When Trevor Radomski, 21, of Rochester, New York, came to Marblehead to visit his girlfriend, Alysa Eizenga, 22, over spring break, he found himself with enough free time that he naturally decided to fill it by eating all the pizza he could find.
The 6-foot-2, 185-pound cybersecurity major from Rochester Institute of Technology couldn’t believe his luck in being able to amble around this quaint, Colonial-era town and find one pizza joint after the next.
With a week to immerse himself in gastronomic research before boarding the Amtrak back to New York, the lanky scholar set out to taste two slices of pepperoni pizza in as many greasy spoons as he could find in historic Marblehead.
But first, it’s helpful to know from whence came Radomski. His campus at RIT boasts seven to 10 eateries (15, if you’re counting cafes, convenience stores and a wall of vending machines).
But are RIT’s restaurants comparable to what we have here in Marblehead, where no fast food dare enter; where McDonald’s, Burger King, KFC, Subway and other such pre-made takeaways are kept outside the town’s borders?
“I was struck by the fact that there are no chains here. In Henrietta, where RIT is, it’s hard to find out about family-owned restaurants,” said Radomski. “We have three colleges, so it’s a breeding ground for chains. The three main roads connecting the colleges are dense commercial strips. Family-owned is scarce. No one-off restaurants. This is a nice change of pace. Every slice from each of the four restaurants — Tony’s Pizza, House of Pizza, Café Vesuvius and Mino’s Roast Beef — was different.”
However, the pepperoni at all four restaurants basically tasted the same, according to Radomski, so he did include that in his evaluation. Instead, his criteria included: crust, tomato sauce, cheese, price, ease of ordering and paying.
In his own words, here is Radomski’s assessment.
Tony’s Pizza, 1 School St., 781-639-8669
Crust: Thin, not crunchy, floppy (not in a bad way). There’s an audience for that (including me), and for that, Tony’s is your place.
Sauce and cheese was the right amount — not too much. It was greasy. You have to fold it in half to eat, but it’s good. I like those slices.
Price: $6 for two slices.
Ordering: Not tech-friendly, but you can call.
Good seating.
House of Pizza, 7 Atlantic Ave., 781-631-4898
Crust: Thicker than Tony’s; in fact, it was the thickest crust of all four. I wouldn’t say crunchy, but crisp and airy. It can support itself on its way into your mouth. It has a noticeably flavorful crust. I don’t know what the flavors are; the others were just bread. Best crust by far. (House of Pizza is similar to Pizza Hut for the dough.)
Sauce and cheese were average. Sauce-to-bread ratio was very good. In a doughy slice, you don’t want too little sauce or else you taste too much bread.
According to the restaurant, Marblehead House of Pizza is Greek style. It is not a chain and is family-owned.
Price: $5 for two slices.
Ordering: This cash-only restaurant had the best price, probably for that reason. But cash-only can be a problem for someone who’s traveling, especially internationally. It isn’t tech-friendly because it’s cash only; no Apple Pay and no website.
Café Vesuvius, 18 Bessom St., 781-639-8120
Crust: Good; not as good as House of Pizza, which was the best.
Sauce and cheese: Very flavorful and evenly cooked. The ratio of sauce to cheese to bread is good.
It’s my favorite because of the overall flavor.
Ordering: I didn’t order online; I just walked in.
Mino’s Roast Beef, 27 Atlantic Ave., 781-631-7228
Crust: Compared with the others, it was middle-ground thickness. The taste was good, but the bread wasn’t flavored.
Cheese: Too much for my liking.
Sauce: Average
Overall, Mino’s is most similar to Domino’s, and not unique. It was the most average in all categories.
Ordering: Mino’s was the most tech-savvy with online ordering. We ordered without talking to anyone. Put a card in online, select toppings and be done with it. People our age like online ordering without talking in person.
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Reflecting on his nine-day stay in Marblehead, Radomski said, “I’ll remember the walking. It’s a big change from a driving city. Having pizza destinations forced me to walk through town. In Rochester, I have to decide where to eat, make a phone call and then drive at least 10 minutes. Here, you don’t have to decide. You walk and then go into a restaurant. I enjoyed the slices from all four restaurants.”
On breaks from school, Radomski gets home-cooked meals from his grandmother. But just as often, he’ll buy a pizza and “go back to my nana’s house, eat and play board games.’
Eizenga and Radomski met at RIT. The science-minded young woman put together the stacked-column pizza datasheet. A biomedical engineering student, she is doing an internship at Abiomed in Danvers, a company founded by David M. Lederman, who lived in Marblehead and passed away here in 2012.
What would RIT President David C. Munson Jr. say about his students delving into the world of pizza reviews? Perhaps, something like this: “RIT is one of the top universities in the nation working at the intersection of technology, the arts and pizza. We are a university that is shaping the future and improving the world through creativity and pizza tasting. We put a high value on bringing goodness to the world. And how better to do that than to send emissaries to the far reaches of the nation to selflessly roam the streets of say, Marblehead, in search of a great-tasting lunch?”
The article is courtesy of Mass Motifs (massmotifs.com), a local blog.
