I’d eaten at Frozen Dairy Bar and Boardwalk Pizza once before, but since I have a new purpose when I eat pizza (not that I needed one!), I thought I’d head back. Frozen Dairy Bar and Boardwalk Pizza is located on 6641 Arlington Boulevard, Falls Church, VA. It’s in the corner of a shopping center on Rt. 50, and it’s designed after the many beach boardwalk pizza places up and down the coast. Bright colors. Neon signs. Bit of a 50’s diner feel.
My husband and I went in the night after a snowstorm, so business was slow, and the staff was using the opportunity to rearrange some things in the store. From what I could tell the improvements were going to make the place more user friendly. The young man taking our order was friendly and helpful, and even with the rearranging the atmosphere was pleasant. The walls were covered in photos of famous boardwalks. I ordered two slices of reasonably priced cheese pizza ($2.50 per slice) and sat down to wait.
I should preface my comments by saying I’m partial to NY style pizza, and I consider the true measure of any pizza to be a slice of plain cheese. Nothing fancy, just the basics: crust, cheese, sauce. Do those well, and it’s pretty hard to screw up the rest. As for Boardwalk Pizza, I’ll start by saying the slices were obviously reheated. Not uncommon, and not necessarily the end of the world. Actually, the first bite was quite good. And the second.
Overall, the slice had good consistency. It was greasy, but not too much so, and it had good foldability (yes, I’m making up words). If I can’t fold a slice in half, length wise to eat it, now, that’s the end of the world! The cheese was good quality (part-skim mozzarella, I’m fairly certain) and balanced well with the sauce. I like a relatively thin, even layer of mild tomato sauce that complements the cheese. Check.
As with any good NY style crust, it was not bready, just short of chewy and had a nice crisp on the very bottom. There was one bubble, but I don’t really mind that. Always thought they made things more interesting. So far so good, that is until I got to the outer edge at which point everything fell apart. I think had this not been a reheated slice my next comment would be very different. The outer crust had the taste and texture of stale melba toast. You know, those crackers you find on the salad bar?
Anyway, I would have rated this pizza better if not for the outer crust, and I’m tempted to order a whole pie to see what it’s like fresh. The 2 slices I had were good, so I’d expect a whole fresh pie to be better, but I’ll get back to you on that. As it stands, I’ll give pizza by the single slice at Frozen Dairy Bar and Boardwalk Pizza 4 out of 8 slices. The outer crust is pretty key to the entire experience after all.
Until next time, pass the Parmesan!