Marie’s Pizza Opinions

my name is marie and I have opinions about pizza.

[pizzaopinions]

Pizza provider: Veggie Crust, Somerville, MA Date of review: 2024-02-02

I was going to debate whether these really count as pizza vs flatbread, based on the toppings, but then I looked it up and according to the internet the difference actually comes down to whether there is yeast in the dough (pizza: yes, flatbread: no). TIL!

Left: Paneer Tikka Masala

More spicy than I expected! This pizza kept me on my toes with each bite of delicious delicious curry sauce, mozzarella, toasted paneer, and red onions (which add just a little sweetness to help counter the heat of the sauce). And I have to say, the folks at Veggie Crust sure know how to make a crust; I imagine there's some overlap with making great garlic naan. This pizza is my friends' go-to order and I think it might become mine as well. Honestly I don't have much more to say except this was really good (IMO better than the slice I had at Spirit of India in Lexington) and I want to get more soon. 🍕

Right: White Spinach Feta

A white pizza is rarely my first choice (after all, my platonic ideal of a pizza has everything to do with the ratio of tomato sauce to mozz to crispy crust), but I'm willing to be open-minded. In this case I was very pleasantly surprised! It doesn't hurt that this pizza is really just a combination of 4 things I like very much: spinach, red onion, feta cheese, and bread. Hard to go wrong with that. The spinach was pleasantly wilted, toasted just enough to prevent it from being soggy, and the sweetness of the red onion provided the right counterbalance to the savory, salty feta. All these flavors supported by an unobtrusive yet tasty dough (I happily ate the crust at the end) make this a winning combo. And I didn't even miss the tomato sauce.

Final rating: ★★★★★ 5/5 very good, planning to go back.

[pizzaopinions]

Pizza provider: Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, West Hartford CT Date of review: 2021-11-20

What you see before you is a tale of two pizzas, two halves both alike in dignity. We ordered split of toppings: onion and sausage, and spinach and mushroom and sausage. 

As it turned out, the spinach did a lot of work - the textures were completely different across the two halves. The spinach side was a juicy mélange of cheese and sauce and oil, bolstered by the liquids in the vegetable toppings. The sausage and onion half had an entirely different consistency: more chewy and less liquid, and didn’t require a fork and knife to consume. So more like a standard pizza slice, which is good if that’s what you’re looking for, but it was also somehow less decadent, less thrillingly indulgent than the soggier spinach and mushroom slices.

Normally a rectangular pizza would be a mark off for me (too close to what I can make myself at home), but here I was won over by the chaotic mix of triangular and rectangle narrow slices. (Ideal for sharing.) The other slight detraction for me was the charred crust; parts were almost rock hard and had to be left on the plate (which I hate, it makes me feel like a picky child).

Final rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5, a solid slice, ideal for a road trip.

[pizzaopinions]

Pizza provider: Costco Food Court, Nashua, NH Date of review: 2021-10-3

At first bite, I realize that the sauce is an afterthought. It’s neither sweet nor salty, just a stolid reminder that tomato is in fact present. Despite said presence, the overall flavor is more like cheesy bread than a true pizza. Luckily I love cheesy bread, so I persevere. Each Costco slice is actually two smaller, reasonably-sized slices. By the second one I’ve settled in, I’m savoring the comforting greasiness. The crust is a pleasantly neutral counterpoint: chewy yet dry, just one step above cardboard in its savory-ness (or lack thereof). This reminds me of every generic frozen pizza I’ve made, or Domino’s pizza but with worse crust. It brings back long-lost memories of eating Chuck E. Cheese pizza — the greasy, slightly sticky fluorescent pink and chrome tables wobbling beneath my elbows.

Final Rating: ★★★☆☆ 3/5, for the nostalgia factor and notes of cardboard.

[pizzaopinions]

Pizza provider: Bravo by the Sea, Manchester-by-the-Sea MA Date of review: 2021-09-04

Reader, you have now beheld perfection. Here is what I want in a margherita pizza:

Thin yet chewy crust

Sweet tomato sauce

Salty, lightly oily cheese counterpoint

A hint of basil for texture

This pizza delivers all four, with the added bonus of just a bit of char to add a smoky note to balance the sweetness and salt and oil, but not so much as to render the crust brittle. It’s just... *chef’s kiss*.

In all fairness I could be biased because each time I’ve had this pizza it’s been after a day at the ocean with good company, which makes it hard to be anything but ecstatic. Whatever the case, I’ll wholeheartedly recommend this pizza to whoever will listen.

Final rating: ★★★★★ 5/5, the pinnacle of pizza, I could eat it for days, charred crust and all.

[pizzaopinions]

Pizza provider: Dragon Pizza Date of review: 2021-08-18

No picture because I forgot to take one. (Oops.)

Quite frankly I was disappointed with this pizza. It’s true, I made the mistake of falling for the hype after reading rave reviews on Google Maps for the Margherita pizza. All the components for success were there: thin crust, tomatoes, cheese, basil... and then I made the fatal mistake. Down at the bottom of the order menu was a checkbox option: “Make it crispy”. “Oh boy, don’t mind if I do,” I thought. “I like a crispy crust,” I thought.

Reader, I did not enjoy the crispy crust. It was so dry, and so hard as a rock that I debated not finishing the pizza at all. I have never before thought that. A part of me wept inside. I did eat the entire thing though because I have a thing about throwing out food.

As for the flavors... they were nothing to write home about. The sauce was okay, I think. The cheese was probably fine. In my heart I wished for a vegetable. The basil had dried so much from being crispy-fied it may as well not have been there. I’m sorry pizza, I did you wrong. Never again will I request a crispy crust.

The roasted cauliflower side was pretty good though.

Final rating:  ★★☆☆☆ 2/5, because the hype let me down, even though I think it’s mostly my fault for ordering a crispy crust.

[pizzaopinions]

Pizza Provider: Oath Pizza, Somerville MA Date of review: 2021-05-26

My mouth waters just looking at this photo. Oath Pizza is a favorite of mine, ever since I learned that they use avocado oil for the crust. Who thought of that? It’s excellent. It makes me feel healthy even though it’s probably not. Five Guys (with their peanut oil) and Oath Pizza should collaborate. I’m not sponsored by either of these companies, but I certainly wouldn’t be opposed....

This is the Farmer’s Garden. What else can I say about a pizza that is just plain good? The crust is a little wide around the edges (almost 2″ in some places) but the fact that it’s fairly thin and perfectly chewy makes it up for me. I like my pizzas laden with veggies, absolutely straining under the weight of the toppings, and this certainly checks that box. If I could change anything, it would be to pump up the volume on the tomato sauce. The chopped tomatoes satisfy my desires, but I miss the serenade of a slightly-sweet tomato sauce to add that lovely harmony to the cheese and spinach and bread. 

Final Rating: ★★★★☆ 4/5, excellent reheated with sriracha or honey.n