Pat's Pizza (C-)

The Location
Pat's Pizza is a Maine institution.  The original Pat's is located in Orono, just blocks from the UMaine campus.  It has been serving pizza to college students for decades.  Many Mainers will tell you that Pat's is THE pizza to eat and that the Orono restaurant is THE place to go.  Many others (including me) will tell you that it's totally overrated.

The Pizza
The one thing that Pat's does better than any other pizza place is crust.  It's sweet and flaky and fatty...vegans beware, it's made with animal fat.  The sauce and cheese are pretty 'meh' but the crust is excellent.  The pizza I received was a Pat's pizza with chunks of chicken dunked in BBQ sauce.  No more, no less.

The Chicken
There were chicken cubes on my pizza.  Not bad, not good...there wasn't really any flavor at all.

The Sauce and the Taste
What sauce?  The chicken had been dipped in something vaguely barbecue-y but the flavor had all baked off in the oven.  There was no BBQ under the cheese or drizzled on top.  Really, there wasn't any flavor anywhere.  It was blaaaaand.

Overall
Good old Pat's delivered what it always does: over-rated bland crap on top of a flaky, delicious bread.  It gets a C+ for the crust and for the nostalgia value.  I've been eating Pat's pizza since I was a small child, a fact that I cannot overlook.

Paddy's (B)

The Location
Paddy's is a restaurant pub in Portsmouth, NH that my friends introduced me to.  The atmosphere was classy, the food was decent and the beer selection was also decent.  Overall, I would say that the restaurant was classier than its clientele.  Located away from all the tourist areas, Paddy's seemed to be full of townies...or the Portsmouth version of Townie's.  As far as my friends were concerned, it was the best new place to chill after work.  Of course, it helps that Paddy's is just around the corner from the Barnes & Noble where most of my friends are employed.

The Pizza
What I ordered was a buffalo chicken flatbread.  What came out was pretty damn tasty.  It had a mild buffalo sauce as a base, cheese, chicken and ranch dressing drizzled on top.  The flatbread itself was unexciting, but better than other flatbreads I have had.  The cheese was perfectly fine.

The Chicken
I was a little disappointed to find chunks of leftover chicken on the pizza, which were a little chewy.  It wasn't bad, mind you, but wasn't exactly fresh or exciting.

The Sauce and the Taste
I usually get bleu cheese with my buffalo wings.  I may change my tune after this flatbread.  The combination was delicious.  It was a little spicy, a little salty and a little creamy.  The texture was fantastic--spongy and chewy.

Overall
I really enjoyed this flatbread.  I give it a B!  The only penalty it received was for the generic frozen flatbread and the leftover chicken.  Neither of those things was enough to take away from the experience, it was still very satisfying!

Domino's (C+)

The Location
People like to trash on Domino's pizza.  I do, too.  The stuff is vile.  At the same time, it's one of two things that I can get delivered to my door at 10PM.  Also, if you get the right toppings it can be pretty tasty.

The Pizza
I ordered two pizzas, this time, for two reasons.  First, I want to have some alternate pizzas to compare the BBQ chicken to.  Second, they sucker you into it with an online coupon.  It was just cheaper to get two mediums than one large.  Anyway, I ate some of the other pizza (which had pepperoni and sausage) and found it to be pretty nasty.  I do like the seasoned crust that Domino's started using a year or two ago.  However, overall, piss poor showing.  On the other hand, the BBQ chicken pizza (which I ordered with onions) turned out to be fairly tasty.  So I will say that our delivery-inventing friends at Domino's lose points in the overall pizza quality...but that's only one part of the BBQ chicken evaluation process.

The Chicken
It's white meat and recognizable, which is a step above some places.  It's frozen, though, and was obviously sliced in some kind of industrial process.  It's factory chicken.  It wasn't chewy, though, I will give it that.

The Sauce and the Taste
The sauce was used as the base of the pizza, which I will admit that I like.  Unfortunately, it has a chemically sort of taste that gets in your nostrils.  That's not...necessarily a bad thing.  I think a lot of barbecue sauces taste like chemicals.  Hell, they ARE chemicals.  At the same time, Domino's is impressing no one with their sauce.

At the same time, I will say that something about this pizza really worked.  I think it was the combination of the chemically sweet sauce, the naturally sweet onions and the garlic salt on the crust.  For some reason, all those flavors worked really well together.

Overall
I can't tell you that this was a good pizza.  You wouldn't believe me and I wouldn't believe myself.  However, I also can't stand here and tell you I didn't enjoy eating this mass produced monstrosity.  I did enjoy it.  I fucking enjoyed it.  There was something satisfying about my gooey, salty-sweet mess of protein and sugar.  I enjoyed it.  I also enjoyed that it arrived at my door.  I give Domino's a C+.

Red Rock Cafe (B+)

The Location

The Red Rock Cafe in Mansfield, CT is a confused little restaurant.  The name 'red rock' conjures up images of the american southwest, but the restaurant is set up like a beer pub and the menu is all italian food.  I cannot really complain, because the food is halfway decent and the beer selection is pretty good.  I wouldn't say that any of the food there is great, or anything, but it's edible.  I will confess that I don't remember this pizza very well,  on account of the fact that I was exhausted after a long day at work and I had two beers before the pizza even arrived.  I was a little tipsy, tired and hungry when that fucker was slid onto the table.  Hunger, being the best spice, had me swallowing slices whole.

The Pizza

Red Rock makes thick crust pizza.  It's a nice, thick, doughy sort of meal with lots of cheese.  I've heard rumors that their regular cheese pizza isn't particularly good.  I have to say that I really enjoyed the crust.

The Chicken

I don't know exactly what kind of chicken was on this pizza.  I remember being very pleased, though, so I know it wasn't frozen or chewy.  I suspect it may have been shredded.  It was quality, anyway.

The Sauce and the Taste

The sauce tasted like Magic Hat #9 since--and I think most pretentious beer drinkers will agree--the taste of #9 follows you for hours after drinking.  Again, I remember being pleased by this pizza, so the sauce could not have been bad.  It may not have been good, but it definitely wasn't bad.

Overall

All discriminating thought was lost in that moment of hunger and exhaustion and inebriation.  I don't honestly know if the pizza was all that good but it really, really hit the spot.  I walked out of that restaurant feeling completely satisfied.  Let's give it a B+.

California Pizza Kitchen (D-)

The Location
This one was made right in my very own kitchen.  I grew up on Tony's frozen pizzas and I will admit that I still love them.  In the past decade, though, there have been some serious advances in the world of frozen pizza.  Some companies have tried to break the mold by bringing premium pizzas to the freezer section of your local grocery store.  One is called California Pizza Kitchen...which seems to be playing on that leftover ideal that California is (1) the place to go if you want to fulfill fantasies of manifest destiny (2) the center of glamour and excitement and stardom in our country (3) a healthy place to live.

The Pizza
I am going to go ahead and admit something before we get going.  I overcooked this pizza.  I forgot to set the timer, got distracted by a video game and I overcooked the damn thing.  I don't think it did a lot of damage, as it looked very similar going in as it did coming out.  The pizza was sparsely topped, terrifically thin and crunchy as hell.  It was so insubstantial that I kind of felt like I should be eating the cardboard circle underneath.  The crust, admittedly overcooked, splintered into shards in my mouth.  I'm pretty sure my gums were bleeding.

The Chicken
Chicken cubes!

The Sauce and the Taste
The sauce was pretty good, except there was none on the pizza.  I got a little dab of flavor on one of the slices, but it was pretty dry and tasteless overall.  What I will concede is that the onions, even overcooked, turned out to be pretty tasty.  They were thinly sliced crescents of red onion, cooked to sweetness.

Overall
I would save your money and eat cardboard instead...or save some money by picking up a Tony's frozen pizza, instead.  This pizza was saved from an F rating by the onions and the fact that I overcooked the damn thing.  Maybe it would have been decent, if I had followed the instructions.  Maybe, but I suspect not.  D-!

Willington Pizza's Regular BBQ Chicken (D-)

The Location
One of the inspirations for this blog was the Barbecue Chicken deep dish at Willington Pizza, near the UConn campus.  I've eaten said pizza on three separate occasions and it was one of the best things I've ever tasted.  Each time I order my food I ask the waitress "Do you have a barbecue chicken pizza?" and they answer "You mean the special we had a couple weeks ago?"  I always reply "Yes, that one...bring me a large."  It's delicious and I hope to review it soon...but it is not what I got.  Last weekend I said "I'd like a small barbecue chicken pizza" and the waitress said "Ok."  What I got was NOT the special.

The Pizza
Willington makes deep dish pizzas with really good crust that reminds me of home-made bread.  The downside is that the cheese is really sub-par.  It has the consistency and taste (I imagine) of Elmer's glue.

The Chicken
Chicken cubes!

The Sauce and the Taste
The chicken cubes had been quickly dunked into barbecue sauce, just enough to be detectable but not enough to actually provide flavor.  This pizza was the most bland thing I've ever tasted.

Overall
The crust saved this pizza from receiving the first F on my blog.

Superior Pie (B)

The Location
I was visiting my brother, his wife and baby in Framingham, Mass when we decided it was a good time to order pizza for dinner.  Having a toddler running around means that 'eating out' usually means 'delivery.'  When we settled on pizza over chinese, of course I asked for Barbecue Chicken.  The location in question is Superior Pie near Shopper's World in Framingham.

The Pizza
The pizza itself was no-frills-all-business barbecue chicken pizza.  No other toppings...but really...it didn't need other toppings.  Superior Pie makes thin crust pizzas with a higher-than-average corn meal content.  The pizza was solid, but there was some degree of disagreement about the crust.  My brother and I thought it was substandard while the others in our party thought it was excellent.

The Chicken
Fresh, shredded white meat.  Delicious!

The Sauce and The Taste
The barbecue sauce was pretty classic barbecue sauce--the kind you expect to dip your chicken tenders in.  Very tasty.  I have to say that the flavor of the crust (a little more corny than you'd expect) complimented the sauce well.

Overall
I think this was a solid bbq chicken experience.  I give it a B instead of an A because 1. the crust wasn't particularly good and 2.  there was nothing special or original that blew me away.  Still, it was a great pizza.

Wooster Street Pizza (B)

The Place
Wooster Street Pizza is a Connecticut based chain of pizza places.  They have some decent food (good wings) and a gigantic pizza that was featured on Man vs. Food a couple years ago.  The Storrs branch of Wooster Street is located across from the UConn campus and is conveniently located between my office and the community pool where I swim laps.  After a particularly intense swim, last week, I stopped by for a small Barbie's-Cue chicken pizza.

The Pizza
I think that, like the Willi-Brew before it, what really held this pizza back was the Wooster Street pizza itself.  They make Connecticut style pizza which is floury, thin and crunchy.  Moreover, the toppings don't go out to the edge of the pizza.  Around the circumference of every slice, there is about a 2" ring of dry, gum-stabbing crust.  Every time I pick up a slice, I have to resist the urge to rake the toppings from the center out to the edge. 

The Chicken
The chicken itself was chunks of white and dark meat.  It seemed fresh.  No problems here.

The Taste
This is what saved the Barbie's-Cue chicken.  Their sauce was sweet and sticky, but not too sweet or too sticky.  They included onions and tomatoes, which gave the pizza a freshness and heartiness.  There was a saltiness to the toppings which counteracted the sweet BBQ sauce.  The part of the pizza with the toppings was delicious and I couldn't stop eating it.  Unfortunately, not enough of it was covered in toppings!  I bought a 12" pie and only got about 10" of real pizza.

Overall
This pizza was delicious, even though it was placed on top of an inferior, crunchy base.  I give this one a B.

Union Street Market (A)

The Place
The Union Street Market is the food court at UConn's student union.  They serve a variety of mediocre foods that are generally hearty, but lacking in pizzazz.  I often end up at the Union for lunch because my building is right near by.  In fact, I can see the food court from my office window.  I went down there, today, thinking about getting fish and vegetables from the home-cooking themed station.  I was pulled away by the allure of a buffalo chicken pizza.

The Pizza
Union pizza is actually pretty good.  It's big, floppy slices of greasy pizza that bring up nostalgic memories of a time before 'flatbreads.'  I've noticed that their cheese and pepperoni pizzas are of lower quality (seemingly made far in advance and with inferior ingredients) than the specialty pizzas.  There's a different specialty pizza available each day and they all seem to be hearty and flavorful and fresh.  The cheese is chewy and stretchy and greasy and delicious.  The crust is a good mix between thin/chewy and fluffy/bready. 

The Chicken
They used shredded chicken on this pizza.  It's not too chewy, so I have to assume it hasn't been microwaved.  There's light meat and dark meat and it's smothered in buffalo sauce.

The Sauce and Taste
The buffalo sauce that they use is spicy, but not super hot.  That gives the whole pizza a rich flavor without being off-putting.  There's also bleu cheese, green onion and other seasonings that round out the flavor. 

Overall
My best chicken pizza experience since starting this blog.  I have half a slice sitting next to me and I am loathe to finish it.  I will miss it when it's gone.

The Willimantic Brewing Company Part One (C)

The Location
The Willimantic Brewing Company is generally considered to be the finest eating and drinking establishment in eastern Connecticut.  The food is reliably good and their many home brews are very tasty.  The atmosphere is unique, since the restaurant is in an early 20th century granite post office.  Vaulted ceilings, tasty chicken wings and a great tasting brown ale make for a nice evening.

I went to the Willi-brew with the intention of trying their barbecue pulled pork flatbread pizza.  When I arrived, I saw a barbecue beef flatbread pizza on the list of specials.  I decided that I would have to try it and come back again for the pulled pork.

The Pizza
The most disappointing part of my bbq beef pizza experience was the construction of the pizza itself.  They used a generic flatbread--the kind you know comes out of a plastic bag--and some generic mozzarella cheese.  The flatbread really was just a flatbread, more like a thick tortilla.  The hot, juicy toppings slid around on the hard base in a really unappetizing fashion.

The Chicken (Beef)
The quality of the meat was excellent.  I was expecting to find some slices of roast beef soaked in barbecue sauce.  I did get that, but so much more.  There were chunks of sausage, ground beef, corn and other roasted vegetables on this pizza.  The toppings were hearty and varied and that was much appreciated.

The Sauce and the Flavor
Willi-brew used it's trademark beer-becue sauce, which is pretty damn tasty.  The combination of the sauce, the vegetables and the meat was pretty fantastic.  The flavor was right on.

Overall
I am torn about this pizza.  It used high quality ingredients--except for the flatbread--and had a great taste--except for the flatbread.  Unfortunately, the crust of a pizza is really, really important to me.  I'm going to have to give this one a C.

Mama's Pizza (C)

The Place
Mama's Pizza was the logical place to kick off this blog.  It is the neighborhood pizza joint that is closest to my apartment.  It looks townie and run-down from the outside...seems townie and rundown on the inside...but the food is great.  The staff are always really friendly and they seem to thrive in this rural college town.

The Pizza
As I said, the food at Mama's is pretty great.  Their pizza is deep dish, which a spongy and crispy crust.  They use a cheese that is particularly gooey--which makes it particularly satisfying.  I would classify Mama's pizza as great comfort food.

There is no BBQ Chicken Pizza on the menu at Mama's.  However, when I asked, I was informed that they have an off-menue BBQ Chicken option.  Their version of the pizza did not include any other toppings, just the pizza and BBQ sauce, which was used as the base of the pizza.

The Chicken
I was really disappointed by the chicken on this pizza.  It was real chicken meat, but it was leftover dark meat that had been chopped up into chunks for our benefit.  The chunks were chewy and we found the occasional piece of bone.  Ouch.

The Sauce and Taste
The sauce had a good flavor, at first.  It was nice and sweet.  However, as I began to dig further into our pizza, that sweetness turned against me.  The pizza started to taste syrup-y.  There was nothing salty on the pizza to counteract the sweetness of the sauce.  I think it could have benefitted from some feta cheese or something similar.

Overall
Mama's BBQ Chicken Pizza was saved by the fact that Mama's regular pizza is pretty darn good.  I love the crust and the cheese but the chicken and the sauce just weren't very good.  I give it a C.