Villa Pizzeria Ristorante Bar

Established in 1985, this strip mall Italian restaurant serves all kinds of dishes from the Old Country to go along with traditional style “football pizzas.” When I opened the box, I thought the pie looked pretty good and fully expected the taste to match. Unfortunately, the first thing that hit me was the very distinct and unpleasant flavor of the cheese. While the smell didn’t give any indication, the taste was a bit off; despite a creamy texture, whatever blend of cheese they use has a sharp, borderline sour flavor. It might be a little too much pecorino Romano mixed in with the mozzarella; whatever it is, my taste buds did not dig it. Another issue is the quantity & quality of the sauce. Underneath the cheese was hardly enough sauce to push through the taste of the cheese; most of it was huddled next to the crust, severely lacking in spice, kick & punch, like an unseasoned tomato paste, as if they opened a can of Red Pack and did nothing to add flavor. The dough had a decent crisp but not enough and wasn’t particularly tasty. Some garlic powder & crushed red pepper made this pie salvageable but on its own, there’s room for lots of improvement. Start by adding more sauce and spice it up a bit, then we can see how the cheese holds up against a more flavor-balanced pie.