New York City Pizza, Hilton Head Island, SC

When our vacation was about a week away, we started to think about our favorite Hilton Head things - New York City Pizza, the pizza cone and gelato at Pino Gelato, the awesome chocolate cake at the Fresh Market ... and, oh yeah, the beach.

We're weren't disappointed.  In the photo, the pizza might look a little lopsided, but that was the way I carried it.  It was awesome.

Blue Grotto Pizza - South Side

1610 East Carson Street
412-904-3277

I have never seen such an enormous pizza!  At 20" square, it was even difficult to get me and the box through the front door at the same time.   For reference, that's a dinner plate in the photo - the slice is so big that it looks like a saucer!

The Blue Grotto is one of the two pizzas I had lined up to try in April - the other is Fratello's in Peters Township.  We've had a hard time getting to Fratello's - the first time we tried, a huge thunderstorm blew up, and this time the car transmission seemed to be acting up (it turned out to be okay) so we decided to stick a little closer to home and headed for the Blue Grotto.

I love the name - Blue Grotto Pizza is named, I am sure, for the beautiful sea cave in Capri.  Before I even tried the pizza, the name appealed to me, as does their motto:  "Peace Love and Pizza".  (As I also love "Peace Love and Little Doughnuts" in the Strip, makers of the world's best doughnuts.) 

The Blue Grotto menu is very limited, but what reason really is there to have more menu options?  They make five types of pizza:  Neapolitan, Margherita, Bianca, Sicilian and Marinara.  Each is available by the slice or whole pie.  They also have Pizza Rolls, Sandwiches (Italiano, Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Prosciutto, Cheeseteak, Meatball or Eggplant Parmesan), homemade soup, salad, and beverages. 

We ordered a Neapolitan pizza, with no additional toppings.  The sauce is very sweet and tasty, with bursts of oregano flavor.  We usually ask for extra sauce - we didn't this time, but wish we had.  The crust was thicker than I expected, and very chewy, with a pleasantly charred bottom and a very bready rim.   I'm not sure if it's in our "Top Ten" favorites, but we did enjoy the Blue Grotto pizza ... and will continue to enjoy it for a few days, as there are plenty of leftovers.

If we had a Top Ten list for salads, though, the Blue Grotto salad will be at Number One.  I ordered a small, which was surprisingly normal size - I say "surprisingly", because the pizza was so much bigger than I expected that it seems like everything would be supersized.  The salad was a step up from any other take out salad I've had, and was full of mixed greens, toasted sunflower seeds, chick peas, carrot, olives and crumbled blue cheese - close to my idea of a perfect salad. 

Next time we go to the Blue Grotto, I'd like to try some of their other pizzas, and will add a topping or two.  But next time, I'll definitely order a single slice!

New York Times Article - 99 Cent Pizza Slices

Earlier this week the New York Times ran an interesting article about the proliferation of pizzerias offering $.99 and $1 pizza slices as an affordable meal option.  Loved the article, but had to think that's something we Pittsburghers have been lucky enough to have available for years!  I was just looking through some pizza menus that I have on hand, and saw many that offer slices in the $1 to $1.50 range - Luigi's, Carol of Casey's, Spartan, DiSalla's, Danny's - and that's just naming a few.

Dominos Pizza - Forest Hills

2600 Ardmore Boulevard
Forest Hills, PA  15221
412-824-8700

I remember living in a neighborhood where Domino's Pizza was our only nearby option.  It's been a long time ... and a lot of pizzas ... since those days.  Lately I've seen Domino's advertising saying that they have totally revamped and improved their recipes, so thought it was time to give them another try. 

We chose a cheese pizza with a Brooklyn style crust.  The crust was hand rolled (the literature says the crusts are hand tossed, but we saw them rolling it).  The sauce was mildly spicy and enjoyable, but it was overwhelmed with an artificial garlic flavor on the crust.  The pizza was also loaded with an extreme amount of cheese  - I had to remove quite a bit of it from my slices so that I could taste the sauce.

On the plus side, the staff was very friendly and pleasant and the pizza was hot, and prepared quickly - which is nice when you are very hungry!   The loads of cheese - which the literature states is 100% real mozzarella with a hint of provolone - could be a plus, too, if you like lots of cheese on your pizza.  Domino's has eight new oven baked sandwiches that sound interesting, including a Mediterranean Veggie, Sweet & Spicy Chicken Habanero, and Buffalo Chicken with Blue Cheese among others.

On the other hand, when Veltre's and Foli's are so close to the same neighborhood, I think it will be a while before we give Domino's another try.

Pasta Too Family Italian Restaurant - Bethel Park, PA

5260 Library Road
Bethel Park, PA
412-831-3400

Last Christmas, Sharon and John gave us a gift certificate for dinner at Pasta Too. We really appreciated it, but the time was just never right to use it - either we were in the area, but didn't have the coupon with us, or we had the coupon, but it was a weird time for dinner ... you know what I mean.

Last night all the stars aligned and it was perfect timing to use our Christmas gift. We called in for take out and ordered a feast to eat while watching Monday Night Football - pizza, wedding soup, Italian salad and provolone sticks.

The Pasta Too offers two styles of pizza - Napolitano (thin crust) or Siciliano (thick crust). We ordered the Napolitano with extra sauce and light cheese. The sauce was deep red and loaded with Italian herbs and spices, and we liked the thin, foldable crust.

The "provolone stick expert" said they were very good, and my "small" salad was HUGE and included lots of goodies, including my favorite - artichoke hearts. We enjoyed the wedding soup, which was full of veggies and shredded chicken along with the tiny meatballs.

The restaurant has a full Italian style menu, serves generous portions, and is very popular - the restaurant was full on a Monday night! On another visit I think we'll try the Chicken or Eggplant Parmigiana - they both looked wonderful.

Thank you, Sharon and John!!!!

New York City Pizza - Hilton Head, SC

81 Pope Avenue
Heritage Plaza
Hilton Head Island, SC 29928
843-842-2227

I think we came back to Hilton Head this year just because we were craving New York City Pizza. And it was every bit as good as we remembered!

The crust is outstanding - it is thin, yet crunchy with a nice chewiness, and great flavor. New York Pizza makes the dough fresh daily, hand tossed to order, and stone baked. We ordered a New York style cheese pizza. It was spread with a thin layer of a tasty red sauce, fragrant with Italian herbs and spices, and artfully topped with Mozzarella. It was pretty close to perfect.

We also tried an order of New York City's mozzarella sticks. They were wonderful, with a nice coating, and bursting with flavor with each bite. The cheese sticks came with a very good garlicky marinara sauce. The sauce was different from the pizza sauce, but just as flavorful.

New York City Pizza offers three styles of pizza - New York, Pan Pizza or Sicilian - and sells pizza by the slice also. They make calzones and strombolis, which are available in either small or large. They have 14 specialty pizzas, including a Margherita, Greek, and White Pizzas. Some of the more unusual pizzas are a double crust Stuffed Cheesesteak Pizza, Chicken Parm Pizza, and Mario's Mexican Mayhem - with refried beans, steak and other Mexican style toppings. I wonder how many people order their Baked Ziti Pizza - ziti and tomato sauce, tossed with mozzarella and ricotta and spread over a pizza crust.

New York City Pizza's extensive menu includes six cold subs and nine hot subs, and nine reasonably priced salads, from a small side salad to a fresh Insalata Caprese and a heartier Chef or Grilled Chicken or Chef and my favorite - the Greek Salad. Available appetizers are soup of the day, mozzarella sticks, fried calamari with marinara sauce, garlic sticks with marinara sauce, and buffalo chicken wings with your choice of six sauces.

They have many pasta and dinner choices with 31 options available - from lasagna and eggplant parm to Penne Rivazza, Linguine Calamari Marinara, Veal Picatta, and Chicken Francese to name just a few, with extra meatballs, sausage, and chicken available as sides.

If you're still hungry, you can opt for dessert - Tiramisu, New York Style plain or raspberry cheesecake, or cannoli.

New York City Pizza is a full service restaurant with a fairly large restaurant area, and a bar where you can choose from eight beers on draft, nine domestic beers, eight imports, and fourteen specialty beers, with a wine list available.

Spartan Pizza - Brentwood

3600 Brownsville Road

Pittsburgh, PA 15227

412-886-9430

Spartan Pizza makes an outstanding crust. It was thin and almost cracker like; it held its shape, yet could be easily folded and the flavor was near perfection. We decided that it was the best crust that we have tasted to date on our Pizza Tour de Pittsburgh. The crust was topped with a thin layer of a tasty red tomato sauce, and a bubbling mixture of freshly grated cheese - half Provolone and half Mozzarella.

It was a chilly day, so we also ordered a cup of Spartan's Italian Wedding Soup to help warm us up. The soups at Spartan Pizza are homemade by a retired chef. The Wedding Soup was very good and also unusual in that it was made with beef broth rather than chicken broth, which gave it a very rich flavor. It was loaded with thick chunks of fresh carrot and dotted with spinach and acini de pepi, as well as tiny and tasty meatballs. The Wedding Soup is available seasonally - and I'm glad it is Wedding Soup season, because I'd like to go back soon for a larger container!

Spartan's pizzas are available in four sizes ranging from Small (12" 6 cut $7) to Xtra Large (18" 16 cuts $11). They also offer small or large Pizza Boats and I was happy to see that their pizza is available by the slice, at $1.25 per slice. They also offer four specialty pizzas: White Pizza, Spinach & Feta (the Spartan's Special), Grilled Chicken Pizza (with a white pizza base) and BBQ Chicken, which uses BBQ sauce instead of a red pizza sauce.

They also serve Wedgies, which are fresh dough stuffed with meats, cheese and veggies and garnished with lettuce, tomato, onion and dressing. You can choose Italian, Deli, Philly Cheese, Turkey Bacon, or Vegetarian. Their Calzones also sound very good and are available in Italian, Philly Cheese Steak, Meatball, Spinach, Mushroom, Pepperoni or Chicken.

Spartan says that their best seller is their Steak Sub - the Steak Sub is available in either half or whole, with the lowest priced Steak Sub the regular ($4.75 half/$8.75 whole) and the most expensive the Philly Cheese Steak ($5.75 half/$10.25 whole). Other varieties include Cheese Steak, Mushroom Cheese Steak, Steak & Egg, Steak & Peppers, Italian Steak, and Bacon Cheese Steak. The Steak Subs are served on a fresh Italian roll from Mancini's Bakery.

They also serve six types of burgers, the most unusual of which are a Cajun Burger and an Italian burger, which includes Pepperoni. Their sandwiches are also served on a fresh Mancini's Italian Roll, or Kaiser Roll. You have 17 sandwich choices, a comforting BLT or Grilled Cheese, or a hearty Hot Sauce or Chicken Parmesan sandwich. Spartan also makes wraps, croissant sandwiches and pita sandwiches, including gyros.

Some of the 13 sides on the menu are fried provolone, mushrooms or zucchini, Cheddar Cheese poppers, and Hot Buffalo Chicken Fingers. They also make buckets and baskets of Buffalo Party Wings, and four pasta dinners (sauce with meatball, meat sauce, hot sausage casserole, chicken parmigiana), served with a salad and garlic toast - available for a dinner special from 4-8 pm for $6 plus tax. If you're in the mood for something lighter, there are seven salads on the menu.

Spartan Pizza is located near Brentwood High School, on the opposite side of the street. It is, in fact, named after the Brentwood High School mascot, the Spartan! We were there on a weekend, but I am willing to bet that Spartan Pizza is very popular with the students after school - and they are lucky to have such a wonderful pizza parlor so close to their school.

Rosa Pizza - South Side

2767 East Carson Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15203

412-431-7672

Don't let the construction on East Carson Street discourage you from trying Rosa Pizza - it is well worth the visit!

Rosa Pizza is a Neapolitan style round pizza with a thin crust - crisp, yet foldable. The dough is made fresh every evening and allowed to rest overnight to be freshly hand tossed to order. It has the wonderful flavor of fresh bread.

When we called to order our typical medium pizza, we were happy to be told of that day's special - an extra large with one topping for $9.95 - less expensive than the medium would have been. We took advantage of the special and ordered the extra large with extra sauce and light cheese, with a topping of sliced banana peppers.

The pizza was just the way we like it, with the perfect amount of sauce and cheese for our personal taste. The sauce is made daily, and it is a light and fresh tasting tomato sauce, with delicate flavoring and flecks of oregano. The sauce was mildly sweet and not at all salty. The sliced banana peppers added a nice piquant touch and were a good topping choice.

In addition to the traditional Neapolitan pizza, Rosa Pizza offers white pizza, Sicilian pizza and a Chicago-style deep dish pizza. They make ten varieties of gourmet pizza, including a Brooklyn Pizza (roasted peppers, hot sausage and mozzarella), the 4 Seasons Pizza (prosciutto, artichokes, mushrooms, tomatoes and mozzarella) and the Rosa Supreme (pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, black olives, onions and green peppers).

Also on the menu are salads,wings, calzones, strombolis, hot subs and cold subs. The Pollo Balsamico sounds especially good to me - it's filled with grilled chicken, pesto, bruschetta, tomatoes and fresh mozzarella. Rosa offers six sides - french fries, cheese fries, mozzarella sticks, garlic bread, cheese bread, and fried dough with sugar. They make eight types of pasta dishes, including Spaghetti Bolognese, Eggplant Parmesan, and Chicken Marsala.

Rosa Pizza also has an extensive catering menu with some tantalizing menu options that are available with 24 hour notice.