Nellies Place

Established in 1989, Nellie’s is known for their thin crust bar pies. A large pizza comes in at 14” so they’re shareable or personal sized depending on your appetite. This pizza has all the attributes of a quality bar pie, starting with a thin, cracker-like dough, along with a firm and well-charred, slightly burnt but manageable undercarriage. Terrific texture and taste from the dough, leading to outstanding crispy and quintessential bar pie crust. Somewhat thicker than typical bar pie cheese, the blend is classically rigid and tight. A decently tasty shredded cheese, it’s practically plastered on, hugging the dough tightly. The sauce is tangy and sweet but also has a hint of bitterness, likely from oregano. A somewhat simple sauce, it deceptively looks like baked ketchup; but with a fair amount of flavor and spices, it’s a quality tomato blend. The only real issue is the thickness of the cheese throwing off the balance among the dough and sauce. Either dial back the quantity of cheese or add a smidge more sauce to balance the pie better. While this is not quite destination bar pie, it’s very solid overall. This is blue collar, any day of the week, sober or drunk, quality bar pie. I really enjoyed the texture and taste; with a few minor adjustments, this pizza could easily level up. All in all, this pie lived up to my expectations but did not exceed them.