L'Industrie Pizzeria, NYC

When you tell someone you'll be spending time in New York, the inevitably start telling you all the places you *have* to go.  The best bagels/pizza/burger/pastrami/drinks/etc of their lives, yadda yadda.  Even locals get quite passionate about some of these categories, and pizza of course is a common one to debate.  Once you get past the variations like square pizza (generally frowned upon), places only by the slice or only by the pie, etc, you are still met with intense debate.  But there are a handful of places that nearly everyone has heard of, and at least agree are in the top.

L'Industrie is one of these places.  It is also one of those places where people line up and wait for quite a while for their slices.  Those who want a whole pie can at least order those in advance for pickup (but, no delivery, and they have 6 pie order maximums).  But most people seem to line up and wait, as part of the overall experience.  They do not take reservations.

L'Industrie has two locations, the original is in Williamsburg, opened in 2017.  They followed their success by opening a second location in Manhattan in late 2023.  Both locations are open daily, 12pm-10pm.  Both are equally busy, all the time.  

"From the City of Pistoia and the streets of NYC. We’ve come together to bring you L'industrie Pizzeria. With the artful techniques and passions of Italy blended with the flavors and characteristics of a classic New York slice. We work daily to bridge the gap between these worlds, while putting quality and passion above all."

They serve classic NY slices, but, more upscale versions of them.  The menu has 12 different curated pies on it.  No gluten-free options.  They also have a daily sandwich, soft serve gelato, and some Italian desserts (tiramisu, pistachio tres leches, cookies, olive oil cake, bombolone, etc).  No salads, no appetizers.  Just pizza and great desserts.  I like their style.

OMG, pizza.

I was thrilled, overjoyed really, when I arrived at an event to see the L'industrie boxes.  OMG.  Our hosts really brought it, with plenty to go around, a lineup of 6 different varieties (so half the menu), all of which they had to go fetch and transport to the venue, as they do not do delivery.  Dedication to serving us the some of the best pies in NY!  I was a bit sad they didn't get the fig jam and bacon one, but otherwise, happy to see the host's selections.

I tried to have restraint, and tried only 3 of the 6 kinds we had.  I'm glad I got to try 3, but my experience of each slice was fairly different.  One was ... exceptional, life-changing nearly, the others, forgettable.  That said, the great one was so great, I'll go back in a heartbeat.

L'Industrie Pie. $47.

"Prosciutto di parma and burrata."

I nearly started with their namesake pie, topped with burrata and prosciutto because, well, you kinda have to right?  And clearly many other people were going for it as their first slice.  But the prosciutto just wasn't calling out to me.  

Note that this pizza, when you get it fresh, it topped with the burrata and prosciutto after it is cooked, so those are cold toppings on the pizza.  You can see the burrata had partially melted here from being boxed up with the hot pizza, when first served, they are fresh gooey gobs.

Spicy Salami Pie. $37.

"Spicy Italian Sopressata."

I briefly considered the spicy salami too, but quickly moved on, as there were other meat toppings I was more drawn to.

Margherita Pie. $31.

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, extra virgin olive oil, parmigiano, basil."

The basic margherita was easy for me to look past, although I did hesitate for just a second thinking it might be good to try just a simple classic one as a good base point.

Burrata Pie. $37.
(Signature).

"Tomato sauce, mozzarella, burrata."

I moved on because I saw the burrata pie, and that was clearly the answer for me, for my first slice.  A notch above the margherita, and in the direction of their namesake pie, just, sans the pork product.  And *this* is the one that turns out to be their signature pie.  I immediately understood why.  My goodness, this was an exceptional pizza.

It came with the expected big gobs of burrata well distributed on top, along with some less well distributed basil.  Again, when you get it in person, the burrata is applied after cooking, so not as melted in as it was here, the heat from the pizza had melted it a bit (which was fine with me!).

Burrata Pie (slice).

I selected a slice, and dug in.

My goodness.  I was blown away on all levels, even with extremely high expectations.  It lived up, surpassed even.

The crust was perfectly crisped, dusted with a tiny bit of flour, lightly chewy.  It was the right thickness to hold its shape well but not overwhelm, the back crust was puffy and had a slight char. Very good crust.  I'm not a crust person usually, but I wanted this crust.

The sauce is what blew me away, just the right level of tang and sweetness, and applied in the proper amount so that I tasted it in every bite, but it too did not overwhelm. And then of course the cheese and burrata on top, perfectly melted, and just dreamy.  The ratios here were right too.

Every element about this was done well, just really exceptional all together. I don't think I've had a better pizza of this style before.  5/5.  Nothing I'd change.

Pesto Hello Pie. $38.

"Crumbled Spicy Pork Sausage, Nut Free Pesto."

Next, I went for the Pesto Hello, an odd choice for me as I'm not a huge fan of pesto, but the spicy crumbled pork sausage really did call out to me.  It also had (not on the menu description) gobs of ricotta dotted on top.  This one was ... fine.

It actually had no sauce (I was expecting pesto spread under the cheese), but instead was a white pie with the pesto zig-zagged on top only.  The pesto was fairly standard, classic pesto taste, but there wasn't a lot of it.  

The sausage was as excellent as I hoped it would be, super flavorful.  I wanted even more hunks of it, or bigger hunks, as I loved it so much, and it was fairly minimal.  4/5 sausage though.

The ricotta was standard, slightly herby.  Same great crust.  But I found the slice a bit boring, besides the sausage.  Kinda dry.  It was excellent sausage but the rest of the slice wasn't compelling enough for me. 3.5/5 overall, although the sausage really was a 4/5 itself.  I wouldn't get this again, but I could imagine getting the sausage on another pie (they do allow customizations).

Tartufo Pie. $37.

"Mozzarella, braised cremini mushrooms, ricotta and truffle oil."

And for my final slice, I went for the tartufo, sorta because I had been really loving mushrooms on that trip. It too was one of their white pies, no red sauce, and it came with the same dots of ricotta on top.  The truffle (oil) aroma was strong as I picked it up.

It let me down.  The truffle oil is definitely the first thing I tasted with this one.  It was fine, but definitely dominant, so, be prepared for that.  But that is really all I tasted, no other flavors really came through.  It was fairly oily from both the truffle oil and the cheese.  It did have a good distribution of mushrooms on top as well, but I found myself really wishing it had some kind of sauce, and that the truffle oil was tamped down.  It did still have their great crust though.  The ricotta again made it eat a bit dry (besides all the oil).

But really all I tasted was truffle oil. 3/5, my least favorite.  I wouldn't get this one again.

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Area Four, Cambridge, MA

Update Review, June 2025

I'm not entirely sure why I keep trying Area Four, as I've never been a big fan, but I recently was in Cambridge, and picked up some food to share with my family, who do like pizza and Italian food in general.

Caesar Salad.  $15.

"Hearts of Romaine, Black Pepper-Pecorino Dressing, Anchovies, Grated Pecorino Romano, Focaccia Croutons & Crispy Garlic."

The caesar salad was a slightly better than average classic caesar: crisp romaine base of hunks torn into good size pieces, lots of shredded parmesan, slightly more interesting focaccia based croutons, and some spices sprinkled on top that actually gave it a bit of kick.  And, yes, real anchovies on top!  Basically all better than your average pizzaria, but not mind blowing or particularly innovative.

The dressing was a thick creamy style, great seasoning, lots of parmesan and pepper.  Overall, 3.5/5.

Pepperoni.  Small. $17.

"Pepperoni, Grande mozzarella, tomato, and pecorino."

I got the simple pepperoni pizza for my father, but I tried a bite of course.  For this style of pizza, it really was quite good.  Crust nicely crisp, great char, cheese evenly spread and generous, pepperonis evenly distributed, good char on them too.  

If I was in the mood for a slightly greasy pizza of this form, I would have liked it I suspect.  3/5.

Update Review, June 2024

After really not enjoying my one prior visit to Area Four, after an 8 year hiatus, I gave it another try, when I was in the area, and had been on a bit of pizza kick.  I just got takeout, as I had been so let down by the service before, and it was a lovely night to just go picnic outside nearby with my loot.

Fresh Macaroni & Cheese. $11. 
+ Bacon. $5.

"Housemade Creste di Gallo Pasta, Vermont Cheddar Cheese Sauce, Pangrattato."

To hedge my bets, I got something from the "not pizza" menu as well, one that I thought most places can do decently, and would be fine to just take home and eat another day if I liked the pizza: mac and cheese.  And added bacon, because, why not?

I'll admit that it looked pretty decent - fancy pasta shape, very creamy, attractive breadcrumbs and herbs on top.  And they make the pasta in-house?  Not what I'd expect.

It was however pretty average.  The pasta wasn't too mushy or overcooked, but I'd like it a bit more al dente.  The shape was unique and fun though, and it held the cheese sauce well.  The cheese sauce was strongly flavored, and I didn't particularly like it, but I could respect how nicely creamy it was.  One thing I love about a baked mac and cheese is crispy bits, and this didn't seem to have any, I think likely just stovetop mixed and garnished?   The breadcrumbs on top were a tiny bit of texture, but not much.

So, it looked good, but nothing particularly special, and the flavor was a bit off for me in a way I can't really describe.  **+.  $5 for the small amount of bacon add-in seemed too high.

A4 Sausage & Pickled Peppers. (small). $18.

"A4 Mozzarella, Tomato, Pecorino & Parsley."

For pizza, I was craving red sauce and sausage.  And thus, one of their signature pizzas it was.  

Like the mac and cheese, it did look fairly attractive.  Puffy crust, charred bits in an intentional way, well distributed toppings (although the cheese really only went 2/3 up the slices, leaving massive crust only boring sections).  The crust was reasonable enough tasting, decent enough chew.  The cheese was clearly not very melty by the time I got it, even though I got it fresh as they brought it out, and sat down just around the corner with it.  The sausage hunks were large and quite flavorful.  I did really like the sausage. **** sausage.

So again, looked good, but not really special, besides the nice sausage.  Very low ***.

Original Review, July 2016

Area Four is (mostly) a pizza place in Cambridge, MA.  They have won several "Best of Boston" awards, have been on Food Network and Cooking Channel, and are known for their commitment to sustainable sourcing, quality ingredients, and not taking shortcuts.

I said "mostly" a pizza place, because the space is really two establishments, one is a coffee shop with pastries and the like, the other, the pizza parlor.  The pizza place is open for lunch and dinner daily, and brunch on weekends, and features a big wood fired oven in the center.  I didn't get a chance to experience brunch, but those items are also baked in the oven, like an incredible sounding baked french toast with bourbon, fruit, and pecans and a bunch of dishes called "messes", which are eggs and other goodies cooked in skillets in the wood oven.

My visit was for dinner, with a group of 8, including children.  Which might start to explain why I was at a pizza place, as, well, pizza is never really at the top of my list of cuisines, particularly when I have a limited amount of time in a city (unless I'm waffling it of course!).  But, we needed somewhere that could seat 8, was child friendly, and near our office in Cambridge.  Area Four seemed like a natural fit, as it gets great reviews for the food, and the kids would like it too.

So, how was it?  Meh.

Service wasn't particularly good, and the pacing of the food was pretty bad.  We ordered two starters, two salads, and 4 pizzas for the group, all of which arrived within 5 minutes of each other.  The timing of the initial items was fine, pretty fast after we ordered, but it really would have been nice to enjoy the starters before the onslaught of pizzas arrived.  And then, after we ordered dessert, it took 30 minutes for the dessert to come.  I had honestly started to believe they had forgotten it, and, such a long wait wasn't exactly child-friendly.  30 minutes for dessert, at a casual joint, is just too much.

Besides just the poor timing, we also weren't really well taken care of.  After our dessert order went in, our table was only half-cleared.  Some of the pizza stands were left behind, bits of food and wrappers were left behind, it was just a mess.  The napkins were all removed and replacements never brought.  At least we had water jugs on the table so we didn't need someone to fill our glasses.

Overall, it was a fine choice for the occasion, but I don't think I'd return.  If I did, it would be for basically just one thing: dessert.  The pizza was fairly lackluster, but, the dessert quite delicious.

The Setting

Area Four is located near Kendall Square in Cambridge, just a few blocks down from our office, alongside a park (in an area I think known as technology park).

Outside Seating.

During the pleasant time of year, Area Four has substantial seating out front and along the side.  It was a beautiful evening when we visited, and I wished we were able to sit outside, but, our group was too large for those tables, they were mostly groups of two or four.

High Table.

The space inside was a mix of standard tables and high tables.  Groups ranged from pairs to large groups of 8 or 10.  We were a group of 8 and had a collection of smaller tables pushed together.

Tables were pretty basic, casual, wooden tops, with noisy metal chairs.

The walls were decorated with permanent chalkboards noting their principles of good ingredients, sustainability, etc.

There was also a bar area and the main focal point was the pizza ovens in the middle of the room.  It is a fairly big space, and, a loud one.  Perhaps it was just due to our group size, but I couldn't hear anyone at the other end of the table, and spent the whole night unable to really participate in conversation.  I don't think the concrete floors and metal chairs helped with sound dampening.

Dry Goods: Not the bathroom.

Our place settings were white plates, cloth napkins with a fork and huge knife, and water glass.  Water carafes were brought to the table so we could serve ourselves more water as we wanted.  I thought the knives were crazy, until we got the pizza, and I realized they were necessary.

There were a lot of doors leading out of the main dining area.  Clearly, people often assume they lead to bathrooms, as they are all marked that they are explicitly NOT the bathroom.

The first door I saw said "Dry Goods (not the bathroom...)"  I thought it was mildly funny, until I saw more doors.

Office: Also not the bathroom.

The next one was better, the office, marked as "... also not the bathroom".  I laughed out loud when I saw that one.

Emergency Exit: Definitely not the bathroom

But the best was the the emergency exit to the outside, or, "definitely not the bathroom."

I thought these were all a cute, fun touch.

Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes.

On each table was a selection of condiments: salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, all in cute little jars.  I expected oregano or parmesan cheese shakers too, but, this was it.  I don't think any of us used the seasonings, but, I appreciated the cute jars.

Savory Food

Simple Menu.

The menu is not large, consisting of "Not Pizza" and "Pizza".  Besides pizza, there was exactly one type of salad, one soup, a few appetizers (ribs, spreads and pita, garlic knots), sides (roasted zucchini, papas bravas, or mushrooms), and a few random entrees (chicken, arctic char, mac and cheese).  The pizza selection was 10 pizzas, along with a special of the day.  And that was it.

Pizza is clearly the focus, and every table ordered it.  Area Four does one thing different with their pizza than most ... they use sourdough as the base.  This might raise alarm bells for you if you've been a reader of my blog for a while.  You might realize how I feel about sourdough.  Yup, I hate it.  So when I saw the proclamation "12-year-old starter + flour + water + salt. No oil or sugar. Ever. Over 30 hours of fermentation. Handcrafted cheese. 1 wood-fire oven. Simplicity at it’s best.", let's just say my heart kinda sunk.  How did I not pick up on that fact when reading the reviews?

Still, I pressed on.  We ordered a few salads since I knew the others value their greens, some garlic knots as they are the items people rave about (even more than the pizzas), and of course,  pizzas.  Our server told us that each small pizza serves one person, which turned out to be totally misleading.  We had way too much pizza, and wound up with 1.5 full pizzas extra at the end of the night that nobody wanted.  And sadly, I was traveling, so I couldn't bring it home to waffle!

City Grower's Mixed Greens.  $12.

"Fennel, Radish, Apple, Carrot, Almonds, Manchego & Lemon Vinaigrette."

We started with salad, because I had read good reviews about the salads and I knew the others in the group like to eat healthier.

I can't say I understand the reviews at all.  It was just a salad.  Generic mixed greens, sliced fennel, shredded carrots and apple, chunks of radish, shaved manchego cheese, and chunks of almond.  I guess the different cuts were kinda interesting, and I appreciated the crunch from the almond, but, really, there was nothing remarkable about this salad, and it is the only kind on the menu.

The dressing was a very tangy lemon vinaigrette, too tangy, and too lemony for my tastes.  I didn't really like anything about this salad, and wouldn't get it again. *+.

Garlic Knots (3). $6.

"Red Sauce, Pecorino, Crispy Garlic & Gremolata."

Next came an order of garlic knots, the item I had read the most rave reviews about.  Even more than the pizza really.  Garlic knots are available plain with red sauce on the side as pictured here, or smothered with cheese sauce.  Both get great reviews, and seemed really different, so, we opted for an order of each.

They were served in a basket on a piece of parchment paper, with the tomato sauce on the side.  The knots were fresh from the oven and warm, with some cheese, garlic, and herbs on top.  I liked how they had a toasted exterior.  They were pleasantly doughy inside.

But ... I could taste the sourdough.  Yup, the knots were also made from the same dough as the pizza, and thus, sourdough.

I dunked mine in the sauce to try to mask the sourdough, which helped a little.  The sauce was tangy, good tomato sauce, served warm.

Overall, these were fine, but fairly boring, and, well, too sourdoughy.  Like the salad, I didn't see anything particularly noteworthy about them. **+.

The plain garlic knots came 3 to an order, a reasonable portion for $6, and easy enough for us to share.

Supreme Knots (5). $13.

"5 Knots in Red Sauce, Covered in Melted Cheese."

I really had my eyes on the supreme knots though.  These were served in a skillet, a huge mound of 5 of the knots, covered in the tangy tomato sauce, and then absolutely smothered in cheese.  I mean, seriously, look at that mountain of garlic knots!

I eagerly dove into this, expecting it to be the item of the night for me.  It was really hard to serve, as the cheese was really thick, stringy, and hard to get through.  Undeterred, I cut off a chunk of a knot, severed the strings of cheese going everywhere, and dug in, leaving the others to deal with extracting chunks themselves.

I liked this MUCH more than the plain knots.  The red sauce soaked into the knots since it was put on before the cheese and then it was all baked together, so it kinda made the bread soggy, like a bread pudding, where it touched.  This might not sound like a good thing, but, I did like how it really soaked up the sauce, and it created a textural difference where the soggy saucy bits were versus the crispy bits without sauce.

Like the plain knots, the garlic flavor was strong, and I appreciated all the extra herbs.  Very good flavors.

But the star of the show here was the cheese.  I think it was mozzarella.  It was melty, it was stringy, and it was a perfect combo with the tangy red sauce.

This was basically pizza, just, in a more fun form.  I suspect it is the same dough, the same red sauce, the same cheese.  Just here, the bread component is more doughy, and there is tons of garlic and herbs.

Overall, this was pretty tasty, and a bit more of a unique dish.  It was my favorite savory item of the night, and I'd get it again, but, I really wish it wasn't sourdough.  I could still taste way too much sourdough, even through all the other great flavors. ***+.

The portion of 5 knots for this was a bit odd compared to the 3 for the regular knots.  With all the cheese on this, it was not a light item, and I really don't think anyone would want more than one full knot out of here, so, you needed a large party to split this with.  Why not offer as only 3 like the plain knots?

Small Hawaiian (front) $16.50.  Small Margherita (back). $13.

Moments after the garlic knots were delivered, so were the first pizzas.  Our table was full within seconds.  And it was all hot food, quickly getting cold.  This made me pretty upset, as I wanted to have the time to enjoy the garlic knots without rushing to eat the rapidly cooling pizzas.

I didn't pick any of the pizza, since I knew they had sourdough crust, and I was mostly planning to fill up on garlic knots and dessert.  The others picked 4 pizzas: Hawaiian, clam and bacon, the special of the day, plus a simple pizza for the kids.  None of these are the pizzas I would have picked, and I almost spoke up, suggesting the ones I thought sounded better, like the "Not Pepperoni" with sopressata and pecorino, or the sausage and banana pepper, or even the white anchovy.  I was also tempted by the caramelized onion with onion sauce, candied walnuts, and green onions.  But, since I wasn't planning to eat much pizza, I let them make all the decisions.

None of the pizzas were well cut, and everyone struggled removing slices.  No wonder they provided us with the massive knives?

"A4 Mozzarella, Tomato, Ham, Cilantro & Scallions, Roasted Pineapple Salsa."

Of the pizzas we ordered, the Hawaiian sounded the best, so I took a small slice.  I was not impressed.  The crust was soggy, perhaps from all the moisture from the pineapple chunks.  It was hard to pick up a slice without it flopping all over the place.

The pineapple "salsa" just seemed to be chunks of I guess roasted pineapple, soft, and sweet.  The ham was slices, a bit salty, a nice contrast to the sweet fruit.  Tangy red sauce was under this all and there was way too much cilantro on top.

Overall, pretty lackluster.  Only 2 slices total of this were eaten, as no one wanted it.  I'm not sure why they ordered it. **.

"A4 Mozzarella, Tomato, Pecorino & Basil."

The margherita was for the kids, just a basic cheese pizza.  The little girl, who I've never really seen interested in food, single handedly took down a couple slices of it.  She asked for more and more, again, something I had never seen from her.  It must have been good for a kid's palette!

"Clam Sauce, Pecorino, Hot Pepper & Parsley."

Not pictured is the clam and bacon, the top pick of one diner.  Others also raved about it, so I tried a bite, even though I really don't tend to like clams and this sounded, and looked, totally unappetizing to me.  And ... yeah, super chewy clams, in a fishy white sauce.  I wanted to spit it out.  They all liked it though and it was the only pizza to get finished, so, clearly I was the outlier. *.

Small Special. $16.

The final pizza was the daily special.  I did not hear the description of it, it was not on the menu, and I didn't even realize we were ordering it until someone threw it onto our order at last minute, so I can't tell you what it was exactly.  I think it was topped with a garlic white sauce, slices of zucchini, spinach, pecorino, and lemon wedges (presumably to drizzle over it?)

Again, I didn't like the crust, but, the zucchini was nicely cooked and I liked how crispy the spinach was on top.  There was some interesting flavor at least to this.  The lemon wedges were super random. **+/

The Sweet Stuff

The dessert menu, titled "The Sweet Stuff" was very small.  It had two items on it: a seasonal crisp or fresh baked cookies.  Of course, I had done my research, and knew that these "cookies" were not really cookies in the traditional sense.  They are skillet cookies, aka, cookie dough baked in a cast iron skillet in the wood oven, served piping hot and ooey gooey.  While I don't like cookies, these don't really count as cookies in my book.  And what's better, each "cookie" comes with a sauce, but, you can also opt to add a scoop of daily ice cream from Toscanini's, arguably the best ice cream in Boston.  Oh, and they are huge.

So, yes, cookies, but warm, and with quality ice cream?  I had my eyes on these before we even arrived.  Of course I saved room for dessert.

Sweet Stuff Menu.

Our choices for "cookies" were chocolate macadamia nut with chocolate sauce, peanut butter oat with caramel, and butterscotch chocolate chip with caramel.  The daily ice cream choices were vanilla, strawberry, or salty caramel.  The crisp was rhubarb.  Since we knew the desserts were large, we opted to double up, two people per dessert

One child and adult pair went for the chocolate macadamia.  I was too far away to snap a photo, but it looked like a chocolatey delight, topped with chocolate sauce, and they added on vanilla ice cream.  It was devoured quickly.

My partner's first instinct was the peanut butter oat, which I would have gladly gone for, but I also suggested the butterscotch chocolate chip, so we went for that instead.  I opted for salted caramel ice cream, because I really love having cold ice cream with warm desserts, although my fellow diner was inclined to get it without.

Finally, a few others wanted the rhubarb crisp.  I adore fruit crisps, particularly hot and fresh ones, but, I loathe rhubarb, so I was pretty sad it was the seasonal crisp on offer.

As I mentioned earlier, desserts took a very, very long time to arrive.  During the wait, our table was only half cleared, we still had pizza stands and lots of chunks of food laying around.  At one point, someone came and took away all the napkins and replacements were never brought.  I thought our dessert was forgotten, until a while later, when someone brought out a plate with 9 spoons on it (there was 8 of us).  Finally, literally, 35 minutes later, our desserts arrived.

They were worth it.  Incredible.  Highlight of the meal, by far.

Fresh Baked Butterscotch Chocolate Chip Cookie with Caramel Sauce. $7.  Salty Caramel Ice Cream. $2.

"Fresh Wood Fired Cookie."

OMG, OMG, OMG.  That is basically all I have to say about this.  Ok, if I have to pick three other words, they would be: gooey, hot, yum.

The "cookies" are served in round cast iron skillets with handles, still super hot, fresh out of the oven.

It was as ooey-gooey as I hoped it would be.  It was sweet and buttery.  I didn't actually taste butterscotch, but I didn't mind.  It did have plentiful chocolate chips.  **** cookie.

The caramel sauce on top was almost too much sweet for me, and I sorta wished it wasn't there.  The cookie was sweet, the ice cream was sweet, and the sauce just pushed it over the top. *** sauce.

The ice cream was great, it had a touch of saltiness to it, but otherwise was sweet caramel.  It was smooth and creamy.  I see why people love Toscaninis. **** ice cream.

I thought the ice cream was necessary to compliment the warm goo and the sweetness, but my fellow diner said it was fine without.  I think the cookie and just the caramel would have been a bit much, I would have at least wanted whipped cream, if I wasn't getting the ice cream.  But really, the ice cream was perfect.

I really liked this, and we easily devoured it.  It was hard for me to share bites with the others who wanted to try it.  It was all I could do to stop myself from saying "no", and meaning it.  It was all I could do to stop myself from not even letting my companion have his portion (I'm pretty certain he didn't get close to half anyway).  ****.

I'd clearly get this again, and would also like to try that peanut butter one.

Rhubarb Crisp. $7.

"Almond oat crumble, topped with whipped sweet cream and salted caramel sauce."

As I said, I hate rhubarb, but I love fruit crisps.  And, I'll be honest, this looked pretty good.  Seriously, look at that mound of whipped cream!

When it was clear that this dessert wasn't going to get finished by the others, I tried a bite.  And ... it was even worse than I expected.  Not only was it rhubarb, it had tons of orange flavor.  I hate orange in desserts!

I can't really judge this fairly since I dislike the main flavors, but, it was a hot fresh crisp, and the topping was crispy and generous.  **.

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Escape from NY Pizza

Update Review, January 2025 Visit

So, I don't care for Escape from New York crust.  Nor their red sauce.  Nor their standard cheese.  You know, all the basics that go in to pizza. You've read all about this in my earlier reviews (below).  

But my office has a party with stacks and stacks of Escape from New York pizza every month, and I still have the memory of way back when I tried the "Cheesy Garlic Shrooms" specialty pizza and really did like the olive oil garlic base (no red sauce), the mix of cheeses (parm, motz, feta), and mushrooms, so whenever I see a speciality non-red sauce pizza in the lineup, I give them another shot. 

You Say Potato.

"Sliced and roasted potatoes & roasted garlic cloves over pesto sauce."

The You Say Potato was certainly a looker.  Loaded up with toppings - although not evenly distributed on top as there were some slices with 3 garlic cloves, others with literally 10.  Some slices entirely covered in slices of potato, others with only a single slice.  Etc.  I wouldn't say that putting care into the construction of the pizza is a strong point of Escape from NY, but at least it gave some variety for folks who had preferences.

Anyway, this pizza had some strong points.  The pesto was quite flavorful and good.  The garlic cloves were nicely roasted, mellow sweet and, well, garlicky flavor.  SO much garlic, if you got a piece loaded up. The potato slices were something a bit different, nice for some crunch.

But ... I still really disliked the chewy flavorless crust and the cheese that just doesn't melt well or get a nice cheese pull.

I mostly plucked off the toppings, but this has promise if you don't mind their crust and cheese.  **.

Original Review, November 2024

I have a strange relationship with pizza.  I grew up eating it regularly - one night a week when my mom worked nights, my father made it for us (using packaged crust mix, jarred sauce, and basic cheese/ toppings, but it was relatively homemade).  All through ski season I enjoyed the Ellio's pizza at the snack bar at my local ski area.  My family went to Papa Gino's a fair amount when it existed in town, followed by a Little Ceasar's phase after that.  Every birthday party had pizza from somewhere local.  In college, there was one place that delivered, and that was monster slices.  In grad school, I often made bagel or english muffin pizzas for myself.  Etc.

When I moved to SF, I got exposed to deep dish (and was in love with Little Star) and fancier California thin crust (Delfina!). 

And then I basically stopped eating pizza.  For years.  Like, 15 years probably.  Whenever I visited my family, they still did weekly pizza night.  I never joined in.  And then covid happened, and I guess my eating habits did again too.  I now do actually eat pizza, at least once a month.

All the Pizza.

In the spirit of trying all the pizza these days, I finally tried pizza from Escape From NY Pizza, a small chain in San Francisco.  Their pizza has never looked particularly good to me, but its relatively cheap, has delivery, and is frequently ordered at events.

I've tried their pizza a few times.  Generally, it is as blah as it looks, although others seem to enjoy it.  In all my trials, I found only one variety that I ever liked.

Gluten-Free.

This is a gluten-free pie, with a thinner crust than the regular, that is even worse.  It reminds me of everything you'd imagine about bad gluten-free items, basically, way too crispy, and tastes as bland as can be.  Like eating cardboard.

Cheesy Garlic Shrooms.

"Olive Oil Garlic Base, Shredded Parmesan Cheese, Mushrooms, Mozzarella and Feta."

I really liked some aspects of this pizza.  It surprised me.

What I didn't care for was the crust, just a boring chewy style.  Meh.

But I really liked the toppings - great garlic flavor, and the cheese mix was really flavorful and had an amazing cheese pull.  I really, really liked the toppings, I just wanted the served on something other than that bo-ring crust.

****+ toppings even, but *+ crust, ***+ overall.  I'd gladly have those toppings again.

Great Escape.

"Red Sauce, Mozzarella, Pepperoni, Mushrooms and Onions."

Another event with Escape from NY Pizza, so I tried it again, a classic style this time.

Meh.  Crust was boring chewy/soft style.  Red sauce was kinda too sweet, and there was lots of it. Generic mozzarella, and lots of it.  Generic pepperoni.  Mediocre mushrooms.  I did like the slightly sweet red onions.  

Just not my kind of pizza.  I think my parents would like this style, and many others enjoyed it, it just isn't for me.  *.

Read More...

Amici's East Coast Pizzeria

Update Review, 2024

Another event with Amici's, and yeah, um, I don't like this pizza.

BBQ Chicken.

"Chicken, red onion, bacon, cilantro, romano, mozzarella, tomato sauce, bbq sauce."

I don't like chicken, but I do often tolerate bbq chicken pizza, as I love bbq sauce and red onions.  I usually just kinda eat around the chicken.  Unfortunately, the Amici's version left me extremely disappointed.  And confused at first.  Why ... why did I taste standard red sauce on my bbq pizza?  The answer?  Because that is how they make it.  They just add a little bbq on top of the red sauce.  The result, at least to me, was totally muddled flavors, not allowing the bbq I was looking forward to to shine, and just totally didn't work.  I don't think I've ever seen another a bbq chicken pizza use tomato sauce too, and, well, there is a reason for that.

Other than the muddled sauce situation, the rest of the slice was meh too - same not good crust and cheese of their other pies, and very gristly chicken that was mixed in with greasy bacon and hard to avoid.  Nothing I enjoyed about this at all. *.

Update Review, October 2023

A bunch of years ago, I wrote about Amici's East Coast Pizzeria, and, at the time, all I reviewed was the lackluster meatballs (see below).  I haven't sought out Amici's since, and never was that excited by their pizza, but recently attended an event catered by Amici's, so, pizza it was.

Our hosts ordered an assortment of pizzas (all large), and I tried a couple.  Note that this was just a few weeks after I returned from living in NY for a month, and, let's just say, it wasn't even in the same ballpark.  

Trentino. $42.75.

"Parmesan, crumbled feta, baby spinach, red onions, pancetta, herbs, meyer lemon olive oil, mozzarella (no tomato sauce)."

I did not know what kind of pizza this was when I grabbed a slice of the Trentino, I was simply drawn in by the red onions and crispy bits of what looked like delicious pork product.

The crispy bits of delicious pork product turned out to be just that - super crispy, very flavorful, quite salty, bits of pancetta.  I did quite like the pancetta.  There was a nice amount of it on one side, but the other half really was sparse.  Not exactly consistent in the topping application.

The red onion and baby spinach were good, they went well with the pancetta.  I'm not really one for feta though, so that brought this down a few notches for me, and, although I do think the lack of red sauce made sense, and let the toppings shine, it did eat a bit dry.

The crust was mediocre, not particularly good, not an interesting flavor, nor great chew, nor anything redeeming, but at least it wasn't soggy.  Lower end mediocre.  The cheese was average.

Overall, a pretty generic and mediocre piece of pizza, but, the pancetta and onions really were tasty.  **** for those, **+ otherwise, *** overall.

Trentino. $42.75.

"Parmesan, crumbled feta, baby spinach, red onions, pancetta, herbs, meyer lemon olive oil, mozzarella (no tomato sauce)."

A few weeks later, I was at another event with Amici's pizza, and was drawn back in by the memory of the tasty pancetta.  It was again good, but not quite as memorable, and I was more distracted by the strong feta and such lackluster crust this time.  **.

Hawaiian. $35.75.

"Honey-cured ham, pineapple, mozzarella, tomato sauce."

I know hawaiian pizza can be polarizing for some people.  I am not those people.  I don't generally go for pineapple in other places (meh to pineapple in sweet and sour dishes, meh to pineapple on ice cream, meh to pineapple in fruit salad, etc), but, I do like the sweetness with ham on pizza.  That said, I did not like this pizza.

The crust was the same as the previous slice, pretty meh.  The sauce was uninteresting.  Cheese mediocre.  Ham was like Canadian bacon, really porky, and tough.  I didn't care for it at all.  Pineapple was fine, just canned crushed pineapple.

Overall, just not good, and I didn't enjoy this at all.  *.

Combo. $42.75.

"Pepperoni, meatball, bacon, sautéed mushrooms, black olives, mozzarella, tomato sauce."

I didn't actually try the combo, this is just here for illustrative purposes.  The distribution of ingredients was really not ideal, soooo many black olives everywhere!

Original Review, April 2022

I don't really eat that much pizza these days.   This makes me a complete mystery to my parents, who have pizza night every single week, without fail, and love having the leftovers to eat for several days.  More than half the days of a week my dad eats pizza.  But me?  Eh.  

Back when I first moved to San Francisco, pizza was definitely heavy in my rotation, and that meant basically one of two places: Little Star (which I've reviewed several times before) or Patxi's (generally when in the South Bay because it was close to where I lived).  Always for deep dish.  Little Star cornmeal crust deep dish really is a special thing.  But I mostly moved on from frequenting the Mission (where I'd go to Little Star, despite the epic waits), and mostly just don't crave pizza (of course, I went through a thin crust Delfina phase, and had to check out the hype that was Tony's too at some point).

But even if I don't care about pizza, Amici's has been on my radar, a chain with locations all throughout the bay area, one of which I used to walk by regularly.  I remember having it a few times, always for delivery at an event and thinking, "meh".  Standard, "East Coast" style pizza.  Bo-ring.

During the pandemic Amici's pivoted, shuttering several of their locations and instead moving to takeout/delivery only, from ghost or cloud kitchens.  It is from one of those kitchens, located at 60 Moris street, that I finally tried Amici's again.

Side note: Stuck doing a lot of takeout and delivery these days? Want to try some free food and new pickup or delivery services?  Here are some codes for free money!

• Door Dash ($15 off, $5 each of your first 3 orders) [ Delivery or pickup ]
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• Delivery.com ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Grub Hub ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Seamless ($10 off) [ Delivery or pickup ]
• Nextdish: ($10 off your first order) [ Delivery only ]
• Uber Eats ($20 off - use code eats-lejw5 at checkout) [ Pickup or delivery ]

Beef Meatballs. $5.75.

Meh.

All I can say about these.

The sauce really had no depth.  Just, tomato sauce.  Actually, I think, pizza sauce?  It was no different from any grocery store jarred sauce.

The meatballs were like what I remember the mini meatballs in Spaghettios or Chef Boyardee being like, just, bigger. That is, they were mushy, not spongy exactly, but, soft in an odd way.  Eh.

The meatballs were served with no cheese or anything to jazz this up (ok, partial point for some herb garnish?).

I absolutely would not get again and was rather shocked at how low quality this dish seemed to be.  Only good with some penne and cheese, if you were, you know, craving canned-tasting meatballs.

**.

Caesar Salad (with Anchovies). $7.95.

"Crisp romaine, housemade croutons, freshly grated parmesan. Served with Caesar dressing. Complimentary anchovy fillets added upon request."

I moved on to the caesar salad, at least a legit offering with anchovies optional.  The salad came nicely packaged up, with the croutons and dressing on the side, so not to get soggy.  Points for that.

Salad Base: SO MUCH CHEESE.

There was, um, a lot of cheese on top.  Literally, a cup of cheese on here.  That said, it was indeed fresh grated, it wasn't dried out, and it was a decent quality, had some nuttiness to it.  Above average for a generic pizza place, and clearly they didn't skimp.  The meatballs really could have used some of this generosity.

Below the cheese was ... the ANCHOVIES!  Yes, you can ask for anchovies, complimentary, which I most definitely did.  Like the cheese, there were actually tons of anchovies.  Salty, briny, exactly what you'd expect from anchovies.  I adored these, and was so glad to see them on here.

And finally the lettuce, standard caesar base of torn romaine.  Seemed fresh, crisp, decent portion, good size chunks.

The base of this salad was remarkably solid, I was rather shocked to be honest, solidly above average.

***+.  

House Made Croutons.

I appreciated that the croutons were on the side, even though I didn't ask for this.  Yay to not soggy croutons.

The croutons, just like the salad base, kinda surprised me in their quality.  The portion was generous, the cubes were extremely well seasoned (tons of Italian herbs!), they were very crunchy but not too crisp (clearly lots of olive oil used!), and they tasted, well, like a pizzeria.

These were very good croutons. Again, ***+.

Caesar Dressing.

And finally, the dressing.

This is something I'm always polar on with Caesar.  There are two styles of Caesar dressing usually, the thinner, vinaigrette style, and the nice thick mayo style.  And of course some are loaded with parmesan.  Some use real anchovy.

My personal preference is the thick mayo style, minimal parmesan in the dressing, and bring on the anchovy.

This was somewhere in the middle.  It was a vinaigrette style, but a thicker one.  It was loaded with grated parmesan.  I'm not sure about anchovy.  The flavor was decent, not too tangy, and very cheese forward.  Certainly not my favorite Caesar dressing, but, good.  And seemed quite possibly house made?

***.

Read More...

California Pizza Kitchen

Update Review, July 2024

As you know, I can never resist a good freebie, so when T-Mobile had a partnership with CPK offering up $7 off your order (no minimum order, works for takeout), I of course had to take full advantage.

Bread. 2 Orders.
(Complimentary).

When I previously ordered from CPK, the bread also included oil, today it did not.  Each order was two hunks, in a plastic bag that was just hand tied shut.

Last time I had the bread I noted strong sourdough taste, but this time I didn't taste the sourdough as much.  Is it possible I'm starting to tolerate sourdough?  The bread had a good chew to it, and tasted fresh.  Soft baguette style.  I kinda liked it.  ***.

Curly Mac 'N Cheese (CPKids). $6.99.

I went for a kid's meal, to stay within my free $7, but also because kid's meal portions generally I find sufficient.  I had the options of several different personal sized pizzas, pasta with all different sauces (meat, tomato, alfredo, butter), grilled or crispy chicken, or this, the mac and cheese.  I do love mac and cheese, and the CPK mac and cheese recently got a lot of attention due to a mishap made "famous" on TikTok where someone got the sauce and no actual pasta in their order, and CPK decided to use it as a marketing opportunity (which, I applaud them for).  CPK Mac and cheese was going viral, and it was on my mind.  So after seeing CPK mac and cheese raved about on social media the past few weeks, my choice was easy.

The dish didn't look all that great.  It looked ba-sic.  No breadcrumbs on top, no crispy top, not even very creamy.  But it actually really was quite good, particularly once I stirred it up.  The pasta had just the right amount of bite to it, and the shape was both fun and functional, as the sauce really did cling to it well.  The sauce was unnaturally orange, and was instantly recognizable and nostalgic for me: Velveeta!  It was cheesy, it was creamy, it was rich.  I enjoyed it, although I'm not sure how much better than a Velveeta mac and cheese box from the grocery store it really was.

This relatively small child's portion was 820 calories, and a good value at $6.99.  Like all kid's meals, it included a choice of drink.

Interestingly, the adult version is more than double the price ($15.99), but only 40% more calories (1280 calories).  So you could just get 2x kid's version = $6.99 x 2 = $13.98 and get more mac and cheese (820 x 2 = 1640 calories worth) AND get two drinks.  Cheaper, more mac, and bonus drinks.  Just sayin'.  The adult one does allow far more customizations: add chicken, bacon, salmon (several styles), sausage, shrimp, broccolini, mushrooms, tomatoes, burrata, monterey jack (interestingly, not the edamame offered to kids), or swap out the pasta for 5 different choices.  

I wouldn't go out of my way for this, but if I was craving this style of mac and cheese, it certainly did the job.  ***+.

Chocolate Milk (CPKids).
(Included).

All kid's meals come with a choice of drink.  The options are actually fairly extensive, with classic fountain drinks, but even things like a shirley temple or roy rogers, without an upcharge.  I was thrilled to see chocolate milk as an option, and went for that.

It was pretty basic chocolate milk.  I think it was made with thin style chocolate syrup mixed with regular milk, as the chocolate settled out pretty quickly.  It wasn't particularly chocoaltely.  I wanted stronger chocolate flavor, richer flavor, something.  Basically, think Hershey syrup in milk.  I'm sure kids love it, but I wanted something a bit more.  Low ***.

Update Review, August 2021

Another year, another birthday freebie dessert to redeem at CPK.  After the success of last's years Red Velvet Cake a la mode, I was pretty tempted to get it again.  And of course, I toyed with the idea of getting the pudding again, because even though my second year of getting it was mediocre, I sure did love it the first year.   But I decided to go rogue and try another new item ...

Bread & Dipping Oil (Complimentary).

Well, this was amusing.  In the days of "zomg, they charge for bread?!" outrage, CPK included it, sans my asking, in my takeout order ... which was dessert only.  Lol.  I assume they just include it standard and didn't pay any attention to the contents of my order?

The bread was two hunks, that looked hand torn.  The bread was soft, nice chew, but, ugh, sourdough.

The oil was good though, seemed high quality, good flavor to the oil, some herbs.

Sad this was sourdough, otherwise, decent quality.

Key Lime Pie. $7.49.

"On a graham cracker crust with housemade whipped cream."

I didn't ask for the whipped cream on the side, but it came separate.  The crust was broken off (and missing) on one corner.

The pie was ... well, key lime pie.  With graham cracker crust.  If you read my blog frequently, you know that I don't really like lemon nor lime desserts, and I generally call graham cracker crust "throwaway" and liken it to sawdust.

The pie was smooth and creamy, a nicely set custard, that, well tasted like tangy (sweet) lime.  The crust was fairly thick, crumbly, buttery, sweet, but ... yeah, graham cracker crust.  It was a perfectly fine key lime pie.  Probably even a good one.  I liked the slice of lime on top for garnish.  But ... it was still a key lime pie, and just isn't something I'll ever get excited about.  It was also just far too sweet on its own, and needed copious amounts of whipped cream (and, fresh blackberries that I added) to cut the sweet.

The "homemade" whipped cream I'm still skeptical of, it deflated quickly, but, it did have a decent "cream" taste to it, so perhaps it is made with real cream.

I wouldn't get this again, but, I really think this is personal preference, and this was a good key lime pie.  ***.

Update Review, January 2021

Another year, another birthday freebie to redeem at CPK.  After really hating the famous butter cake last year, I almost just went back to the tried and true salted caramel pudding, but, at last minute, I decided to mix it up again, and try something different: the red velvet cake.  I'm not normally a cake person, but, for some reason, I was really in the mood for cake ...

Red Velvet Cake. $7.99. A la Mode. $2.25.

"Frosted with hand-whipped vanilla bean cream cheese and white chocolate curls. Also available with vanilla Häagen Dazs."

Red velvet cake.  So random, I know, as I generally am not all that excited about cake, and red velvet I'm particularly opinionated on.  But ... I dunno, I was craving cake?

My order came with whipped cream (standard garnish?), and I also made it a la mode (because, cake needs ice cream!), each of which came packaged separately for takeout.

The cake was actually decent, a large slice, 3 layers, moist enough cake.  It even had a slight tang to it, like a red velvet should.  Not remarkable, but really not bad.

The frosting was quite heavy, as is often the case with cream cheese frosting, but it almost seemed like a cheesecake more than a frosting.  Very, very rich, very very heavy.  I'm a frosting girl, through and through, but I found I enjoyed this more as just the cake, with either whipped cream or ice cream.

I did like the white chocolate shavings on the backside.

The birthday reward does not normally include ice cream (you can pay extra), but, the lovely staff at my location threw it in for free - thank you!!!  It is just vanilla Häagen Dazs, but, I really do love vanilla Häagen Dazs, I think it is remarkably good, reliable vanilla.

I ended up treating this as two individual desserts - a red velvet cake (without much frosting) with ice cream and a "cheesecake" with whipped cream, basically, the frosting and whip.  I did have some all composed of course, but I enjoyed it the most in my deconstructed form.

As you may expect, this is not a light dessert, clocking in at 960 Calories for just the cake, plus 280 if you get the ice cream, and the whipped cream ... 

I appreciated my dessert, but I am not sure I'd get this one again.

***+.

Update Review, September 2019

I've long known about the "famous" butter cake from CPK.  If you do *any* research at all into what dessert to get at CPK, you will read the accolades.  People go nuts for this cake.  They have created dozens of copycat recipes.  They adore it.

I finally tried it.

I did not adore it.  I did not even like it.  I didn't even ... tolerate it?  This was so far from a winner for me.

But let me start from the beginning.

Every year, I go to CPK around my birthday (read on below for past reviews), to redeem my birthday freebie.  I've always gotten the salted caramel pudding, as, well, I love pudding, I got it once and enjoyed it, and the other menu options really don't sound appealing (key lime pie - I don't like citrus desserts, red velvet cake - kinda eh for me, and something we have often at my office,  chocolate molten cake - always a crowd pleaser, but rarely the thing I really want).

But this year, CPK introduced a strawberry shortcake to the menu, that looked classic, and, gets good reviews.  Shortcake biscuits with beautiful pearl sugar tops, fresh berries, stewed berries, whipped cream ... it sounded, and looked, great to me.  I was very eager to get it, and placed my order for it.

I waited in anticipation.  And then I waited some more.  And some more.  I sent a grumpy txt to a friend about how long I was waiting.  Around the 30 minute mark (!) I was called over and told the news: they no longer have that item.  Seasonal special.  In its place, I could have the new seasonal item: a ice cream sundae with sliced apples and caramel sauce.

Um, thanks.

I was ... let's just say a bit annoyed.  I had waited a long time AND it took them that long to realize they don't have what I ordered?  Sigh.  I turned down the suggested apple sundae (I don't like apples, and it wasn't ice cream weather), and considered my options.  Since I was making a fast decision, I decided to finally try the butter cake, given just how much everyone else seems to like it.

Butter Cake. $7.99.

"Trust us... Just try it. Served warm with housemade whipped cream."

So, here it is.  The butter cake.  The very famous butter cake.

I'll give them one credit: it was served warm.

But ... um ... this cake.  Was one of the most boring desserts I've ever had in my life.

It was ... just a cake.  It was a dense cake.  Not really moist, not really dry.  It just was.  A sweet cake, but it had no real flavor of any kind to it.  The top tiny bit was different from the rest, and it seemed like it *should* taste different, as visually it was a bit different, but ... it all tasted the same.  Plain.  Boring.

I kept thinking I was missing something.  Was there a caramel sauce or something that was forgotten?  Was there something hiding in the center that would come oozing out?  Nope, and nope.

It is just a plain cake.  A plain cake with a high butter content.  So high, that this cake, this actually kinda small, definitely single serving, little cake has ... wait for it ... 1100 calories.  Yeah, what?  How is that even possible (and 73g fat, 64g sugar, but hey, 10g protein)!

I just don't understand.  The whipped cream on the side was standard whipped cream, and really didn't seem housemade, but if they say so.  It deflated immediately.  It didn't really add anything to this cake.

Perhaps this would be better a la mode, which is an option, for $2.25 (and 280 calories) more.  I desperately wanted some kind of crunch element, perhaps some candied buttered pecans?

I wanted anything ... except this.

Update Review, October 2018

I don't often go to California Pizza Kitchen, since I'm not really that into pizza, but last year, when I had a birthday freebie to redeem, I discovered a dessert there that I loved: salted caramel pudding.  It was fabulous, as you read about them.

On this visit, I was inspired to get that pudding again, but almost went off course and opted for another dessert, as my research tells me the butter cake really is a thing of wonder.  Next time ... 

I ordered through the app for the first time, which was quite easy, placing my pickup order when I was a few blocks away.  It was being finished right as I arrived.  Perfect!

Interior.

My visit was to the San Francisco location.

The restaurant is quite large, with bar seating, a huge inside seating area, and large patio.  And at 12:30pm on a Sunday, the restaurant was nearly vacant.  Two guys sat at the bar, and two tables were occupied.  I am not sure if this is normal, but if so, how can they afford the rent in SF?!

I was getting takeout though, as was one person ahead of me with a large catering order.  The open kitchen allowed me to see the action, and they did seem to be making plenty of pizzas, all just getting boxed up.  Maybe everyone just does takeout from here these days?

Salted Caramel Pudding. $6.29.

"Rich caramel pudding, black cocoa cookie crumbs, housemade whipped cream, caramel sauce and natural flaked Maldon sea salt." 

My treat was handed over in the same kind of takeout cup as last time.  However, um, it looked quite a bit different.

Left: 2017. Right: 2018.

The ratios were all off.  Last year, the primary component was the pudding, this year, far less pudding, with an equal amount of whipped cream.  The cup wasn't full.  And where was the caramel sauce on top?

I asked the person handing it over, "isn't it supposed to have caramel sauce on top?"  He confirmed it was, and took it back.  I worried it also didn't have the Maldon sea salt on top, but that was harder to see visually.  I hoped they would fix both.

Salted Caramel Pudding: Fixed?

It came back ... with caramel, yes.  A big glob right in the center.  Clearly, whoever added it was annoyed that I sent it back.  But come on, its supposed to have caramel!

It certainly did not have the salt either, which was sad, as this is a very very sweet dessert without it.

Like last time, I found it extremely frustrating to eat.  The first spoonful, all whipped cream (and caramel glob).  I could work to dig for the pudding, but getting the crumble too, at least while eating the first *half* of the cup, was nearly impossible.  And this is a dessert that really does need all components to work.

But that was all true last time, and I still loved it.  This time however ... my experience was just not as positive.

The whipped cream deflated almost instantly.  It seemed like very light whipped cream from a can, not "housemade" and not able to hold up for even 5 minutes as I ate it.  It was necessary though, to balance the caramel pudding.

The caramel pudding was sweet.  Too sweet.  I noted that last time too, but when it combined with the cookie crumbs and whip it worked last time, although, yes, still quite sweet.  This time I just found it cloying, and one note, certainly not salted, and with just some deflated whipped cream and extra glob of sweet caramel it wasn't enjoyable.

I dug desperately for the cookie crumbs, knowing they were essential and would make a difference.  And they did.  But ... cookie crumbs tasted stale this time, all clumped together, and even almost freezer burned tasting.  Not very good.  But again, necessary, both for the texture, but also the contrast to the too sweet pudding.

Overall, this just made me very sad.  It wasn't good, and it wasn't anything like my memory of only a year ago.  Once I mixed everything together, it was certainly better, like a very sweet version of a "dirt cake" I had growing up, but really nothing like last year.

I'm not sure if I'd try it again, or venture out to try the crazy butter cake, or red velvet cake, or just give up on desserts at CPK entirely ...

August 2017 Review

My last visit to California  Pizza Kitchen was in 2013, when they had a promo for a free appetizer.  I didn't like it.  I said I had no reason to return.

But this year, while arranging my birthday freebie crawl, I saw that I could get a dessert for free.  Well, I'm a dessert girl, no matter the quality, so I quickly added it to my itinerary.

I visited the San Francisco location, and opted to get it to go, since I was coming straight from another birthday freebie, and planned to bring it home to have later.  Ordering was simple, they have a dedicated take out ordering/pickup/waiting area to the side of the bar (with its own entrance actually).

The staff were very friendly, multiple people said happy birthday, no one seemed at all offended that I was coming just to get my free dessert, not ordering anything else, and taking it to go.  They talked me to about how good the pudding was.  It was ready within just a few minutes, and handed over with a spoon and napkin.

The entire experience was incredibly pleasant, and the item I selected?  Delicious.  I'll be back. 

Dessert Menu.

The dessert menu had an assortment of tempting options.  Crowd pleasers for sure, but, turns out, that works for me.

First, "Butter cake".  What is butter cake?  I'm not entirely sure, but, it sounded possibly awesome.  Yes, the menu actually just says "Trust us ... just try it!" as the description.  If I was dining in, I probably would have gone with that option, but since it was served warm (with whipped cream or ice cream), it didn't seem like a good choice to take out.  Also, gulp, 1380 calories!

The seasonal special, not listed on this menu, was strawberry shortcake, also tempting.  I love a good strawberry shortcake, but, to be honest, I kinda doubted how fresh the berries really would be.  Even the red velvet cake sorta called out, though I'm not a cake girl.  At least I was able to easily look past the key lime pie (I'm not one for citrus desserts) and the warm chocolate souffle cake (clearly needs to be eaten there).

Which lead me to the salted caramel pudding.  As if it was really a contest, given both my absolute love of pudding, and the fact that I was not able to find a single bad review of it.  People love it.

Salted Caramel Pudding. $6.29.

"Rich caramel pudding, black cocoa cookie crumbs, housemade whipped cream, caramel sauce and natural flaked Maldon sea salt."

When you dine in, it comes in a cute little canning jar.  For takeout, they used a plastic beverage cup.  I didn't mind, as my portion easily looked twice as large as the little canning jar photos I had seen.

It was a layered creation, with the cookie crumbs at the base, the pudding in the middle, and topped with whipped cream and drizzled with caramel sauce.

I didn't wait more than two steps out the door to at least try a bite, even though I was intending to save it for later.

My first bite was indicative of the difficulty eating it I would have.  The bite was entirely whipped cream (and caramel sauce).  It tasted like generic canned whipped cream, which is fine, but they do say it is housemade.  The caramel tasted like the standard stuff you get on an ice cream sundae, or at Starbucks.  That caramel on top didn't seem salted, and I didn't see any flakes of Maldon on top.

I dug deeper, trying to get to the pudding.  I succeeded, and came out with a bite of pudding and whip.  And ... I was impressed.  That was very, very good pudding.  It was a thinner consistency than I'd expect, almost runny, but the flavor was so good I didn't mind.  Sweet, rich, deep flavor.  I worked hard to get a spoonful of just the pudding.  The result?  Well, it was too sweet, actually.  The pudding alone was cloyingly sweet.  Even though I wasn't excited about the generic whipped cream, it did help cut the sweetness.

But the real magic came when you managed to get a bite of all the layers, including the cookie crumble, hiding at the very, very bottom.  It was extremely hard to do this, and you really just had to mix the entire thing up and not be able to get "perfect bites" with the ratio you wanted, but it barely mattered.  If you got it all, or, really, just the pudding and cookie crumble, it was really, really good.

"Black cocoa cookie crumbs."

The cookie crumble, described as "black cocoa cookie crumbs" was ... basically Oreo crumbs.  The woman taking my order even said, "Oh, do you like Oreo?  If you do, the base is all Oreo, and its amazing".   When she said that, my heart sank a little, actually.  I don't really like Oreo.  If that is why people loved the pudding, then, it probably wasn't for me.  I nearly changed my order.  But I'm glad I didn't.

Yes, it was basically Oreo crumbs.  But it clumped together in ways that it formed either loose soil or little crumbly chunks, all of which were intensely chocolately, almost like a very loose brownie.  I loved the play of the textures against the pudding.  I loved how the very dark cocoa provided the balance needed against the crazy sweet pudding.  It just worked.

This was a creation that was much more than the sum of its parts.  Seemingly generic whipped cream and caramel, pudding that was both too runny and too sweet, and crumbled cookies I don't really like, combined into something totally delicious.

I loved it.  I devoured it.  I had told Ojan I was going to share with him, but, uh, I didn't.  I'd gladly get it again for a birthday freebie, but now I am even more curious about that butter cake ...

Original Review, March 2013

I went to CPK once, when I first moved to California, because I thought it was a thing ... it was "California" after all!  The only thing I remember is that it was the first time I ever had bbq chicken pizza, and I liked the idea of bbq sauce on pizza.  I don't recall if I actually liked the pizza, or anything else.

The other day, CPK was running a promo for a free item off their small plates menu.  I was walking by, was slightly hungry, and couldn't resist a freebie!

I could select any item off that section of the menu, including small salads (meh, they weren't going to have quality produce right?), quesadillas (chicken, ugh), chips and guacamole (allergic), crispy mac 'n' cheese with cheese sauce (tempting!), or focaccia.  I picked the focaccia, as it was most like their speciality, pizza, so I figured if they were going to do any of these items right, it would be the focaccia. It was by far the cheapest of the small plates, but I wasn't really trying to maximize my freebie.

Ordering online was easy, I specified my pickup time, and then it asked if I wanted complimentary bread and utensils, and if so, for how many people.  I set the time, said yes to the extras, and went to get it.

I arrived 10 minutes early to pick it up, and it was already ready ... I guess not freshly made!  But it was kept in a warming area, so at least it was hot.  I also did not receive the bread or the utensils.  I didn't really care, but it was interesting that they have you specify that, and then leave it out.

Long rambling story short ... I have no reason to go back there.

Mediterranean Focaccia.  $2.75.

"Herb cheese focaccia baked in our pizza oven and served with Mediterranean olive oil and Parmesan."

The focaccia was sliced up, like breadsticks.  It had some type of cheese on it that I couldn't really identify, and only the middle pieces really had much on them.  It also had some herbs coating it, but there wasn't much flavor.  It was pretty unremarkable.  I love the buttery oilyness that can make focaccia delicious, and it wasn't present in this.  It was oily, but not in a nice way.  If you had handed me the plate, I would have told you it was just standard breadsticks, not focaccia.

On the side was the dipping sauce: oil and parmesan.  I liked the parmesan in it, but the oil itself was completely flavorless.  I use higher quality oil just for cooking!  I guess I shouldn't have expected more, but as a dipping oil, I definitely wanted oil with some flavor.  The focaccia would have been better with a marinara sauce or something else to dip into, but then I guess it would be too much like pizza?

Anyway, this wasn't good.  I guess the $2.75 price tag matched the quality however?  

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