Venice on Vine

Venice on Vine has been on our list of places to try since the beginning of our quest for the best pizza in Cincinnati, and last week presented the perfect opportunity to give it a try. It was my turn for pizza night, and The Lackman, conveniently located right across the street from Venice on Vine, had a Bell's Brewery beer tasting. So after work I stopped in The Lackman to finally get a pint of Bell's Hopslam that I've been wanting to try for the last month, and it was delicious. I then headed across the street to order a Pepperoni pizza and a Sausage and Jalapeño pizza.

For those of you who are not familiar with Venice on Vine, it provides on-the-job training to inner city residents who are trying to better themselves and their families, provided by the nonprofit “Power Inspires Progress”, run by two Catholic nuns. They work at Venice on Vine to learn the ins and outs of restaurant life to prepare for future job/career opportunities. So, as you can imagine, we really want to like the pizza. But, here's how they scored:

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

Appearance (overall): 3.33
Aroma (overall): 3.75
Taste (overall): 3.17
Crust - 2.33
Cheese - 3.58
Toppings - 3.50
Sauce - 3.33
Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 3.08
Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 3.00
X-factor: 4.75

Just practicing my photography... :)

The main reason for the low score(s) was that the crust was not done enough/the pizzas weren't cooked long enough. The middle of the pizza was basically raw dough, though the edge crust was nice and crisp and with a delicious garlic butter. Kevin thought that the spiciness of the sauce overwhelmed the pepperoni and the sausage, while I just thought that the sauce was too oregano-y (I guess not a surprise at this point....). I was impressed that their sausage is housemade, but I wasn't impressed with the taste. While Nik liked the sausage, I thought it didn't have any flavor and basically tasted like ground pork on the pizza, which I didn't care for.

We all stronly support the mission of Venice on Vine, which is why the X-factor score is so high. I would have given them a 5, but when I went in and ordered the pizza, I could hear them complaining about having to make them since the pizza ovens are right behind the ordering counter (it was 6:45 and they close at 8). If they took their time and cooked the pizza properly (and if I got something other than sausage), I think we would've really enjoyed the pizza and the scores would have been much higher. So support Venice on Vine and give them a try, I know I will again.