The Pizza Locust

Try though I might to establish and enforce “fair” (or at least consistent) guidelines for reviewing pizzas, I don’t always hit my mark.

One concept that I try to enforce is the two-visit minimum, but that’s not always practical. Sometimes a pizza restaurant is so far away that it would be too difficult to visit a second time. Other times they go out of business before I get back. In some cases, I just don’t like it and don’t want to return.

Sometimes it’s a combination of one or more reasons.

Almost four years to the day since my first visit to Pino’s Pizza Al Centro, I found myself unexpectedly in Pino’s parking lot for a Saturday lunch. In all candor, I didn’t really care for Pino’s pizza the first time I had it. It was just not the kind of pizza I care for, doughy, overloaded with toppings and undercooked.

Let’s get this out of the way: My experience was totally different this time.

Let me qualify that a bit. I had absolutely no problems with the service or the restaurant on either visit. This time, I was being served by Pino himself – or at least I assume he was as several obvious regulars came in and called him by name. He’s a very pleasant fellow and was taking good care of his customers.

No, when I say the experience was totally different, I mean the pizza was totally different. I would not have guessed them as being from the same restaurant.

Typically I’d order the small pizza (10″ in this case) as my basis for a review, and I did on the original visit. On this visit, as I was with my daughter and she was claiming to be hungry, I ordered the larger size – 16″. (There are only the two sizes) As she doesn’t care for pepperoni, and I had noted that I did not like the pepperoni on my last visit, we had a sausage pizza.

I’ve included photos of this second pizza and the original. The most obvious thing is the cheese. As you can see, the smaller pepperoni pizza is literally awash in barely-melted cheese. The more recent sausage pizza is much more nicely cooked and, while nicely topped, isn’t by any definition “awash.”

This decrease in the amount of cheese really made all the difference in the world on the crust, which was nicely cooked and had a nice, crisp bottom.

The sausage, unlike the pepperoni I had on my first pizza, was quite good.

This pizza falls smack dab in the category usually referred to as New York-style, and it’s one of the better ones I’ve had in town. It was a very, very pleasant surprise after my first visit and I’m pleased to put Pino’s on my list of places I’d go back and eat at.

Pino’s Pizza Al Centro
139 W Thomas Rd.
Phoenix, AZ

Added bonus, it’s located just a short walk from the Thomas/Central light rail station.

For the non-pizza types, they have a number of other items such as panninis, pastas and salads.

Recommended.