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Pasquale’s in Newport on Monmouth Street makes delicious pizza. I especially like to get a “plain” (cheese) 6" pizza for lunch and it costs only around $2.50. They’ve been there for years and remain popular.
I know several people who say their sauce is too tomatoey and too sweet. Then I say, but this is an Italian family who also serves spaghetti and meatballs. Do you not expect them to be tomatoey and sweet?
Uh, this goes to my point - Italian spaghetti and meatballs are not meant to be served in a sweet sauce. Never once in 20 years have I had a sweet sauce from an Italian place in the northeast. Canned sauces are sweet; homemade sauces are not made with sugar.
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Several years ago, while I was still working, I had a trip to NYC. The people I was visiting said we will take you to an authentic Italian restaurant where we will get authentic pizza prepared in a stone baked oven. So off we went. The pizza was a medium thickness crust, with some sauce spread on it, if it had distinguishing spices and herbs I did not detect it, and a sprinkling of greated cheese on top. My hosts were so proud in declaring this is authentic Italian pizza.
Your hosts were food idiots. Italian pizza is nothing like NYC style pizza, and NYC pizza places don't claim to be. It's completely different.
When talking about pizza here in the states, there are two measuring sticks - NYC and Chicago style. It's an infinitesimal subset of the population that isn't talking about one of those two styles when comparing pizza. An argument could be made that New Haven style pizza from CT is also an original style (and one of the first in the country), and it has its rabid national following. I lived 15 minutes from Pepe's and Sally's and have eaten there many times. Nothing else really compares to those three styles in terms of prominence and national awareness, so it's not really necessary to identify "what type of pizza" we're talking about beyond NYC or Chicago.
Uh, this goes to my point - Italian spaghetti and meatballs are not meant to be served in a sweet sauce. Never once in 20 years have I had a sweet sauce from an Italian place in the northeast. Canned sauces are sweet; homemade sauces are not made with sugar.
LaRosa's is fine for what it is, but I don't really identify it as being "pizza" for some reason. I like it just fine paired with their garlic dipping sauce, but as for being "great pizza," I can't agree with that. When I eat it by itself, it always tastes to me like the sauce came out of a can.
I also find it very interesting the similarities between these Cincinnati dining "institutions:" LaBullBoxer31, Cincinnati chili, Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce...it's all very, very sweet and very, very mild.
LaRosa's is fine for what it is, but I don't really identify it as being "pizza" for some reason. I like it just fine paired with their garlic dipping sauce, but as for being "great pizza," I can't agree with that. When I eat it by itself, it always tastes to me like the sauce came out of a can.
I also find it very interesting the similarities between these Cincinnati dining "institutions:" LaBullBoxer31, Cincinnati chili, Montgomery Inn BBQ sauce...it's all very, very sweet and very, very mild.
I guess it is just by accident that all three institutions package their products for sale in local supermarkets. Apparently enough people in the Cincinnati region crave them to pay the grocery store prices. And that LaBullBoxer31 canned sauce must be repackaged for grocery sales in jars.
The number of Cincinnati restaurant chains which have found it to be another revenue source to package their product for supermarket sale must be close to a record.
It has been commented before concerning food prepared for a wide appeal. Apparently these Cincinnati companies have the art form down, which is part of the formula for continued success. In case you haven't noticed LaBullBoxer31 has shakers of red pepper flakes on the table for those who want to spice it up, as do Cincinnati chili shops with their Louisiana hot pepper sauce. Quality and consistency, that is the key. You simply do not last for generations unless you deliver something people like.
As for a comment Graeter's is over-hyped, now Ben & Jerrys that is over-hyped. I personally like UDF's Home Made brand ice cream, particularly when Kroger puts it on their rotating sale schedule. Yes, I do watch for sales, I have a freezer and can keep it well conditioned between sales.
Another local institution, although it started in Kansas, but is now headquartered in Columbus, Ohio is White Castle. Another one which packages their product for grocery sales. The wife and I have to have our slider fix from time to time.
Sorry if those of you who come from other sections of the country do not embrace our Cincinnati institutions, but like it or not they are what give the fabric to life in Cincinnati, maybe provincial but definitely loyal.
I guess it is just by accident that all three institutions package their products for sale in local supermarkets. Apparently enough people in the Cincinnati region crave them to pay the grocery store prices. And that LaBullBoxer31 canned sauce must be repackaged for grocery sales in jars.
There's a difference between having mass-appeal and being a quality product, though they're obviously not mutually exclusive. I don't have any kind of personal vendetta against the places you mentioned, but to argue that they're "the best in the city" strikes me as profoundly unlikely. In fact, it seems to me that your argument reinforces ArtVandalay84's point exactly. In order to have that mass appeal, you must have a bland product to peddle, otherwise you're bound to disenfranchise a large part of your consumers. It's rather like a Thomas Kinkade painting; it has to be bland, innocuous, and mass-produced almost by definition.
There has to be some thing, some flavor or ingredient or method of preparation, that sets a particular food off from that base level of commonness to really make it worthy of "best in the city". In general, I think Cincinnati has little to offer in this area. It has lots of good food, but little in the way of "great" food, although I think it's improving, particularly in Downtown. Cincinnati has strong history in the meat packing industry and a huge pool of immigrant culture and heritage to draw from, not to mention that it's literally surrounded by great local farming. It should really be pumping out some of the finest cuisine in the midwest.
For my two cents re: best pizza, Larosa's is much too sweet and bread-like (pizza danish?). Dewey's crust is weak, ZZ's on Gilbert Ave is similar style pizza but better in pretty much every way. Ramundo's on Mt Lookout square is solid for a NY slice, though their crust is too thick. The Uno's on Ludlow Ave in Clifton used to make a decent deep-dish, shame it's closed now (the one on Beechmont doesn't taste the same to me).
Lets face it, we are never going to agree on pizza. But that does not bother me, since I can simply look around and see all of the various outlets who cater to the individual tastes.
But for someone to declare this is the best pizza I have to disagree with. More appropriately it is this is the best pizza to my taste. You can nominate whatever you want, but that does not make it the best. For a garden variety food like pizza, for my money the best is defined by who servives. And we do have some survivors in Cincinnati.
Similarly for other Cincinnati favorites. During my working career I would take out of town clients to the original Montgomery Inn in Montgomery. Many of them would exclaim these are the best ribs I have ever had! And many of them were from Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, etc. Poo-poo the BBQ sauce all you want, the difference is in the meat. Theirs comes clean off the bone, you don't have to struggle. I got to the point I would never order ribs when I traveled just due to being disappointed so many times in comparison to Montgomery Inn.
At the same time, there is BBQ brisket. The best I ever had was in a little corner joint in Kansas City. The 2nd best would be a place off of I65 south of Nashville. Neither one was fancy, you were served on wax paper seated at picnic tables. But again, it was not the ambience but the food. There is a place here in Cincinnati I have to try. I will start with the brisket, if that cuts the mustard I may get up enough courage to try their ribs.
Everyone enjoy your favorites. But don't expect everyone else to agree with your conclusions.
Uh, this goes to my point - Italian spaghetti and meatballs are not meant to be served in a sweet sauce. Never once in 20 years have I had a sweet sauce from an Italian place in the northeast. Canned sauces are sweet; homemade sauces are not made with sugar.
Your hosts were food idiots. Italian pizza is nothing like NYC style pizza, and NYC pizza places don't claim to be. It's completely different.
When talking about pizza here in the states, there are two measuring sticks - NYC and Chicago style. It's an infinitesimal subset of the population that isn't talking about one of those two styles when comparing pizza. An argument could be made that New Haven style pizza from CT is also an original style (and one of the first in the country), and it has its rabid national following. I lived 15 minutes from Pepe's and Sally's and have eaten there many times. Nothing else really compares to those three styles in terms of prominence and national awareness, so it's not really necessary to identify "what type of pizza" we're talking about beyond NYC or Chicago.
You know your pizza. New Haven style most closely resembles Neapolitan since both are on a very thin crust cooked in an oven around 800 degrees for just a couple to three minutes. Usually it is somewhat crispy. NY Style is cooked in a 650 to 675 degree oven and is soft and pliable which makes it easy to buy a slice and eat it on the go.
I had a pizza once from a place in Covington and it was pretty good. That was a decade ago though and I don't remember the name of the place.
Sauce is not supposed to be very sweet. Any place that adds sugar to its pizza sauce is committing pizza heresy in my opinion. Tomato sauces can be sweet naturally of course depending upon the style of tomatoes used in the sauce. But adding some parmesan and/or basil along with a good red wine can usually eliminate or at least reduce the sweetness. I noted the pizza and spaghetti sauces in Buffalo are all very tart compared to the Midwest. In New England most are usually neutral or slightly tart but on occasion you will run into a shop that has a sweet sauce.
Just to comment on that Marion's being built in Mason. My cronies and I have been sitting across Snider road and marveling at the construction. Seems to be one of the most disorganized developments we have seen. The corner of Snider and Tylersville where it is being built sat vacant for years. I feel part of the reason is the land has some severe drainage problems.
So we are enjoying watching them move dirt and then move it again. For the past several months there has been heavy duty earth moving equipment there like you expect on an Interstate. As I previously commented, the Marion's pizza joint is huge. They now have most of the 4 walls up.
But what catches our eye is the amount of dirt they move and then move again. It is like no that is not going to work, we have to make it deeper and wider. What looked like a simple driveway off of Snider Rd now looks like it is going to be about 4 lanes wide with a substantial culvert underneath it.
The original information said the land parcel is 9 acres and the first two occupants would be a medical dermatology building and Marion's. The medical building has appeared complete for a few weeks now, but there is no driveway, parking, etc. access yet. Two sides of the corner lot, which all of us locals knew was a drainage problem by the cattails which sprang up there in the spring, they appear to just keep widening and deepening.
By my engineering eye, the outlots they spoke of seem to be keeping smaller and smaller. I simply do not understand why they do not throw in the towel, dig a big ditch, and install a large drainage pipe from the two culverts from the north side of Tylersville down to the creek on the southest side of the property. They just keep moving dirt and reducing the effective usable area. A burried drain pipe can have a parking lot on top of it, with drains into the pipe. What they currently have now is not only unattractive to the eye, but sacrifices valuable serface area.
We will keep informing you as it develops.
BTW Almost directly across the street is a Marco's Pizza which says it is New York Style and nearby a Westshore Pizza which advertises it is Philly Style. Why would you call yourself Westshore if you are serving Eastshore food? Since I could not qualify New York, New Jersey, Philly, or any other style, I just hope they are ready for a giant sized competitor.
With the money they are investing in this place, Marion's will succeed if they have to run specials until the rest of you cannot meet your bank loans.
But what catches our eye is the amount of dirt they move and then move again. It is like no that is not going to work, we have to make it deeper and wider. What looked like a simple driveway off of Snider Rd now looks like it is going to be about 4 lanes wide with a substantial culvert underneath it.
. . .
These projects have a lot of moving parts. And, moving dirt is not an expensive part, relatively speaking.
First, hooking up to stormwater drainage is a matter of consent not of right. So, even though there is a suitable conduit to carry water away, doesn't mean anyone will give them the right to do so. At the same time, a local code person will be deciding how much detention or removal capacity is required. This is constantly changing as the leases for the space are signed and the uses are being disclosed to the code folks. Then a different code person is saying how much parking is required for the uses and we all know it is the parking that creates the watershed. Then the soil engineers for the lenders, contractors and the lessees get involved and don't agree with the developer's initial soil testing. So a different set of data results in different results in the dirt.
I am guessing that the buildings and parking are changing also, but it is just changing on paper.
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