Restaurant Review #209: Salerno’s Pizza (Hazlet)

Nothing outstanding here, but in a sea of mediocrity they do stand out a cut above. Their buffalo chicken pan pizza was absolutely perfect. Too much chicken for its own good, but did not fall apart. The crust off their pan pizza is good enough to eat on its own as breadsticks. It was also so massive that three people could not finish it. Leftovers awaited. It’s worth noting too that their “personal” pizzas are large enough to be mediums. Justin and I can share one and be filled up. The only item from Salerno’s I did not care for was their panini. Price was right on the money ($7.95 in this area is actually “cheap”, and it comes with macaroni salad) but the chicken they gave me was so thin I could have sneezed a hole through it. I love thin cutlets, but there needs to be a few of them. Just one measly little strip of breast and a handful of broccoli rabe that couldn’t have gotten me sick of there was e coli present. A real cop-out of a sandwich and it affects the rating. 3 out of 5 stars.

Restaurant Review #208: Pasquales’s Pizza (Middletown)

There are about four years spread between visits here. The first time I had Pasquale’s was years ago after my group had just finished playing street hockey. I was told that their buffalo chicken pizza was outstanding. We ordered a pie. It was enormous, and quite tasty. I thought it was one of the best rendition’s of such a pizza I had ever had. Two weeks later, same deal. Finished hockey and we ordered the pizza. Only this time, something was off. The bleu cheese dressing poured over it had a funky taste. It was almost like it had gone rancid. The pizza had the faint odor of spoiled milk. It was nauseating. I gagged. It was thrown in the garbage. Fast forward to a week ago, and all I wanted was a turkey sub: turkey, lettuce, tomato, onion, oil, vinegar, mayo. I specifically requested no oregano and despite the ticket reading as such, there was oregano sprinkled all over my sandwich. I drove back to have it replaced. They didn’t question anything and gave me a new sub without issue, but it just reminded me that there are a million other pizzerias within five minutes of my house where I can get better. I’ll take the farther drive to Giuseppe’s. 2 out of 5 stars