Frisch's - Caste Village

Caste Village Shopping Center
Baptist and Grove Roads
412-881-6555

One thing I've learned from my "career" as a pizza blogger, is that you can find decent pizza in places where you would never expect it.

We have long been fans of Frisch's awesome chicken and have served it at many family gatherings, but never tried their pizza.  Actually, I didn't even know they made pizza until I took a close look at their menu.  Frisch's was packed after Sunday's Steelers game, so other people had the same idea.

It turned out to be very good.  The crust was thick with crisp edges, and tasted homemade.  The sauce was mild and slightly chunky - all in all, very enjoyable.  The cheese was very thick, very gooey, and tasted fresh.  If you like loads of cheese, you'll definitely like this pizza! 

The only downside was, to me, the cheese - I had asked for "easy on the cheese" because of my ongoing attempt to control my cholesterol, but it came loaded with about a 1/2" thick layer of cheese.  I just pulled it off.  Oh well!

Frisch's has a very extensive menu and I've enjoyed any item of theirs that I have ever tried.  Menu items include fresh soups, many sandwiches, salads - by the pound or prepared, pizza, pizza calzones, wedgies, seafood (fish, shrimp, scallops, and tuna melt), side orders, broasted chicken (again ... awesome!), wings, and desserts.  They also offer value meals, which include buckets and barrels of chicken and a hoagie/pizza combination, and a kid's menu. 

Frisch's also has a large catering menu that includes hoagies and sandwich rings, party trays, homemade pastas, ribs salads, and chicken among many other items ... the perfect thing for a busy Holiday season.

E. M. Pizzeria - Brentwood

4140 Saw Mill Run Blvd. (Rt. 51)
Brentwood
412-884-3034

This review is a testament to the fact that advertising does work!  We must have driven by the E. M. Pizzeria thousands of times but never really noticed it.  This past week, we found a menu tucked into our copy of the either the South Hills Record or the Pennysaver ... and it looked pretty good!  We tried it last night and are glad we did.

The pizza had a very tasty thick and chewy hand tossed crust.  The fresh sauce was thick and flecked with herbs, and the pizza was just the way we like it - extra sauce and light cheese.  (We asked for light cheese on our pizza which is why it looks thin in the photo.)  I read another review that said the sauce is bland - that is not at all how we feel!  We liked the sauce very much, and although it is mild, it is also very flavorful.

E.M. Pizzeria has a very extensive menu with many varieties and combinations of pizza, salads, calzones, wedgies, pasta, specialty pasta, oven-baked hoagies, gourmet hoagies, gyros, wings, appretizers and desserts!  We love the sound of the Chicken Spinach Gourmet Hoagie, the Gyro Hoagie and the Chicken Ranchero sounds awesome - chicken breast, ranch sauce, french fries and provolone.  I can imagine myself stopping back very soon for a yummy Chicken Gyro Platter, Greek Pizza or a Tuscan Chicken Pizza (grilled chicken, tomato sauce, artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and mozzarella). 

We'll be back!

Giovanni's Pizza - Dormont

3047 West Liberty Avenue

Dormont, PA  15216

412-344-6622

Giovanni's makes an awesome crust - I have to say that it is one of the best crusts I have had in Pittsburgh - tender and flaky, thin yet sturdy, and very flavorful.    We ordered an 8-cut pizza with extra sauce, light cheese, and mushrooms on half.  The sauce is a little sweet for my personal taste, but my co-taster loved it.  I think if I had ordered the regular amount of sauce rather than double sauce, it would have been perfect for me.  (I can't help it - I love pizza sauce.)  The mushrooms were fresh and plentiful, and I enjoyed them - I wished I had also ordered banana pepper rings as a topping, but that I'll try that next time.

We also ordered mozzarella sticks, which were also wonderful - perfectly fried and just the right amount of spice in the coating.  The sauce that came with the sticks was not the same sauce as on the pizza - it was very good marinara sauce.

Although we ordered our pizza to go, Giovanni's has plenty of seating if you'd like your meal fresh from the oven.   In addition to the traditional pizza that we ordered, Giovanni's has 19 gourmet pizzas on their menu - the most unusual gourmet pizza is the new "Crab Trap" - it is topped with shrimp, scallops, crabmeat and spinach in a homemade lobster sauce and sprinkled with Old Bay Seasoning.  All of Giovanni's pizzas and bread twists are also available for Take-N-Bake.

Giovanni's has plenty more options if you don't feel like pizza - 14 Appetizers, 7 Bread Twists, Jumbo Buffalo Wings with your choose of sauces, Soups and Salad, Gyros, Wedgies and Calzones, Hoagies and Wraps, Pasta dishesm, and 24 House Specialties.  Wow!  The newest House Specialties are Pasta Picasso, Penne ala Vodka with Chicken, Pasta Primavera and Lasagna.  Some of the entrees are even available gluten free - Chicken Parmesan, Chicken Spinach, Mediterranean Pasta, Italian Dinner, and Baked Ziti. 

And, if that's not enough, Giovanni's offers five desserts - Homemade Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Cannoli, Sweet Twists, and Homemade Doughnut Puffs that are dusted with cinnamon and powdered sugar and served with a chocolate dipping sauce.

The Pizza Company - North Baldwin / Carrick, PA

3050 Churchview Avenue
Baldwin, PA
412-882-6101

The Pizza Company is a small, but steadily growing, take-out pizza chain and since there is one fairly close to us, we'd been curious about their pizza.  We ordered a traditional crust pizza with extra sauce and asked that they go "easy on the cheese" since we don't like huge mounds of cheese on a pizza. 

We were happy with the pizza - we're not yet ready to add it to our top ten, but we'd definitely try it again.  The pizza is very family friendly - the sauce is mild and pleasantly herby.  The crust was a nice texture - it was cooked enough that it held the sauce well, and the ends were firm, but was not so hard as to have that cardboard texture that some crusts do.  Our friend Lexi loved it and said that it was an "awesome pizza"!   I only wished that it had more sauce, but again, that's my personal preference.

In addition to the traditional hand tossed pizza, the Pizza Company has white pizza and nine varieties of specialty pizzas - Supreme, Veggie, Pepperoni Feast, Gourmet White, Meat Eaters, White Chicken, BBQ Chicken, Buffalo Chicken and Greek.  (I think the Greek sounds really good - imported olive oil, garlic, spices, spinach, kalamata olives and feta cheese.)  They also offer wings, salad, some sides, and breadsticks. 

One interesting sandwich is the "Original Untouchable", that sounds kinda like a Primanti Brothers - meats topped with spice slaw and French fries on fresh Italian bread.  You can order an Original Untouchable with your choice of Steak, Ham, Salami, Capicolla, Meatball, Sausage or Turkey for $5.50, or a  Bacon and Egg Untouchable for $5.75.  You can also order either topped with tomato or a fried egg for a tiny extra charge.

Pizza Roma and Pasta House, Cranberry, PA

20315 Rt. 19 Cranberry Township, PA
1-724-776-1577

Pizza Roma and Pasta House has been a fixture in Cranberry for over 26 years.  It's easy to see why they have been in business for such a long time - the pizza was excellent and the staff was very friendly.

We ordered a traditional crust pizza with red pizza sauce.  The sauce is homemade; it is deep, rich and flavorful.  The cheese for the pizzas is shredded on the premises and it is very fresh tasting.   We especially liked the crust - it was thin, but sturdy enough to hold up to the extra sauce that we ordered.  The pizzas are baked in Pizza Roma's "old-fashioned stone ovens".

Pizza Roma has three new varities of Specialty Pizza - Spinach Feta, Steak Ranch and Onion, and Buffalo Chicken.  Other pizzas include Sicilian style, Seafood Pizza (with red or white sauce), White Pizza and Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza.  In addition to the pizzas, they serve eight types of hoagies, six different types of calzone, Sandwiches and Burgers, wings and wing wings, salads and appetizers.   Dinners are also available, and include pasta, gnocchi, veal and chicken parmesan, eggplant and more.  We are especially interested in trying their Stuffed Hot Pepper Calzone and some of their homemade soup on our next trip.

Pizza Roma has a fairly large and comfortable dining area and a small bar.  They also offer take-out and delivery to the Cranberry area.

Veltre's Pizza Update

Last week we had a chance to revisit Veltre's - one of our top favorite pizzas - to try the meatball hoagie.  It was excellent!  The large meatballs were fresh and homemade, the Mancini bun outstanding, and it had the perfect ratio of flavorful tomato sauce and provolone cheese. 

We also tried an order of french fries and fried mushrooms.  The fries were small and crisp and among the best fries we have ever eaten.  I ordered the fried mushrooms and they were perfect, also - juicy inside with a firm and tasty crust.  The orders of fries and mushrooms were both huge and we weren't able to even come close to finishing them, so I am happy to report that they both reheat well.

We're big fans of Veltre's!

Luigi's Pizzeria & Ristorante - Bellevue, PA

531 Lincoln Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA  15202
(412) 734-0980

Hats off to Chef Jim at Luigi's for making a great pizza pie!

We dropped off donations today at our favorite charity thrift shop - Family Heirlooms in Bellevue - and asked for suggestions for local pizzerias.   After some discussion, we settled on Luigi's and were glad we did ... it was outstanding!

Luigi's has been in business for 34 years, and when you taste their pizza you can understand why.  Luigi's pizza rocks with flavor!  The hand tossed Neapolitan style crust had excellent flavor and was just right - a crisp, snappy exterior with the perfect amount of chewiness on the interior.  The tomato sauce had a wonderful fresh tomato flavor, with just hints of garlic and spice - it was refreshing to find a sauce that wasn't heavily overloaded with the spices.   What's even better was that the pizza was not at all greasy and there was no grease residue on the box.
We also tried the Provolone Sticks and they were also very good, with a coating that tasted fresh and not pre-packaged.  They were accompanied by a generous take out cup of a very good marinara sauce. 

The extensive menu includes quite a few menu items that you don't normally find in a pizzeria - like the Mussels a la Luigi listed in the Appetizers section.  (Not to mention breaded cauliflower - you don't find that everywhere, either).   One of the Sides offered is "Sunny Slaw", "A unique blend of slaw, sunflower seeds, and noodles in a tangy sauce."  Also unique is the Spaghetti a la Luigi - which has a tomato sauce containing raisins, pine nuts and black olives.   I was very interested in the Desserts - Cannoli, Cheesecake, Tiramisu, Apple Pie a la Mode, Pecan Ball, and Cinnamon Dippers with Ice Cream.  Wow!!!

Hours are Monday - Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday noon to 10 p.m.    We ordered our pizza and provolone sticks to go, but Luigi's does have a small restaurant area.  It has a nice family atmosphere with old world style and plenty of room to move.  The next time we're in the area we plan to sit down, relax and enjoy some of their other offerings.

And ... Luigi's is a new addition to our top Pittsburgh favorites!

Sunseri's Pizza - Pizza Boat

We love Sunseri's in Carrick and never tire of their pizza and other pizza snacks!  This is a "pizza boat" - a large Italian bun, sliced and cooked with pizza sauce and loads of cheese.  They are also happy to add whatever toppings you like - we ordered ours plain.  The pizza boat is similar to a French Bread Pizza ... but we like this version best.

Carol of Casey's Pizza, Penn Hills, PA

Penn Hills Shopping Center

Pittsburgh, PA  15235

412-242-0650

It had been a long time since I had eaten a pizza from Carol of Casey's and I never tried their Sicilian pizza.  After shoveling snow and heading out to do errands that took me to the Penn Hills Shopping Center, I thought I would treat myself to a slice. 

I'm glad I did!  The small restaurant has four picnic style tables for customers who would like to eat there, and it was busy even though it was a little late for the lunch hour.  I was greeted warmly by a very pleasant young woman, who was equally pleasant while answering the phone and talking to other customers.  The snow started to get heavier, so she packed my slice to go and I was on my way.

It was still warm by the time I got home and it smelled wonderful.  The sturdy crust on the Sicilian pizza slice was about 1/2" thick, with crisp edges and a light interior.  The homemade sauce was rich and delicious, and had small  chunks of tomato and even a few tomato seeds.  The pizza was topped with a generous layer of fresh cheese that was melted to perfection.

Carol of Casey's has an extensive menu which includes fun foods - like wings, fries, jalapeno rolls, fried mushroom and provolone, chicken tenders and more, hot pocket Wedges, red or white pizza, calzones and strombolis, salads, pasta dinners, focaccia sandwiches, gyros and wraps and a long list of oven baked hoagies.  They just added a fish hoagie to the menu, which I bet will be popular during Lent.  Carol of Casey's offers 15 types of specialty pizzas, the newest of which is Roasted Red Pepper & Chicken, which sounds great - I think I'll stop back again and try it!

Foli's Place - Braddock Hills, PA

Foli's Place
1050 Brinton Rd
Pittsburgh, PA 15221
(412) 241-8840

Foli's is a popular local favorite, tucked away in a tiny strip mall near where Braddock Hills, Forest Hills, Edgewood and Wilkinsburg meet. It had been way too long since we'd eaten there, so decided to head over the hill and pick up a pizza!

We weren't disappointed. We ordered a small, which was a 12" 6-cut traditional Pittsburgh-style pizza. The crust was very good, with a light and airy interior and nice chewiness, and a crisp exterior. The chunky tomato sauce had a freshly made flavor, and it had a good proportion of sauce to cheese.

We also ordered a side of cheese sticks - they were perfectly fried, and had just the right amount of spice for our taste. The accompanying sauce was delicious.

Everyone we talked to in Foli's was very friendly and welcoming, from the nice woman who answered the phone, to the restaurant staff and the fellow customers. I have to admit I forgot to pick up a take out menu and am not sure what else Foli's has to offer. The pizza was so tasty, that I would expect nothing but good things from their other menu items!

Monte Cello's Italian Restaurant - Cranberry, PA

30325 Perry Highway
Cranberry Twp, PA 16066
1-724-772-3133

We have often enjoyed Monte Cello's Sicilian pizza, but had never tried their traditional round thin pizza. We were in the area yesterday and decided the time was right - and it was fantastic!

The traditional round crust was firm and chewy; crunchy on the outside, with a light and breadlike interior. The rich sauce - which is different from the sauce used on their Sicilian pizza - has a deep, spicy tomato flavor and a gorgeous color.

Monte Cello's traditional round thin pizza is available in four sizes, with toppings an additional charge:

• Mini 9" 4 cut - $4.50


• Small 9" 6 cut - $6.50


• Medium 14" 8 cut - $7.50


• Large 16" 10 cut - $8.95
  

We're glad we went back!

Giuseppi's Pizza - Hilton Head Island, SC

Shelter Cove Plaza
Highway 278
Mid-Island, Hilton Head Island
843-785-4144

When we heard that Giuseppi's Pizza in Hilton Head was founded by a Pittsburgher, we knew we had to try it.

When in Hilton Head, we always make a stop or two at New York City Pizza and recently fell in love with the innovative Pizza Cone at Pino Gelato ... but Giuseppi's pizza tastes like home. Actually, it tastes like a really, really good version of pizza from home!

First of all, Giuseppi's sauce rocks. It is thick and rich with a hint of sweetness, slightly chunky, and fragrant with Italian herbs and spices. (We ordered our pizza with extra sauce and light on the cheese.) The crust is medium thickness; it has the perfect chewiness, with crisp, cheesy edges. The menu describes the pizza: "We start with our homemade hand tossed dough, ladle on our special recipe tomato sauce, add a generous portion of specially blended provolone and mozzarella cheese, then bake it in our stone hearth oven."

Nine varieties of pizzas are on the menu - the Big Cheese, Giuseppi's Special Pizza, Giuseppi's Veggie Pizza, Giuseppi's Mega Meaty, Chicken Alfredo, Jimmy the Greek, Giuseppi';s White Pizza, Shrimp Scampi, and Giuseppi's Ultimate White Pizza. Individual slices of the Big Cheese, Special, Veggie, Mega Meaty and White Pizza are available if you can't manage an entire 12" or 16" pizza. Or, for $2 more, they will make it a stuffed pizza by adding a top crust layer, baste with olive oil and Parmesan cheese, and baking.

If you'd like something other than pizza, Giuseppi's has a huge menu including seven pastas and four baked pastas, eight varieties of hoagies, seven types of wraps, five flavors of Philly Cheesesteaks and four different Parmesan Hoagies. Two Giuseppi's specialties are Weggies(r) and Boli's. Weggies basically folded and stuffed pizza dough, topped with lettuce and tomato, onion and ranch dressing - they are available in 11 flavors, including the Original (ham and pepperoni), Weggiedilla (marinated chicken, cheddar & jack cheese, bacon, onion and BBQ sauce) and a Greek Weggie (chicken, feta, kalamata olives, banana peppers, romaine, tomato and Greek vinaigrette).

The Boli is similar to a calzone - pizza dough filled with toppings along with ricotta and cheeses, then folded and baked, and served with a side of their wonderful marinara sauce. Giuseppi's Boli's are available in Carboli (pepperoni, sausage and ham), Macaboli (mushrooms, onions, green peppers and black olives), Cheeseburgerboli (ground beef, American cheese, bacon, mustard and ketchup) and the Create-a-Boli (you choose!).

Nine salads are on the menu, as well as another Pittsburgh staple - Italian Wedding Soup, available by the cup or bowl. In addition, you can choose from 14 appetizers and extras - Spinach Dip, Stuffed Chili Peppers, Shrimp Basket, Buffalo Shrimp, Onion Rings, Mozzarella Cheese Stix, Chicken Fingers, Buffalo Chicken Fingers, Garlic Toast, Cheese Garlic Toast, Garlic Tomato Cheese Toast, Fries, side of Marinara Sauce, and Meatball Sliders.

Giuseppi's Pizza & Pasta on Urbanspoon

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.

Sunseri's Pizza Calzones - Baldwin

2805 Custer Ave
Pittsburgh, PA 15227
(412) 885-8833

The old Girl Scout song "make new friends, but keep the old, one is silver and the other gold ..." doesn't only apply to people - it can apply to pizzas as well!

We enjoy trying pizzas and restaurants that are new to us, but sometimes we just want a long time favorite - Sunseri's Pizza on the Baldwin/Carrick border. Tonight we decided to try Sunseri's pizza calzones and they were as good as we remembered. The dough for the calzones is flavorful and nicely chewy, and the calzones are nearly bursting with fillings. Sunseri's calzones come in two sizes, each with your choice of two toppings. The small is $5.35 and the large is $10.20. Sizewise, the small would be equivalent to a small pizza - shareable if you'd like, but suited as an individual serving if you are hungry.

I chose mushrooms and hot banana peppers as the two fillings for my calzone - it was juicy and absolutely delicious!

Mm! Mm! Pizza - Brentwood

5208 Clairton Blvd.

Baldwin, PA

412-885-1005

We must have passed Mm! Mm! Pizza hundreds of times and never noticed it. We found a 50% off coupon in the new Enjoy coupon book and thought we'd give it a try.

We ordered just before half time in the Steelers/Bengals game, which was a very busy time for the pizza shop. Despite that, they were up to the challenge and had our pizza ready to pick up within 25 minutes and pleasantly answered our questions.

The shop is take-out only, but there's enough room to watch them stretch and hand toss the pizza dough to order. The sauces are made fresh daily, and the toppings and cheese are also prepared fresh every morning.

We ordered a large traditional pizza with homemade red pizza sauce. The sauce was very good - it was thick and robust, pureed style, with a hint of sweetness. The crust was thick and breadlike, with a mild flavor. My first thought was that it was a little too thick for my personal taste, but in thinking about it, it was the perfect crust for the sauce - a thinner crust would not have stood up to the thick, rich delicious sauce. The ratio of sauce to crust to cheese was just about perfect. Our guest pizza taster, Carol, gave the pizza a B+ rating, and we all agreed.

Mm! Mm! Pizza has an enormous menu - they offer 24 pizza toppings, 13 specialty pizzas, 12 appetizers, 10 types of salad, and also make lamb or chicken breast gyros, wings, calzones, subs, fish sandwiches, and sweet or savory bread sticks. Some of the Specialty Pizzas are very unusual, such as the Flyin' Hawaiian (chicken breast, peppadew, and pineapple) and the Hawaiian (pizza sauce topped with ham, bacon, pineapple, mozzarella and provolone) and even the Seafood Pizza (white garlic butter, shrimp and crab meat, onions, and cheeses). I might be tempted to try two others that sound good to me - their Taco Pizza, or Chicken and Spinach.

We tasted an order of Mm! Mm! Pizza's provolone sticks, and they were very good, helped by the accompanying container of their delicious pizza dipping sauce. Instead of fried baby mushrooms, they offer breaded Portabella slices, and I plan to order some on another visit.

If you don't have an Enjoy or Entertainment book don't worry - Mm! Mm! Pizza offers lots of discounts. They have 2 Pizza Specials every day (2 Medium for $12.99, 2 Large for $14.99) and have daily specials. Their Tuesday special is a large Cheese Pizza for $6.99 or an X-Large Cheese Pizza for $8.99. On Fridays, you can choose your own special from any of the other six daily specials.

Veltre's Pizza - Forest Hills

2147 Ardmore Blvd.

Pittsburgh, PA 15221

(412) 271-6500

Freshness counts!

This unassuming pizza shop on Ardmore Boulevard in Forest Hills makes some of the best pizza in the 'Burgh.

The ingredients are fresh, and sauce and dough are both made fresh daily. The dough is hand tossed as the order comes in. It's a small shop, and there are no tables for dining, but there are coolers with cold beverages, and the chefs are happy to let you watch them toss the fresh dough if you have to wait.

Veltre's is a traditional Pittsburgh style round pizza. We've tried both medium and large sizes, with and without toppings. If you order the large, the crust is thinner than the medium. I meant to ask them, but I am wondering if they use the same amount of dough for both sizes, and the large is thinner because it is more stretched. The sauce is light and refreshing, with small chunks of tomato and the flavor of Italian herbs. Veltre's uses a good quality and quantity of fresh cheese and grates it daily. As a nice finishing touch, they sprinkle the perfect amount of Parmesan on top of the pizza when it is hot from the oven.

The sides are also fresh and delicious. I love fried mushrooms - Veltre's are breaded and fried, and the result is a crunchy crust that explodes with flavor and juiciness when you bite in, and even reheat well on the occasions when I haven't been able to finish the entire order.

The fried Provolone was also an unexpected pleasure and unlike the typical fried cheese sticks that we've gotten elsewhere. The cheese is cut from a fresh ball of Provolone and is a rounded wedge shape. The cheese is dipped in fresh homestyle bread crumbs that are flavored with Italian herbs, fried to golden perfection and served with a good marinara sauce.

In addition to their outstanding traditional pizza, Vetre's offers three specialty pizzas: White, Broccoli & Cheddar, and Buffalo Chicken with Cheddar. In addition, they make pizza boats, calzones, burgers and sandwiches, soups and salads, wraps, pita and croissant sandwiches, and pasta, and grilled chicken. Their snack and appetizer offerings include that incredible fried provolone and luscious mushrooms, as well as zucchini, french fries, onion rings, pepperoni rolls and buffalo wings. Their meatballs - as possible additions to pasta or on meatball sandwiches - are also fresh and homemade.

Veltre's makes ten types of steak hoagies - they say they are their #1 seller and I can see why! In addition to the regular steak, they offer cheese, mushroom, mushroom & cheese, bacon & cheese, Italian, pepper steak fried, Philly steak, steak & egg and steak, egg and cheese. Sandwiches are served on fresh Mancini Bakery rolls.

I can't wait to go back!