Critic's Review
Are you ready for the Truth about Tucci's? Can you handle the Truth?
Tucci's is a place where sheep gather. Not the Baaa'ing kind of sheep; but people who'll do anything that other people tell them is good to do. People who say they love things because it's fashionable to do so. You know, like eating fish slices on a ball of rice.
If someone gave my Dad a Tucci's pizza when I was a kid he would have thrown it back at them and cursed them out for being criminals. How dare they sell a burnt pizza with no sauce, no gooey mozzarella cheese or oregano. The nerve of these people.
Before I get to the pizza, let me describe the place, which adds to the unbelievability. The place is very small. People crowd in here to sit at faux wood tables and plastic chairs. There are two counters, neither of which is a dedicated pick up area. If you're picking up a pizza, you have to track down a woman who seems to be the only one in the place who can take an order or process a payment.
The place is 1/2 star above your typical pizzeria. It's an uncomfortable place to eat, as there are people waiting around for tables and for pickups.
Now I can see taking a pizza out from a place like this, but I don't get why anyone would want to eat here. But so many do.
I had called to order the a pizza on a Sunday night and I was told it would be 30 minutes, which is just about as long as it should ever take for a pick up order. Pizza cooks faster in coal ovens, but this place doesn't have enough oven space to handle its clientele. I got to the place 28 minutes later and after wandering around looking for the pickup area (there is none), I finally got the the girl with the pad. After much banter, she told me it would be another 15 minutes. Ok, 45 minutes for a pizza. She handed me the bill, as if I was going to pay in advance or something. I had an errand to run, so I left and came back 15 minutes later; the pizza was just coming out of the oven.
If you've ever been to Anthony's you know that coal-fired pizzas can be pretty ugly beasts coming out of the oven, but they did a nice job here. The crust was burned, of course, but the cheese and tomatoes wheren't floating around on a sea of grease like at Anthony's.
They use fresh mozzarella here, and therein lies the problem. To me, mozzarella is what makes a pizza taste like a pizza; that and tomato sauce made with oregano. Fresh mozzarella doesn't taste the same; on a coal-fired pizza it tends to fuse to the dough. There really isn't any tomato sauce used; they put on some fresh tomatoes.
This pizza was not crispy; of course the outer crust was crispy burnt; but the slices themselves were soft. The sausage used here is top notch; the best for a pizza.
The pizza was skillfully made; much better than anything I've gotten from Anthony's. My problem with these coal-fired pizzas is that they don't taste like pizza; they're really flatbreads with tomatoes and cheese. It's not gooey mozzarella with sweet, oregano laced sauce. Perhaps some nincompoop chef from Italy will tell you that the ingredients are superior; I don't care. It doesn't taste as good. And the proof of the pizza is in the taste.
This pizza was $18.59 with tax, which is way too much for a 16" take out pizza. I wouldn't pay that much for this pizza again. As food goes, there was nothing wrong with this pie; in fact I kind of enjoyed it. But I can enjoy an Italian Sub also; it doesn't mean that it's a pizza. It's not what I'm looking for when I feel like a pie.