having any sort of slide problems. And finally there was a gentle sprinkling of herbage to finish the pizza off.

The Pepperoni
For this review, reread the Cheese pizza review, and after the bit about the cheese add in “The pepperoni was mild, with a minimum of heat without being weak on flavor. It was a tad bit greasy, but we’re more than happy to clog our arteries when it tastes this good.” Now continue reading with “And finally . . . ” (We know we’re being lazy, but we figured you’d be able to tell if we just copied and pasted. Doing it like this makes it interactive, we swear.).

The Philly Cheese Steak
Taking the glorious foundation of the cheese pizza, this one has the very simple addition of thin bits of steak and onions. The onion was cooked perfectly, and was actually mainly an aromatic addition. The steak bits were in tasty little clumps, and even with the tomato sauce, herbs, and cheese, they managed to stand out. All in all, this was the weakest of the three pizzas. But that’s more because of how good the other two were. If there had been something else on this pizza, like green peppers or a different cheese or, heck, even jalapenos, it would be a different story. In this instance, the simplicity of the pizza, for once, was a detriment.

Dan’s Pizza, for most Okc readers, is out in the middle of nowhere. But it is worth the drive. For our money, it is the best New York style pizza in town (even if that town in North Edmond).

Now that our Odyssey is done, our adventuring days are over. But don’t worry, next week we’ll return to our regular posting schedule. As always, your comments, questions, and suggestions are welcome.

Othello's of Edmond

2010-06-09T11:54:00.000-07:00

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.

The Wedge, Deep Deuce

2010-05-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

This week we had some guests in town, and decided to show off some of the best of what Oklahoma City can offer, so we took them to The Wedge's Deep Deuce location. If you want a short review, here it is: Go there. Now.

A longer review follows.

The Italian Stallion
This pizza is the Platonic ideal of a sausage pizza: starting with a port wine and sundried tomato sauce, with mozzarella, roasted fennel, and Italian sausage. The crust, as with all Wedge pizzas, was cooked in a wood burning oven, and was tender, flaky, and flavorful. There was a slight slide factor, but only on one piece out of six. The sauce was good, but ended up buried under the delicious, if somewhat overpowering flavor, of the roasted fennel and Italian sausage. The double dose of fennel could be off putting if you're not already a fan, but for us, it was perfect.

The Truffle-Shuffle
This pizza might be the fanciest pizza we have ever encountered. The pizza had truffle oil, sage, crimini mushrooms, spinach, roasted chicken, parmesan, and mozzarella on it. The ONLY complaint about the pizza is the mushrooms could have been cut smaller. If you love a rich, savory pizza, this will become your favorite pizza. This pizza would easily be on every one's last meal list. One half of the new world pizza crew won't shut up about it, and is claiming, "It's his new religion!", whatever that means.

The Prosciutto E Formaggi
Skipping the sauce and going straight to the cheese, the Prosciutto E Formaggi has a layer of parmesan and mozzarella covered with prosciutto, figs, and arugula. This was a very different pizza than we are used to reviewing, but it was excellent. The saltiness of the prosciutto provided an excellent counterpoint to both the bitterness of the arugula and the sweetness of the figs. With all these explosions of flavor, the cheese and crust combo provided a perfect grounding point, bringing things back into familiar territory.

The American Pie
With so many great, incredibly different types of pizzas available, we didn't expect any one pizza to steal the show. This wasn't the case. The American Pie is a simple pizza. It has marinara sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, fresh oregano, red onions, and one meatball per slice or pizza. It is hard to break down this pizza into its separate elements, as they all worked so well together. The sauce was thick, hearty, and incredibly flavorful. The cheese was gooey, without a hint of grease. And the meatballs, even at one per piece, were incredibly rich and tasty.

Each pizza is the size for two to eat comfortably, and for $14-15, that's not a bad deal. The most amazing thing about The Wedge's pizzas is how every crust comes out the same. Most brick oven pizzas seem to have a layer of flour that is used for extraction from paddle to oven and back. This, we have no problem with that, but the usual results are uncooked flour or burned flour on the bottom of the crust. In this instance The Wedge consistently put the right amount of flour on to blend with the rest of the crust.

There was no real opportunity to go The Way of the Pizza at The Wedge, but after Itallian Jim's 300 pepperoni fiasco, we still weren't ready to go back to pepperoni. Next week we’ll try going back to our usual routine, and we hope you'll join us then.

Also, as an added bonus, we discovered that The Wedge serves local microbrew Coop beers. So if you haven't had a chance to try these yet, here's the perfect opportunity

Cafe 7

2010-05-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

This week we had made plans to hit up Othello's, but there was a problem. Tonight, as if you didn't already know, is the Lost finale. And as nerds, we are honor bound to watch (even if 50% of New World Pizza hasn't seen a single episode). So we called an audible and swung by Café 7, on N. May and WEST Memorial. Café 7's shtick is that the sandwiches, the salads, the pastas, and pizzas are all $7 (actually, $6.46, plus tax). Oh, and everything comes out within seven minutes. And if you're the seventh son of a seventh son you get your seventh meal free (we think, you should probably check with them before you try this one).

How'd it hold up?

The Margherita Pizza
Café 7's crusts are similar to a thick pita is texture - chewy on the outside and soft and spongy on the inside. In both tensile strength and flavor, the crust is weak. The Margherita pizza comes topped with tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh basil, fresh tomatoes, and oregano. The tomato sauce was savory . . . The cheese was gooey, chewy, and tasty. Occasionally there was a problem with it sliding off the crust, but overall it was excellent. The fresh basil was the star player on this pizza, overwhelming the wimpy contributions of the fresh tomatoes. Not to say the tomato was useless – it brought a lightness, an airiness if you will, to the pizza. Overall, it was a solid pizza, but nothing to write home about.

My Big Fat Greek Pizza
Essentially a modified Margherita pizza, the Greek pizza comes with an olive oil glaze, mozzarella, fresh garlic, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, feta cheese, and oregano. The olive oil and garlic glaze worked fantastically with the (wimpy) crust and cheese. The sun-dried tomatoes replaced the need for tomato sauce and the feta brought harmony to the mozzarella. Our only qualm with this pizza was the massive leaves of spinach unevenly spread over the pizza.

The Luau Pizza
The Luau pizza has tomato sauce, mozzarella, Canadian bacon, pineapple chunks, and mandarin oranges. While it sounds like mandarin oranges would bring a new aspect to a Hawaiian pizza, actual execution proved problematic. Additionally, the Canadian bacon really didn't have a distinct flavor. This problem is only perpetuated when combined with bland oranges and pineapples. The end result was a sweet pizza that had no one distinct flavor, but that might be what they were going for.

Discerning readers will notice that we didn't follow our established methodology. We're still reeling from the pepperoni overload last week. Hopefully by next week we'll be back to 100%.

Café 7 fulfilled its $7, seven minute promise. And honestly, for fast, cheap single serving pizzas it's not a bad deal. We'd be more than willing to go back if we were on that side of town and needed a quick lunch, but if time's not an issue, there are other places we'd rather go.

Hope everyone enjoys the Lost finale tonight!

Italian Jim's Pizzeria

2010-05-16T19:35:00.000-07:00

Last week we were driving along, and heard a radio advertisement for Italian Jim's Pizzeria, which claimed something along the lines of that they served some of the best pizza in the state. Upon hearing the ad, we decided we'd have to visit them this week and see if their claim holds up.

Did it?

The Super Pepperoni Pizza
Part of running this blog, or being any sort of food critic, is having to live with a certain amount of hubris. Definitively knowing what is good and what isn't is part of the job. But tonight we let our hubris get the better of us in a slightly different way. The Super Pepperoni pizza at Italian Jim's claims to have more than three hundred pepperoni slices on a single extra large pizza. Again, that is three hundred standard size pepperoni slices. On one pizza. We read that fact on the menu and without any thought or hesitation ordered it. Let it be said that three hundred pepperoni slices on a single pizza is the very definition of "too much of a good thing." When tasted individually, it was apparent that these were high quality pepperoni, with a reasonable flavor:grease ratio. It was also interesting to see how many myriad textures pepperoni could achieve based on how covered up or exposed it was. But there were also some fundamental flaws the this pizza exhibited. Three hundred pepperoni slices on a single pizza is not a good idea. The individual pepperoni slices themselves weren't very greasy, but when you get that many together you create a small oil slick. Italian Jim's thought of this and made the pizza on a pan with raised, rounded spikes in it to help drain the grease. This helped initially, but with all of those pepperoni slices on the pizza, it was like putting a band-aid on a bullet wound. The crust, while not very supportive (we'll get to that later), was at first not affected by the grease, but just as it cooled, it became a greasy, soggy, orange mess. The biggest disappointment of the pizza was how poorly everything worked together. Any traces of sauce, cheese, or crust were avalanched by the greasy, salty, tube meat known as pepperoni. By the second slice, we were dying of thirst.

The Cheese Pizza
All three pizzas came on a thin crust that was crispy, chewy, and bland, simply serving the purpose of being a sauce and toppings delivery service. Tensile strength wise it was fairly weak. The sauce was savory and hardy, tasting like a thicker tomato soup. The cheese had character, it was a flavorful mozzarella, but was greasy. Even after the experience that was the Super Pepperoni pizza we were surprised at how greasy the simple cheese pizza could be.

The Hot & Spicy Pizza
Probably the most balanced pizza of the night, the Hot & Spicy added pepperoni, Italian sausage, onions, sausage, bell peppers, and jalapenos to the foundation of the cheese pizza. The sausage and Italian sausage offered distinct flavors instead of tasting the same. The red onions and bell peppers were fresh cut, and helped bring a lightness to what otherwise could have been a very heavy pizza. There was a bit of a problem with toppings and cheese sliding off, but as the pizza cooled this became less of a problem and the flavors melded together perfectly.

Italian Jim's Pizzeria also acts as a store front for the Bella Forte Glass studio, and it is easily recognizable that their eye for art goes beyond blown glass. The first thing we noticed when we got our pizzas was that presentation was important. The Super Pepperoni had columns of pepperoni tiling the pizza, each meticulously arranged. The Hot & Spicy had similar columns for the pepperoni, with several colors of bell peppers and red onions placed in rings around the center. This did lead to some topping distribution problems, but it made for one darn pretty pizza to look at.

The Super Pepperoni pizza overshadowed the rest of our experience at Italian Jim's, and could possibly put us off pepperoni for a while. But even still, the Hot & Spicy pizza showed us that they do know how to make a balanced pizza. We're more than willing to try them another try, though we'll probably go with something other than the pepperoni.

Quickie: Tuscany Pizzaria

2010-05-15T23:47:00.000-07:00

So far we’ve been spending most of our time at restaurants on the northwest side of the city, and we know that we’re missing out on a lot of good pizza as a result that fact. Partly this has to do with where we are based out of (New World Comics, located between 50th and 63rd on N. Meridian), and partly it has to do with our busy schedules and not having the time to make it down to the south side. But rest assured we are trying to fix that.

So, tonight we found ourselves down south, visiting our brothers from another mother, we suggested we grab some of the local pizza for dinner. Our good friend/brother Adam suggested we try Tuscany Pizzaria, located on SW 104th and S. Penn.

Should he have been trusted?

Since half of the New World Pizza crew was busy playing soccer and there were several more mouths to feed, we decided to forgo the standardized testing model and instead ordered the All Meat, the Supreme, the Hawaiian, and the Cheese pizzas. They all came on the standard Tuscany Pizzaria crust, which was thin and tasted more like Italian bread or breadsticks than a typical crust. This was especially noticeable on the Hawaiian pizza, which was brushed with a garlic glaze. The sauce was thin and smooth, but surprisingly savory. This fact, combined with the breadsticky crust, made for a pizza that tasted hardier than it actually was. The cheese was abundant and flavorful, without overwhelming the other elements. But as the connective tissue of the pizza, the cheese had some minor issues. Too often we’d lose a fair amount of the generous toppings due to cohesion problems. Other than that, the toppings at Tuscany Pizzaria are one of its high points. All the vegetables on the Supreme were fantastic (and, thankfully, olives are not a standard supreme topping here). The huge slices of Roma tomato were a great touch, as were the fresh mushrooms. The ham that came on all three on the non-cheese pizzas was in thick cut cube form, instead of those tiny slivers you find at most places. As a bonus, we managed to walk out of the restaurant with four large pizzas for less than $40.

As far as initial impressions go, we couldn’t be more pleased. We look forward to giving Tuscany Pizzaria the standard New World Pizza treatment, although we might have to avoid some of the more adventurous fair they offer (such as the hamburger pizza topped with both ketchup and mustard instead of tomato sauce).

Quickie: The Warren

2010-05-14T15:16:00.000-07:00

This week there was time enough for another quickie at the Warren movie theater. While sitting in the balcony awaiting the latest installment in the Iron Man franchise, a menu was shoved in my face. What marvels lie within? Oh, a small item named Pizza. Several choices plagued me as I dread the thought of the movie starting before my selection was made. Deciding to go The Way of the Pizza, I ordered the five cheese pizza. Just before the fantastic feature began, my pizza arrived. The lights dimmed just as I began to dig in, so I'm afraid I didn't get a good look at the team-up of ingredients. Thus, as it should be, I relied on the taste.

So, how did it hold up?

The Five Cheese Pizza

The five cheese pizza came out to be about the size of a dinner plate. As I raise the first slice to my face I noticed the pizza's crust supported it's own weight under all that cheese. The crust , while evenly cooked, brought little flavor to the party, providing strictly structural support. The sauce on the pizza was more of an afterthought. I had to stop to make sure the sauce was actually there. The sauce was near invisible, but subtly there. Mostly. The five cheese blend caked on top of the pizza went from what should have been five different cheeses that identify themselves while enhancing each other became a mass of generic cheese flavor. The strangest part about the pizza was the metamorphosis the flavor went through as it was consumed. The first bite tasted of cheese ravioli. As I progressed towards the crust, the pizza started to taste more and more like a grilled cheese with a hint of tomato soup. All in all, the five cheese pizza may not have been the best choice, as the fried cheese dipped in it's sauce tasted more like pizza than the pizza did. I guess things could be worse, I could have not had pizza at all. Next time I'll try a pepperoni pizza there to see if a singular cheese and topping can balance everything out.

Zorba's

2010-05-09T19:30:00.000-07:00

We here at New World Pizza have been visiting a lot of standard pizza places, and so this week we decided to have some fun. When you visit Zorba's, located at 6014 N. May, it's usually for their hummus, gyros, and chicken bandari. But, because we like to mix things up every so often, we went for their pizzas.

We promise you this review will be entirely free of "all Greek to me" jokes.

The Greek Pizza
All of Zorba's pizzas come on a thin crust that is made with both wheat and white flour, which ends up being the best of both worlds. It has the taste of a wheat crust with the light and flaky texture that only comes from white flour. It was a little flimsy, but, overall, still good. The Greek pizza this is topped with tomato sauce, gyros meat, pepperocinis, fresh tomatoes, calamata olives, red onions, a five cheese blend, and Feta cheese (technically, this would make it a six cheese blend, but as the Feta was in big crumbles, we won't argue the point). Our main point of contention with the pizza is that the tomato sauce was mainly on the pizza as a coloring agent. There was hardly enough on the pizza to get a read on how it tasted. The cheese blend was fantastic and they were more than generous with it, which made it a tad bit overwhelming. The pepperocinis, fresh tomatoes, and red onions were a nice touch, but their impact was negated by the overwhelming flavor of the calamata olives (which were good and much more enjoyable than the standard black olives). The amount of gyros meat on the pizza was slightly disappointing, but that has more to do with how much we like Zorba's gyros than anything else.

The Veggie Pizza
Topped with a basil pesto, grilled eggplant, artichoke hearts, fresh tomatoes, and red onions, the veggie pizza was a nicely balanced pizza. The pesto was flavorful without being too heavy and oily. Too often pesto pizzas end up like the Deepwater Horizon pipeline, but not this one (and they didn't even need to use a box!). Once again, they went a bit heavy with the 5.5 cheese blend, but we really can't complain about that. The grilled eggplant was cooked perfectly, without being slimy or bitter. We here at New World Pizza have a torrid past with eggplants, and this pizza did wonders in patching up that relationship. We're still not B.F.F.'s, but at least we're talking again. The fresh tomatoes and red onions stood out more on this pizza, and their freshness really shone through. The artichoke hearts were a negligible addition, but were appreciated, nevertheless.

The Tuscany Pizza
Like most culinary gambles, this pizza presented the most risk, but ended up the big winner of the night. Instead of going with a red or pesto sauce, this pizza was topped with a creamy leek sauce. It was like an Alfredo sauce without being nearly as heavy, but with leeks providing a nice counterbalance. Combined with the flavorful white/wheat crust, this was a perfect foundation for a pizza. On top of the cheese, there was bacon. And that was it. Simple, good, and bacony. The three keys to keeping us happy.

At $8 for a personal pizza, Zorba's pizzas are the perfect opportunity to give your non-culinary adventurous friends a chance to taste the high points of Mediterranean cuisine. Or your friend burnt out on pizza a chance to renew their love with one of the great super-foods. Anyway you look at it, these pizzas are a great gateway food. And while you're there, it wouldn't hurt to try the churros.

Top Ten

2010-05-07T20:20:00.000-07:00

Hooray! We cracked the Top Ten Oklahoma City food blogs at Urban Spoon. Once we beat Eat Around OKC we're taking on Zagat!

We'd like to say thanks to all the people who have sent us their lists of places to try. We know we haven't gotten to as many of them as we'd like, but, please, keep sending us more suggestions. Also, thank you for reading our silly little pizza blog.

Sicilian Pizza Cafe

2010-05-02T20:42:00.000-07:00

So, to make up for a couple weeks ago, we headed out to Sicilian Pizza Cafe, located on EAST Memorial and Lincoln. We instantly knew we had found a place we'd be comfortable hanging out as all the walls were decorated with posters of soccer players. The one person running the place on the lonely Sunday evening was the owner’s son, and he was personable and very accommodating.

~~So, what happens when you find a stranger in the alps?~~ How was Sicilian Pizza Cafe?

The Cheese Pizza
The cheese pizza on the thin crust is a thing of beauty. We'd even say it's one of the best balanced pizzas we've had. All that to say, it's not our favorite pizza. Like a Grecian urn, its form is a work of art, and on a technical level, perfect, but it's missing a certain . . . something. The crust had a super-crisp exterior with a dense, bready interior. Tensile strength wise, it was a little weak, which is to be expected with a crust so thin. The sauce was savory, which was a nice surprise, as most places we have visited tended to lean more towards the sweet style. The combination of the hearty crust and savory sauce worked incredibly well, especially when topped with the light mozzarella cheese. The cheese, like the rug from the Big Lebowski, really tied it all together. This was an uncomplicated pizza, but its simple pleasures stole the show.

The Pepperoni Pizza
This time we ordered the thick crust, which was incredibly thick - standing at over an inch and a half tall. We figured with the thin crust being so dense, that the thick crust would be overwhelming, but to our surprise under the crispy exterior, lain a flaky, almost biscuit like interior. The sauce worked equally as well with the thick as the thin. We were slightly disappointed by the small amount of cheese on the pepperoni pizza, as it would have helped balance out the almost buttermilk sourness from the crust. The pepperoni brought a slight amount of heat, flavor, and grease to the plate. Overall, the crust hogged all of the attention on this pizza, but it still ended up working out quiet well.

The All Meat Pizza
Topped with hamburger, sausage, Canadian bacon, and pepperoni, the all meat was a little over the top, especially on the Sicilian style crust. Individually all the meats were tasty and low on grease, but all together they overwhelmed the perfect balance found in the cheese pizza. The toppings blended well together, each contributing something different to the pizza. None of the meats overpowered each other, like most all meat pizza's do (we're talking to you, Canadian bacon). Each meat was distinguishable from the next, yet at any moment, you could pick out what was in the last bite. If we could do it again, we'd love to try the all meat on the thick crust, which with all that meat and bread, would probably fill us up after two slices.

It's easy to understand how Sicilian Pizza Cafe could be around for more than 20 years. We look forward to the Herculean task of demolishing a thick crust all meat, but had better train before we make the attempt.

Ford Center Pizza

2010-05-02T20:39:00.000-07:00

Well, we made a mistake. Generally, we here at New World Pizza eat our mistakes. But in this case, we couldn't. I'll let Sharon and Kelsey explain.

"Excited for the chance to be a guest pizza critic for “New World Pizza” last night, we headed to the Ford Center for Game 6 of the Playoff series between the OKC Thunder and the LA Lakers. The Ford Center was alive with excitement and anticipation –waiting to see if our Thunder could beat LA and force the series to game seven. We arrived early enough to scout out all the souvenir shops and eateries. We were successful in the souvenir hunt, but not so lucky with the food. The Ford Center offers a variety of food options - nachos, hot dogs, pretzels, funnel cakes, etc. We did find pizza finally, but to our disappointment it wasn’t a unique, one of a “Ford Center” kind of pizza. All they sold was Pizza Hut Pan Pizza. We have eaten our share of those pizzas—at airports, at Target, even at Pizza Hut and they all are pretty much the same so we opted not to try one last night! Sorry OKC."

Sorry about that.

Stars Pizza Cafe & Grill

2010-04-25T20:10:00.001-07:00

Three quick notes. First, we hope you enjoyed the quickie review yesterday. We should be adding those pretty regularly from now on. Second, we would love to find a Thunder themed pizza by next Sunday. If anyone has a lead on that, please, let us know. Third, in another Thunder related note, we will have one of our special freelance corespondents (one of our sisters) at the Ford Center on Saturday for game six of the Thunder/Lakers series, and she'll review the pizza they offer there for us.

This week we went to Stars Pizza Cafe & Grill, located off N. Pennsylvania at 2124 NW 39th St. It was a little bit off our beaten path, in an area of town we don't usually visit, but we had heard good things. One of the great things about Stars Pizza is their hours of operation, during the week they are open until 1 am and on the weekend until 2:30 am. As night owls, we heartily approve.

Let's get this party started!

The Cheese Pizza
Stars Pizza serves one type of crust, a crispy crust that is fairly thin without being too crackery, but has enough body without being doughy. The sauce was a very sweet sauce, with just a touch of oregano and basil. It tasted very fresh and light. The cheese was some of the better we've come across, all gooey and delicious. True, it was a monotone mozzarella, but had a very strong flavor. Over all, the sauce brought all of the ingredients together into one cohesive whole. It was simple, but good.

The Pepperoni Pizza
With the foundation of the cheese pizza, the pepperoni pizza somehow transmogrified into something else entirely with the addition of simple pepperoni. The pepperoni itself wasn't out of this world, but there was a good flavor:grease ratio. But, somehow, in the cooking process, the cheese leached out of most of the flavor from the pepperoni and distributed it evenly around the pizza. It was fabulous.

The Bahama Mama
Essentially a supreme pizza turned to 11, the Bahama Mama has an olive oil drizzle combined with the regular pizza sauce, covered with ham, pepperoni, Italian sausage, turkey, mushrooms, (takes a breath) red onions, fresh tomatoes, bell peppers, and fresh garlic, blanketed under parmesan and mozzarella cheese, and sprinkled with cilantro (gasping for air). We were a bit worried how well the thinner crust would hold up to such a huge quantity of toppings, but it held up surprisingly well. The meat toppings were evenly distributed, and weren't overwhelming or greasy. The veggies were flavorful and fresh, as well as cooked to their optimum doneness. Bits of the crust did get a bit damp from the moisture from the fresh veggies, but not enough of it to negatively affect our experience. The addition of cilantro added a whole new dimension to the pizza that worked extremely well. Stars Pizza knows how to make a pizza with more than five toppings - Hideaway, take notice.

Overall, Stars Pizza Cafe and Grill offered some great pizzas. The only downside is that it's a one-or-two man operation, and getting our pizza took a while. Dine in is offered (and judging from the decor, also a dance hall), but carrying out seems to be the way to go.

Saturn Grill

2010-04-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

So we’ve been doing this for a while now. Every Sunday night it’s the same routine. We go out, order some pizza, and get down to business. It’s nice. Nice and routine. We’ve read in several places that to keep a relationship like this working, there needs to be some variety, some spontaneity. In an effort to break the routine and spice things up, we decided what we need to start having quickies.

What? Get your mind out of the gutter! We’re talking about reviewing pizzas! This is a family-friendly blog! Wow, you think you know your readers. Anyway, we figure that there are so many places that serve pizza in Okc that if we do a place a week, we’ll be at this forever. So to cover more ground and keep you informed we’ll be breaking with routine every so often and writing up places that mainly do things besides pizzas. Expect the reviews to be fast and dirty (instead of usual, methodical, scientific approach), and maybe even a bit weird (curry pizza, anyone?).

So without further ado, our first quickie.

We stopped by Saturn Grill (the N. Meridian/WEST Memorial location) for lunch today. We should point out that the ‘we’ we use is the editorial we, not the royal We or the plural we. We hope that made sense. Anyway, we ordered the #22 Grilled Veggie Pie, which is the standard Saturn Grill crust with a spinach pesto sauce, topped with grilled zucchini, red onion, bell pepper, portabella mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. The crust was thin and flavor-neutral with a rather nice texture. The spinach pesto was flavorful, although a bit bitter, but not too greasy. The grilled veggies were fantastic. True, they were a bit large and unwieldy, but incredibly tasty. The cheese would have been a bit “meh,” but was saved from that fate by thin sheets of parmesan cheese covering up most of the pizza. Overall, it gets our (editorial 'our') seal of approval.

Non-pizza Note
Saturn Grill also makes sandwiches, or rather, “Saturn grill makes sandwiches and also pizzas.” We heartily recommend the Spicy Turkey sandwich and the Seared Caribbean Jerk Chicken sandwich. Trying to decide between those two has caused many a sleepless night, and contributed to the formation of several ulcers. Trying to choose between them is just that stressful.
Also, the Sweet Strawberries and Spinach salad is great.
Oh, and don’t forget the Cannoli.

We hope you are as satisfied with our new approach as we are, and as always, thanks for reading.

Danny B's Redux

2010-04-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

So our plans tonight were to try a place called Sicilian Pizza Café, but we ended up with bad information regarding its location (turns out it can be found at N. Lincoln and EAST Memorial). Being technophobes and unwilling to call for help, we tried to swing by Café 7, over on N. May and W. Memorial. But it closes at three on Sundays. We here at New World Pizza don't just offer pizza reviews, but also morality tales. We almost expected J. Walter Weatherman to pop up and lose his arm while exclaiming "This is what happens when you don't do your research!" Fed up and starving, we decided to swing by Danny B's again, to further explore their menu.

The Cheese Pizza
Since we've been to Danny B's before, we wanted to try new things while keeping our system in place. So this time we went with their garlic pesto sauce on the cheese pizza. We've had jalapeno pesto and horseradish pesto (not on pizzas) before, so we were interested in trying this "garlic pesto" out. Turns out it's not much of a pesto but is just the standard garlic and olive oil glaze. This particular combination was somewhat disappointing, simply for the fact that it was just cheese bread disguised as a pizza. The addition of some sort of tomato product (possibly sun dried?) would have brought balance to this force. By no means was it bad, just not what we expected. But in our disappointment, we realized that Danny B's cheese has gotten better. Much better. It's still not the best, but it's substantially better than the last time we visited.

The Pepperoni Pizza
We loved the deep dish with sweet garlic sauce from our last visit so much that we broke down and ordered it again, but due to some misommunication, what was supposed to be a thick crust pizza ended up coming out on their hand tossed crust. The thing we love most about Danny B's is their crust (it sure ain't their location) and we would have liked to try the thick crust again, but so it goes. The sweet garlic sauce was spread a bit thinner than it was on the thick crust, which left us wanting more. The thinner crust didn't seem to maintain the sweetness it's thicker counterpart enjoys. There was something to the combo of thick crust and sweet sauce that just hit the spot. Not to say that the crust was not enjoyable, the thick crust just pairs perfectly with the sweet sauce. The pepperoni was nice, with a fairly good flavor:grease ratio. And once again, we noticed the improved quality of cheese.

The Ryan (not really)
The Ryan was composed of Danny B's spicy pizza sauce, Italian sausage, (a fancy type the we forgot) mushrooms, and cream cheese. When we had browsed through the menu on our first visit, we spied the spicy sauce and were intrigued, vowing on the lives of our unborn children that we would have to try it the next time. Well, we did. The spicy sauce delivers on the promise of heat, but ends up sacrificing it's flavor to that end. Other than the heat, it had very little impact on the pizza. And to be honest, the combination of that heat with the sweet crust was a little odd. But everything was made right with the world when the cream cheese got in on the action. The cream cheese provided the perfect balance to the heat and sweet, though not perfectly distributed. Last time we got a pizza with plain sausage on it, and were surprised when it came out as thick slices of real sausage. We were hoping for more of the same with the Italian sausages, but instead we got the little rabbit-pellet sausage bits. The mushrooms were a fantastic addition, and added another great dimension to the pizza. We highly recommenced you play around with the spicy sauce/cream cheese combo if you make it out to Danny B's.

The Cinnamon Rolls
To say that the cinnamon rolls that Danny B's serves stole the show would be a disservice to the wonderful pizza they made, but, really, the cinnamon rolls stole the show. Made up of what we assume to be the same dough as the pizza, and then perfectly topped with the perfect amount of buttery icing and plenty of cinnamon, the rolls are worth the trip out to Danny B's alone. Seriously. Make the trip. You won't be disappointed. Go now.

Again, Danny B's is a great little place in the middle of nowhere. It's definitely worth the trip, and we'll keep a close eye on Danny B's to see how they continue to refine their pizza.

The glorious logo and other news

2010-04-12T16:45:00.000-07:00

Everyone tell Erin how much you love our new logo. Those familiar with the current New World Comics shirts will appreciate it.

Things are going well with adding our reviews to Urbanspoon. If you can think of any other corporate overloads willing to let us spread the good word of the Grand Unified Pizza Theory, let us know.

And as always, thanks for reading.

Pizza Milano

2010-04-11T19:08:00.000-07:00

This week, instead of going to our Rolodex of known pizza places, we tried a new place that had left a flyer at Brian's apartment (such is the folly of youth). Pizza Milano, located at 16th and Meridian, is one of the few places that will deliver to our home base. And as far as delivery services go, they were ahead of schedule and their driver was more than pleasant (and not at all creepy).

But the real question is, how were the pizzas?

The Cheese Pizza
When we first opened the box, we were very disappointed in its appearance. The cheese was thin, and looked lumpy and uneven. The crust was soft and chewy, with *hints* of both garlic and butter, but lacked enough tensile strength to hold itself up. The sauce was sweet and evenly spread, but really didn't bring a whole lot the pizza. Honestly, it was bizarre. We could see the sauce, but we had to concentrate really hard to discern any sort of flavor from it. The cheese was bland and tasteless, bringing only texture to the table.

The Pepperoni Pleasure
In an effort to mix things up, instead of ordering just a standard pepperoni pizza we ordered Pizza Milano's triple pepperoni pizza. Pepperoni literally tiled the entire pizza, with no space left uncovered. The pepperoni was both extremely greasy and bland. There was very little pleasure to be found in their pepperoni. The crust, which held up okay on the cheese pizza, became supersaturated with grease and lost what little tensile strength it had. Additionally, there was an extreme slide factor, with most pieces losing at least a third of their toppings. From this, we can imagine what their regular pepperoni pizza would have been like, and even with less grease, we would not have been impressed.

The Spinach Pizza
With a garlic and olive oil glaze, onions, black olives, tomatoes, spinach, sausage and (supposedly) feta cheese, the Spinach pizza was problematic. The change in sauce was hardly noticeable, and we could find no evidence of feta cheese on our pizza. The sausage was as flavorless as the tomatoes, and while the spinach was a nice touch, it was buried under a metric ton of raw onions. (We ordered it without olives, as we're been getting worn out by them). The concept behind this pizza is a solid one, but the execution of it failed at almost every step. For $13, it would be extremely easy to make a better spinach pizza at home.

We went into this experience with absolutely no expectations, and even still, we were disappointed. What makes this experience all the more disappointing is that the crust was good, which gives some evidence that the people at Pizza Milano could do better. We'll try Pizza Milano again, at some point (as is our policy), but with heavy hearts.

Addendum: After a little bit of digging, we discovered that Pizza Milano was recently closed, and must have reopened not too long ago. At this time we are unaware if there is new ownership or if any other substantial changes have taken place. We hope that tonight’s missteps were from people who are new to the business and are still trying to find their feet. Because if this is the way they intend to operate, we will steer clear of them.

Pizza House

2010-04-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

First, we'd like to say thanks to Colin at 365 Things to Do in OKC for the bump. 365 Things to Do in OKC is a daily list of odd and fun things that are going on in and around the metro area. If you're on facebook, you should check it out. And as a small token of thanks, we're reviewing a place that Colin introduced Ryan to back in the day. Thanks again, Colin.

Let's get down to business.

After all that tomfoolery on Thursday we decided to get back to our usual business, and so we trekked over to Pizza House on 2520 N. Pennsylvania. We ordered out, since our base of operations exists in a no-man's-land for pizza deliveries, but we could have stayed in and maybe even enjoyed a game of pool.

It's business time!

The Five Cheese Pizza
Pizza House offers one type of crust, a thick, hearty, bready crust. The sauce was a background player in the pizza, doing its part and then fading into the background. It took a bit of effort to determine if it was a sweet or a savory sauce. Sorry, we'd rather you figure that out on your own. The five cheese blend is composed of mozzarella, provolone, Cheddar, feta, and Parmesan cheese, and it was quite tasty. We are really enjoying the move towards including feta on pizzas, as it brings a sharp tang that harmonizes nicely with the mellowness of mozzarella. Overall, the balance between the different elements was nigh perfect. The five cheese pizza was quickly demolished, and was hands down the crowd favorite.

The Pepperoni Pizza
Built on the same foundation as the cheese pizza, the pepperoni pizza is just topped with mozzarella. We weren't sure if they were skimping on us, or if we were just spoiled by the Five Cheese pizza, but there was way less mozzarella than we were expecting (we were probably just spoiled). The pepperoni was well spiced without being too spicy. Some might even call the pepperoni "robust." Additionally, the pepperoni was the least greasy we've had in several weeks. As far as quantity goes, Pizza House was generous with their pepperoni, but not the point where it overpowered the rest of the pizza.

The Sicilian Pizza
Composed of feta, Parmesan, black olives, fresh garlic, roasted bell pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, and mozzarella, the Sicilian Pizza is sort of devious. It hides the roasted bell peppers under the cheese, which took our non-vegetable-eating pizza taster by surprise. The sun-dried tomatoes were good quality, but massive. Some chunks were even larger than cherry tomatoes. The fresh garlic was cut into large slices, but was small on flavor. The olives, for once, did not overwhelm the rest of the toppings, and brought a nice flavor to the pizza. All the separate elements were great, but the cooks at Pizza House would do well to fine-tune the sizes and portions of the multitude of different ingredients.

Random Aside
There’s one point we’d like to bring up that’s more a comment on how we’re getting old rather than anything else. When Ryan first went to Pizza House, a medium pizza was $5. Now, a large is in the neighborhood of $13. We were slightly taken aback by that, but then we got distracted by some young punks walking on our grass and started yelling at them to get off our lawn.

Overall, Pizza House is a great middle of the road pizza place. Everything about their pizza is good, but nothing stands out as exemplary. The one serious complaint we could raise against Pizza House is that there was over an inch and a half to two and a half inches of unused crust around the pizzas. A single inch would have been enough, but after two and half inches of plain crush, you start to feel like you've been cheated out of pizza and been stuck with bread. All things considered, this is a minor quibble and we'd be more than happy to return to Pizza House anytime.

---
Update: Pizza House offers one of the better pizzas that can be eaten cold. Reheated, on the other hand, things are a bit off, sad to say.

Our first national chain review!

2010-04-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

We’ve had several people ask us to review national chains, and we live to serve.

So read on, we dare you.

The first national chain we tried was Taco Bell and their Mexican Pizza. When we tried to order one with pepperoni and another, specialty pizza there was an awkward silence from the speaker box, and then, after about 45 seconds, a request to pull around to the second window. As we pulled up, we could tell there was still some confusion about our order. In an effort not to annoy the fast food service employees, we bit our tongues and paid for our single pizza and headed back to our home base.

The Mexican Pizza
Well, I guess we should start with the crust. Obviously, they were going for some sort of extreme New York-style crust, what with it being super thin. But then, to confuse matters, they tried to make it a stuffed crust pizza. Normally, we are all in favor of stuffed crust, but we’ve never had a pizza with ground beef layered between the crusts. Or beans. The combination of beans and beef caused the fragile crust to break under its own weight. So this pizza is apparently meant to be eaten with a fork (or spork, as it were). But back to the crust. Flavor wise, the crust was tasteless, had the consistency of a cracker, and was greasy to the touch, almost as if it had been fried. The sauce was a sweet, but thick and chunky, like a salsa. And if there’s one thing we disapprove of, it’s a chunky sauce on thin crust. The cheese was bland, and looked to be micro-waved. Overall, it was one of the most disappointing pizzas we’ve ever had.

Obviously, we would have liked to review several other pizzas offered by Taco Bell, but so it goes. We feel bad about condemning their pizza offerings after only one try. Perhaps next time we’ll have better luck.

Well, we hope you enjoyed our first attempt at reviewing national changes. We hope you visit again Sunday night when we return to our usual program.

Update - Good lord! Whatever you do, don’t try to reheat it! The horror! The horror!

Papa Angelo's

2010-03-28T19:20:00.000-07:00

This week we ventured over to Papa Angelo's, tucked away at 3921 N. College Avenue across from Southern Nazarene University in Bethany. Papa Angelo's is home of the Empire Pizza challenge - where they dare you to eat a 6-pound pizza in 45 minutes. We didn't take their challenge, but considered attempting it at a later date, for scientific purposes only, of course.

Want to know how it turned out?

The Cheese Pizza
Let's start at the very beginning (a very good place to start). All three pizzas were on the same type of crust - a thin New York style. On the plus side, the crust provided a surprising amount of tensile strength. On the negative, it had variable degrees of doneness (some parts very crispy, others slightly chewy). And on the slightly odd side, it tasted a lot like toasted white bread. We won't say it's bad, but we can't say it's good. The sauce was smooth and evenly distributed, but tasted like canned spaghetti sauce. We started taking bets on which brand we thought it was. The cheese had a deeper mozzarella flavor than we were expecting, which was nice, but was surprisingly greasy. Unfortunately, the flavor of the cheese wasn't enough to save the pizza.

The Pepperoni Pizza
It was just the cheese pizza with pepperoni added. The pepperoni brought some subtle heat, but it made the already greasy pizza even more greasy. Some of the pepperoni turned into what one could call "discs of grease." Everyone's familiar with oil paintings, right? Well, let's say just say that we've developed a new method of creating art called grease painting. Seriously. We're not kidding.

The White Pizza
No, it's not a member of the Klan. It's just a pizza with garlic glaze, ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and fresh tomatoes. One of the great things about this blog is finding new and exciting things to put on pizzas. We've tried feta cheese, cream cheese, and sugar and spices on pizzas because of this. The ricotta cheese added an interesting dimension to the pizza. It didn't add a whole lot taste wise, but in place of the sauce it added a creamy texture. We wouldn't recommend adding ricotta to every pizza, but we're glad to have tried it. The garlic glaze was surprisingly good, with small bits of real garlic. The tomatoes were fresh, but the pizza would have benefitted if they had been sun-dried. They were poorly distributed and even cold in a few places. Overall, it was like eating bruschetta in pizza form.

This review has been tough for us, and partly so because Papa Angelo's came highly recommended. Generally we try to find at least one excellent thing about each place to talk about, and we're really having trouble with that this week. Papa Angelo's doesn't make bad pizzas, but we can't really say anything more than that. Maybe we hit them at a bad time or an off night. Like most places, we were only able to scratch the surface of what is offered, and perhaps we missed their strong points. We're more than willing to give them another shot. And to be fair, the idea of the 6 pound pizza challenge does intrigue us.

Also, we want to say thanks for reading. We've gotten a lot of positive feedback, and as always, we welcome your questions and comments. Plus, we'd love to hear your suggestions of places to try. We can be reached at newworldpizza.okc (at) gmail.com.

Joey's Pizzeria

2010-03-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

This week we decided to make our way down to Joey's Pizzeria on N Classen and NW 18th Street. One of the first positive things we noticed after walking in was the choice of music - 80s classics such as "Love Is a Battlefield," Prince's "Kiss," and "Living on a Prayer" played as we ate. While that doesn't impact the way we judged the pizza, it made the overall ambiance totally rad.

So, how was the pizza?

The Cheese Pizza
The hand tossed crust was sweet and chewy, but not in an uncooked dough sort of way. In fact, everything about the pizza had a sweet taste, which made for a richer, heavier pizza all around. The sauce was sweet, with minimal herbage, and perfectly distributed. The cheese was a sweeter mozzarella than we were used to, but it worked extremely well. The crust was topped with sprinkled parmesan cheese and the herbage that is usually found in the sauce, and opinions here are divided on how effective it was.

The Pepperoni Pizza
Essentially, it was just a cheese pizza with a special guest star. The pepperoni was mild to the point of having no real impact, much like a fading celebrity's cameo on a hit show.

The Surfer Dude
The surprise hit of the night, and a pizza that would work equally well as a dessert or an entree, the Surfer Dude is actually a Hawaiian pizza - with Canadian bacon and pineapple - sprinkled, nay, imbued, with cinnamon and sugar. "Joey's has found the perfect balance of pineapples and Canadian bacon," and this is coming from a guy who generally refuses to eat pineapple pizzas on philosophic ground. The light dusting from the cinnamon and sugar takes the already sweet crust and sauce to new levels. We highly recommend getting this pizza. As of now, and this is from a combined total of more than 50 years of pizza eating experience, this is the definitive Canadian bacon/pineapple pizza.

One of the great things about Joey's Pizzeria is that because the pizza is so sweet, it's much more filling than other pizzas of the same size. A medium pizza (12") would be enough to fill up two people. And at $8.99 for a cheese or $11.99 for the Surfer Dude, that really can't be beat. Another added bonus is that the staff is friendly and tried their best to make us feel truly at home. And honestly, any place that can put up with us loitering for 45 minutes after the meal is over gets additional points.

Joey's offers many more specialty pizzas, and we will be back to try them, but do yourself a favor and try their Surfer Dude pizza. You won't be disappointed.

Pizzini's Pizza

2010-03-16T00:03:00.000-07:00

Somehow we managed to find time to hit up two places this week, so we went to a little place on Rockwell and 50th called Pizzini's Pizza. And, to be quiet frank, we may have gone a little bit overboard.

Let's get started.

The Cheese Pizza
The crust and sauce on all of Pizzzini's pizza's are uniform, and that's not a bad thing. The crust is buttery and ever so slightly flaky - tasting like a Pillsbury brand biscuit or crescent. The sauce, when you could actually taste it, was good, but it seemed like they were being a bit stingy with it. The cheese, though, was perfect. It was just simple mozzarella, but it really is the quintessential pizza cheese - stringy and flavorful.

The Pepperoni Pizza
Again, the cheese was the star of the show, while the pepperoni was you standard, middle of the road, fair. It was greasy, but not too greasy, and there was just the right amount of pepperoni on each slice.

The Taco Special
When we first ordered, we were going off the menu behind the counter, and judged the Taco pizza to be the most different pizza they offered. That was a mistake - not ordering the taco pizza, but on the paper menu there are many more options. The taco pizza was nothing to write home about. Hamburger, onions, olives, lettuce, and tomatoes were added to the top of a cheese pizza. The lettuce was a bit overwhelming, but that seems to be a problem with all taco pizzas.

The Greek Pizza part 1and 2
After ordering all of the above, we discovered some fascinating pizzas (and fantastic deals) that were only on the paper menu/flyer. The Greek pizza had gryo meat, onions, kalamata olives, mozzarella, and feta cheese. Due to some issues with onions and olives, we ordered one with and one without. The one without was simple and heavenly. The gyro meat was stupendous, and worked well with the feta and even the red sauce. The crust seemed to take on pita like qualities, which was awesome. The pizza with olives and onions was a bit overwhelming. The kalamata olives were top notch, but there was a ton of them covering what must have been several sweet onions. It was still good, but, again, overwhelming.

Pizzini's pizza has a stark interior, but the people are extremely personable and they offer some fantastic deals - just make sure to check the flyers before ordering. Their quality cheese steals the show, and we highly recommend their Greek pizza - just be careful with the olives.

Hideaway Pizza, Warr Acres

2010-03-15T11:17:00.000-07:00

With more than 10 locations in Oklahoma, Hideaway Pizza is a local giant. For many people, it is a staple of 'non-chain' pizza. And while it would be ideal to review the original location in Stillwater first, your humble pizza reviewers have neither the time, nor the gas money, to burn on a spur of the moment 90 mile one-way trip. Instead, we visited the location at 5501 NW Expressway in Warr Acres.

So, how did the hometown Goliath hold up?

Let's start with the Cheese pizza. Scratch that. Let's start with the cheese in the shaker. It was actually freshly grated Parmesan, which is amazing.

Back to the cheese pizza. The hand-tossed crust, and this is something that applies to most of the pizza, could be considered a "chameleon crust." It works well with different sauces and toppings, but does not stand up well by itself. Speaking of not standing up well, the crust under the sauce and toppings was flaccid. Attempting to pick up a slice resulted in an avalanche of toppings. It didn't bring a lot to the table taste-wise either. Not to say it's bad, just insubstantial. The sauce was the standard red affair, neither savory nor sweet, but straddling the line between the two. The sauce is mild, doing its job, but not standing out, some might say down right boring. The five-cheese blend was fantastic, with the feta pushing it just over the top.

Next, we had the pepperoni. The crust and sauce were exactly the same as above. The cheese blend was different. Without the support of the provolone, cheddar, Parmesan, and feta, the mozzarella was bland. The pepperoni was both flavorful and spicy, but extremely greasy. Seriously, it soaked through everything. And this is exacerbated by the fact that the top of the pizza was tiled completely over by the pepperoni.

The "Big Country" came next. Named for Bryant Reeves, the basketball player that led OSU to the Final Four in 1995, the Big Country has pepperoni, Canadian bacon, Polish sausage, hamburger, cheddar cheese on top of the standard foundation of hand-tossed crust, red sauce, and mozzarella. It was this pizza where some major sliding was going on. The cheese was unable to hold the crust due to the glut of toppings and the lack of support from the crust, and if you tried to pick it up to eat everything fell off. So this is defiantly a pizza to eat with a fork. This pizza wasn't nearly as greasy as the pepperoni, and individually all the toppings were tasty.

The surprise star of the night was the Mediterranean. Its foundation was the hand-tossed crust with an olive oil and garlic glaze, topped with fresh spinach, mozzarella and feta cheese, and sun-dried tomatoes. With the glaze instead of the red sauce, the crust managed to hold up well in both taste and tensile strength. With feta in the picture again, the cheese blend is both flavorful and does its job well of holding things together. Other than some issues with the tomatoes and spinach being in large chunks, the rest of the toppings were perfect!

It is rather easy to see that Hideaway's main strength is toppings. Honestly, they offer more than 30 different kinds, and have 18 different named combinations to choose from. Unfortunately, a plate and fork are almost always required to enjoy the pizza. Hideaway has become a regular part of our diet here at New World Pizza, and every experience there has been a positive one.

***Update***
After rigorous testing we have determined that Hideaway’s pizzas reheat extremely well.

Also, we weren’t trying to be overly harsh on Hideaway and hope it doesn’t come across that way. It is one of our (many) standbys. We just feel that too often it is judged not just on merit alone, but with the added benefits of tradition and history.

Danny B's Part 2

2010-03-07T16:10:00.000-08:00

So we would be remiss in our duties as pizza scientists if we did not discuss what happens to pizza in the days after you order it. But this brings us to our first, of many, divides in philosophy. Brian is a staunch re-heater, while Ryan likes his leftover pizza cold and for breakfast. This conflict works out for you, loyal reader, in that no stone will be left unturned regarding leftover pizza.

So, how does Danny B's pizza hold up as leftovers?

The short answer is surprisingly well.

Both cold and re-heated, the cheese manages to transmogrify into something that pulls it's own weight on Team Pizza. The thick crust didn't re-heat as well as expected, but the hand tossed did just fine. The cream cheese matches with the chewy (bagely) crust perfectly. And the toppings held up fine.

Normally tonight would be the night Brian and Ryan would go out in search on new pizzas to explore. But not tonight. Ryan is sick with a head cold and has no taste. He always has no taste, but with a head cold, he's useless for navigating the finer flavor profiles of the pizza pie. So this week Brian will be covering one of his favorite hidden gems of a pizza.

Danny B's Gourmet Pizza

2010-02-28T18:33:00.000-08:00

For our initial review for this project we decided to try a new restaurant that most people haven't been to yet, and we were lucky enough to hear about Danny B's Gourmet Pizza. Located on NW 164th and Rockwell in Edmond, Danny B's is sandwiched in between a convenience store and a liquor shop. Primarily focused on carry out, they do have a delivery service and a couple tables.

As previously agreed upon, we ordered three pizzas: a cheese on hand tossed crust with the classic hearty sauce, a thick crust pepperoni with sweet garlic sauce, and the 'Randall,' a hand tossed thick cut Italian sausage and cream cheese pizza with the classic sauce.

The Randall is named after the co-owner, who was running the store when we visited. Randall was extremely helpful and his excitement about the 2-week-old store was obvious. It was easy to tell that in the two weeks of being open, Randall and his staff has been making constant refinements to their process and menu. Randall was charismatic, knowledgeable, and eager to share with us the story of Danny B's. Even before we had a chance to try the pizza, we were excited to see Danny B's do well.

Now, on to the pizzas.

The Hand Tossed Cheese with the Classic Hearty Sauce
The crust was a sour dough crust, sweet and hearty. The sauce, other than a few problems with distribution, was simple and savory. The cheese fell flat. It was unflavorful and a little tough, which is a shame, because the combination of crust and sauce worked really, really well.

The Thick Crust Pepperoni with the Sweet Garlic Sauce
The crust was the same as before, only even thicker and heartier. It could even be called a "pillow of love." The sauce was simply amazing. Thick, sweet, and incredibly garlicky, it perfectly complemented the crust. The pepperoni was a perfect background player, subtly adding depth and a slight heat to the crust/sauce combo. And, as before, the cheese was the weak link.

"The Randall" - Thick Cut Italian Sausage and Cream Cheese on Hand Tossed Crust with the Classic Hearty Sauce
The crust and the sauce were the same great combination as on the cheese pizza. We've never had cream cheese on a pizza before, and we were initially skeptical. But Randall knew what he was doing. The addition of cream cheese helped to fix the cheese problem by adding depth of flavor and smoothing out the texture. The Italian sausage was delicious, but a bit of an attention hog, which could have easily been fixed with a better cheese blend or the addition of another player, such as mushrooms or pepperoni.

Overall, it was obvious that the crust was the primary focus of Randall and his staff. It really was the key player in all of the pizzas. The Sweet Garlic sauce was hands-down the best, and when matched with the crust it created the perfect foundation for an incredible pizza. The cheese was problematic. Even with the help of the cream cheese, it was still not up to par with the rest of the elements. It'd be like having a minor league player in the World Series. The quality of toppings was higher than that of most chains and was evenly and appropriately distributed. We know we've come down hard on the quality of the cheese, but that's only because it keeps a good pizza from being great.

After two weeks of being open, Danny B's shows a lot of potential. We hope they can fix their problem with the cheese, and we wouldn't mind if they moved closer towards the city. We barely scratched the surface of their menu, and already we are planning what to have the next time we visit. We hope to see Danny B's stick around for decades to come.

The Way of The Pizza

2010-02-21T18:56:00.000-08:00

As we search for the perfect pizza, we will examine multiple dimensions of the pizza experience. Primarily, of course, are the ingredients that make up the Golden Ratio, Crust:Sauce:Cheese:Toppings. First, the crust. We will focus on the Three T's: taste, texture, and tensile strength. Second comes sauce, where we will consider it's viscosity, taste - sweet versus savory, and additives. Next is the cheese. It will be judged on amount, it's ability to stay on the pizza or the "slide factor," and, once again, the critical factor of taste. Then, there is the toppings. With freshness, quality, distribution, and - yet again - taste being our primary focus.

While each of these factors is extremely important, there are instances where the pizza is better than the sum of it's parts - just like Captain Planet was better than five teenagers with magic rings. So how the separate parts combine will also be judged.

In these tough economic times, taste is easily sacrificed on the alter of economics. So we will consider the price of each pizza.

Additionally, when possible, the service and and story of each store will be examined.

In cases of delivery, we will judge it on how quickly the order was processed, how well the pizza traveled, and the creepiness of the delivery person.

When ordering pizzas, we will try three different kinds. First, the cheese pizza, as it is pizza in it's most basic form. This will act as our control. Second is pepperoni. It is by far the most popular topping in the US. Lastly, we ask what each place recommends as their quintessential pizza. This will give each restaurant a chance to establish a unique and individual identity. Upon poor reviews, we are more than happy to give a restaurant a second chance.

Grand Unified Pizza Theory

2010-02-21T18:08:00.000-08:00

Where to begin? I guess in the crust, where the foundation of pizza is laid. I would say that the perfect crust would have to be chewy, with body (but not crunchy), and just like a recent college grad, needs to be able to support itself.

The sauce, ah, the sauce. The perfect one lies somewhere between ketchup and spaghetti sauce - too many times the simple flavor of the tomato can be overwhelmed by egregious herbage. It needs to be both sweet and savory. There are so many ways to do it wrong, and it's so hard to do right. An essential rule to remember: it's a sauce, not a salsa.

The cheese, the wrapping on this magnificent present for your mouth. Not just a glue to hold the toppings to crust, cheese is what separates a good pizza from a great pizza. Too little cheese and you're stuck with an over sauced bread stick, and with too much all the other elements are lost.

Next, the toppings. To continue a previously established metaphor, the toppings are the bow on the present. Toppings are widely considered to be the star of the pizza, but just like Jay Leno, a little goes a long way.

We believe that somewhere out there, there is a pizza that exhibits a golden ratio of Crust:Sauce:Cheese:Toppings. Our mission is to find that perfect pizza. Hopefully in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan area. We'll be scouring national chains to mom-and-pop shops, food courts to gourmet restaurants, and the frozen food isles to take-and-bake shops. No pizza product shall escape our grasp. Our stomachs, like our wallets, will sacrifice much in this search, but we believe what we can achieve - finding the perfect pizza - is worth it.

Additionally, we will examine the world of pizza beyond the restaurants by carefully studying pizza products, recipes, tools, and trinkets. We we also look at pizza derivatives, such as pizza flavored gums, snacks, etc. Again, we believe this is for the greater good.

We hope that you will join us on this journey, nay, quest.

Sincerely-

Brian Ulysses Berlin

Ryan Ulysses McKeiver