Mario The Baker Pizza Miami
The other night we were sponsoring an event in Miami, not too far from the Design District. Part of our sponsorship consisted of buying the pizza. Normally, the guys who run the event get the pizza delivered from Domino’s and make their attendees suffer. Since the Pizza Expert was buying the pizza I had to make sure to try a local place, instead of these national cardboard tasting pizza places.
After searching, it seemed like Mario The Baker just opened one of their newest locations a couple of blocks away. Since, by default they were the closest for delivery, I chose them. The manager I spoke to on the phone, while placing the order was pretty nice. He gave me a discount for ordering all the pies I did.
The pizzas arrived almost exactly when the manager said they would, and I was pretty impressed since it was a decent sized order. I was even more impressed to find that the manager threw in a few dozen garlic rolls for everyone. This seemed to go over pretty big amongst the attendees who didn’t plan on kissing anyone. Actually the pizza went over so well that there was barely anything left for me to photograph by the time the locusts got their hands on it. One might think people came to the event to get the free pizza and not watch the speeches.
Anyways, the pizza was definitely better then the usual Domino’s crap they get most of the time, but it wasn’t exceptional either. The cheese was pretty good, but the crust was soggy and didn’t hold up well. But with that being said, if you are going to order in for an event in the Miami Design District, you cannot go wrong by ordering from Mario The Baker. The people who eat the pizza you ordered for will certainly appreciate the extra effort you made to give them quality. The quality that is not found in a Domino’s or Papa John’s Pizza. And you will be shocked to find the price is not that different either.
Mario The Baker in Miami gets 4 out of 8 slices.
Papa John’s Maybe The Pizza is a Failure and Not The iPhone App
Jim McDonnell, who is a marketing manager for some emerging division at Papa John’s Pizza divulged to attendees at the OMMA Mobile Conference that their iPhone App was basically a failure. He stated that he didn’t “see anything that really delivers for us as well as mobile display advertising.” He further elaborated that due to the very little success their iPhone app had, that they will not look to expand to other mobile platforms.
What made me laugh about the situation is that Papa John’s does not even have an actual app for download in the iPhone app store, but rather just a mobile web site (or web app). As Read Write Web says “Oh no! The iPhone doesn’t deliver? Businesses take heed? Well, that’s what it sounds like. Except there’s just one small problem here: Papa John’s doesn’t have an iPhone app – they have a mobile web site.”
Either way in my eyes, they shouldn’t be assuming that their web versions aren’t successful because of lack of mobile interest. They should just come to the realization that their pizza is awful, and perhaps people wouldn’t care if it were mobile or non-mobile. Crap is crap.
Nino’s Pizza Delray Beach
Although I am extremely loyal to Nino’s Pizza in Boca Raton, we passed by the Nino’s in Delray Beach and I wanted to try it since the change of teams. I was delighted to see that my favorite waitress from the Boca location now works at their Delray Beach store. (hi Ashley)
It is fair to note that I was getting sick prior to heading to Nino’s of Delray for pizza, and eating only seemed to escalate my sickness. So my review may not be totally accurate, and I will give it another try anyways just to confirm. I ordered one regular and one sicilian. The sicilian tasted pretty good, just like the sicilian at the Nino’s of Boca. The crust was crisp, and the sauce tasted smooth and sweet. The cheese even tasted pretty good. The regular slice I wasn’t too impressed with. It was just ehhhh, or blah. It seemed to lack the taste I grew accustomed to when I ate their during previous times. Maybe they have ordered cheaper ingredients to satisfy the early bird eaters that seem to dominate the dining room from the 55+ communities located across the street. Don’t get me wrong, their regular was still substantially better then anything else in that Delray area for slices, but they set a pretty incredible bar in the past, and it is hard to achieve it again, I guess.
But since I was sick, as I said earlier, my tastes might have been off. And since my nose was clogged, and my throat hurt, I couldn’t finish the food. If the sicilian tasted as good as it did when I was sick, I could only imagine how good it is when I am well.
Go try Nino’s of Delray for yourself, you won’t be disappointed. Nino’s of Delray gets 5 out of 8 slices.
Sal’s Market Deli Pizza Portofino Bay Hotel Universal
Made the mistake of getting pizza at Sal’s Market Deli at the Portofino Hotel in Universal Studios. Since it was the only eatery open at the hotel, I had little choice. We were too lazy to go off site to try somewhere else. I ordered a plain pie, and Sam got a Margherita pizza. Both looked decent enough when they delivered them to the table, but upon tasting them, we were both greatly let down.
The price is not an issue at a tourist trap like that, so I will not complain about how expensive the pizza’s cost. Sal’s even has an exotic pizza oven they use to bake the pies, so even the tools they use to make the pizza would lead a patron to believe they served decent pies. But like every other magical facade at these parks, the oven is just for show and the crap they put into it will taste terrible, regardless of what they bake it in.
The main problem is with the awful sauce they use at this place. The cheese wasn’t so bad, and the crust was not the worst I have had. But the sauce was just terrible. I cannot believe they did not taste this sauce before serving it to their patrons. The sauce was barely edible.
If you are visiting Universal Studios and want pizza, this is definitely not the place for you to go. Getting pizza by the poolside is a much better experience. Stay there.
Sal’s Market Deli at the Portofino Hotel, Universal Studios Orlando, gets 1 out of 8 slices.
Sal’s Pizza Near Town Center Mall Closed
In what appears to be pattern for the lower quality pizza joints in Boca Raton, Sal’s Pizza has closed down by the Town Center Mall. Although we were never fans of the pizza at Sal’s, I really enjoyed the summer specials they used to have with pasta. Used to go there quite often many years ago. During our recent visits for pizza, none of us thought it was worth the effort of going back.
We hate to see all these places fail, like Sal’s, Big Louies, Old Town Tavern, Prima Pizza etc, but it goes to show…if you are not serving quality, your customers will let you know by not coming back. Simple changes could help keep you in business. Such as keeping the place spotless, I always felt kind of dirty in Sal’s for some reason.
If you are a local pizza place and you are having troubles making it work, please contact us and we will do our best to provide insights on different ways to improve your pizza and your overall pizza. Our intention is not to hurt business, but rather to show you what you are doing wrong, in hopes you can improve.
So long Sal’s. To my knowledge all other Sal’s have remained open. If you know of one closing please contact us.
@worstpizza on twitter
Capone’s Flickerlite Pizza in Hollywood
Everyone in Hollywood knows Flickerlite. The servers’ T-shirts say “Capone’s Flickerlite,” but I’ve only ever known the place by its second title. The guys who run it are Chicago transplants who made their way south in the 40s but established themselves as a go-to pizza place in the 80s and 90s. I ventured there after having some pretty stellar pizza on my last two visits, loaded up with veggies and meat. Again, for the sake of a fair review, I went for plain cheese with pineapple on half, medium, $10.65. Had I known these guys were Chicagoans beforehand, I would have opted for the signature deep dish. Either way, if you can’t make a cheese pizza well, it doesn’t matter how good your specialties are, in my opinion.
It wasn’t bad. But it wasn’t amazing either. The dough needed some salt and the pizza needed more sauce. I like a saucy pie. The cheese was OK but I wanted some more spice or zestiness. It did come served super hot which was a plus, and I just love the dock seating on the intercoastal. It’s hard to complain about a place that you can pull your boat up to, have a cold beer and some hot food. I will say that they do a lot of other things well (seafood, burgers), but it originally was strictly pizza, so I can’t give them bonus points for that stuff. If you’re on a boat in the intercoastal and trolling the waters for pizza I’d tell you to stop there. If you’re just in the area, I’d say cross over A1A and venture over to the boardwalk. 5 slices out of 8.
Bleecker Street Pizza New York Shrug
Bleecker Street Pizza claims to be the Best Pizza in New York. They have many awards proving this claim. So I went in for a slice. They didn’t have any. I asked the man, and he just shrugged his shoulders. I asked when they would have more, and again he shrugged his shoulders. Oh well, I guess I missed the Best Pizza in NY.
Not to sound like PizzaExpert, but come on guys, you have to be kidding me with that piece of crap website. You should consult with PizzaExpert and get it redone!
Naked Pizza Puts Up Twitter Billboard
I was just reading a post on Tech Crunch where they spoke about Naked Pizza in New Orleans putting up a new billboard with its twitter handle. Instead of placing their phone number, this innovative pizza shop has invited motorists to follow @nakedpizza for special offerings.
Naked Pizza, as those of us who follow the pizza world know, is well known for having the healthiest pizza. Even though they have less then half the calories of regular pizza, they still manage to taste great. After a successful run, they even got the interest of Mark Cuban to partner with them and help turn Naked Pizza into a national franchise.
As twitter takes the world by storm, and grows in popularity daily, it seems only natural that more pizza places will think outside the box (aren’t I clever) and get more of their customers to find them on twitter instead of in the phone book. If we ever get to New Orleans we will see if the pizza is even worthy of having a twitter user name. Either way, even if the pizza sucks, at least they are creative enough to stay ahead of the game, unlike the rest of the neanderthal pizza owners out there.
If you would like to follow us, we are @worstpizza on twitter.
Lazzara’s Pizza Tasted By Another Expert
On advice of friends, include PizzaExpert, my wife and I went to Lazzarra’s during our last trip to New York. Lazzara’s Pizza is located on 221 w 38th Street, on the second floor (212) 944-7792.
Excuse the photo, but it was pretty dark in there and this was the best I could do. Here are my thoughts on Pizza. I’m glad I checked out this place, but it’s
not going on my favorite list. Lazzara’s serves these rectangular pies that make you think
you’ll get a sicillian slice, and then the crust disappoints. The pizza is similar in style to the slices found at Pizza Supreme in Garden City.
It’s not crisp enough to give a bite, so it winds up being too mushy, except for the edges. The edges are fantastic, because the crust is crispy enough. Cut out the middle (and bake into pizza rolls?), and you’d have something worth mentioning. The rectangular pie was cut into six slices, and it really is the perfect amount for two people. I didn’t feel stuffed, but I certainly had plenty to eat. The crust has the folded-up sides that make you think of that food they cook in Chicago, and it might therefore benefit from toppings. Their menu listed topping combinations that sounded fantastic, but the pure tasting revolves around the cheese pie. I might go back some
day to see if this theory is true.
It’s not far from work, though I doubt I’d ever make much of an effort to go there. It’s an interesting novelty pizza, but I would hardly rate it among the best in the city. Perhaps it
stands out for being different. They did have diet Dr. Pepper, and Barqs. The service was good, but the servers made us sit by the door so they wouldn’t have to break apart a set of tables that could seat six, and that remained empty the entire time we were there. The let another couple sit at similar tables that became available while we ate. The pizza was better than most, 6 of 8 slices.
Angelo’s Pizza NYC
Here is a treat for any tourist in New York. Angelo’s Pizza on 57th Street. The pizza is out of this world. The theater district is normally not known for having the best pizza in the city. I was astonished with how good this pizza was for the ares.
Angelo’s Pizza is as good as any major pizzeria around the city, and so close to Carnegie Hall. This is the kind of pizza that make people say “I had a great NY pizza.”
Now it’s not worth making a special trip to Angelo’s, there is good pizza all over NY (even though there is more bad than good), however if you are in the area, you can’t go wrong with Angelo’s.
The story of Angelo’s is kind of interesting as well. When the new owners of the establishment found this location, the discovered that there was already a coal burning oven from the early 1900’s. After transforming the oven into a coal burning brick oven, they managed to create some amazing pizza.
The dough here was nicely crisp, and tasted great. The sauce was sweet, and not chunky, and was placed on the pie evenly. The cheese was fresh Mozz, and just tasted amazing. All in all, I was remarkably pleased with this pizza.
Angelo’s Pizza in NYC gets 7 out of 8 slices.
