Boston Pizza Blog

Venus Pizza | Somerville

2012-05-26T22:32:00.000-04:00

Venus Pizza | Somerville

	Venus Pizza & Grill
Website	venuspizzasomerville.com
Address	1293 Broadway St, Somerville, MA 02144
Date Ordered	5/12/2012
Where Consumed	home
Price	$9.99
Order Method	Foodler
Service Method	delivery
Delivery Time	45 minutes
Size (Inches)	14.5
Price Per Sq Inch	$0.060

	Miro Score	Elizabeth Score	Average
Look	3.5	4.0	3.8
	Miro's Comments: I’m warming up to these overly round pan pizzas. I think because the coating of cheese is nice and thick. I think Elizabeth has taught me to appreciate when the cheese is toasty. It does look mighty greasy though.
	Elizabeth's Comments: SO Cheesy! But, the overly round-ness that makes me worry it's a frozen crust…
Smell	4.0	3.5	3.8
	Miro's Comments: Pretty standard pie smell. You can smell cheese, but not much else in the way of herb.
	Elizabeth's Comments: Cheese & Grease
Temp	4.0	3.5	3.8
	Miro's Comments: Not hot, but still warm enough to be flavorful,
	Elizabeth's Comments: OK, wish it was warmer
Cheese	3.75	3.75	3.8
	Miro's Comments: Most of the cheese flavor seems to come from the toasting, and that’s not a bad thing.
	Elizabeth's Comments: Not super flavorful and really greasy, but, crispy and a lot of it!
Sauce	3.0	3.50	3.3
	Miro's Comments: I like the sauce just fine.
	Elizabeth's Comments: There is a very thin layer of a slightly too sweet sauce. I usually don't like sauce sweet, but, this one works with the overly greasy cheese.
Crust	2.0	2.5	2.3
	Miro's Comments: I think the thing that bothers me most about these pan pizzas is the crust. It usually lacks crunch except at the very outside where it gets really dry. The flavor always seems underdeveloped and unbalanced
	Elizabeth's Comments: Oh boy. I don't know how to describe this crust. It's chewy, but not in a good way. It's just really hard to get your teeth through the bottom of the pizza - like when you microwave something too long. Not sure how you get that effect in a pizza oven - frozen crust not fully cooked through?
Overall Taste	3.0	3.0	3.0
	Miro's Comments: Inoffensive and unremarkable.
	Elizabeth's Comments: The overall flavors are not bad. This is a pretty average pizza. The crust consistency is a bit off which brought the overall down, but the extra cheese brought it up a notch
Value Score	49.59	49.59	49.59
Overall Comments	Miro's Comments: I have no further remarks.
	Elizabeth's Comments: I noticed when filling in this sheet that their website advertises this as Greek pizza. That is news to me. This is so thin!

LP Pizza & Subs | Somerville

2012-04-21T13:58:00.000-04:00

LP Pizza & Subs | Somerville

	LP Pizza & Subs
Website	http://lppizza.com/
Address	96 Highland Ave, Somerville
Date Ordered	4/14/2012
Where Consumed	home
Price	$10.99
Order Method	Foodler
Service Method	Dellivery
Delivery Time	47 minutes
Size (Inches)	15
Price Per Sq Inch	$0.062

	Miro Score	Elizabeth Score	Average
Look	2.5	3.0	2.75
	Miro's Comments: Where’s the cheese. I’m seeing red when I look at this pizza
	Elizabeth's Comments: A bit uneven, but overall cheesy, with that impossibly round, probably frozen crust
Smell	3.0	3.0	3.0
	Miro's Comments: It has a smell, but not much of one.
	Elizabeth's Comments: Grease with a faint hint of…sausage? (not in a pleasant way)
Temp	2.0	2.0	2.0
	Miro's Comments: Just barely above luke warm
	Elizabeth's Comments: It's like 2 blocks away! It's April! Why are you so cold?
Cheese	2.0	2.0	2.0
	Miro's Comments: No much of it, and what there is lacks flavor.
	Elizabeth's Comments: Rubbery, can't really taste it at all.
Sauce	1.5	1.5	1.5
	Miro's Comments: While there is plenty of sauce, it tastes artificial to me. Perhaps because I’m also eating a cut up tomato at the same time, and the sauce just can’t compare.
	Elizabeth's Comments: Very sweet red mushy paste. Reminds me of high school cafeteria pizza sauce.
Crust	1.5	1.0	1.3
	Miro's Comments: The crust lacks both flavor and much texture. I think it’s that pre-made pan style crust that always lacks character.
	Elizabeth's Comments: Like wet cardboard crumbling under my teeth.
Overall Taste	2.0	2.0	2.0
	Miro's Comments: To describe this pizza is mostly to dwell on its litany of faults. It doesn’t do much, and what it does do, it doesn’t do well. That said, it’s $2 more for a 2nd pizza, so if you need volume and aren’t discerining, it could be an option.
	Elizabeth's Comments: I'm assuming their target market is the high school. In which case, this pizza is probably slightly bettter than the one in the cafeteria.
Value Score	32.16	32.16	32.16
Overall Comments	Miro's Comments: It's always a bad sign when a Somerville pizza delivery guy is wearing a Yankees hat. I almost said something.
	Elizabeth's Comments: It was really close and had totally mixed Yelp reviews, so I decided to give them a chance. Bad idea, clearly.

Hillside Cafe | Medford

2012-03-23T10:00:00.000-04:00

Hillside Cafe | Medford

Website	http://www.hillside-cafe.com/
Address	283 Boston Ave, Medford MA
Date Ordered	3/3/2012
Where Consumed	Home
Price	$9.99
Order Method	Phone
Service Method	Pick-up
Delivery Time	50 minutes
Size (Inches)	15
Price Per Sq Inch	$0.057

	Miro Score	Elizabeth Score	Average
Look	3.5	3.0	3.3
	Miro's Comments: Greasy and unevenly cooked, but the toasted side looks very appealing.
	Elizabeth's Comments: Very uneven looking. Large black splotches I assume are spice, but nevertheless they look very unappetizing.
Smell	4.0	1.0	2.5
	Miro's Comments: Good cheese smell with a heavy odor of parmesan
	Elizabeth's Comments: I smell something really really odd I can't put my finger on.
Temp	1.0	3.0	2.0
	Miro's Comments: My fault on the low temp score. I dawdled before picking it up.
	Elizabeth's Comments: The over is on for the next slice, but that's partially Miro's fault.
Cheese	4.5	3.0	3.8
	Miro's Comments: Awfully greasy, but it has that authentic cheese tang. It's also in a thick enough layers to really provide some bite.
	Elizabeth's Comments: This slice has a lot on it but it's very bland and very greasy.
Sauce	4.0	2.0	3.0
	Miro's Comments: I'm not sure if it's good sauce or bad sauce. It's got a strong flavor that I rather like. It reminds me of pizza from the places we went to as a kid. Strong and herbey.
	Elizabeth's Comments: This slice doesn't really have sauce on it so I can't really tell even when I stick my tongue under the cheese to fish for it.
Crust	4.0	2.5	3.3
	Miro's Comments: I took my sample slice from the more toasted side of the pizza. It's a little cold, so it doesn't have the crisp it might have had coming out of the over, but it's got decent flavor and a good chew.
	Elizabeth's Comments: It's doughy which I usually like, but there is not crisp or structure to it which gives a soggy feel.
Overall Taste	4.25	2.5	3.4
	Miro's Comments: Coming out of the oven, I bet this was great. It's the kind of place that if I lived near, I think I'd bring friends for a relaxed eat in dinner.
	Elizabeth's Comments: I still think this pizza has a weird small and a weird aftertaste the entire time I've been eating it.
Value Score	75.18	44.22	59.70
Overall Comments	Miro's Comments: The sign on the door said they were closing early. Thanks for waiting up for me.
	Elizabeth's Comments: I was very excited that it was homemade dough and walking distance from my office, but I wish I had enjoyed it more.

Avellinos | Medford

2012-02-11T14:33:00.001-05:00

Avellinos | Medford

	Avellinos
Website	Avellinos
Address	313 Mystic Ave, Medford, MA 02155
Date Ordered	2/2/2012
Where Consumed	home
Price	$11.50
Order Method	Foodler
Service Method	Delivery
Delivery Time	37 minutes
Size (Inches)	16
Price Per Sq Inch	$0.057

	Miro Score	Elizabeth Score	Average
Look	3.0	2.0	2.5
	Miro's Comments: Cheesy and toasted just right, but for some reason it looks a little frail
	Elizabeth's Comments: The pizza itself looks ok - a nice coating of cheese, maybe a bit overdone in parts, but I am grossed out by the burnt flakes all over the box, the grease stains down the side, and the random mushroom (I think?!)
Smell	3.8	3.0	3.4
	Miro's Comments: Redolent of cheese grease, but not much herb
	Elizabeth's Comments: Cheesy. Greasy.
Temp	4.0	3.75	3.9
	Miro's Comments: Solidly hot.
	Elizabeth's Comments: It doesn't need to go in the oven yet, but it might soon.
Cheese	3.0	4.0	3.5
	Miro's Comments: Whoa there cheese grease. I'm usually not a blotter, but I might make an exception for this pie.
	Elizabeth's Comments: It has a very creamy taste with a nice coating too but also has a ton of grease covering it!
Sauce	2.0	3.5	2.8
	Miro's Comments: Virtually flavorless red paste with a hint of sugar sweetness
	Elizabeth's Comments: The first piece tasted very rosemary heavy to me (which I liked because I like rosemary) but the second piece was less flavorful. The ratio is good though.
Crust	2.5	3.5	3.0
	Miro's Comments: Not much flavor or crisp, but a nice chew though.
	Elizabeth's Comments: A little flimsy but fairly flavorful.
Overall Taste	2.5	3.75	3.1
	Miro's Comments: A solidly below average pizza in every respect.
	Elizabeth's Comments: This pizza is nowhere near burnt, yet, there is black crap everywhere. It's like random soot from the oven. I can't get over the feeling that my pizza is dirty.
Value Score	43.71	65.56	54.64
Overall Comments	Miro's Comments:
	Elizabeth's Comments: This pizza is a greasy, dirty mess. I have no idea why my score is so high.

In case you Love Pizza as much as your Significant Other

2012-02-09T15:30:00.000-05:00

Pizza Hut is letting you combine the two for Valentine's Day with their $10,010 proposal package!

Personally, despite our obvious love of pizza, I think Miro would get a giant NO if he ever had such bad taste (metaphorically and taste bud speaking). However, for those readers out there who love pizza and want a unique experience, your dreams can come true for $10,010 (+ tax, of course) and a simple web form: http://www.pizzahut.com/proposal.html

That said, the pizza at the Stratosphere tower, the actual location of our engagement, may be the worst pizza I've ever had...good thing the pizza happened a year after the wedding. ;)