Adriatico's Pizza

For Kevin's third go-around, he chose Adriatico's, a University of Cincinnati staple that has a huge pizza called "The Bearcat" (UC's mascot). Kevin got the bearcat with 1/2 pepperoni and 1/2 tomato & banana pepper.

Here's how Adriatico's stacked up again the rest of the competition:

(1-5 scale, 1=worst, 5=best)

Appearance (overall): 4.00
Aroma (overall): 4.13

Taste (overall): 3.92

Crust - 4.00

Cheese - 3.67

Toppings - 4.00

Sauce - 3.75

Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 3.92

Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 3.75

X-factor: 3.17

Nik's only comments on this pizza were "Roar!" with a drawing of a paw print (which, now that I think about it, I should have scanned and included a picture of, but it's too late now). Kevin and I, however, did actually write down some of our observations. The pizza is HUGE and I gave them an extra 0.25 in the "Specialty Pizza & Menu Options" category for having breadsticks, even though we didn't actually try them, I guess I was feeling generous since I do really enjoy breadsticks. When it came to the pizza, Kevin liked the thick crust and we all thought that the sauce had a nice bit of spicyness to it. The slices were square and on the pepperoni half, there was only one pepperoni per slice; Kevin would have liked more than one pepperoni per slice (which I wouldn't have minded too). My biggest complaint, though, was that the oregano/dried herb mixture that was sprinkled on top of the pizza was way too overpowering.

Overall, I can see why this is a UC staple - you can get a HUGE pizza for not too much money that is super filling because of it's thick crust. It's not our favorite of the ones we have tried, but I think we can all appreciate the niche it has in the world of pizza.

Dove Vivi (Portland, OR)

I know this is a blog about pizza in Cincinnati, but when Nik and I were in Portland, Oregon at the end of March, we went to an amazing pizza place our last night there that I had to write about. Before getting pizza at Dove Vivi, we stopped by Spints for some really good cocktails (their food menu looked awesome too). Then we headed over to Dove Vivi, where they have a cornmeal based crust that is unlike anything I have ever had before and is simply amazing. They're also deep-dish style and incredibly filling. We were with 2 other couples, and luckily they let you order pizzas by the half, so each couple order a 2 halves, so we had 6 halves. Nik and I also started with their beet salad, and some of our friends got their pickled carrot salad - both were delicious. I can't remember all of the pizzas we ordered, but I know some of them included the corn, pesto, and daily special pizzas. We didn't remember to take a picture until the end, but you can't eat much more than 1 piece, so there was still plenty to take pictures of :)

This was Scott & Annies - 1/2 pesto and 1/2 pepperoni (I think)


This was Lauren & Adam's - 1/2 corn & 1/2 quatro fromaggio


This was mine and Nik's - we got both of the specials (Nik's half had house-made sausage and pickled red cabbage I think, and mine had tomatoes, mushrooms, and blue cheese)

It was amazing, if you're ever in Portland, try it!