First let’s start off in the category of People’s Choice in City Search which the top three pizzeria restaurants voted by the public are Brio Tuscan Grille, Blue Moon Pizza and St. Angelo's Pizzeria. St. Angelo's slogan is "Where pizza and people come together" and has been in business since1973 when they open their doors in Grand Island, NY. St. Angelo's is owned by Sean Rowe, who also sits as president of the the Vinnings Business Association. St. Angelo's has a great patio, part that is covered from bad weather and part that is not covered to gaze at stars during an evening dinner. St. Angelo's also offers free WI FI and delivery to customers in a 10 mile radius from the restaurant. St. Angelo's has something every night for the customer to enjoy such as Tuesday: loyalty customer night, Wednesday: team trivia, Thursday: 99 cent kids menu, Friday and Saturday: live acoustic music, and Sunday: 1/2 price bottles of wine. I took a seat in the restaurant and was greeted quickly by my server named Jessica. I told Jessica that this was my first time eating at St. Angelo's and I requested to know her favorite pizza that St. Angelo's offered. Jessica replied, my favorite pizza is the HotLanta pizza, which is a BBQ chicken and caramelized onion pizza topped with fresh cilantro". I was able to get a second opinion from the manager of St. Angelo's which he recommended the Bianca pizza which is a white pizza with spinach and vegetables. The manager also said, “We have the best wings in Atlanta and I am sure that you will agree after trying them." How could I resist, I ordered 5 lemon pepper wings and a medium Bianca and Hotlanta pizza. Needless to say the wings were average and the pizzas were a disappointment. The Bianca and Hotlanta pizza is made with a cheaper cheese that does not melt well at all so when trying to eat the pizza your toppings slide right off the crust leaving you with just crust and eating toppings with your fingers. Jessica, our server, did not inform us of any specials that were going on that day and when I asked her about the cheese she informed me that it is previously frozen then thawed for use. When I received our check the total was 44.00 for the little we had. Keep in mind that the so-called medium pizzas where the same size as Blue Moon's personal pizza but St. Angelo's medium pizza was 8.00 more expensive. I rate St. Angelo's pizzeria 2 stars out of 5 stars for my dining experience.
Next was Brio Tuscan Grille which I have heard a lot about from people who have eaten at this restaurant. I think I went with a certain expectation and was delivered disappointment because my wife, baby daughter and I waited for 30 minutes for someone to greet us. When the bus boy finally came over, he gave us water and we waited for another 20 minutes before we met our server. Do the math folks that is almost an hour before placing our drink orders. Along with are drink orders with placed our order for a cheese pizza since we did not know if we would see our server again. Once our pizza arrived at our table I could see a puddle of grease in the middle of the pizza while noticing that the crust was a dark, dark brown. My wife and I split one slice of pizza and decided to leave this restaurant before I decided to give up this whole idea in general.
At the end of my people’s choice pizza tour, I stopped in to Blue Moon Pizza which is owned by Kelvin and Mandy Slater; who are always looking to push the bar when it comes to outstanding and different flavors of pizza. Blue Moon Pizza's dining room had a great buzz and was lively active with pleased customers. The hostess was quick to seat us and brought a high chair for our child without Lauren or I asking for one. The whole staff was very attentive to our needs and requests. The fantastic thing about Blue Moon pizza is the fresh ingredients and outstanding cheese that makes you savor every bite. This type of food satisfaction has you coming back for another bite after bite. Pizzas ranging from classical cheese and meat lovers pizza options to a Santé Fe pizza that has a black bean sauce and fresh avocado. Blue Moon pizza flavors and prices are the best in town when it comes to quality. The pizza chefs take the time to stretch each pizza dough and assemble when the order comes in while seasoning the crust with salt and pepper adding the perfect and simple touch to the crust. This is what pizza is all about and I am thankful that Blue Moon pizza is expanding giving more people the opportunity to enjoy such great pizza. Blue Moon's sandwiches and salads come with their homemade pizza dough which shows class and confidence in the quality of food they are producing. Blue Moon Pizza also offers delivery and WI FI as well and has a number of fun and kid friendly events going on each day of the week, except for Sunday when they are closed. By far Blue Moon Pizza takes the blue ribbon for best pizza in the people choice category!
Now when it comes to the professional critic company the three restaurants that came up as the top three were Antico Pizza Napoletana, Athens Pizza and Baraonda. To tell you the truth I was extremely disappointed by all three restaurants and questioned the palate of the critic dinning at the restaurant. Antico and Baraonda are on the higher end of pizza restaurants due to price, location and selection of items on the menu. I cannot speak for their pasta courses or other expensive Italian dishes but these two restaurants do not know how to make pizza what-so-ever. Both places had bland and boring pizza accompanied by horrible service. Actually Antico had no service; you place your order at a counter and try to scramble to get a spot on a bench next to someone you have never met. When I questioned about the idea, my dinning neighbor informed me that this is the way they do it in Italy. Well in my mind we are not in Italy, we are in Georgia and I enjoy eating with a little elbow room. Athens pizza was not bad and the service I had was by a woman who has been there since the place opened in 1982. Needless to say I did not receive speedy service in fact I went to the bar for a refill on my sweet tea saving my server the tiresome task of a refill. Athens pizza tasting like a pre-made dough that you get at a grocery store and make yourself at home. When it is all said and done Athens pizza is not bad but just not what you would expect from a restaurant that made the top three in a professional critic website.
After these experiences that I thought would be enjoyable and unique, I realized that the Gayot people have no idea what they are talking about, so stick to the opinions of an everyday consumer since it is liable to be a better option. After all of my journeys in the quest for finding an affordable and tasty pizza the winner of them all is Blue Moon Pizza. I am sure to go back and enjoy real unique flavors, fresh ingredients and outstanding service. So for those of you who enjoy a good slice of heaven like me stop by the closest Blue Moon Pizza and tell Kelvin and Mandy Slater that Chef Rian sent you, you will not be disappointed.
Kelvin and Mandy Slater
Owners of Blue Moon Pizza
Loaded Baked Potato Pizza
Ingredients:
2 cups water
2 packages pizza yeast
½ cup sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup oil
1/8 cup salt
8 ounces Ricotta cheese
¼ cup Oregano, finely chopped
¼ cup Thyme, finely chopped
1 tablespoon Salt
1 tablespoon Course ground black pepper
4 Idaho potatoes, cooked whole, skin on, 1 inch slices
1 cup Sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1pound Bacon, cooked, rough chopped
½ pound Chives, finely sliced
4 ounces Sour cream
Non-stick cooking spray
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
To make Chef Rian’s Pizza Dough:
1. Put water in mixer; water temperature must be between 102 and 107 degrees.
2. Put yeast and sugar in water, swirl and let sit for 8 minutes.
3. Add flour, then oil and salt, and combine for 10 minutes.
4. Remove dough from mixer and cut into 10-ounce pieces and roll into balls.
5. Put dough balls on plate, brush with oil, and let sit for 1 hour.
6. Cover dough balls and put into refrigerator.
7. Dough can be stored up to 1 week in the refrigerator or 1 month in the freezer.
Topping for pizza:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degree’s
2. In a broiler pan fill bottom pan with 1 inch of water to reduce the amount of hard cleaning after baking the bacon. Put top of broiler pan back onto the bottom pan and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Line the strips of bacon horizontally on the broiler pan making sure not to overlap the slices of bacon. Then bake in oven until desired crispiness. Remove from pan and place spaced out on a piece of paper towel to absorb the excess fat.
3. In a food processor add ricotta cheese, oregano, thyme, salt and pepper then mix until well incorporated.
4. Take a pizza dough ball and stretch it out evenly over wire pizza sheet. Making sure that you cannot see through the middle of the dough and that the edges are to the edge of the wire pizza sheet.
5. With a pastry brush, spread extra virgin olive oil over the surface of the pizza dough evenly making sure you do not have puddles of oil on the pizza dough. Take a light pinch of salt and pepper and go around the edges of the pizza dough.
6. With a flat spatula, remove the ricotta mixture from the food processor and place in the middle of the pizza dough. Evenly spread out the ricotta mixture around the pizza dough with the flat spatula leaving an inch border around the outside of the pizza dough which will be the crust.
7. Place sliced potato around the pizza dough on top of the ricotta cheese slightly overlapping each other from the outside to the middle of the pizza dough.
8. Put the pizza into the oven that has been preheated at 400 degrees and bake until pizza is golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Then remove from oven.
9. Lightly cover the pizza with the cheddar cheese making sure not to cover the edges and not to have any large clumps of cheddar cheese on the potatoes that will cause the cheese to burn.
10. Sprinkle chopped bacon over the top of cheddar cheese and place back into oven until cheddar cheese is melted and then remove.
11. Drizzle the top of pizza with sour cream and sprinkle with chives then serve.
