Pizza Roma Wins Wildcat Voice Taste Test
February 27, 2017
The Test
Bibby Boclear and Alexis Thomas
The Wildcat Voice staff taste-tested six different pizzas from local establishments. Cheese pizzas from Pizzazz, Pizza Roma, Master’s Pizza, Cork & Bottle, and Ferrara’s Italian Imports were sampled to determine which was the best one. The test was done in honor of National Pizza Day, which was founded in Chicago and is celebrated annually on February 9.
Eight members of the Wildcat Voice staff as well as six teacher volunteers, Mrs. Trentanelli, Mr. Mittinger, Mrs. Streitman, Mr. Catullo, Mrs. Stephens, and Mrs. Saunders, tried each pizza, evaluated it on taste, then ranked the pizzas from most to least favorite.
The Voice staff first judged the pizzas based on appearance alone. Before tasting, four students predicted they would prefer Pizzazz, two students liked the appearance of Ferrara’s, and both Cork & Bottle and Master’s were chosen by one. But after tasting all of the pizza, Pizza Roma, which earned no votes as the most visually appealing, was voted the best.
While Pizza Roma, Ferrara’s, and Pizzazz each earned three votes as favorites from the team of tasters, when considering average ranking from 1 (the best) to 5 (the worst), the overall winner was Pizza Roma with an average rank of 2.16 out of 5. Following were Pizzazz (2.58), Master`s (2.91), Ferrara’s (3.49) and Cork and Bottle (4.08).
Pizza Roma
Pizza Roma is a well-loved strip-mall pizzeria located on the intersection of Wilson Mills and SOM Center Road. Their menu consists of pizza, calzones, pasta and sides, salads, subs, wings, desserts and beverages. They offer ordering via phone, pick up, and eating in.
They were voted Number One in the Far East Region by the Cleveland Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com Pizza Playoffs. Their site contains raving reviews, as does Google, with it being rated 4.9/5 stars by 27 Google users, and 4/5 stars by TripAdvisor. One customer praised the store: “I’ve been going to Pizza Roma for about 8 years now, they have absolutely the best pizza and calzones! Portions are really good, and the quality of the ingredients is the best I’ve had anywhere – especially the meatballs (and I’m Italian, so I’m pretty picky!)”.
The pizza earned mostly positive comments by students and teachers. Mrs. Saunders said it had “A spongy crust with a sweet tangy sauce and a thick layer of chewy cheese” while Mr. Mittinger said the pizza had a “thicker crust [and] little sauce”. Staff writer Alexis Thomas described it as having, “[A] crispy crust, artisan taste, onion taste, [and] melty cheese.”
Mrs. Trentanelli left a lengthy review: “If Pizzazz and Cork & Bottle’s Pizzas could have a baby, this would be it! It has the right balance of spice, sauce and cheese to give you an extra kick without feeling like you tasted an herb garden. It was like a federal government of pizza: all three branches (cheese, sauce, spice) working to check and balance each-other making sure that one didn’t overpower the other. This pizza was a pleasant surprise that I would definitely seek out again.”
However, staff writer Jessica Johnson answered that it “looked sloppy” and she disliked the crust.
With three people choosing it as their favorite, six selecting it as their second favorite, three ranking it third, and nobody ranking it below third, Pizza Roma earned the winning designation.
785 SOM Center Road
440-684-1984
Tuesday – Saturday 11:00am – 9:00pm
Monday 11:00am – 8:00pm
Closed Sunday
Pizzazz
It all started on May 15, 1975 when John and Marie Spiccia started Pizzazz Pizza. Using Marie’s recipe, the pizzeria took off.
Pizzazz has a large menu of not only pizza but calzones, pasta, salads, and traditional Italian entrees as well. They are known for their “build your own” sheet pizzas with a long list of topping options and generously-sized entrees. Pizzazz offers catering, eat-in, and delivery.
Steve Zehnder replied on Pizzazz’s website saying, “Friends from Mayfield Heights recommended Pizzazz Pizza, so we drove up one evening for dinner. We can’t say enough good things about our experience. The food was delicious, the portions generous, and the price was outstanding. Now we recommend the restaurant to our friends and family!”
Mrs. Trentanelli described Pizzazz as a “classic textbook pizza.” Pizzazz’s pizza was described by another reviewer as “balanced with a good appearance.” Other observations were that the pizza had a flavorful, sweet and tangy sauce and was topped with thick, smoky cheese. Even though the majority of the reviews were in favor of Pizzazz, some commented that the pizza was rather greasy and there wasn’t enough sauce. A few felt the pizza had a little too much cheese.
In the end, it won second out of the five pizzas, with an overall average of 2.58 out of five, 1 being the best and 5 being the worst.
839 SOM Center Rd.
(440) 461-2233
Monday-Wednesday 11am-10pm
Thursday-Saturday 11am-11pm
Sunday 4pm-9pm
Master’s Pizza
In 1955, Master’s Pizza was the first pizzeria founded in Mayfield Heights. The pizzeria later grew to become more and more popular within the city of Cleveland. By the mid 1970’s, Master’s Pizza had about 38 locations across Greater Cleveland area. In the 1980’s, however, the pizzeria split into two separate companies (Master’s Pizza and Pizza Bazaar), and by the late 1990’s, Pizza Bazaar went bankrupt, and Master’s Pizza only had the original Mayfield Heights location. For 62 years, Master’s Pizza has kept its legacy as an award winning pizzeria, even in the ever changing pizza market. Some Masters Pizza’s favorite recipes include, “The 3 Little Pigs”, which consists of smoked ham, bacon, and Italian sausage, the “Popeye Pizza”, made up of fresh spinach, sliced tomatoes, and artichoke hearts, and “Pepperoni Passion”, which contains double pepperoni on red tomato sauce.
In 2013, Master’s unique, “3 Little Pigs” pizza captured an award as 2nd place in the Best Pizza in America competition. On March 3, 2013, Master’s Pizza came home victorious in the International Pizza Challenge at Las Vegas as one of the Top 5 Pizzas in the world. On top of that, they recently won 6th place at the Chinese World Pizza Championships, in Shanghai, China.
3 people out of the 12 tasters preferred Master’s Pizza as their 1st choice, and 3 other people said that Master’s was their least favorite. Many people responded that the Master’s Pizza had very little sauce, with a crispy crust. Most participants also said that it was tainted with a strong tomato taste, with some spices to it. The most substantial difference in Master’s Pizza vs. other pizzas was that, according to tasters, it had a more herbal taste, with hints of spices.
6643 Mayfield Road
440-449-1516
Open daily, 10am to 10pm
Ferrara’s Italian Imports
Ferrara’s has been in Mayfield since 1959. Believe it or not, Ferrara’s is not known for being a pizza shop; instead, it is normally recognized as an Italian imports food store with products coming straight from Italy. Some of these imported goods include pastas, tomatoes, wine, peppers, and much more.
Ferrara’s has a counter that sells deli and Sicilian style red or white pizza. You can purchase them in full, half, or quarter sheets, or you can purchase a traditional round one. Sicilian style pizza is more of a “thick sponge” rather than bread thickly coated in cheese and toppings. The pizza Ferrara’s serves has no cheese or toppings; instead, it is just bread with sauce on top.
Mr. Stephens described the pizza’s sauce as “burst[ing] with freshness…tastes like the tomatoes were picked this morning!”. Mrs. Saunders said that the pizza had a “thick soft crust with [a] thick layer of sauce.” Many enjoyed Ferrara’s sauce and crust, however there was one defining factor that caused many people to rank it lower than the others: it was served cold. It was not that Ferrara’s didn’t cook it properly, or that delivery was too slow, rather that was just how Ferrara’s made their pizza.
A reviewer on their website Frank M. says “Great deli and Italian market. Friendly people, good food ready to eat or take home for your gourmet dinner!” Also, Mark S. says “Absolutely the best sub sandwiches. Tip: get it dipped and go for either sweet or hot peppers. Great choices in meat and cheese at the counter.”
Ferrara’s pizza is a unique twist on a traditional favorite. With three votes for first and six votes for last, Ferrara’s pizza placed fourth out of the five pizzas that were tasted.
5750 Mayfield Road
440-442-3700
http://www.ferrarasimportedfoods.com
Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:30pm
Saturday 8:00am-5:00pm
Closed Sundays
Cork & Bottle
Established in 1963, this small tavern is located in Mayfield Heights near Hillcrest Hospital. You can eat in at the dining room or at the bar, however the building itself is pretty small. Here, they serve pizza, calzones, burgers, various appetizers, and alcoholic drinks. Cork & Bottle offers free delivery and happy hour every day from 9 AM-7 PM.
Many customers commented that the pizza was exceptional, however the bad service ruined the experience. Nicole S. said, “Awesome pizza and great atmosphere!”. However, Sue M. said, “Have lost a lot of Hillcrest business [due to] rudeness on phone and in person. Also takes forever to get waited on both eat in and take out.”
Cork & Bottle is ranked 703 out of 1827 restaurants in Cleveland. During the pizza taste test, it was commonly rated four out of 5 (5 being the least favorite). Molly X. described the sauce as, “sweet and aromatic”, however Mr. Stephens said, “[the] sauce [was] too acidic”. Many noted that it was greasy and there was minimal sauce. Josie C. said the pizza had “[a] thin crust with a satisfying crunch.” Out of the five pizzas tasted, Cork & Bottle placed last.
6724 Mayfield Road
440-720-0300
http://cork-n-bottle.com/index.html
Open daily 9am-2 am
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