Pizza Style: Apizza (OG New Haven)
Venue Style: Midscale dining with only pizza offerings
Food Orders: Classic Cheese, Spinach, Mushroom & Gorgonzola – with Sausage, ½ Original Tomato & ½ Quattro Fromaggi (sans goat) & Classic Pepperoni
Beverage Choice: Pitchers of Moretti Beer
Lg Cheese Pizza: $18.50 (18”)
Attendees: Bobli, Ellios, Celeste & Tombstone
Guests: None

The Holy Trinity of accouterments was present on every table.

We know what you’re all thinking “What can the Guys say about Frank Pepe’s that hasn’t already been regurgitated by pizza enthusiasts a thousand times over?” Wait a sec…we’ve got one for ya, how about not living up to the hype! Now now, before all of you Frank Pepe’s fanatics lose your minds and collectively head out to lynch The Slice Guys, we feel that, given the prestige of Frank Pepes, an explanation is warranted here. Frank Pepe’s Chestnut Hill is the newest location in the Frank Pepe Empire. And of note, a few of the Slice Guys have had pizza from the original New Haven, CT location and the Manchester, CT location. We can attest that pizza from these locations is pure pizza nirvana. And is it the expectation set by these locations that we are basing our review of Frank Pepe’s Chestnut Hill.

Here is what we ordered:

Classic Cheese:

• Tough to beat Frank’s on classic Cheese – crust is perfect, cheese and sauce are well represented, one hell of a solid pie.

Spinach, Mushroom & Gorgonzola – with Sausage:

• This pizza is where the wheels came off the bus a little. Admittedly so – it was a tall order, and the Guys are not big on heavy toppings – but we made the order, added the sausage, closed our eyes, and prayed.  Results – poor.  It was a poor order, the flavors didn’t blend well – it was too heavy and it was just not well received by the Guys.  However, we take responsibility for our poor ordering and we can’t fault Frank on this one.  This is a great example of why it is important to keep it simple and stay in the appropriate pizza lane.

½ Original Tomato & ½ Quattro Fromaggi (sans goat):

Crushed Italian tomatoes, olive oil and grated cheese on one half, and Mozzarella, Asiago, and Pecorino on the other half.

• OK – now we are talking. This is how you execute a pizza.  The flavors were naked and amazing.  Nowhere for any of the ingredients to hide.  We opted for NO GOAT CHEESE, because we collectively felt that Goat Cheese is a little bit of a bully cheese and takes on an overpowering flavor that makes it difficult to taste the subtleties of the other ingredients.  Either of these pies alone or together, is a great choice, and really what makes Frank Pepe’s a star.

Classic Pepperoni:

• This was a last minute addition to our order – it was a kitchen extra and we were offered it on the house. We will never look the other way on a free pizza, so we accepted happily.  There wasn’t much of a surprise – it was the classic cheese with some very tasty pepperoni on it.  Well put together – perfect crust, etc. etc. etc.

Overall:

The atmosphere is a mall – it’s nice, and but let’s face it – it’s in a mall so let’s not go overboard.  The pizza took a little longer than we would have liked to come out (this was a Thursday evening, not a weekend), but the overall service was great. The ingredients were fresh, the crust was amazing, and the cooking was uniform.  Don’t get us wrong, Frank Pepe’s Chestnut Hill puts out a solid pie, better than most in the area; however it is just not up the expectations people have for a Frank Pepe’s. We are hoping that it is just a case of properly seasoning the oven and getting it and the staff dialed in on making the great Pizzas Frank Pepe’s is known for.
Slice-o-meter: 6.5 out of 8 Slice Guy Slices

Tagged: Apizza