4515 Washington Street Roslindale MA, 02131 (617) 323-2111
http://www.pleasantcafe.com
Style = NY Neapolitan
Sit Down – Yes
Take Out = Yes
Alcohol = Full bar
Ambiance = Anomaly
Price = Fair ($51 for 4, 16” Pies)

Buzzzzzz, 2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10+; Yeah that’s right, it took ten plus phone calls to finally place an order at The Pleasant Café on Friday February 28, 2014. Maybe I’m mistaken but I didn’t even think it was possible to get a busy signal on the phone now-a-days. Judging by the traffic it may as well have been the end of days for all could tell and to my dismay, the mayhem did not stop there.  So, by the time I finally got to my pizza destination all three of their designated parking lots were stuffed to the gills with badly parked cars, which ultimately forced me to park three blocks away in single digit, frigid temperatures. As I approached the brightly lit neon pizza sign that has supposedly shown down on Washington Street in Roslindale MA for over 80 years welcomed me, and gave me a sense of calm amongst all the chaos that seemed to be intently inspired on ruffling my panties.

As I tugged open the creaky old door I was oddly pleased to be warped backward 80 years in an instant, seeing that it doesn’t look like one renovation has been made since it was opened. I won’t go into great detail but to brief it was really charming and is probably better experienced than left to one’s imagination. If you’re expecting perky young, cheer-leading waitresses then you’d better think again cause the service here is probably as old as the establishment and I mean that in the most respectful way possible. These ladies are surly but in a very endearing way. If you’re from Boston I think you know where I’m going with this but if not then I’ll explain it quickly. If these ladies tell you to go F yourself then the chances are in your favor that they like ya. If you want to see real Bostonians, I recommend you head to the Pleasant.

Ok, so where was I? Oh yeah, the take out line. This place was packed, and I mean absolutely jammed to capacity. It was so bad that little old lady’s faces were smooshed against the interior glass as unruly patrons cut the line, boisterously yelling out their name and pointing at the busy takeout counter motioning to see whether or not their order was ready for takeout. It was ironic because my name was called and the poor foagie that cut the line was forced to take a backseat as I walked out with four yummy pies (2 Neapolitan style cheese, 1 meatball, & 1 sausage mushroom). I literally felt like I had won the lottery and giddily scrambled the hellz outta that place.

To make a long story short, I’m gonna get right down to brass tax, this pizza is special and has a unique flavor that just works. I can’t say that it’s spectacular but there is absolutely nothing wrong with this pie. It barely “Sags”, it doesn’t have “Turdlings” and has a buttery quality about their 3 cheese blend that is like no other pizza I’ve ever had in my life. It is really delicious. I can’t say that The Pleasant Café uses the best of ingredients but they are certainly not the worst and in my opinion, that is all that’s required to complete their pie especially since it’s cooked in an age old brick oven. It was obvious that they know how to cook it because the crust had a perfect amount of char that sat on the outer edge of the crust giving it just the right amount of crunch and chew. I would need Boboli’s pallet here but it seemed as if they use a tomato paste sauce that gives it a tangy and mildly sweet finish that meshes well with all the other ingredients. I was a little disappointed with the sausage mushroom because I believe the mushrooms may have been canned but I am uncertain if that is the absolute truth. In any event, that was the most lack luster pizza of the night in my opinion. The cheese was the star of the show and really wins my admiration. The meatball was decent but they really didn’t top it with enough to meat to even notice that it  was a meatball pizza. All were good but I’d stick with the cheese if I were to order again. 

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All-in-all, The Pleasant Café pizza is splendidly tangy, buttery, cheesy, crispy, and chewy. This is a GREAT neighborhood pizzeria that uniquely earns a solid…5.5 slices out of an 8 slice perfection.

Tombstone’s Rating: 5.5 Slices (REVISED DUE TO RE-VISIT 7.5). THIS PIZZA BLEW MY SOCKS OFF, WAH WA, WEE WAH!!!! DELICIOUS!!!!

Tagged: Neapolitan, Roslindale