Christopher’s Home Style Pizzeria & Ice Cream, Mattydale

The never-ending search for pizza took me up Route 11, into Mattydale, where a mile or less south of I-81 you will find Christopher’s Home Style Pizzeria & Ice Cream. I can imagine that you’d find a LOT of people here on warm summer nights. But when I stopped for a slice of pizza at lunchtime on a cold winter day, I was the only customer. All the ice cream equipment was empty and silent. There was no pizza displayed in view of the counter, so at first I had my doubts that anything was available without ordering a whole pie. Eventually a person emerged from out back somewhere and replied that yes indeed, slices were available.

After a brief warmup, I obtained a cheese slice which was 1/6th of a 14″ pie ($1.94 incl. tax). At 1/4″ thickness, this falls into the “thin” category, with a significantly thicker rim. In the picture you can see that it had good interior bubble structure, a well-browned crust, spike marks, and it was baked on a screen. There was a decent amount of crispiness, and overall crust taste that was a little above average.

It is hard to comment on the sauce, because virtually all of it was absorbed into the crust and cheese. At this time of day (about 1:00pm), I wouldn’t expect the pizza to be extremely old, so I was a little surprised by this. Even when sauce loses a lot of its moisture to the crust and cheese, you still usually find some lingering tomato solids. Cheese had turned orangey, was rather browned and oily, and was a little salty.

Overall, the slice I sampled at Christopher’s was a basic, average slice that suffices for a quick bite. A few minutes after eating, I noticed a little bit of oily aftertaste. If it weren’t for the relatively good crust, it would score about 2.5, but the decent crispiness, texture and taste of the crust lifts it to a Pizza Geek rating of 3 out of 5 slices.

It was not obvious whether delivery is offered, but I’m guessing it is, at least during typical peak times. There is no seating, just a tiny counter where you could stand and eat if you had to.  According to their website, there is another location in Oneida.

Summary – Pros: pretty good crust. Cons: absorbed sauce; browned, oily cheese.

What do YOU think? Have you tried pizza from Christopher’s? How about ice cream? Click the comment link below and tell us about it!

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

Paladino’s Pizza, Mattydale

How do you choose the location for your first official pizza review? It would be great to start with a “home run,” to begin on a high note and set the standard. I’ve been eating pizza in the Syracuse area for over 20 years, but since the results have been largely uninspiring, I could only draw upon my own experience for where NOT to go.

Some digging online, along with faint recollection of recommendations I’ve heard over the years led me to Paladino’s Pizza, in the Northern Lights Mall. Paladino’s enjoys the distinction of having the most reviews on Yahoo Local , and the majority say it is the best pizza in Syracuse. One reviewer, however, noted poor crust, scant sauce, and greasy cheese. Alrighty then, researching that debate sounds like a task for the Pizza Geek!

Paladino’s menu mentions it has been family owned since 1980. It currently occupies a small storefront in the Northern Lights Mall, between Christmas Tree Shop and Staples. A steady stream of cars pulling up on a recent Saturday evening attested to the popularity of its takeout business. I haven’t been there during weekday lunch periods, but I suspect their slices are popular with the area shoppers and workers. Paladino’s does not deliver. There is no table service – you order and pay at the counter, then return to the counter to pick up your food when ready. Small plastic forks and knives are provided at the counter.

We ordered a large “NYC Style” (Sicilian is also available) half cheese, half with pepperoni and peppers ($12.59). This is a pretty good value for a 16″ large.  Our enthusiasm for the hot, fresh value was dampened significantly by the pools of grease over the entire pizza. This could be somewhat understood if it were from the pepperoni and/or sausage, but the cheese only side was just as oily as the pepperoni side.

The red and green peppers were not fresh, but carried the strong flavor of vinegar. Pepper slices from a jar aren’t necessarily a bad thing – one of my favorite pizzas from my home town of Ithaca used them.  However, fresh peppers are even better.  Maybe it is a cost issue, as well as a concession to convenience, to use pickled pepper slices.

Sauce was applied lightly, which made it difficult to gauge its flavor.  To be fair, if you are aware of this from being a regular customer, you could order extra sauce.  There were no obvious problems with the sauce, and the salt level was just right.  Interestingly, Paladino’s also apparently adds a small amount of pepper to the pizza after the toppings are added.  I read another reviewer’s mention of this, and I noted some pepper flakes on various parts of the pizza that couldn’t have come from the sauce.

The big star of this pizza is the crust. It is a near-perfect thin crust, baked directly on the stone. There were large bubbles in the rim of the crust, it was perfectly browned, with light char marks underneath and on top. The interior was just-right moist and soft, foldable, and biting into the crust edge produced a satisfying crispy crunch. This is the best crust I’ve had in a very long time.

Even though I’ve “dinged” this pizza for the excessively oily cheese, you can’t deny that fat improves flavor, and overall this was a very good tasting pizza, with generally well-balanced taste.  I do recommend it, but keep napkins handy to soak up the oil.  I’ll grade this 4 out of 5 slices.

What do you think?  Have you been to Paladino’s?  What did you like, or dislike?  Please click the comment link below.

Summary – Pros: Nearly perfect crispy-soft crust, excellent value. Cons: Very oily, scant sauce, peppers not fresh.

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

Paladino’s Pizza (menu) – 231 Northern Lights Plaza - Mattydale 13211 - 455-6477