Anyway you slice it..Pt. 1

A few weeks ago I asked my Facebook friends to recommend their favorite pizza places- local, independent, not chain, mass produced pizzas. I now have a list of at least 15 places to try pizza from; well, really 14, since one of them I have had pizza from, many years ago, and there was a huge, I mean huge and nasty, swirl of hair on the bottom of the crust of the pizza slice I was eating! It horrified me, scared me, caused me to not eat pizza for at least a few months. The hair plug, as I refer to it, made me think they dropped the dough into the drain of a shower at a no-tell motel and then just proceeded to make our pizza from that. Thinking about it still gives me the shivers! Gah! Needless to say, I can't try that place again. They may have improved but I just can't do it.

Sunday night we needed pizza, in a big way. It was just one of those days. We decided on Del's Pizza in Trenton. I had heard mixed things about the restaurant itself, but that the pizza was pretty good. Ok, I am up for that. I thought maybe the restaurant might look a bit dodgy, a little divey, but I can deal with that too. Billy and I met Devin, Chrissy and Todd outside the restaurant two hours before they were due to close. Chrissy told me she wasn't sure about the place, since they had gone in to wait for us and were ignored. I suggested we try one more time, just in case they just didn't see by some chance a group of three people at the door. In we walked, intrepid pizza eaters, trying out a new place, hopeful yet skeptical. As soon as we stepped in the door, the waitress threw up her hands in anger, and sneered "Oh great" at us. I had a hard time believing this was directed at us, because really, what restaurant does not want customers? So I blundered on, asking if we just sit anywhere. The waitress flung her hands about in the air, and sputtered "Anywhere, anywhere" like we were the worst people on earth and now she had to talk to us. It was so odd! We turned around and walked out. So our first place is off the list, and gets a very bad review from me. I plan on emailing the manager as well.

Still hungry, we drove back home and ate at Solero instead. Our waitress turned over backwards practically for us, setting our pizzas up on another table so that we could have more space on our table to eat and see each other, and was very attentive at refilling our drinks. A plus in my book. The pizzas themselves were delicious! We ordered the New York White Garlic, the Pesto pizza, and Billy, the token carnivore, ordered the Solero special meat thing. All the pizzas at Solero are prepared in a brick oven, and they were fabulous. We were so full of pizza goodness when we left, we had to pass up ice cream at Stroh's, which is unbelievably good as well. The only thing I would have negative to say is that my wine glass was maybe a bit dirty. But the pizza, the pizza was fantastic! It was not a place on my list, but is a place I will continue to eat.

** I just want to add that I mean no offense to the people who may have suggested Del's. I am sure your experience was a great one, with great pizza. Unfortunately, my experience was not good at all, and that is not your fault.