Artichoke Basille's Pizza

With multiple locations scattered around NYC and out of state, this is technically “chain pizza.” But it’s more high end like Grimaldi’s than on par with the peasant pizza franchises like Domino’s or Little Caesars. With deliciously fresh ingredients, these pies aren’t cookie cutter like those basic chains. The sauce is the star here: terrifically sweet plum tomatoes with a nice mix of spices produces big flavor in each bite. The cheese is mostly mozzarella but a fantastic blend of other cheeses that’s wonderfully gooey and tasty. A nice sprinkle of Parmesan on top helps neutralize the sweetness of the sauce and enhances the flavor of the cheese. The dough is the one area that could use a slight improvement; while it has very good crisp, it’s a little too bland and loses points for lack of taste. The crust also is magnificently crispy but lacking in flavor as well. Overall, this is very good pizza; I feel like the multiple locations are a stigma preventing people from rating higher. This pie is much better than it’s getting credit for; but the truth is, the specialty pizzas here, like the vodka Sicilian and crab pie are even better. Come for the cheese pizza but stay for the specialty slices.