Bruno's of Liberty Township

On Friday night for dinner, we visited Bruno's of Liberty Township.  They ranked #29 on Cincinnati Magazine's list.

This was a traditional strip-mall pizza parlor.  They also sell pizza by the slice - might be good to visit for lunch.  But read what we say first!

Their website says they have been in Oxford, Ohio (home of Miami University, Ohio) since 1963, and since the transplant population of Miami graduates is so high in the Cincinnati area, they decided to open one here too.  Very interesting.

We ordered a half pepperoni and banana pepper and half cheese (gotta satisfy the kids!).

Crust:
     Danielle: **
     Chad: **1/2
     It was too crunchy and too chewy.  The flavor was lacking.

Sauce:
     Danielle: **
     Chad: *1/2
     The sauce flavor was again lacking.  Chad had to add a bunch of red pepper flakes for any flavor.

Toppings:
     Danielle: ***
     Chad: **1/2
     There was an abundance of banana peppers, and those peppers had a really great flavor.  The cheese was real greasy and oily, and had a real processed taste.

Atmosphere:
     Danielle: ***
     Chad: ***1/2
     It was family friendly.  They had TV's going.  The pizza making station was out front, so the kids could watch them toss the pizza up (that's always good for a few "wow"'s).  But nothing spectacular or memorable.

Value:
     Danielle: **
     Chad: *
     We ordered a large pizza. I'm pretty sure Chad walked out still hungry. . .and it was not cheap.

Overall:
     Danielle: **
     Chad: *1/2
     Won't be back, unless you're buying!

Ferrari's Little Italy and Bakery

We started with Ferrari's Little Italy and Bakery, #13 on Cincinnati Magazine's list.

You can find it here.

We dined at this sit-down Italian restaurant (that serves pizza) for lunch, so the experience for dinner may be different.

We got two pizzas this time around, the Margherita Pizza, and the Cheese Pizza.  We liked the sound of the Margherita, but wanted to try the sauce on the Cheese.

Cheese

Margherita

Now for our thoughts:


Crust:
    Danielle: ****
    Chad: ****
    The crust was brick oven, but not flakey like some brick oven crust.  A perfect balance of crunch on the bottom and softness in the middle.  The middle of some of the pieces were rolled a little too thin, so they got a little soggy.

Sauce (on the cheese pizza):
    Danielle: **
    Chad: ***
    The sauce had little flavor other than tomato.

Toppings (on the Margherita pizza):
    Danielle: ****
    Chad: ****1/2
    We CAN NOT say enough about those tomatoes.  So yummy!  Our server explained they were soaked in balsamic vinegar and some basil.  They just melt in your mouth.  And the fresh mozzarella was a perfect balance to the crust and tomatoes.  I can't stop thinking about it!

Atmosphere:
     Danielle: ***1/2
     Chad: ***1/2
     Perfect for a quiet, romantic meal with your hubby or boyfriend.  But not quite family friendly - no kids cups, very echoey - so it seemed Noah was being louder than he really was (and we kept telling him to keep his voice down).

Value:
    Danielle: **
    Chad: **1/2
    Small pizza for the price.  You would need one pizza per person.

Over All:
    Danielle: ****
    Chad: ***1/2
    Try it!

the beginning

Today, Chad & I spontaneously decided to embark on a new adventure. . .

This month's Cincinnati Magazine rated the top 50 pizza places in Cincinnati.  There are a wide variety of styles of pizza listed - from walk up pizza counters to nicer Italian restaurants (that serve pizza). While looking through the list, we discovered that (shamefully) we have only been to 3 or 4 of the restaurants listed.

Our goal is to visit each of the restaurants on the list - in no particular order.  Except the #1, we're going to leave it for last - to see if we feel it really is the best!

Each time we visit a new place, we will post how we feel about the: crust, sauce, toppings, atmosphere and value of the pizza.

We will also give each an over all rating, scored in * to *****'s.

Pick up a copy of Cincinnati Magazine and follow us!