Cicero Country Pizza, Cicero

Quite some time ago I drove up to Cicero at lunchtime, hoping to score some pizza at Cicero Country Pizza (on Route 11, just south of Route 31). What I didn’t know was that CCP isn’t open for lunch Monday – Wednesday. Fast forward many months to the first nice day after our monsoon season, and our office gang successfully made the trek to Cicero Country Pizza. There are two large dining rooms with capacity for around 100 people total – although it was pretty empty when we arrived. As near as I can tell, delivery is not offered (it isn’t mentioned on the menu); this is basically an eat-in and takeout operation.

We ordered a 12″ half cheese, half pepperoni, and a 16″ with sausage, peppers and mushrooms. They were delivered to the table on stands after about 15 minutes. The crust on these pizzas was about 1/4″ thin in the middle, gradually thickening to about 1/2″ near the edge, with a big, poofy thick rim. The texture was generally soft, while at the same time having a thin crisp layer on the outside. It seemed to me that the gluten level was probably a little lower than I sometimes see, because the crust had an easier chew and could be bitten off easily. Interior structure looked really good, with evidence of a good rise and careful handling that didn’t deflate the dough during prep. I can’t be sure, but my impression was that this was “same day” dough, probably mixed that morning. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just an observation. Dough that has risen, or fermented slowly overnight usually has a different, more complex texture and browning characteristics, whereas same day dough has a little different taste. Either way, the result here was pretty good. My only real suggestion for improvement would be a little more baking time to brown it and crisp it just a little more.

The sauce was a welcome surprise, at least on the 12″ pizza. It was plentiful, bright red, very fresh tasting and mildly spiced, with no rough edges. I don’t have a single complaint about this sauce; it is pretty much what I think of when I conjure up an image of the perfect sauce. On the other hand, the sauce on the 16″ pizza (with sausage, peppers and mushrooms) was rather bland. One of the other guys at the table pointed this out also. I went back and forth between pieces of the two pies, again and again, and had to conclude that indeed, something was different about the sauce on the two! Either there were two different batches of sauce used (seems unlikely), or something about the toppings on the 16″ had a mysterious chemical reaction with the sauce to neutralize the flavor.  The cheese was quite good – soft, white, not burned, not oily - although a little prone to sliding off in big sheets.  The toppings were very good, although the mushrooms were canned.

Overall, this pizza worked pretty well, with relatively minor problems. I guess we’ll never know why the sauce could seem so different on the two pizzas.  Please excuse me for spending so much time talking about that, because I don’t want to distract from the fact that this pizza had a lot going for it.  The all-important first bite impression was very good, with a very tasty, fresh character coming through.  It comes so close to being 4.5, but the others at the table concurred that it didn’t quite make it.  Fresh mushrooms might have pushed it higher, a little more baking time for the crust might have pushed it higher, and better sauce taste on the larger pizza would have helped too.  As it is, at a Pizza Geek rating of 4 out of 5 slices, I can recommend Cicero Country Pizza and its large, family-friendly dining areas as a good stop on your pizza tour.

Summary – Pros: excellent sauce, good crust and cheese. Cons: canned mushrooms.

What do YOU think? Have you tried Cicero Country Pizza? How was it? Click the comment link below and tell us about it!

Crust: ****
Sauce: *****
Cheese: ****
Toppings: ****
Bang/Buck: ****
Overall:

Losurdo’s Cucina & Catering, Cicero

The young fella behind the counter was so new (one week) that he wasn’t sure when I asked how long Losurdo’s has been open at the corner of South Bay Road and Gillete Road in Cicero. He thought “Maybe since August?” Losurdo’s serves a generally typical selection of pizzeria/Italian food for eat in, take out, delivery, and large-scale catering. One thing that impressed me was that the medium-sized dining area was uniquely and attractively decorated, far nicer and cleaner than most of the “slice joints” I’ve visited. You could comfortably bring a group from the office, your family, or a casual date. Also, it appeared that some degree of table service was being provided – I observed food being brought to other tables, but I don’t know if they ordered at the counter or the table.

Three pizzas were displayed, available for slices at lunchtime on a Monday. I was charged $1.67 incl. tax for a cheese slice (1/8th of a 16″ pie), although the menu lists it at $1.75+. The crust of this slice had an excellent exterior crispiness, pleasant taste, good rise and interior structure. Thickness was 1/4″ or less, with a somewhat thicker rim. My only real complaint about the crust is that some oven soot was present on the bottom.

Sauce was bright red, sweet (but not in a sugary way), carried a very mild spice load, and very few visible spice flakes. Normally I think I would prefer just a bit more spice, but the pleasant, basic tomato flavor helps them get away with it. The cheese was good, except for the all-too-common puddle of oil that separated during baking.

As I’ve written in previous reviews, good pizza depends on having ingredients (crust, sauce, cheese, toppings) that each taste good on their own, are assembled in good proportion to each other, and blend evenly and easily when you chew. Losurdo’s pizza does this reasonably well. It doesn’t quite have the “wow” factor to bring it up to 4.5, but it is pretty good, and receives a Pizza Geek rating of 4 out of 5 slices. Also, the attractive restaurant interior is much appreciated.

Summary – Pros: crispy, yet soft crust; attractive dining area. Cons: oven soot, oily.

What do YOU think? Have you tried pizza from Losurdo’s? Do you agree with my review, or am I an idiot? Click the comment link below and tell us about it!

Crust: ****
Sauce: ****
Cheese: ****
Toppings: NA
Bang/Buck: ****
Overall:

Losurdo’s Cucina, 6166 South Bay Road, Cicero – (315) 288-5622

Sardo’s Pizza and Fish Fry, Cicero

Recently a comment was posted on Syracuse.com’s dining forum saying they have tried pizza from many places, and Sardo’s (Cicero, Lakeshore Heights Plaza on Route 31) may be the best. Whenever I hear that sort of praise, my Pizza Geek ears perk up and I make a mental note to check it out. Another Sardo’s location may be found on Onondaga Hill (just outside the Syracuse City line, on St. Agnes Hill). Delivery is offered from both locations. The menu has a fairly typical selection of pizza, wings, salads, subs, etc.

During a cold and snowy lunch time, I chose a cheese slice ($1.81 incl. tax) that was 1/8th of an 18″ pie, reheated briefly. It’s not so obvious in the photos, but this is about as thin as pizza can get! I am no pizzaiolo by any stretch of the imagination, but from my own home experiments I know that getting dough stretched this thin isn’t a task for beginners. My best guess is that the average thickness was around 1/8″ or LESS. For being so thin, it held up reasonably well, at least with no toppings. If you add any number of toppings to this pizza, you’ll need to fold it, roll it up, or use a fork to eat it.  It remained flexible, rather than becoming rigid as some crusts do after reheating.

The crust was crispy, not chewy, and seemed to be well-structured. The taste of the crust stayed pretty much in the background. Sauce was very hard to find. (To be fair, the thinner the pizza, the less sauce you can use.) When I did find some, it had decent fresh tomato taste, and a moderate spice level with a lot of spice flakes visible. Cheese was rather oily, but tasted generally OK.

Put it all together, and what do you have? A reasonably decent effort, but not spectacular. I’d like to see just a smidge more sauce, for example. I have two basic measuring sticks – how much pleasure do you get from eating it, and how far out of your way would you drive to get it? After pondering those questions for a bit, I came up with a Pizza Geek rating of 3.5 out of 5 slices.

Summary – Pros: thin crust lovers’ dream. Cons: scant sauce, oily.

What do YOU think? Have you tried pizza from Sardo’s? Do you agree with my review? Click the comment link below and tell us about it!

Crust: ****
Sauce: ****
Cheese: ***
Toppings: NA
Bang/Buck: ****
Overall:

Vito’s Cicero Pizzeria, Cicero

Since last September, this location has been known as Vito’s Cicero Pizzeria. Prior to that, it was Nino’s Cicero Pizzeria (they only had to change 2 letters on the sign – seriously, that’s what they told me!). Nino’s still has a location in DeWitt, credited to the Failla family, and Vito’s is from the Busco family. Logos on the menus are virtually identical at the two locations. But, beyond the similarities I mentioned, I have no idea what family or business connection there may be.

On this occasion, a full pie was reviewed – a 14″ 5-topping, with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers on half ($13.00 plus tax). As often happens, the actual size was a little larger, about 15″. It was brought to our table with paper plates and a serving spatula, and we retrieved plastic forks and knives from the nearby counter.

The first thing I usually notice about a pizza is how the crust looks, and then feels when I pick it up. This was thin, evenly but lightly browned, and extremely soft – there was no crispiness to speak of. Other than the unusually soft texture, this was an average, adequate crust with average taste.

Sauce was not abundant, and it was about impossible to gauge its flavor. However, there was nothing offensive about it. The cheese was Grande, a fairly common brand used by pizza shops. With the small amount of sauce, this pizza was way out of balance with a heavy application of cheese. The bright spot was the toppings – they were fresh, tasty, and couldn’t have been better.

Overall, this pizza looked fantastic, but it didn’t taste as good as it looked. A zesty sauce and crispy crust would have gone a LONG way toward a better rating. The Pizza Geek gives it a rating of 3.5.

Summary – Pros: excellent toppings, good value. Cons: super-soft crust, excess cheese, little sauce.

What do you think? Have you been to Vito’s? What do you like or not like? Click the comment link below.

Crust: ***
Sauce: ***
Cheese: ***
Toppings: *****
Value: ****
Overall: 3.5

Vito’s Cicero Pizzeria – 8154 Brewerton Road (Route 11), Cicero – 699-4004