The Pizza Locust

It’s been about 26 years since the Pizza Locust moved out of Tucson and into the great wasteland that is Phoenix.

Back in the 70′s and early 80′s, Tucson’s pizza scene was pretty much pedestrian. Pretty much all the pizza came in just a few varieties: Village Inn, Pizza Inn, Pizza Hut, Shakey’s and, later on, Domino’s and Round Table. Mom and pop shops were few and far between and, apart from a few like Fiorito’s, were pretty ordinary.

Phoenix was no better, but as the 90′s and the 00′s rolled around, there has been some overall improvement in the pizza scene. More out-of-state immigrants poured in, uncommon quality ingredients became common and unique and different places became trendy. While Phoenix just isn’t a world-class pizza city (wild assertions about Pizzeria Bianco aside) but it has improved significantly.

But what has Tucson done since then? I’d like to say that, whenever I get to Tucson, Pizza is my top food priority, but it isn’t – Lucky Wishbone is. It has no analog in Phoenix, there are no steakfingers, and so, I spend my time getting my Lucky Wishbone fix. Still, I try to get in at least one pizza when I’m in town.

So I come to Magpie’s Pizza. To my knowledge, they weren’t around in 1984 and I’ve never eaten there. Their claim to have been voted Tucson’s Best Pizza for twenty years in a row is quite a claim. Is it really that good, is the competition so lackluster or has, after all this time, the nostalgia taken hold for the voters? I had to find out.

The store on Speedway at Swan looks, as you drive by, to be nothing more than a take-out location, but they do have room for about 16 people inside and a couple more tables outside. Despite being geared towards the delivery, take-out crowd, the staff were friendly and very accommodating. They even brought out real plates and silverware. I was honestly expecting paper plates and plastic forks.

We ordered two, 10-inch pizzas, one pepperoni, one sausage and they were delivered to our table in about 10 minutes. Their arrival felt a bit rushed, but both were cooked perfectly.

The pizzas don’t look exactly like New York style because they’re puffier. They were surprisingly lightweight and soft when picked up. The dough has a very fine texture, not really at all like an Italian bread, but it was still good and fully cooked. The cheese was good, but nothing out-of-the-ordinary.

The sausage was finely ground up and scattered across the first pizza. Perhaps it was the fine grain of the sausage, or perhaps there wasn’t really a lot on the pizza – it’s hard to tell when the pizza is ground up that finely – but it was overpowered by the rest of the pizza. When pulled off the pizza, the sausage tasted quite good.

The pepperoni was plentiful, but it was shocking to see how much difference in the amount of oil was left at the bottom of the two empty pizza pans. The sausage one was dry, the pepperoni one… wasn’t dry. Let’s leave it at that. The pepperoni wasn’t overpowered and seemed fairly ordinary. Pulled off the pizza, though, it had a subtle, almost Italian-sausage flavor. In the future, I think if I return to Magpie’s, I’ll have a sausage and pepperoni pizza. I think that might be the right combination for them.

The standout was the sauce. It was strong, flavorful and fresh-tasting and was the highlight of the pizza.

Overall, we enjoyed the entire Magpie’s experience and would certainly recommend them, but, are they the best that Tucson has to offer? I have to wonder. Certainly it stands out over the “major” chains, but what else is out there? Later the same evening, I noticed that Grimaldi’s has a location in Tucson. While I’ve not eaten in their Tucson establishment, their Phoenix locations can make some damn fine pizzas. I’d be hard-pressed to say the pizzas I had at Magpie’s were better than the best Grimaldi’s can offer. The Pizza Locust needs to spend a lot more time swarming over Tucson’s pizza before rendering a verdict on the best in town.

Perhaps that’s not the point. I’d be happy for Magpie’s to be in my neighborhood, and isn’t that what counts?

Magpie’s Pizza

Various locations in Tucson

Review location: Speedway & Swan Rd.

Date: 3/18/2010

10″ 1-topping pizza: $8.98 or $0.11 (.1143) per square inch

Conclusion: Recommended