Somerville/Medford Pizza Crawl Recap/Redux/Acid Reflux

[finlero]

This past Sunday, five chowhounds piled in a car and spent four hours driving around Somerville and Medford, trying the same thing everywhere we went: slices of cheese pizza. Last spring, I made a similar tour around Davis Square, and was grateful to have some chow reinforcements this time around, for additional opinions, portion control, and moral support.

Two quick disclaimers: (1) A number of places were closed on Sunday, so we weren't able to check out every place on our initial list. (2) We realize that slices of cheese aren't necessarily the strong suit at these places; the point was an apples-to-apples comparison.

--The Results--

We all voted for our favorites and runners-up, and interestingly enough, only three slices got any votes at all:

1) Pini's, MacGoun Square, $1.75/slice

Super-thin, nicely charred, salty, and enormous (a "slice" is a quarter of a pizza!), Pini's was the clear favorite of the day, garnering four 1st place votes and one 3rd place vote. enhF94, our pizza dough expert, was particularly impressed with the dough technique of the pizza guy here. Personally, having ordered a few full Pini's pizzas in the past and finding them kind of meh, the slices here were a pleasant surprise; clearly the second time through the conveyor belt oven makes a world of difference.

2) Leone's, Winter Hill, $1.50

The only Sicilian slice to get any votes, this slice was made with good-quality cheese, tasty sauce, and an an amazingly light, bready crust, with a good amount of olive oil lining the pan. The cheese was dumped kind of haphazardly across the pie, meaning we had a "Goldilocks" of comments about the cheese: too much, not enough, just right. We were all well aware that because these slices came fresh out of the oven, the deck was stacked unfairly in Leone's favor, but hey, that's the way it goes. Four 2nd place votes, one 3rd place. The folks running this place were incredibly nice and friendly.

3) Angelina's, Teele Square, $1.25

While this slice didn't garner the accolades that Pini's did, it seemed to please as a good, basic New York-style slice. At $1.25 for a 6th of a pizza, again quite good value. Nicely crusty exterior, mildly sweet sauce, salty and greasy in a good way. One 1st place, one 2nd place, three 3rd place votes.

Honorable mention: La Cascia's, South Medford, $1.50

This Sicilian slice was hurt by being served cold, but there was definite potential here. Tasty, focaccia-like dough and a notably sweet (but not cloying) sauce. As an aside, their massive ovens in the back were a sight to behold.

--And the rest--

Honestly, everything else was pretty darn mediocre. To protect the innocent, we won't get too specific, but here's a few quotable quotes directed at the other establishments on the list: "Well, it looked nice." "That wasn't charred, it was *burnt*." "Some of the better tasting cardboard I've ever eaten." "That was just really, really bad."

Thanks to all who attended, as well as everyone who emailed with suggestions of slices to try. I hope we can try this again sometime in the future, after my stomach has a chance to recover.

--"Bibliography": the full list of places we tried, with prices per slice--

Thin crust - Angelina's (1.25), Joe Pizza (1.60), Pini's (1.75), Pinky's (2.00), Toni's by George (1.62)

Sicilian - Bocelli's (1.00), Italo Bakery (0.90), La Cascia's (1.50), Leone's (1.50)

[sailormouth]

Awesome write-up! Don't know how I missed this thread the first time around.

I used to live very, very close to Leone's and went all the time, and in their defense, my slices were almost always fresh from the oven, so I don't think it was pure serendipity that y'all's were pretty fresh too. For some really strange reason, their pizza is actually pretty good when it's not so hot and fresh, I think it has something to do with the sweetness of the sauce and the bread.

[Aromatherapy]

I recently did cheese slices from Leone's and Lacascia. Lacascia started well but the sauce cloyed by the end of the slice. I liked the sauce at Leone's better but I guess I won the jackpot on random cheese distribution, there was way way more than I like. I have very fond memories of a spinach slice I had at Leone's but turns out he only makes cheese and pepperoni on weekends as demand is unpredictable. I was planning to get there this week to check out spinach and maybe eggplant but never made it.

[Ruprecht]

Does anyone know whether the Pini's on River St, Waltham is any relation to the #1 vote getter here?

[mr mangia]

Did anyone try a place on Highland Ave, Somerville called Double H Pizza ? It's in between the Yum Yum Chinese & restaurant & Thai Lemon. I am curious but so far I haven't been motivated to go in their yet.

[franksnbeans]

Excellent list/report. Thanks for organizing, Finlero. Gotta get to Pini's for a slice. Like you, and most, I've always found their whole pies uninspired, but clearly (as has been noted before) slices are the way to go here. Look forward to joining the next crawl.

[MaineRed]

Geographically speaking, we had a good list. I've lived in the neighborhood for more than 5 years and always wondered about these places :) Mass Ave would be a good line--not necessarily to seek out the best but just to try all those places you drive by and wonder about :) like Aces Pizza. maybe we'd find a hidden gem. Surprisingly, most places (like Bocelli's) serve Sicilian slices as their take-out slice, which is probably a Boston thing and also a product of having so many great Italian bakeries. Oh, and Bob's does Sicilian slices, I totally forgot about that one as we drove by :(

Now, another crawl could be destination driven: Armandos vs Santarpios vs Il Panino ...etc. the best of the best!

[hiddenboston]

Oh man, Three Aces Pizza. Thanks for bringing back vague memories of late nights and crazy times. Three Aces Pizza is the type of place that people never actually "go" to; rather, they tend to "end up" there. We often ended up there after a long night at the Kong, the Boathouse, or (yikes) the Bow and Arrow.

[Bob Dobalina]

Speaking of the Aces, I have a friend who went to Harvard Law School who swore by their penne with chicken and broccoli - even trucked some to him in NJ as a favor. Now he's a NJ state assemblyman so conclude what you like. ;)

I have to admit - I feel like the food there is actually rather under-rated - they make exceptional hot subs.

[finlero]

Exceptional as in "on par with Al's or Domenic's", or exceptional as in "nowhere near as bad as its nearby competition"?

[Bob Dobalina]

heh - good question. I think I'll opt for choice C: "Much better than their reputation might lead you to believe," and leave it to you to dare to figure it better. ;)

[TomH]

I am a big Pini's fan and the key to getting the pie to be as tasty as the slices is to order the pies "Well Done" they never burn them but they do get that crispy crust you are speaking of.

[enhF94]

pictures of the magic! at: http://www.clockwinders.net/pizzacrawl/

click on any picture for a larger version.

[Aromatherapy]

Those Italo IDs are correct.

[hiddenboston]

Nice photos! How times have changed--you probably would not have wanted to take pictures of any kind on Winter Hill a couple of decades ago, if you know what I mean. ;-b

Now I'm really itching to get to Pini's. Sounds really good....

[buffet king]

How did you get in trouble for taking pictures at Toni's by George? Did any other pizza shop stop you from taking pictures? You would think that they wouldn't mind the free advertising?

[enhF94]

I can understand their consternation - they're a family-run business, and might not want competitors taking pix of the menu or whatever. And, some people just don't like having their picture taken.

Obfood: Days later, I'm still finding myself fascinated by the dough at Pini's. It obviously had well developed and rested gluten, because it took lots of stretching with no holes and, shockingly, no springback. But when he stretched the dough, I couldn't actually see any gluten strands at all. Pini's also used a finer grind of cornmeal than Angelinas - the cornmeal got "into" the dough more, so was less noticeable. Not sure of my preference, but side-by-side, the effect seemed pretty different to me.

[Aromatherapy]

I buy Pini's dough when I'm making pizza. You can specify whether you will be cooking it now or later (never tried the "later" option). It's a pleasure to work with.

[maillard]

I'm glad to hear that Pini's was so good. That is usually my favorite place for slices, but the last time I went (a week or so ago) it was not good at all. The dough tasted sweet and like it hadn't risen long enough and the slice was oddly lacking in flavor. I must've just hit them on an off night, so I will go back soon to try again!

[rememberme]

Well, maybe you'll make me try Pini's again. The many times I've had it has been at PTA meetings or child sports events where I've been distinctly unimpressed! The crust has been thick, unflavorful, and completely uninteresting.

[bear]

Thanks for taking all those hits. Anyone know if Pini's is related to the Waltham place (decent, not remarkable pies), or the couple of other Pini's I've seen around? I've seen three or four. In other words, is it just another "Brother's Pizza" "Steve's Pizza" "House of Pizza" name, or a small chain?

[enhF94]

Thanks for the writeup, finlero. Speaking for myself, I think you did an eminently fair job reporting the group as a whole. I never expected Pini's to gain my vote (and no one can match my beloved City Slicker), but I left quite impressed with them. Kudos to the entire group and I'm looking forward to other crawls in the future!

[chickendhansak]

Today I got the Pini's slice -- nice indeed and truly massive. It cost me 2.00 though, to go in a box. I think my local, La Ronga, has slices that are better, but this is a good slice too, and great value.

[Aromatherapy]

Boy, I wish I could have made it. FWIW I have it on pretty reliable authority that Pranzi's (up the street from Moulton's) is eminently missable. Thanks for the hard work.

[Bob Dobalina]

Thanks, man. Much appreciated.
I thought during your Davis Square round-up that Angelina's had rated the highest...or is my memory bad?

[finlero]

You're absolutely right, but that was a different arena. We started at Angelina's for a "control group" slice, then moved into uncharted waters. For whatever it matters, my 1st place vote was the one that went to Angelina's. To be clear, I don't think it's a make-a-pilgrimage-whenever-you're-anywhere-nearby slice, but it's darn fine for the area.

[yumyum]

Awesome. I admire your spirit and appreciate the research.

Glad to hear that my favorite local slice came out on top (Pini's). Agree the whole pies are not as good. Angelina's hits the spot too ... but I'm wondering about Toni's by George. I've never understood what the name means, but have been dying to try it. Was that the cardboard one?

[finlero]

It wasn't the cardboard one, but you can safely ignore it.

[yumyum]

Duly noted. Good day sir.

[buffet king]

I think it's named Toni's by George because the wife is named Toni and the husband is named George or something like that. Save your money and time and try another pizza shop. There are more pizza shops in Medford that have better pizza. Toni's by George makes a greek pan pizza that is very greasy and not very tasty in my opinion. I would stick with Regina Pizza at Station Landing or try Raso's Grille on Mystic Ave. Raso's makes a good cheese pizza. FYI, Regina and Raso's Grille does not sell slices you will have to buy a whole pizza.