You probably wouldn’t expect Phoenix to be the most Italian of cities. After all, there is not Little Italy and the Mafia is more of an East Coast thing. Yet, Phoenix definitely has some homegrown Italian favorites and Babbo is one of these. Babbo invited me out to its Scottsdale location for a hosted dinner and I took them up on the chance to check it out.

It began with the house bread, which was served with a plate of balsamic vinegar and kalamata olive oil a popular option recently.

Despite the roasted onions atop the bread, this made a strong first impression as I probably ate a whole meal’s worth of that bread. But this was just the start and I made sure to massage my stomach to make way for an appetizer of my choosing.

We chose the Firecracker Rolls, which are essentially Babbo’s take on egg rolls. However, instead of being filled with whatever egg rolls are filled with these days, they came with three filling options. The first was steak, jalapenos, onions, provolone and mozzarella. The second was Italian meats, provolone and mozzarella. And the third was buffalo chicken, mozzarella and gorgonzola. We tried all three with a marinara dipping sauce. I was partial to the buffalo chicken option, but that’s because there will always be a special place in my heart for buffalo flavored things in the summer. The steak packed a nice punch that was even spicier than the buffalo and the Italian meats is really something that should please anyone.

For my main course, I went with the Three Cheese Mac and Cheese. It’s described as “This ain’t no kids meal!” and that ain’t no joke. I had never seen anything like this called “mac and cheese” before because it could probably better be described as penne pasta in a spicy cream sauce, but that should in no way distract from the tastiness of this dish. In reality, it used a smokey chipotle cream sauce mixed with cheddar, mozzarella and gorgonzola, plus bacon, sausage and croutons with penne in there.

Its probably not even proper to call it a grown up mac and cheese, but moreso it is a conduit to eat all of the things you normally want to eat, but look somewhat classy as you do. I loved the kick of the chipotle, the bacon was delicious and that sausage just added another great element. The only thing I might consider questioning is the croutons. I can only try to guess that they were tossed in there to seem like a grown up version of breadcrumbs and to give some crunch. Yet, sometimes you just don’t want to mess with a good thing like breadcrumbs because breadcrumbs are already plenty grown up.

We finished off our meal (honestly I don’t know where the stomach space came from) with Stuffed Churros. These were those same egg rolls, but stuffed with a ricotta cream cheese (basically cheesecake filling) and topped with nutella and strawberry sauce. These were delicious, but I know you’re here for the savory stuff so I will try my best to just stick with that.

Babbo did some unique things and deserves a lot of credit for that. I mean, stuffing buffalo chicken in an egg roll can’t even be remotely described as Italian and yet Babbo figured out a way to get away with it. They upped the stakes for mac and cheese and really eased themselves into a dessert that also can’t remotely be considered Italian and yet it, too, worked like a charm. If you stick to the straight Italian food, you’ll probably leave thinking “Hey, that was like Olive Garden, but much better and I don’t hate myself after eating the food.” If you give some of the more unique options a chance, though, you’ll not only leave Olive Garden in the rearview mirror, but actually look forward to a return visit.

Goodyear is really far away when you live in Scottsdale. Like, it feels like it’s in an entirely different state. Like, when you drive there you feel like you may as well be driving to Los Angeles. So, I figured if I was going there I might as well make an afternoon of it and grab lunch as well. Thus, I found myself at Haymaker, which is like a family friendly sports bar that almost feels like a chain, but isn’t.

I was in the mood for buffalo chicken, but in sandwich form instead of loose wing form. Therefore, I ordered the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich, which was fried, smothered in buffalo sauce and squeezed between two pieces of Texas Toast, therefore bringing Buffalo and Texas together at last. It also came topped with lettuce and tomato with blue cheese on the side, but I had no interest in the lettuce and tomato.

The fried chicken was sizable, juicy and crunchy. The buffalo sauce was a very good blend of butter, spice and spicy. The side of blue cheese was, well, a side of blue cheese. So, you could say things were going pretty well. But then there was the Texas Toast, which was a mistake. I mean, it was good toast, but it was far more toast than a breaded chicken sandwich should ever need. Oh and especially when there were plenty of carby and delicious fries as well.

It was a near-hit of a sandwich that just seemed to be doomed by trying too hard. If I were to order it again, I’d go topless or bottomless, but never fully clothed.

The world has a few different styles of pizza: New York, Italian, Chicago, Detroit, etc. Yet, it takes a bold pizza purveyor to deliver something that doesn’t quite fit into a predetermined style. Mancino’s Pizza, which seems to have a series of somewhat affiliated locations around the midwest, has done just that. It was in Petoskey, Michigan that I snagged one of these pizzas for the first time.

I went with the Buffalo Wing Pizza, which could have probably been better named the Buffalo Chicken Pizza, since it was topped with slices of grilled chicken breast, then doused with cheese and buffalo sauce. And by doused, I mean there was an insanely thick layer of cheese on this pizza. This alone seemed novel, but the crust is what made Mancino’s pizza so much different than expected. It seemed to skirt the very thick line between New York Style and Chicago Deep Dish, meaning the crust seemed to serve as a means of keeping the ingredients in, but foregoing the full casserole route.

I was surprised by just how spicy the sauce was, but otherwise I was very happy with Mancino’s pizza. I mean, it’s hard to go wrong with a boat load of cheese and solid sauce and toppings. And while I was impressed by the pizza’s audacity to not be classified, it also didn’t break barriers in a way that made me feel like it is going to change the world like the aforementioned pizzas may well have. Regardless, it’s worth grabbing a slice.

Ever since 800 Degrees hit the scene, it seems like quickie custom pizza shops have shown up everywhere. Pieology is one of these places and it follows in the same assembly line style of others before it. The ingredients are essentially the same as Blaze Pizza, but with a few tweaks here and there in the sauce department.

Thus, I went with a twist on the buffalo chicken pizza (taking advantage of their buffalo sauce), topping mine with spicy chicken, basil, mozzarella and gorgozola cheese, bacon, and sausage because obviously chicken isn’t enough meat.

After a quick blazing in the oven, my pizza was ready for chowing. Like Blaze Pizza, Pieology’s pizza felt more commercialized in the sense that the crust was pretty perfect rounded (despite a weird deformity in the bottom right of the picture) and the toppings were evenly distributed. Unlike Blaze Pizza and 800 Degrees, this pizza was super crispy. I didn’t ask for it to be cooked well-done, but it sure seemed like it was. I couldn’t complain about it, but it was definitely a noticeable difference.

As for the toppings, they were really great. The spicy chicken was really truly spicy and the rest of the toppings (aside from the buffalo sauce) did their best to buffer against the heat. They failed, but tasted good in the process. Other than the spiciness and crust, I could find little to distinguish Pieology from its brethren.

But wait, there was a dessert pizza option. We ordered it to split as a group, but I found what seemed to be just bits of chocolate to be incredibly potent and overwhelming. Just know if you get the dessert pizza it’s for those with a strong sweet tooth as opposed to those who was just a little something sweet to close out a meal.

If Pieology is nearby and you’re craving custom pizza, you can’t go wrong. It’s really hard to make bad pizza and Pieology is a long way off from that. Nonetheless, it’s not exactly a spot I would seek out instead of another custom pizza spot.

Wife won a gift card to Social at Bakery Square a while back and we finally got a chance to use it recently. In fact, we made it a social thing and invited out a couple to join us. As I learned during the meal, the feminine half of the couple has her own food blog, which focuses on nutrition, so I naturally thought we were very similar. That is, until she ordered a salad. Crazy, I know.

As for me, I browsed the mostly salad, sandwich and pizza menu before choosing the Buffalo Chicken Pizza. The friendly waiter assured me it was a good choice, and I couldn’t argue with the simple unvegan ingredients of buffalo sauce, chunks of chicken, “moody bleu” cheese and aged cheddar. I’m not sure if that blue cheese is actually called “moody bleu” or is a reference to a French Moody Blues cover band, but either way it looked good.

And it turned out it was actually pretty good. The ingredients were all up to snuff and the dough wasn’t half bad either. I especially liked the fact that I dd not need to order the pie without vegetables, but wouldn’t have minded a crispier crust. Nonetheless, I ate the whole damn thing in one sitting, which I know isn’t that impressive, but hey I’m getting on in the years here.

Rumor has it the salads were good too, so if you’re into “alternative” nutrition blogs, you might enjoy Social as well. Meanwhile, I’ll stick to pizza.

While Walnut Street in Shadyside is the typical haunt of my fellow students, Highland is another street in Shadyside that has a lot to offer. One of those offerings is Buffalo Blues, a sports bar with a fair amount of food options that you might expect at such a place. Wings dominate the menu, but there are also burgers, sandwiches and a few other things for those not so inclined towards the wings.

I, however, am a man who often inclines towards wings and this meal was no different. The food was a little expensive when compared to the beer prices, but still nothing to complain about. I ordered ten wings and chose two sauces. The first was Spicy Garlic and the other was Wet Cajun (their regular Red Hot sauce with a Cajun rub). Neither one disappointed. The wings were reasonably meaty and both went well in the blue cheese dressing. As usual, they came with celery, which I often fail to order without, but went untouched. Fortunately, celery is one of those veggies that doesn’t affect the outcome of the meal, but is still an annoyance.

I also have to put a plug in here for the Buffalo Blue Fries, which I had here on a later visit. These fries are topped with an incredible spicy blue cheese dip and pulled chicken and hit the spot no matter what mood I’m in. They eat like a meal, but they are also acceptable as an appetizer to split with a bunch of people. They will likely be the end of me.

So yeah, the wings were good enough to bring me back, but that dip is the real winner at Buffalo Blues. As a bonus, the place is slowly being converted into a Michigan bar.

As an apparent result of success, Italian Village Pizza expanded recently into a few new locations. One of which was in Fox Chapel/Blawnox and when the wife and I needed to get out and get some grub one night, we found ourselves in the friendly confines of a place with possibly the greatest happy hour hours ever (7-9). And while I enjoyed a Yuengling, I was really at Italian Village Pizza for their namesake.

After a lot of thought and conversation with our awesome waiter, I decided on the Buffalo Chicken Pizza because the guy had lived in New York for a while and said it was a good choice. What can I say? I’m a sucker for pizza suggestions from people who have experienced great pizza.

It took a bit to get my pizza cooking, and when it came out I couldn’t wait to dig in. So dig in I did and must admit I was somewhat disappointed. Had this been a grilled chicken pizza, it would have been pretty good, but the buffalo sauce and spicy flavor was a bit lacking. The dough was pretty much in New York fashion, not doughy but not crispy either.

In general it just seemed kind of like a safe place to get some pizza. Not a whole lot to complain about, but nothing to push people towards either.

Many months ago, someone was telling me about a delicious pizza chain from the Midwest called Godfather’s. Being from the Midwest, I was a bit surprised until he told me it was from that other Midwest. You know, like Kansas and stuff. Then Godfather’s started getting a lot more attention because of some dude named Herman Cain that wants to be President. So when I ordered some pizza delivery from a place called Godfather’s that recently appeared in Palms, I was thinking this was one and the same as the fabled Godfather’s I had heard so much about. I was wrong, for the first time.

Godfather’s in Palms is not some pizza chain, but an Italian restaurant with a pretty big selection. I was clearly in the mood for pizza though, so pizza I got. They had some interesting choices, but I ultimately decided upon the Medium (12 inches) Buffalo Chicken Pizza, which consisted of chicken, hot sauce and blue cheese. A perfect pizza without any of those flavor-stealing vegetables like celery or carrots that crazy people seem to love with their buffalo wings.

When the delivery arrived, I popped open my pizza box and was face to face with one of the prettiest pizzas I had ever seen. The blue cheese and hot sauce were nicely swirled around the pizza with purpose, but it would take more than just beauty to make me like Godfather’s. Fortunately, it had that other component – taste. You see, those swirls of sauce were not only good to look at, but they also ensured that each bite I took had a perfect combination of flavors. There was never a bite with too much or too little of anything. Instead, each bite had the perfect balance of chicken, hot sauce and blue cheese. With such great flavors, the dough itself was little more than a conduit with which to deliver toppings. And the dough was good, in a California Pizza Kitchen kind of way. It didn’t scream authenticity or New York, but it did its job well.

So, while it may not be a part of some legendary Midwestern chain, Godfather’s Pizza in Palms is certainly worth visiting and ordering from. Now that I have the Buffalo Chicken under my belt, I’m eager to see what they can do with their Philly Cheese Steak pizza.

For a little lunch pickup in Cave Creek, Arizona, just north of Scottsdale, I was told we would be ordering from a local sandwich shop called Bad Donkey (not to be confused with Bikkuri Donkey). Although actual donkey was no where to be found on the menu, it seemed they had come up with some very creative names to make up for the lack of donkey. Their veggie sub was called Grass on a Roll and their Reuben was creatively called Reuben Worth Choosen (yes, choosen and not choosin’).

Of these creative names, the only one that mattered to me was their Perturbed Bird, which was their take on a buffalo chicken sub. This came with grilled chicken, buffalo sauce, blue cheese crumbles, veggies and the ambiguously and slightly ominously named Donkey Sauce. As I listened to my girlfriend order the “putrid chicken” (followed by laughter and a quick correction), she ordered mine without the generic “veggies” and we were good to go.

The sub had been prepared on a wheat bun (for my rigid health regiment) and looked like…well…just about every other buffalo chicken sub I had ever eaten. With this in mind, I dug in and found that yes, this was just like every other buffalo chicken sub I had ever eaten. On one hand, this was good because it tasted just fine, but on the other hand it was a little sad because it seemed that most of Bad Donkey’s creativity had ended after they named their subs. In other words, the bird I was eating was not nearly as perturbed as I had hoped. I guess what I’m trying to say is that although I was happy with my sandwich, I also felt like I could have gotten something just as good at Subway, which made me sad.

As for the frightening Donkey Sauce, I really couldn’t distinguish it from the buffalo sauce and blue cheese, which I think is a good thing because it just worked well with the sub. I’d be curious what it tasted like without, but was perfectly happy with the sub as it was.

So in the end, Bad Donkey fell a bit flat. It wasn’t a bad sub by any means, but I just felt like they could have taken the sandwich above and beyond to truly make it a Perturbed Bird instead of an ordinary buffalo chicken sandwich.

Though LA still doesn’t have it’s own style of pizza, I keep finding more and more places that attempt to create a sort of New York style pizza. My buddy recently brought me to Tomato Pie Pizza Joint in Silver Lake. At first I was frightened by any restaurant that would use the name of a vegetable in their name. Would every pizza be loaded with tomatoes? Would this actually be a pizza place or just a place that baked pies made with tomatoes? Did my friend even know who he was eating with? What’s the meaning of life? All these questions and more flooded my brain, but when I walked into the joint and the kind of pizza they had to offer, my questions and most of my fears washed away.

Tomato Pie just sells good old-fashioned pizza by the slice. You can order whole pizzas, but I decided to try out a couple different slices. The first one that I had to get was pepperoni and then I got a little bit crazy. I found they had a buffalo chicken pizza that looked 90% awesome. I say 90% because rather than spreading the bleu cheese around each slice, each one had a dollop of the dressing just chilling in the middle of the slice. I hoped it wouldn’t have an adverse affect on my slice and ordered two slices and a drink for a total of six bucks.

They tossed my slices in the over for a few minutes and then they were ready for eating. I started with the pepperoni, which tasted great. The ‘ronis were well-distributed on the pizza and the mix of cheese, sauce and crust tasted great. Then I move onto the buffalo chicken pizza. The dollop of bleu cheese still bothered me and I wondered if I was supposed to spread it around myself. I chose not to and ate it as it was. Just like the pepperoni, the buffalo chicken was delicious. They put the perfect amount of chicken and buffalo sauce on it so it didn’t too much like buffalo wings or too much like pizza. Somehow they found the perfect medium of these two great foods. Except for that bleu cheese. When I reached that dollop in the middle and ate it, it made me realize how much better the pizza would have been if that dressing was spread all over or came on the side for dipping. As it was, any dipping would have had to bend the laws of physics.

So for a good 90% of my dinner, I was one happy man. All I needed was a little tweak to the buffalo chicken and this joint would have gone from a great pizza place to an awesome one.