It had been a long time since my old friend that owned Carlucci's in Parkland moved away, and I hadn't really eaten at onc since. When the opportunity came to meet an associate from Fort Lauderdale somewhere in between, I recalled that there was another Carlucci's off Cypress Creek Road in Northern Ft. Lauderdale. We agreed to meet at this location for lunch.

I purposely arrived early to see if I could find the owner, who was the brother to my friend from Parkland....wasn't sure he even owned this place anymore. Low and behold there he was, and after so many years of not seeing him, he hadn't changed a bit. Took him a few looks to recognize me, but after giving me a nasty "why the hell are you staring at me guy" kind of look, he said "Craig"? After a hug and a handshake he threw a slice in the oven for me, and we started talking about the old days together.

The funny thing is..Rosario, the owner had no idea I created this site, and the popularity of it. This could have led into a precarious situation for me since I would never want to be the one who could hurt his business if the slice sucked, but I knew I would have to report the truth, regardless of friendship. I was naturally praying this pizza would taste good. From what I recalled of the pizza at this location, it wasn't the best I had throughout the years. Something must have change though.

When the slice came out of the oven, I could feel the heat coming off it as I took the plate towards me. It was a nice size slice placed on a rather large colorful plate. Rosario and I continued to chat for a while as I let it cool down a moment. When I took my first bite, it was easy to tell that this slice was cooked almost to perfection. It was crisp even though it was very thin.  The slice thickened up a bit towards the middle which is a tell that the dough wasn't evened out properly. This didn't matter cause it still managed to be crisp and tasty. Their crust actually had some taste to it, instead of the bland watered down tasting crust many other joints put out.

The sauce wasn't too sweet, and had a little bit of a kick to it. Usually I like the sauce with more sweetness and less kick, but I didn't really have many complaints, since it tasted so nicely underneath the perfect ratio of cheese. Not to sound cliche, but this is the kind of slice I was used to getting back home. Crisp, tasty, and oily. The only part I didn't like about it, is that normally a server has to bring it out to you. I expect more out of Rosario, coming from NY, to not just have a side of the restaurant for people to grab a slice and sit down.

All said, I would highly recommend people to check out Carlucci's for lunch some day. Compared to the other pizza places around it, it is probably the best in the area currently. Tell him we say hi! I wonder if he will know who "we" even are, and put 2 and 2 together.

Carlucci's Pizza gets 6 out of 8 slices.