#031 Best Pizza

#031 Tony's Pizzeria Teatro was called "Best Pizza."  However, Living Social is fairly liberal with their definition of "best" as I am fairly certain there are a multitude of pizza chains listed as "best".  Determining the true best is going to take some hard work that will involve me stuffing myself with various pizzas.  I think I can handle that.

Living Social says this place serves up classic thin crust pizzas and calzones.  This I can confirm.  The calzones sounded delicious -- they were all about 8 dollars and had some fancy-sounding ingredients (one that stood out was pork tenderloin).  However, I don't know if I have ever even ordered a calzone before, so I decided to stay traditional and go for the main event -- pizza.

They have no website, so I was left to scan through yelp reviews. One review said the pizza "transported us back to Italy and the way pizza is intended to be made.  The pizza crusts were thin and light with a slight crisp from being baked in a hot brick oven."

Another, self-proclaimed pizza snob, calls Tony's "legit.  Like it or not, this is the most authentic pizza you will find within 500 miles of Boise.  I have had it in Roma, Napoli, Sicilia, Puglia, and Calabria and in most major cities within the US -- Tony does it solid, does it right, all the time, every time."

Well, as a disclaimer, I have never left the country and I have NOT had pizza in most American cities.  I do have a mouth and I do have an opinion though, so we should be fine here.

The restaurant it located above on the right.  It is next to the Egyptian Theater and it has a cute litle patio area.  The inside is quite small (about ten tables, max) and I think it would be delightful to eat outside on a warm day.

This was one of the first times I have gone into a restaurant and eaten by myself, and even though I got my food to go, I felt quite glamorous.  I think you have to fake it til you make it -- act like you are so awesome you are satisfied eating by yourself and no one else will think to question you.  Yes, to clarify, I do have friends.  However, I wanted to go wherever I wanted and do whatever I wanted, so I decided to go by myself.  It was peaceful and nice.

The waitresses seemed a little thrown off.  They asked me, "Just one?" with a slight hint of confusion, and also offered me picnic supplies.  I politely declined and everyone was very friendly.  I got some water to cool off while I waited, and enjoyed the air conditioning inside.

I ordered the Quattro Formaggi which had San Marzzano tomatoes, imported parmesan reggiano pecorino, fresh ricotta, and mozzerrella di bufala.  It was $14 and came with eight slices.

First of all, this is clearly expensive pizza.  My slices weren't massive. I could have easily eaten six and been enjoyably full.  Don't come here expecting to feed your family on the cheap.  But I think it is a classic case of "you get what you pay for."  The ingredients were wonderful.  Everything was incredibly fresh.  The tomatoes tasted like they were fresh off the vine.

This was also the first time I have ever had a multi-cheese pizza and actually been able to taste each individual cheese.  There were dollops of ricotta that were distinguishable from the mozzerrella and it was wonderful!  The addition of a few basil leaves were the perfect topper.  This is also very thin crust pizza (which I love).

I would rate Tony's the Best Pizza (so far at least) with a caveat -- I think it should be called "Best Pizza for Date Night."  This place has tons of wine and beer options, and the atmosphere is perfect for a date.  There are little two-person tables, and it was a very cozy atmosphere.  The pizza is fancy and you feel like you are eating healthy, fresh food.  You won't have that horrible bloated feeling after (as long as you keep yourself under a bit of control!) and you might even have some leftovers to eat later in the night.  It would also lend well to sharing, as you could each order a different pizza and share.  Finally, the price is good "date range."  You will feel like you are splurging, but you won't walk away broke.

As a caveat, this pizza did not reheat well.  Sometimes I love reheated pizza, but not with this stuff.  I think it is so delicious fresh that you would be better off eating as much as you can when you get it, as opposed to saving it for later.  I had mine the next day and the delightful thin crust turned into a quite-chewy crust the day after.  However, this was not enough to downgrade the pizza to bad.  It was still tasty and good, just not as tasty and good.

As another note, if it came down to it, I think I would go back to Red Feather for pizza, rather than Tony's.  My Red Feather pizza was about the same size, but was significantly cheaper (I think $11) and had more unique choices.  I also liked that it was a different style -- it didn't even have tomato sauce! So if you want authentic, go to Tony's.  If you want different, hit up Red Feather.