Thursday, October 10, 2013

JUST HOW MANY PIZZA PLACES DO WE NEED???

When I first moved to Pahrump, there was a Round Table Pizza restaurant here. I didn't get the opportunity to try their pizza because they closed before I got around to them. There also used to be a great pizza place on the West end of town called "Charleston Pizza". One of my friends used to be a delivery driver for them. Their pizza was really good but apparently they couldn't keep up with the competition in town. Another pizza place that was short-lived here in Pahrump was Mafia Mike's. I tried their pizza once, but was unimpressed.

It seems a lot of pizza places come and go in Pahrump, some not lasting more than just a few months. I guess that's why I struggle to understand why so many people open new pizza restaurants here. There's already a lot of successful pizza places in Pahrump, why does anyone think they can compete with that? Pizza is one of those food items that people find a place they like and then they only buy their pizza from that place.

When I was growing up in Northern California, I briefly worked for a place called Coliseum Pizza. The restaurant was owned and operated by an Italian from Sicily and served the best New York style pizza I'd ever had, until recently. I've since traveled the world and I've had all kinds of pizza and I'd never found anything that came close to the pizza I got from Coliseum. They've changed owners several times over the years and I'm told the pizza is nothing like it used to be. Unfortunate.

In September 2011, I went to New York for a wedding and spent a week on Long Island. I'd been told for years that New York pizza, in New York, is the best in the world but I've always scoffed at that, since I'd been all around the world and tried pizza from nearly every continent and had never found anything that would compete with the pizza I grew up with at Coliseum. Then I tried pizza from a small chain called "Mario's" and that made me a true believer in New York pizza. It was almost exactly like the pizza I remember from Coliseum in California.

Ok, so back here to Pahrump. Domino's and Papa John's probably have the largest market share of customers here and they serve up some pretty good pizza, for national chain stores. I prefer Papa John's over Domino's but mostly because I like the flavor and they have great prices, not to mention a rewards club. There's also a Papa Murphy's (Take 'n' Bake) here, across the highway from Albertson's, which is a twist on the take-out pizza concept in that they prepare the pizza but they don't cook it. You buy it, take it home and bake it in your own oven. The prices are much better this way and you always get hot, fresh-out-the-oven pizza (because it's out of your oven), not cold and stale from the drive home. I particularly like this concept because, since it's not cooked in the restaurant but rather prepared for you to bring home and cook, it qualifies under the food stamp program. So even those who struggle financially and have to rely on food stamps can enjoy restaurant quality pizza occasionally.

Nicco's Pizza, on Postal Rd a block from the post office, is a great little Italian bistro and their pizza is really good. They're a bit pricey though, so I don't go there very often but I plan to visit them again soon. Carmelo's Italian Bistro serves up a very tasty New York style pizza, but if you haven't read my previous review about that restaurant, you might want to take a look before choosing them for your pizza date. A new place opened up recently called Big Dick's Pizza who's motto is "bigger is better", the third pizza restaurant to open at the Gamebird / Pahrump Valley Blvd location. I know from my own experience making pizza, that bigger is not always better. A 16-inch pie is about as big as you can get without losing quality rapidly due to overcooked crust area versus a terribly undercooked inner and that's the biggest problem with BD's pizza, who's larger pizza sizes are 18-inches and 24-inches. Their prices are quite a bit more than I like to pay for pizza although they do have some innovative topping combinations. I tried their pizza again for lunch at this year's Fall Festival, and was not impressed in the least.

On the South end of town is the K7 Pizza, bar and now bed & breakfast, on Hafen Rd. They've been reported to have opened a new buffet and they have plans to open an internet cafe with home-roasted coffees. I've always liked K7 Pizza and I do recommend it if you're down this way. I'll be visiting them again very soon so I can write a review about all the new stuff they're offering now, look for that post coming before Christmas.

Now Pizza Hut is advertising they'll be opening a take-out location at Pahrump Valley Blvd and Highway 372, across from the Big-O Tires. It's been years since I had a Pizza Hut pizza but I remember the style being more a dry, doughy pizza rather than the more popular wet, New York style. I'll give them a try when they open and report my likes/dislikes here, but I'm not anticipating an impressive pizza (even though many of my friends swear by Pizza Hut's quality).

There are a couple other, small pizza outlets here in Pahrump but I haven't taken the opportunity to try them, either because they're way up on the North end of town or they've had less-than-impressive reviews from other people I know that appreciate great pizza.

Do you have a favorite pizza restaurant in Pahrump you'd like to mention? What's been your experience about the places I've written about? Feel free to post your comments and let me know what you think! Click on the "Comments" link at the bottom of this post and tell me. Your comment(s) will be visible once I've approved it/them. =:^)

2 comments:

  1. When we first came out to Pahrump in 1970 I remember 2 pizza places:

    JO's Pizza
    Jo ran a nice restaurant with a family atmosphere. It was the meeting of Pahrump. Their pizzas were very good. Jo came out of retirement for A new pizza place at a different location for a while.

    Charleston Pizza
    This pizza place was run by the grandparents. It was a sit down restaurant with Take out service. We used to go out for dinner there even though we lived nearby. They had a taco pizza which was uncooked with piles of goodies. Later the Grandchildren took it over and changed many things. They did away with the Restaurant and added a driver for delivers. They did away with the taco pizza.
    We tried it once and that was enough. By this time there were several new pizza Places in the valley making the choices harder.

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