Jesse Heussner ’11
Features Editor
To me, nothing in life is better than food. Writing about food isn’t such a bad thing either. They are, after all, the tastiest articles. What wasn’t so tasty, however, was the picture that ran of me with smoke coming out of my ears after I reviewed Fairfield County’s best buffalo wings. That really made me rethink some things.
Anyway, after a three-month hiatus, I have finally mustered up the self-confidence to write another food review, even though I have no idea where my face will be photo shopped next.
This issue’s food: pizza. Westport has a lot of pizza places, so it was tough to narrow down the review to five places. I picked up pizza from one place after another, and tasted each piece right when I got home (it was football Sunday so I wanted to make things feel realistic). Cheese was the only flavor, as I had to keep things consistent.
The Criteria
1. Price/Value: Size vs. price; a lot of places had some small pizzas.
2. Sauce: Let’s be realistic: it’s really hard for pizza to taste bad. Thus, sauces have to be original and have to have a “wow” factor. Basically, a sauce has to be noticeably tasty and unique.
3. Crust: I generally don’t have a bias towards thick or thin crust, but it cannot be burnt and has to be crispy.
4. Cheese: Burnt? Too much cheese? Not good!
5. Service: Promptness, friendliness of staff.
Four Brothers Pizza
Where: 43 Saugatuck Avenue
Value: $11 for six small pieces
Review: The first thing I wrote down after I tasted Four Brother’s Pizza was “meh.” From the value ($11 for six small pieces) to the service (the cash register wasn’t working) to the pizza (meh), nothing about Four Brothers was notable. The Pizza was edible, but paled in comparison to the rest of the field. It was also almost cold by the time I started eating. Four Brothers was the definite loser here.
Rating: C– (Poor service, mediocre pizza)
Angelina’s
Where: 1092 Post Road East
Value: $9.89 for six small pieces pieces, plus tax.
Review: Angelina’s was my first stop, and a familiar Italian restaurant for many around Westport. The overall experience was solid. The service was great.
The pizza was ready to go as soon as I opened the door and the cashier was very friendly, too. The pizza, though, was just decent. The sauce was pretty tasty (slightly sweeter than some of the other restaurants), the cheese was not burnt, and their thin crust was fine for what it was.
Despite all of this, nothing about Angelina’s pizza had a “wow” factor, and the experience wasn’t anything to write home about. Compared to some of the other pizza places, Angelina’s wasn’t anything more than good.
Rating: B (Good thin-crust pizza, excellent service, overall taste was just decent)
Joe’s Pizza
Where: 143 Post Road East
Value: $10.99 for six medium–sized pieces
Review: Oddly enough, I had never gone to Joe’s pizza before. I had heard good things, but Joe’s definitely exceeded my expectations and is now a place I will regularly stop for pizza.
Just like Angelina’s, Joe’s had excellent service, as my wait time was probably under a minute. The pizza, though, was better than Angelina’s. The sauce was conventional Italian, not exactly unique or groundbreaking, but tasty nonetheless. Their pizza also had the perfect ratio of cheese and sauce on it and out of all five restaurants; Joe’s had the best crust: thick and golden brown. Joe’s one downfall? They had the Giants game on instead of the Jets on their TV. Bad decision.
Rating: A– (Great crust, good sauce, no “it” factor)
Planet Pizza
Where: 383 Post Road East
Value: $10.99 for six big pieces
Review: Along with Westport Pizza, Planet Pizza is probably the most well-known pizza place in Westport. Despite there being very few people in the restaurant, I had to wait the longest for my pizza at Planet Pizza, which was rather uncharacteristic. The pizza, however, was consistent with my past experiences at Planet: very good.
Well known for their big slices, one slice from Planet Pizza fills you up as much as two to three from some of the other parlors. Considering their crust is thick too, I couldn’t even imagine going through a whole pie. One piece was plenty good for me. Planet’s sauce was sweet and surprisingly garlicky, which was I enjoyed. Their pizza was also the best–cooked out of the five places, with less “bubbles” and brown spots than anywhere else.
And, Planet’s large slices were the most aesthetically pleasing, looking the best out of the five pizza places. Planet’s few shortcomings? One: they consistently loaded their pizza with too much cheese. Two: Their crust was dry and rather dull.
Rating: B+ (Big slices, well cooked, good sauce. Too much cheese)
Westport Pizza
Where: 107 main street
Value: $9.99 for six medium–sized pieces
Review: At least we know Westport Pizza’s business is going well. At 1:00 pm, the small pizza parlor had twice as many people in it as any other place I went to. I can see why.
Aside from its prime location on Main Street, Westport Pizza had the best tasting pizza out of the five restaurants. And, despite not looking as good as Planet’s pizza (Westport’s was on the greasy side) it did taste the best, which is the number one point of interest. While the other four restaurants had relatively good sauces, Westport’s was the only memorable or unique sauce.
To me, you could find similar-tasting pizzas to Planet, Joe’s, or Angelina’s, anywhere. Westport’s, however, was it’s own (we’ll call this the “Pepe’s factor”) and that’s why I have to rank it number one. This was the only place I had an appetite for after having slices from each of the other four restaurants.
Rating: A (Greasy, but so tasty that it borders on addicting)
