Jean Paul's Paradiso

With this blog post, we are officially caught up! Jean Paul's Paradiso also marks our 25th stop on our quest for the best pizza in Cincinnati! Nik and I often buy bread from Jean Paul's Paradiso (I didn't even realize that they had a restaurant!) at the Hyde Park Farmer's Market, but had yet to try their pizza (although it always looks delicious). Kevin brought us back a Pepperoni pizza and a Blackened Chicken Alfredo pizza. Here's how they scored:

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

Appearance (overall): 3.67
Aroma (overall): 3.75
Taste (overall): 4.08
Crust - 4.00
Cheese - 4.42
Toppings - 4.17
Sauce - 4.33
Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 4.17
Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 3.83
X-factor: 4.00

(Pepperoni pizza)


(Blackened Chicken Alfredo)

This pizza had some serious cheese! We all loved the abundance of cheese, although it made the pizza SUPER greasy. My overall scores for taste and the Pepperoni Pizza would have been higher if it hadn't been so greasy. The crust and tomato sauce are my favorites so far of all the pizza places we've tried. Kevin thought that the tomato sauce was sweet (instead of spicy like we encounter at most places). Kevin also liked the carmelization of the cheese on the Pepperoni pizza (which I would have to second!).

The Blackened Chicken Alfredo pizza didn't look too appetizing (Nik thought the slices of chicken looked like tongue), but don't let that disuade you because it is really good! The alfredo sauce is a little overpowered by the chicken and all of the cheese, but it taste far better than it looks. This is, by far, my favorite chicken pizza I've EVER had. Although the slices of chicken look weird, I really enjoyed how thin and moist they were, and that they were slices instead of diced. It comes with jalapenos on it, and Kevin chose for them to go light since it sounded like otherwise there would be a lot. If you like jalapenos, don't choose the light version, I think there was a total of 6 jalapeno slices on the entire pizza (I didn't have any on my slice of pizza).

Jean Paul's Paradiso, a friendly hole-in-the-wall joint that is a MUST try.

Cosmic Pizza

For Nik's turn a couple of weeks ago, he decided to go with a pizza place Kevin and I had not heard of - Cosmic Pizza. Cosmic Pizza not only has NY style pizza, but also St. Louis style pizza. What is St. Louis style pizza? It's a pizza with super thin crust, even thinner that NY style, which is apparently yeast-less. Nik got us a NY style Pepperoni pizza, a St. Louis style Sausage Pizza, and the Thai Chicken pizza.

Here's how the pizzas scored:

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

Appearance (overall): 3.83
Aroma (overall): 4.00
Taste (overall): 4.00
Crust - 4.50
Cheese - 3.25
Toppings - 4.00
Sauce - 4.00
Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 4.25
Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 4.08
X-factor: 4.00

Cosmic Pizza's NY style crust was thin, thinner than I'm used to for NY style, and somehow the St. Louis style was even thinner than that. However, the two crusts had different textures, the St. Louis style resembling a cracker (maybe because of the lack of yeast?). Nik scored the crust a little higher because of the authenticity, not because he would want all crust to be St. Louis style. Kevin also noted that because the crust was so thin, the pizza cooled off really quickly once on the plate. Kevin really liked the edge crust of the NY style pizza. Nik thought that the pizza was a little salty, but in a good way. I liked the spiciness level of the pizzas.

As for the specific pizzas, Kevin and I both agreed that the Thai Chicken pizza was really spicy and had a LOT of meat on it (a little too much for my taste). I also thought that it was a little floppy/soggy, but had good flavor. It's a very interesting pizza, probably the most interesting one we've had so far (maybe a little too interesting for me, or maybe it was just that it had way too much meat). Their sausage is homemade and is delicious! The sausages looked a little funny on such a thin crust, but overall tasted really good. And Cosmic Pizza scored a little higher in the X-factor category for wearing the puffy white chefs hats (which Nik is sure the kid who worked there probably hates).

All in all, you should definitely try Cosmic Pizza for their authenticity and uniqueness!

Noce's Pizzeria

Back in June, Amber suggested we try Noce's Pizzeria, so we added it to the list and a couple of months later, we checked it off! Noce's was a little bit of a drive north, but on a late summer evening, I didn't mind. And everyone there was friendly, so that always helps. For the pizzas, I chose Pepperoni, White Dream, and Hot & Spicy. Here's how they scored:

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

Appearance (overall): 4.17

Aroma (overall): 4.25

Taste (overall): 3.67

Crust - 3.92

Cheese - 3.50

Toppings - 3.92

Sauce - 3.33

Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 3.83

Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 4.08

X-factor: 3.33

Kevin's favorite was the Hot & Spicy pizza, while Nik thought there was no real stand-out, but it was good. I also agreed that the pizza was good, but not great. I liked that it was NY style, but the Pepperoni pizza was greasy and the pepperoni's were not evenly distributed (as evidenced in the picture above). By now you know my issue with too much oregano in the sauce, which this pizza had. I had high hopes for the White Dream pizza, but the broccoli was overcooked (and seemed like it had been frozen) and there wasn't enough basil or garlic (and they used dried instead of fresh, which is far less superior). The Hot & Spicy didn't have as much flavor as I was hoping either, but it definitely was spicy!

While Noce's Pizzeria has some good pizza options, they just don't live up to some of the other gourmet pizza joints in Cincinnati.

Mac's Pizza Pub

Next up on the pizza quest? It's Mac's Pizza Pub, a good sports bar conveniently located in Clifton for those UC sports fans (and conveniently for us had been featured on Groupon). The Reds were on while we were there, and since we had our Groupon, we decided to go big and order 3 pizzas: Pepperoni, Pesto Primavera, and the Flying Pig.

Here's what we thought:

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

Appearance (overall): 3.92
Aroma (overall): 3.75
Taste (overall): 3.83
Crust - 4.00
Cheese - 3.67
Toppings - 3.67
Sauce - 4.00
Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 3.92
Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 4.17
X-factor: 4.25

Kevin and I both really liked the pesto sauce as well as the spiciness of the red sauce on the other 2 pizzas. We both also really liked the garlic buttery edge of the crust - so delicious! They also had lots of cheese on them, which was fantastic, but it would slide off really easily. Nik and I both agreed that they had a good draft beer selection too. And to top it all off, the service was great! Not the highest ranking pizza joint, but solid pizza for a sports bar (and did I mention they have a good selection of toppings?! artichoke hearts, goat cheese, and pesto just to name a few). So, good pizza + great beer selection + awesome service = a fantastic sports bar, check it out!

Snappy Tomato Pizza

We're slowly but surely getting caught up on our summer and fall pizza ventures here. The next pizza place up for judging is Snappy Tomato Pizza, which we enjoyed at home before watching some Freaks & Geeks episodes on Netflix (the title had me worried it would be too geeky for me [Nik likes some weird shows], but this was yet another show that got cut way too early). But I digress, back to Snappy Tomato Pizza. We ordered a Pepperoni and a Loaded Potato pizza.

One of the things that's great about Snappy Tomato is that you can order online AND they deliver. Not only that, they deliver Ben & Jerry's ice cream too! But how is their pizza, you ask? Well, here's how they scored:

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

Appearance (overall): 3.92
Aroma (overall): 4.00
Taste (overall): 4.25
Crust - 4.17
Cheese - 4.00
Toppings - 4.42
Sauce - 3.83
Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 4.25
Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 3.83
X-factor: 4.00

We all really liked the Loaded Potato pizza and all agreed that it tasted like a potato skin (yum!), and it even had good bacon too. Nik thought that it could have used more sauce though. Kevin liked the dual layer of pepperoni on the Pepperoni pizza and thought that the tomato sauce on it was pretty sweet. At times, I thought the sauce had too much oregano. We all also really liked that the pizzas came with a garlic dipping sauce that taste like Papa John's (delicious!). I thought that the pizzas were salty (in a good way) and greasy. I really liked the crust and thought that it was nicely cooked.

Overall, Snappy Tomato Pizza makes good pizza, but doesn't take the place of favorite. I'd be happy to order it any day though and have it delivered on a lazy weekend day, watching football or college basketball (or the Grey's Anatomy episode I missed...).

The Rookwood

You don't normally think of The Rookwood as a place to go for pizza, right? Well, this summer they had a special on Thursday nights of all night happy hour, which included pizzas. So we decided to check it out, and of course the week before was their last week of running that special. But, they checked with the kitchen and were able to offer us 2 choices: a regular margherita pizza and one with house made sausage. So, we chose both. Of course this makes it a little more difficult to compare since we didn't have our standard pepperoni pizza, but we scored The Rookwood none-the-less. So how did they fare? See below...

(Again, sorry for the lack of pictures, but it was too dark to take a decent picture. But here's a picture of one of their wonderful views - this one is from the parking lot.)

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

Appearance (overall): 4.67
Aroma (overall): 4.50
Taste (overall): 4.08
Crust - 4.33
Cheese - 3.33
Toppings - 4.33
Sauce - 3.50
Pepperoni Pizza (overall): N/A (Nik scored the sausage pizza with a 4.00 though)
Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 3.00
X-factor: 3.83

The Rookwood has a great menu (we love their food), but it just doesn't include other pizza options, as it's not a "pizza restaurant," so that's not too fair of a comparison. Even so, they have the most attractive pizza thus far and some of the best smelling pizza. On top of that, the decor and ambiance of the restaurant is very nice, and they now have a new deck that I can't wait to check out!

In terms of the actual pizzas, Kevin thought that the sauce was bland and I agreed, noting that it needed more salt. Kevin liked the flat bread crust, but thought it could have used a touch more flour. I really liked the grilled aspect of the pizzas and thought that they had a good level of spice. I also really enjoyed the fresh basil (I love basil!) and the house made sausage.

We skipped dessert as I had already baked something of my own, but I really do love The Rookwood's Gooey Cake - definitely save room for it, it's amazing!

Padrino

Next up, Kevin took us North a little bit, up to Milford to try Padrino. Milford is a cute little town and Padrino is located on "the main drag" and even has a nice sidewalk patio. We were able to snag a table under the awning, protecting us from the short bout of rain while we were dining. We started the night off with some garlic knots, then moved on to a Pepperoni pizza and their weekly special, the Fajita pizza. Here's how they scored:

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

Appearance (overall): 4.42
Aroma (overall): 4.13
Taste (overall): 4.00
Crust - 3.83
Cheese - 3.67
Toppings - 4.42
Sauce - 3.92
Pepperoni Pizza (overall): 4.00
Specialty Pizza & Menu Options: 4.00
X-factor: 3.33

I lied, we did take pictures! Here they are:

Let me begin by recommending NOT ordering the garlic knots. Kevin said that they weren't so exciting and that he wouldn't get them again. That's because they're not actually knots. They were dinner rolls, brushed with butter (or oil of some sort) and sprinkled with garlic, parmesan, and parsley, but still didn't have much flavor. The marinara, however, that comes with the "garlic knots" was good.

In terms of the actual pizza, the Fajita pizza was the surprise of the night. All of us thought that the Fajita pizza was really good, in fact, it was better than I expected. It had chicken, vegetables (including spinach! unlike last weeks pizza stop...), salsa, and sour cream was served on the side. I know, sour cream on pizza?!? I went for it and actually thought it balanced everything out quite nicely.

The crust at Padrino is a thin crust and tasted like a cracker (not in a bad way) to me. It wasn't quite as crispy as Kevin was expecting though. The pepperoni pizza was greasy and Kevin thought that the ingredients seemed out of balance, the sumer was not greater than the parts.

The reason for the somewhat low X-factor score is because (1) I had a hair in my cocktail (but it was a good cocktail) and (2) the (young) waitress (although nice) didn't know anything and nearly knocked one of our pizzas off the table (good save Kevin!). We skipped dessert because we (I) was hoping to try Sugar Cupcakery, but it was closed by the time we finished up dinner :(