In the pizza biz since 1964, they’re coming up on their 60-year anniversary. Literally a mom and pop pizzeria, Domenick & Pia moved to this current location in 1987. This is an old school joint with affordable old school prices, serving New York style pies in New Haven style territory. I’m not sure where all the 8s are coming from in the scoring, considering this is a very standard football pizza; but it’s clear this place has a very loyal following. No coal-fired pies here, they use an electric oven that produces rather firm dough with minimal char and barely a smidge of crisp. The dough is somewhat thickish and bland, no distinct flavor, very basic and plain, leading up to a pretty pedestrian crust lacking much crunch. The pie looks and feels slightly undercooked; it could definitely use 5 more minutes in the oven, despite the char bubbles on the cheese, which is melted very well. They use a whole milk shredded mozzarella blend, heavy & creamy with a fairly generic pizza cheese flavor. There’s also a decent amount of grease generated from the butter fat in the cheese, creating a predominantly salty flavor from the overpowering oil embedded in the mozz. Even though they claim to use a combination of Californian and imported Italian tomatoes, the sauce isn’t really distinctive. Without any true punch or pizzazz, the blend is uninspiring and forgettable. That’s not to say the sauce is bad; it’s just in need of some spicing to give it more life. The addition of garlic powder or Parmesan helps drum up some flavor. Legendary mainly for their longevity, Domenick & Pia’s pizza falls short of the hype on both taste and texture. Overall, this pie was slightly better than generic New York style pizza and a very generous 7.1 rating in the land of New Haven style coal-fired pies.
