Little York Tavern: Dayton, Ohio

This weekend's venture doesn't take us to far from home, but to one great pizza. Little York Tavern isn't your typical pizzeria, but man do they know how to do pizza. We arrived to a full parking lot and a an outdoor patio full of party goers. (There was a private event going on.) We adventured inside were there was a sign to seat your self, so we did. The first booth we sat in had some design issues...the table was attached to the wall a little crooked...Big D's big belly no go. After moving to the booth across the way our waitress promptly brought out menus and introduced herself.  This menu had everything from pizza to fish dinners, but we all know why I am here....it ain't for the fish. We order a large 15" pizza with our signature, pepperoni and extra cheese,  an order of hot wings, and garlic cheese toast.   As we waited on our food we had a look around. Décor was sort of vintage Americana. They had a lot of pictures of vegetables and farm animals on the walls. Not sure if I am right but I think the pictures had something to do with the proclamation on their menus "homegrown pizzas"....I don't know for sure.  They also had a small arcade for the kids, or at least for the kids at heart.  There are bikers out front with pitchers of beer, but families enjoying their evening inside. This place seems to have something for everyone.

Grub time! Our garlic bread came out first. I would have preferred it come with the pizza, but I didn't request, so it is what it is.  It was yum! I thick layer of mozzarella over a soft, warm, buttered Italian breaded. I tried to wait for the pizza but I couldn't. I offered half to the wife, even though I really wanted to eat it all myself.

Here comes our pizza. Brick oven perfection! It has thin, super crispy crust, that has been dusted with garlic salt.  The edges were just slightly charred and this seemed to make them absolute heaven in our book. My wife kept telling me to leave the edge pieces for her, normally the middle piece are her preferred.  When I picked up the first piece, it gave me exactly what I was looking for, the infamous cheese stretch. All the way from the pie to the plate and them some! Their sauce was a very pure sauce, you could actually taste the fresh tomatoes. It just had a wonderful natural, smooth flavor.  The pepperonis were a little different, good, but different. They were very thin sliced, giving them an almost, ham like texture, but still retained a good spicy pepperoni flavor.  I guess I should mention the wings, since we did order them. They were so so. The crunchy thin breading was good, but there just wasn't a lot of flavor. Maybe we should have went with a different wing sauce. They also came with ranch sauce, my wife and I usually love ranch....most of this ranch was leftover. I thought it tasted like tarter sauce, all my wife could say was it just isn't good.

I think we will defiantly be coming back here for seconds though. Had a wonderful experience  in a lively up beat environment. From bikers to boomers, they had something for everyone. Good food, good experience, friendly staff, makes Big D a happy camper.

15" pizza, extra cheese & pepperoni: $15.75
1lb hot wings with ranch: $7.99 
1 soft drink: $2.45
1 draft beer: $3.75
1 water:  $0.00
1 garlic cheese bread: $3.95
Total, tax, & tip: $41.02

Random Pizza Trivia

   Happy Friday pizza fans! Here's a couple more interesting facts.
-In 1830 pizza truly began with the opening of the worlds first pizzeria. Named Port'Alba, the pizzas were cooked in an oven lined with lava from Mount Vesuvius, a volcano located on the Bay of Naples. (Source: Smithsonian)
-Americans eat approximately 100 acres of pizza each day, or 350 slices per second!
   I'm looking forward to taking a break from playing Destiny to try a new pizza this weekend! Till then. Now go eat a PIZZA!!!

The Flying Pizza, Centerville, Ohio

 
You better cut the pizza in four
pieces because I'm not hungry
enough to eat six.
Yogi Berra

   I had a ton of places to choose from this weekend and man it was a tough decision. I have been jonesing for a New York style pizza for quite some time now. I chose to go with The Flying Pizza because they advertise none other than New York style pizza. There are four or five of these restaurants around the Dayton area, the one in Dayton is the original. I chose to travel to Centerville because let me tell you I don't do well with parking garages and meters. The wife had something going on, so I asked my 10 year old son if he was interested in eating some pizza with me, I received a quick, and definite yes! At around 5:30 we jumped in the car and hit the road.
   Boy I have to say, finding a small pizza joint on Miamisburg Centerville Rd. is no easy task. That road is packed tight with every kind of restaurant and other establishments you can imagine. Found it, I had to use my smell though. Looking good, sign on window says they except credit, so were good to go. When we walked in we were greeted  by a man throwing dough in the air and spinning it, then throwing again. I'm liking this already. We then walk up to the counter and ordered our food. My son and I had already studied the menu and discussed what we were going to get on the way. We went with salads, breadsticks and a 17" pepperoni pizza with extra cheese and extra sauce. Once you order and pay, you then sit where you like. The young man that took our order was very helpful. He made sure everything was correct, then helped us carry our salads, drinks and silverware to the table. Oh, and we both chose fountain root beers. Maybe it's just me, but root beer and pizza are my zen. By the way, Pepsi options are what you are in for here. I prefer Pepsi options over coke though, so all good.
   This place has very modern décor, and was very clean. It is well lit, and the walls are riddled with pictures of New York city. To go along with their selection of beer and wine, there are TVs on both ends of the dining area with sports playing. The booths on the other hand were hard, and a little on the small side. I'm a big bellied man, and it's hard to concentrate on your food if your not exactly comfortable. I felt as if the booths were made for school kids. I managed though.
   We squeezed every last drop of our salad dressings out of the packs. As usual I had thousand island, and my son had Italian. The salads were pre- packed and they dumped them in a bowl. But they were very fresh and crunchy, with chopped up carrots and a tomato slice.

 Just like last week it was like clockwork, after we finished our salads the waiter walked over with the breadsticks. I could have easily filled up on breadsticks, they were amazing. They took their pizza crust and rolled it into breadsticks. They were served with a zesty, slightly chunky marinara sauce, and a cheese sauce. We both stuck with what we know best, and dipped them in marinara. Boy was it yummy! They also sell pizza by the slice, which makes Flying Pizza a great option for a lunch break. We refrained from eating all the breadstick because I knew this pizza was going to be a monster. Then here it came, and it was a massive work of art, hand crafted with each piece of pepperoni the exact same distance apart. I first served my son a slice, then myself. Just like in pizza commercials, the cheese made a string from the pan all the way to the plate. I asked for extra cheese and sauce, and we  generously received it. Your not going to believe this, but after two and a half slices, I tapped out. Done! My son had one. Done! There was over half a pizza left to take home. As far as the quality and quantity of the food you receive, it's well worth the modest price. It was loaded with smoky New York style pepperoni. It had a freshly thrown, thick hand tossed crust. When I say thick, I'm not talking pan style, but a perfect medium style. It was soft and chewy, with just a slight crunch on the bottom. You could still fold it up like a taco if you wish. Because we ordered extra cheese and sauce though, we found ourselves cutting the first half of our slice with a fork and knife. Perfect! After that we could man handle the other half and we had sauce running down our chin and hands. My wife would have been grossed out if she saw that! Their sauce is not sweet at all, but zesty and robust. I like a sweet sauce, but I still highly approved. My son and I were both very satisfied with our experience at The Flying Pizza, and I would definitely make the drive again. Maybe next time I'll buck up and pay for parking to try the original parlor in Dayton. I told the waiter before we left that this was our first time here, and he suggested that we try the Sicilian style next time. If your looking for a good old fashioned New York style pie, then look no further. This is probably as close as your going to get to it around this area. Until next time pizza lovers. Now go eat a PIZZA!!!
                                                               2 fountain root beers
                                                               2 small salads
                                                               1 order of breadsticks w/dipping sauce
                                                               17" NY style pizza extra cheese and extra sauce
                                                               Total=$33.60

Random Pizza Trivia

  Hello all you pizza lovers! It's almost the weekend, almost time to try a new pizzeria. I can't wait! Here are some more pizza facts.
  -Women are twice as likely as men to order vegetable toppings on their pizza.(Source: Bolla wines)
  -Each man, woman and child in America eats an average of 46 slices (23 pounds) of pizza a year. (source: Packaged Facts, New York) ...Man, I honestly think I eat more pizza than that per year!
  Now go and eat a PIZZA!!!

Random Pizza Trivia

Hello Pizza lovers, I love random pizza facts, thought I would share a couple. Enjoy! Some of these facts will blow your mind!
   -Pizza is said to go as far back as prehistoric times. It was a very basic pizza with bread cooked on flat hot stones.(I wonder what they used for pepperoni!)
   -Pizza is a $30 billion per year industry.(I think I need to open a pizza joint!)
Now go eat a PIZZA!!

Classic Pizza: Huber Heights, Ohio

Hello pizza lovers, this week I am going to review Classic Pizza, located in Huber Heights, Ohio. This is my first in this series of reviews. So thank you to anyone who is reading and bare with me while I work out the kinks. I have certain expectations when it comes to a good pizza and a good pizzeria. My judgments will be primarily based on these and at times the mouthy opinion of wife. (Ssshhh, lets just keep that little remark between us.)
   When we walked in, we were warmly greeted by the young man behind the counter, who instructed us to have a seat were ever we wanted. The dinning area was smaller than I had anticipated but it was clean, a big bonus in my book! Don't get me wrong, it is an older establishment, with slightly dated décor, so it wasn't with out it scuffs and scrapes but nothing to concerning. There is dine-in seating to the left and the right of the main area, I just followed the wife to the left.  We sat in your standard booth. The red walls were adorned with pictures of classic cars and old movie posters. The lighting was low and the booth felt secluded and private. Although carry out business seem to be booming, and dining area was quiet and not busy at all. Might be great for a fist date, noise level was great for conversation. At first, we were a little uneasy...do we order at the counter....does a person wait on us...no menus on the table....what do they serve?
    Ahhh, here comes our waitress with menus.  Sweet girl, very friendly, just not used to noobs in the house. It took a little prompting but we finally got the beverage choices out of her, they aren't listed in the menu. Soda choice are great if you like Coke, diet Coke, and more varieties of Coke. Oh, you can also have rootbeer and sprite, I did, have rootbeer that is. My wife, due to her weird caramel color allergy, opted for one of their 20oz bottle varieties. They also have a wonderful beer selection that even includes 22oz cans and if you go on Wednesday's, draft beer is only $1.00!! Wow, what a deal!
  The menu boost a large selection of standard starters, hot and cold sandwiches, pasta and calzones, but that's not why we are here. Bring on the pizza selections! Not anything to unusual, this is after all "Classic Pizza" , just your standard pizza options.  We chose a classic, pepperoni and extra cheese, because, let's be honest, cheese makes the pizza.  Nothing like picking up a slice and have that yummy mozzarella string and stretch six inches in the air. Watch out for the snap though, hot cheese back lash can be a @#!$&*. We also opted to go for side salads and potato skins.
  This is actually some of the best service and most impeccable timing I have every experienced in pizzeria or any restaurant for that matter.  With in a few minutes we were presented with our salads and beverages.  Our drinks came in those red plastic cups, man I love those, it just screams old skool pizzeria! The salad it's self, left little to be desired. Pretty sure it was just the bag stuff you buy at the grocery. The dressing however helped redeem it a little. I had the thousand island, which was a little thick, but had a wonderful flavor. My wife said the French was good to, with some sort of a little kick in it, not your standard French dressing.
  With out missing a beat, our waitress was there with our potato skins. Just your basic skins, nothing to extraordinary. If your coming for the potatoes, stick to Frickers. Finally the big moment. Here comes our pizza.  It smells good and looks good. Its your standard round, square cut pizza with a thin crust that I have come to know in small Ohio pizzerias.  It doesn't appear though, to have the extra cheese we ordered.  I have high standards for extra cheese.

( This is our pizza, it is an accurate representation of their pizza. They portray lushes deep dish pizzas on their website. After looking at their website, I thought I had missed crust options. I did not, there are no crust options listed on the menu. The pizza pictured on their website is obviously clip art and not actual restaurant food.)

  Okay, time for the first slice. I added a little parmesan cheese, because that's how I roll and dig in. The crust isn't very crunchy but there is a little crunch around the outer edge. Maybe could have been cooked a little longer for extra snap, but all in all it had a good flavor. There was a thin layer of a zesty and robust tomato sauce. I, however, am a sauce hound, so I asked for a cup of sauce for dipping.  The cheese, although I didn't consider it extra, had a great smoky mozzarella flavor and it did sting out from the platter. You received a taste of pepperoni with every bite. Over all I would say it is a good pizza, but nothing extraordinary. We had leftovers to take home to the kids, but if all you order is pizza, two adults would eat every bit of a 15" pizza that is considered their "Jumbo". If it shows up at a party or I am invited by friends, I would go back. But for Saturday date night or dinner with the family, probably won't make the drive. On a scale from 1 to 10, I would give Classic Pizza a 6. Thanks for reading, until next time. Go eat a PIZZA!!


1 tap soda
1 20oz bottled soda
2 side salads
1 order potato skins
1 15" pizza with pepperoni and extra chees

Total cost $32.00