Week 17: Pazzo! WoodFired Pizza

As always, time seems to be flying this year and we are one week behind.  While we aren’t behind on pizza eating, we are a few days late on our review.  After enjoying Easter, birthdays, out of town visitors, and countless other things, I am finally sitting down to write the review for last week’s pizza assignment...

We packed up the bus for a quick ride up towards Highland Village.  Tucked back in the strip mall between Party City and Cotton Patch Cafe lies a lesser known pizza spot called Pazzo! WoodFired Pizza (www.mypazzo.com).  Our arrival time was about 5:30, and the place was a ghost town.  We were the only non-paid people in the place.  This got me nervous, as did the white table cloths...  Did we walk in the wrong door?  Well, both first impressions were shortly erased as the server brought two pizza dough balls (like play-doh for kids) and crayons for the table (white linen table cloths were covered with white paper).  The kids were in heaven, and there were also small TV’s built in the walls around the restaurant.  After about 15 minutes almost all of the tables were full, and the place was hopping!

We quickly reviewed the menu, and decided that bruschetta as an appetizer would hit the spot, and the server was quick and friendly.  About 30 seconds after our appetizer order was in, he came back with a plate of bread and dipping sauces.  Lesson learned (again): Next time skip the bruschetta and order a salad; not because it wasn't delicious, but it was a little too many carbohydrates with the free bread and pizza to come. 

The pizzas are cooked in the wood burning oven for about 4 minutes at 560 degrees.  Which means that before we knew it, our Margherita and Contadino were out of the oven and at our table.  The pizza looked delicious.  The pizzas at Pazzo are all approximately the same 11” size, and have VERY thin crusts.  One item that immediately impressed me was the quality of the cheese.  After reading the menu, it said that it was Parmigiano Reggiano, which apparently meant “hard textured cheese, cooked but not pressed.”  The Contadino came highly recommended by our server, which included Italian sausage, spicy salami, and flame roasted corn and bell peppers.  It was a tasty pizza, not bad, but we would order a different specialty pizza next time.  The sausage and veggies didn’t knock our socks off, or have us craving more.  Also, the crust was a little too thin for my liking and was crispy like a cracker.  All of the pizza prices were about $10, which was average compared to other pies we’ve tasted of this style.  The menu also offers a large list of pastas and sandwiches, but you’d be reading a “Pasta and Sandwich Blog” if you wanted to hear about that...   

Margherita

Contadino

The Final Report: 6.5 out of 10

Pazzo! is a a great local pizza place that is a perfect alternative for those who want to get away from the standard franchise pizza joints.  It was one of the best places we’ve been to this year for the kids.  While they didn’t rave about the pizza, they did love the kid friendly atmosphere, and so did we!