Week 4: Grimaldi's Pizzeria

Grimaldi's Pizzeria in Brooklyn, NY is a 3000 mile round trip drive from our home in North Texas.  Considering we didn't have 50 hours to burn on Saturday night, we decided to go to the location in Allen, TX at Watters Creek.  When it turned out to be almost an hour each way, we had our fingers crossed that the pizza at Grimaldi's Pizzeria (www.grimaldispizzeria.com) would be worth the trip.  Upon our arrival we were greeted with a 45 minute to an hour wait and were told to return in 15 minutes just to get our "pager."  Under most circumstances, we would have happily declined the offer and chosen another dining destination, but we were on an mission.  We certainly weren’t going to take a two hour car ride for nothing!  The wait ended up being only 30 minutes and was over before we knew it.  It was time to get down to business...

The view from our table!

Our patience were awarded with the best seat in the house.  We were literally inches away from the three pizza cooks, and that kept the kids (and me) entertained throughout the meal.

Wasting no time, this is how things work at Grimaldi's: 3 sizes of pizza (personal, small, and large), 3 different sauces (famous red sauce, pesto, and white/garlic), 20 toppings to create whatever your heart desires.  There are no "specialty" pizzas, you call all the shots.  My first recommendation would be to get the large, yes its huge, but for only $2 more, you will WANT leftovers.  They are very accommodating with toppings/sauces and will let you split them over half the pizza or even a quarter.  But a word of caution, topping prices are the same regardless if you cover the whole pizza or just one slice.  A couple interesting facts we found out about Grimaldi's were: the pizza is cooked in a coal fired brick oven that burns coal transported by train from Pennsylvania, and each Pizzeria has a water filtration system installed that recreates the exact chemical composition of New York City water to ensure the authenticity of the pizza taste (or at least that's what they say).

With all the options of sauces and toppings, we selected a personal plain cheese, and a large red/pesto pie with tomatoes, chicken, and garlic.  We should have split the toppings on the large differently, but the prices of the toppings scared us away from creating a +$40 pizza.  After a short wait, our server reemerged holding in his hand what would in a few short moments become the greatest pizza that my wife has ever tasted.  Alright, I'll let her explain....

Large Half Pesto / Half Red Sauce

***

I’m almost certain our 52 week mission has been ruined.  I fully expect to be disappointed for 48 more weeks because there is just no way anyone can make a better pizza.  I am prone to exaggeration - but seriously, I’m not kidding.  At one point I said (out loud) “I wish I didn’t have to chew.” It was that good - I didn’t even want to waste the time moving my mouth up and down, because I just wanted to eat more.  The crust was inexplainable, and the sauce had just the perfect amount of spice.  About an hour later, when we were on the car ride home, I was still savoring the after-taste.  

I am glad that Grimaldi’s is far away.  If it was too close to home I would be fat and broke.  The only reason I wouldn’t give it a perfect score is because of the pricing.  In reality though - knowing it’s that good, I would have paid double.

***

Small Cheese

The Final Report: 9.5 out of 10

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria has become the top pizzeria location in 2011.  Fortunately, we have 48 weeks left, and so the journey continues...

Week 3: Cavalli Pizzeria Napoletana

If you haven’t been to Cavalli Pizzeria Napoletana (www.cavallipizza.com), shame on you.  My suggestion would be that you stop reading this review and drive your car to 3601 Regent Boulevard in Irving, TX.  For the rest of you that can’t make the trip for whatever reason, please continue reading the review below.  However, in the meantime mark your calendar for a visit next time you are in the area.  

With just under 25 million residents in the State of Texas, I was surprised to find out that one of three certified Verace Pizza Napoletana Association locations was only 10 minutes from the house.  Some of you may be wondering, “what is the Verace Pizza Napoletana Association (www.verapizzanapoletana.org)?”  Essentially, it is a group of certified pizzerias that create pizzas using the exact standards as defined by the association in Naples, Italy.  Basic requirements include a wood-burning oven, exact ingredients, and proper technique of a hand worked dough cooked at 800 degrees.  Blah, blah, blah...  You want to know if the pizza was good, right? It’s not time for a lesson on pizza making history, rules, and cooking regulations - it’s Saturday night, and we have some pizza to eat!

Certified "VPN" Wood-Burning Oven

Located in a strip mall off 635 and Beltline Rd., we had wanted to try this place since it opened a couple years ago.  As we pulled in, we noticed that the parking lot was packed!  Assuming that all of the people weren't lining up for a hair appointment next door, we ventured inside.  All but one table in the place was filled, and a line was slowly growing at the register.  Their website calls it “quick-serve,” where you place your order at the register and they bring it out to you.  The menu covers everything from salads, appetizers, sandwiches, and of course - pizzas.  They do have a self serve soda fountain, but many of the patrons were taking advantage of the B.Y.O.B. policy (I wish we had too).  I placed our order while my wife strategically located a table amongst the Saturday evening chaos. 

Each pie is hand created on the marble countertop and cooked in the blazing hot 800 degree wood-burning oven.  We chose the Margherita Extra and Pesto Chicken, both of which were designated as “Cavalli Favorites.”  There were several specialty pizzas that caught our eye, but needless to say I don’t think you could have made a bad choice.  Our “Irving Salad” arrived at the table and we inhaled it before the server could return with extra plates and silverware.  Now if there was any criticism, it would be that they only had one kid running around with his hair on fire (not literally), dropping off orders and fulfilling additional requests from the customers.  This was probably due to the fact that it was tremendously busy, however the restaurant would probably run a lot smoother with additional employees on the floor.

Marrgherita Extra

Pesto Chicken

Simply stated, the pizza was fantastic.  It has been about 20 years since I ate a pizza in Italy, but I imagine this was what it was like.  Starting with the Margherita Extra, the Bufala Mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes were textbook, and the crust was nothing short of heavenly.  Every bite was memorable, and my only regret is that we didn’t order a large.  The Pesto Chicken was just as good, if not better.  The ricotta cheese was on every slice, the pesto sauce did not overwhelm the taste buds, and the chicken was cooked to perfection.  The price for a 10” specialty pizza was approximately $10, or you could create your own using a list of almost 30 toppings.  Cavalli also offers a selection of dessert pizzas.  Not being one to pass on a good treat, I enjoyed a few bites of the “S’mores” pizza, and left with a happy stomach.  By the end of our meal, the line was almost to the door, and we could have auctioned off our open table to the highest bidder.

S'Mores Dessert Pizza

The Final Report: 8.5 out 10

I would have returned for breakfast if they served a breakfast pizza.  Our entire pizza experience was great, and with 49 weeks left to go, it will be hard to wait on a return visit to Cavalli Pizzeria in Irving!

Week 2: Brix Pizza & Wine Bar

It's Saturday night, which means it's time to hit the road, and make our next stop on the 52 week pizza adventure. For week 2's destination, we decided to try someplace that would be a little more relaxing, and offer more atmosphere than Pizza by Marco.  With that in mind, we locked in Brix Pizza & Wine Bar (brixpizzeria.com) into the GPS, and we headed to Oak Street in Roanoke. This half mile strip of restaurants has quickly become a "hot spot" in the northern suburbs of Ft. Worth.



Our first impression was a very optimistic one, and we had our fingers crossed that the pizza was as good as the location itself.  Upon entering the restaurant, we were immediately greeted by the General Manager, Leonardo Pisani, and promptly seated in the dining area of over 25 tables.  In the far back corner of the restaurant we we could see the wood-fire pizza oven, which got us excited.  Brix opened it's doors late in 2010, and the place still had the "new restaurant smell" inside.


Now let's do a quick review the menu.  The wine selection consisted of over 70 bottled wines ($16-98), of which almost 30 were offered by the glass ($5-12).  The Malbec we selected was sold out, but we were easy to please with a bottle of California red zinfandel to share.  We obviously passed on the appetizers and entrees for this visit, however there were several that caught our eye.  The pizza menu listed 12 different specialty pizzas and 2 calzones.  We opted for 3 small pies (10") which ranged from $9-12, and were also sold in 14" and 18" sizes.  The pizzas were on our table in what seemed like record time, which with 2 toddlers, was fine with us! 

Now down to business.  First off, the pizzas looked fantastic!  We chose the Margherita which was lightly dusted with fresh basil.  Second, the "Snow White" was a pizza name that our 3 year old daughter couldn't pass up, which was a white pizza with mozzarella, parmigiano, gorgonzola, and prosciutto. Our third choice was called "4 Seasons," and was loaded with five different types of vegetables.  Before our plates even hit the table, I had taken a first bite of the Snow White pizza.  My immediate thought was that the pizza tasted very salty, and the crust didn't impress me.  Could it be possible that these three beautiful pizzas could fall short of our expectations?  We continued to take our time sampling each of the three pizza offerings, and kept hoping that things would get better.  Sure, the pizzas were edible, but we both agreed that the crust was chewy and boring.  When the waitress removed our plates at the end of the meal, they were littered with uneaten crusts.  The Margherita didn't hit us with the "wow factor" we had anticipated, and the vegetables on the "4 Seasons" had a soggy texture.  In general the toppings lacked the flavor that may have saved the crust from its mediocre score.  We were unable to finish all of the pizza this week, so we humbly took home five slices for lunch on Sunday.  After a second try with the leftovers, we were still hoping for more...

The 4 Seasons

The Margherita

The Snow White (1/2 prosciutto 1/2 without)

The Final Report: 5.5 out of 10

Overall, we really enjoyed our dining experience, and Brix Pizza & Wine Bar delivered on many levels.  However, the pizza by itself... was just average.

Week 1: Pizza by Marco

The 2011 New Year’s Resolution: To eat at a different pizza restaurant in the DFW area each week for the next 52 weeks.

Seems easy enough, so why not start our exploration on January 1st?

The oldest “pizzeria” in Dallas was the first stop on our list.  Pizza by Marco has been serving Dallas it’s family owned, award winning Sicilian recipe since 1956.  Their website (www.pizzabymarco.com) states that no other pizza in the State of Texas has won as many pizza awards.  We packed up the pizza bus, and headed to the original location on the corner of Preston Rd./Royal Ln.  Since opening over 50 years ago, four other locations have opened in the Dallas area, and one north of Houston in The Woodlands.  

First of all, if you didn’t know what you were looking for, you pass Pizza by Marco 10 times out of 10.  It is hidden away in the far back corner of a strip mall with a store front of less than 10 feet.  But, with the words “Voted Best Pizzeria in Dallas by D Magazine” over the door, we knew we had found the place!  Simply put, this is a take-out pizza spot.  Don’t expect to bring the family of four and relax in a restaurant atmosphere.  There are 6 small tables lined up against the wall, and a walk up “window” where you place your order.  Once inside, you are greeted with a wall of appropriately framed newspaper/magazine articles boasting the greatest pizza awards, a collection of old Italian art prints, and Judge Judy playing on the flat screen TV above the seating area.    However, after being inside for less than five minutes, we noticed the phone never stopped ringing, and there was a steady flow of take out customers that continued for the remainder of the visit.  If you live nearby, this is the place you pick up pizza on the way home from work, or take out for a Monday Night Football game, but is NOT the restaurant to go expecting a corner booth and a nice family night out.  You get the point, but the pizza is a different story...   

1/2 Special & 1/2 Greek

The hand written board above the register was extensive - that included the list of specialty pies (Augustus, Bruschetta, Full Moon, Meathead), to vegan soy toppings and healthy whole wheat crust, to almost 30 additional toppings.  I humbly approached the cashier and ordered a small half pepperoni and half cheese.  I then proceeded to ask what was their most popular pizza to which he responded that everything was good, but it was probably the “Special.”  It was at this point in my order that I froze up trying to decide, and began to sweat knowing that I could only choose one.  I honestly would have preferred a straightforward answer from the guy, but the line started to back up behind me.  Without much additional thought, I chose a second small pie, half “special,” and half “greek.”  The total for the 2 small pizzas, a can of Diet Coke, and a bottle of water was just over $21.  Not a bad deal, considering we were 10-15 minutes from sinking our teeth into what was allegedly the “Best Pizza in Dallas.”

Extra Thin Crust

Our 15 minute wait was up, and our pies emerged from behind a white door in the back of the restaurant.  The first impression was, “WOW those are small.”  We had brought our appetites, and two 10” pizzas won’t be enough to feed our two year old.  Needless to say we weren’t having leftover pizza for lunch on Sunday.  First things first, the pizza is THIN crust, almost cracker thin.  When you bite into the outer edge it is crispy.  This wasn’t necessarily a problem, and the dough was actually quite tasty, but definitely one of the thinner crusts I have had in a while.  The “special” included your standard slew of toppings, but did not overtake the essence of the final product.  The “greek” was a basic cheese pizza dressed up with olives, roma tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, feta cheese, and peas.  This was in fact the first time I had eaten a pizza with peas on it, and the combination was enjoyable.  It was time to dig in to the cheese pizza.  For what it’s worth, the sign on the wall stated that all of their pizzas were made with 100% Italian Grande Cheese.  When all of the toppings were stripped away, you were able to see what really separates Pizza by Marco.  I thought that the red sauce was fantastic, especially by itself on the edge towards the crust.  There were two other sauce options, alfredo sauce and olive oil glaze, but the red sauce had a sweetness that was top notch.  During the meal I had overheard the cashier explaining that the sauce was made daily with 13 different spices, and sometimes the surviving wife of “Marco” comes by the restaurant to make it!  Before we knew it all 16 slices had vanished.  So, we licked our styrofoam plates clean and piled back into our pizza bus for the pilgrimage home.

The Final Report: 7 out of 10

If you love thin crust pizza and are close to one of their locations, I would absolutely recommend it!  However, if you are planning to eat in the "restaurant", Pizza by Marco would not be worth a long drive.

Was this the best pizza in Dallas?  So far, yes.  But then again it is only our first stop for the year with 51 pizzerias left to go!