Zax - Moab, UT

 

Ramon - Zax homemade tomato sauce, pepperoni, sausage, green pepper, onion, mozzarella cheese.

1. Crust: 10/10 - The description of Zax crust caught my eye before I placed my order. Their menu says, "Our unique honey crust pizza dough goes back about 25 years". They make their crust every morning by hand and it shows. I'm going to capitalize "Crust" from here on out as a sign of respect. The Crust was puffy, and stretchy but still had the right amount of crunch on the edges. There is a hint of sweetness from the honey which gives this Crust a richness in flavor and texture. Some of the honey seems to have caramelized on the bottom of the Crust. I do believe this is the best pizza Crust I've ever had.

2. Sauce: 8/10 - Possibly this pizza could use a little more red sauce. Especially, since the sauce is home made, I would have liked it to sit a little closer to the head of the table. However, I'm still scoring this high because I truly didn't suffer any lack of enjoyment from the sauce.  Unlike some sauces do, this sauce didn't make the pizza about itself. It didn't stand out, but this pizza wan't dry or lacking in the flavor that sauce provides. Though understated, the sauce complimented the other elements of this pizza in positive ways. 

3. Cheese: 10/10 - I loved the cheese, almost as much as the Crust. It was abundant and lavish with flavor. Some pizza's leave you wanting more cheese while others are clearly trying too hard. This pizza had plenty of cheese without fronting like it had something to prove. Every bite backed up its claim to cheesy goodness. When I realized that the cheese actually had flavor beyond what I was accustomed to in pizza, my mind searched for a memory of such cheese. Was it on my trip through Wisconsin that I had cheese this good? Or was it during my visit to Tillamook? No matter, this cheese was delicious and I had to keep my mind sharp and focused on the task at hand: eating more of this pizza. 

4. Toppings: 9/10 - High quality and delicious! The toppings were glued together with the cheese, as they should be. 

5. Atmosphere:  7/10 - I actually ordered this pizza take-out, after a long day of exploring the parks around Moab (and because of the corona virus) but, I would very much like to sit down in this restaurant someday. It appeared to have something of a wooden "saloon" meets family diner feel, with one of those large wood-fire pizza ovens which are so fun to watch as you salivate over your yet to be devoured pizza in that awful period of time between the ritual of ordering and the delivery of your chosen nutriment. (I'm not sure if the the pizza is actually wood-fire but it was that kind of oven and yes, I did get out my thesaurus). 

6. Novelties: 9/10 - Did I mention the honey-Crust? Nothing else noteworthy besides the fact that it is located so near the amazing sites of Arches National Park and in the quaint town of Moab. These things alone make it deserving of a high score in this area. If you're visiting this pizza place, then you are on an adventure and that is the best time to have pizza. The whole area is enjoyable to visit and ending your day with a delicious pizza is quite the treat for site-seeing travelers. 

7. How are the left overs? 9/10 - There was only one piece left over and it made for a terrific night-time snack. It warmed up perfectly as expected and had little loss in quality. 

Overall score: 62/70

Lexi's Pizza Pub - Kelso WA

lexispizzapub.com
Two different pizzas in one blog post, this time!

Big Fat Greek Pizza: Garlic sauce with fresh spinach, onions, bell peppers, olives, sausage, tomatoes and feta

1. Crust: 10/10 - Thin corn meal crust on bottom and a flavorful, fluffy, braided crust around the edges. 

2. Sauce: 9/10 -  White sauce, not a lot, just the right amount. It makes the crust taste even better.

3. Cheese: 10/10 - Not the most prominent part of this pizza but the feta is really good

4. Toppings: 10/10 - Lots of veggies and feta cheese, a really great mix of fresh flavors!

5. Atmosphere:  8/10 - Outside seating available; small town, local neighborhood, with really great customer service. It looks like they often have live music on weekends so it gets another point for that!

6. Novelties: 6/10 - Lots of pizzas with interesting twists and fun names. 

7. How are the left overs?  6/10 - The spinach doesn't microwave so well, but that is to be expected. However, it does mean that this pizza isn't as good as left overs.

Overall score: 59/70

Kings Table: The Meat Eater pizza but adding Pineapple, Tomatoes, and Cashews (we ordered 1/2 w/o cashews, the different tomatoes are to mark the two halves)

1. Crust: 10/10 - See above.

2. Sauce: 7/10 -  It is a thinner red sauce and has a sweetness to it. It's not the most memorable part of this pizza but that's not really a bad thing, as it seems to have the right amount of sauce. 

3. Cheese: 10/10 - Very memorable, plentiful and creamy. I loved it!

4. Toppings: 10/10 - The toppings are piled high. I don't care for the hamburger as much but the sausage is crumbly and spicy. Cashews, I could do without. 

5. Atmosphere:  8/10 - See above

6. Novelties: 6/10 - See above

7. How are the left overs? 9/10 - Great, the tomatoes don't warm up well, but they never do!

Overall score: 60/70 

Tony's Pizza Napoletana - San Francisco, CA

New Yorker - mozzarella, hand crushed tomato sauce, natural casing pepperoni, sliced Italian fennel sausage, calabrese sausage, ricotta, chopped garlic & oregano 

1. Crust: 7/10 - Flat, thin, and crispy. Just the right amount of char on the crust from the coal oven (baked at 1,000 degrees)

2. Sauce: 9/10 -  The sauce is hand crushed and tastes rich, sweet, and…. saucy as in it has some spiciness to it, in a “saucy" sort of way. 

3. Cheese: 8/10 - A thin layer of dense, chewy, and flavorful cheese with dollops of ricotta scattered over it. Everything about this pizza feels like quality, the cheese is certainly a part of that. The ricotta really takes this pizza to a new level. Not only does it make the pizza look really tasty but it brings pockets of a unique flavor. Not everyone at the table enjoyed the ricotta, but for me it was a positive experience. 

4. Toppings: 10/10 - Our pizza was topped with little crispy pepperonis, Italian fennel sausage, calabrese sausage, garlic and oregano. These toppings tasted great.

5. Atmosphere:  9/10 - Great little restaurant in downtown San Francisco. We had to wait in a line that went out the door which made us uncomfortable at first, but also created hype. The wait wasn’t too long and the inside atmosphere felt classy and casual. 

6. Novelties: 10/10 - This restaurant scored #5 in Trip Advisor’s list of the best pizza places in the US. The pizza we ordered was also the gold medal winner in Las Vegas in 2013. The owner has also written a book categorizing the different types of pizza and the menu also offers many of these different categories of pizza prepared in different ways. Our pizza was also cooked “coal fired” at 1000 degrees, which is something I’ve never had before, and I could definitely taste the smokiness in this pizza. Before the pizza comes, you are also served bread with two different dipping oils and one honey and garlic dip. 

7. How are the left overs? 9/10 The crust can get a little tough, but the pizza is just so good that I’ve got to rate it high. 

Overall score: 62/70 I would certainly recommend this pizza, as I mentioned, the menu is expansive and our pizza experience only begins to scratch the surface of what this restaurant has to offer. I would love to go back time and time again and sample all the different options!

Piccolo Mono - Sarajevo, Bosnia

Medium “Domaca” (english: home-grown) beef ham, ham, smoked cheese

55/70

1. Crust: 6/10 Thin, crispy, and a little blackened in spots. Almost flakey like a fire oven, or toasted flat bread, very quality, but parts of it were a little too blackened for my taste. 

2. Sauce: 7/10 A thinner and understated sauce. This is not a “saucy” pizza, and yet I did not feel it was missing anything as far as sauce is concerned, and if you did want more sauce it comes with extra in a dish (see the “novelties” section below). 

3. Cheese: 10/10 - By far the best cheese I’ve had on a pizza.  My friends at the table helped describe the cheese as rich and smokey. The cheese was almost “toasted" in spots. And perhaps the best part: it had bits of what seemed to be cheese curds sprinkled across the pizza and embedded in the melted pools of cheese. 

4. Toppings: 6/10 The toppings on this particular pizza are very bold, the word “seasoned” comes to mind. The flavors of the different meats really dance on your taste buds. I’m not sure if it is the beef ham or what, but, to me - and I hesitate to say it but, this blog is nothing if not honest - it almost had the taste of bologna or salami.

5. Atmosphere: 8/10 - A very nice atmosphere. First of all this restaurant is in Sarajevo, Bosnia, so that alone really sets the atmosphere as special in my book. The restaurant has a small cafe feel to it. Very nice and comfortable. 

6. Novelties: 10/10 - Did I mention that this restaurant is in Sarajevo, Bosnia? That in itself would be novelty enough to merit at 10/10 score in this category, but that is not all. The restaurant comes highly recommended by the locals. The pizza itself comes served with bread and 3 different “dipping” sauces, a marinara, a garlic sauce, and another one (sorry for the lack of detail remembered about the third sauce - I blame the language barrier). Furthermore, there are no pork products eaten in Bosnia, hence the “beef ham” and even the “ham” was certainly not from a pig. 

7. How are the left-overs? 8/10 I did not take any left overs home, mostly I forced myself to eat the whole thing because I don’t foresee anytime in the near future that I will have time or appetite for left-over pizza (we are eating a lot of heavy meals and trying a lot of new food). But, a new friend and local resident said that this pizza is the best left over pizza. So, I take his word for it and give it a score of 8/10. 

All in all, this pizza scored lower than I would have liked. I would not let this score hinder you from eating at piccolo Mono. In fact, if you can get to visit Sarajevo, I recommend you do eat there. I just think that next time, I might try a pizza with different toppings and it’s possible that the crust is not always as blackened as mine was (in spots). The cheese alone is enough to make this pizza one of my all time favorites. 

Pizza a' fetta - Cannon Beach, OR

pizza-a-fetta.com

14" Pepperoni Supreme 

Overall Score: 60/70

1. Crust: 10/10 Soft and fluffy, like a pastry, with a hint of crispy on the edges. 

2. Sauce: 8/10 Smooth, and soft-spoken. 

3. Cheese: 9/10 Like a flock of goats leaping down the slopes of Gilead… er… um it had a nice creamy flavor and it gathered into delicious little pockets among the toppings. 

4. Toppings: 8/10 Quality, no corner cutting here. I especially like the peperoncinis as I had never had these on a pizza before.  

5. Atmosphere: 9/10 Tiny hole in the wall feel. Located in Cannon beach, OR - a nice little tourist stop and the home of the “Haystack Rock”. 

6. Novelties: 9/10 Ranked top 50 in the nation by tripadvisor. 

7. How are the left overs? 7/10 This would have been a much higher score but the vegetables on top of this pizza did not warm up well. This is not the pizza's fault. If this had been an all meat pizza it no doubt would have scored much higher in this category. 

The Cheese Cake Factory - Tigard, OR

The Everything Pizza

Overall score: 62/70

1. Crust: 9/10 puffy, artisan crust

2. Sauce: 8/10 rich, juicey

3. Cheese: 9/10 great taste, not thick but in the right places 

4. Toppings: 10/10 great quality, little pepperonis, large cut onions

5. Atmosphere: 9/10 great atmosphere, dark, with lit marble floors and ceiling. 

6. Novelties: 8/10 CHEESECAKE for dessert. 

7. How are the left overs? 9/10 amazing!

This was a surprisingly great pizza for a restaurant that is known for cheese cake. Really great food, great service, great atmosphere. It is so different than my other favorite pizza place but does tend to rival Red's Savoy as the best pizza I've eaten. 

Round Table Pizza - Woodenville, WA

 

Extra  Large All Meat Marvel

Overall score: 45/70

1. Crust: 6/10 - thin but puffy on the edges, plain, non-greasey

2. Sauce: 7/10 - very rich sauce, greasy, kind of spicey

3. Cheese: 8/10 - thick, flavorful

4. Toppings: 6/10 - a moderate amount and of a fair quality, a mixture of large and small pepperonis. 

5. Atmosphere: 7/10 - family diner feel. The tables are surprisingly rectangular.

6. Novelties: 4/10 - nothing special that I could tell. 

7. How are the left overs? 7/10 - not bad at all warms up great!

The most surprising part of this experience for me was the amount of corners that the tables had. To be honest I was expecting no corners and they all had four. This is a solid family pizza.  If you are hungry for pizza, this will do the job.