The Parlor of Pizza

Review

We came here expecting Pier 49 only to see that it was gone and something else had taken its place.  Considering the lunch crew's craving for pizza, we decided to give The Parlor a chance. From the outside it appears to be a small location (which Pier 49 was as well), but you can't judge a book by the cover.  The inside is relatively small as well, but it fits the theme of a parlor.


Once inside we went to the counter and were greeted by the owner who took our orders, cooked our meal, and waited on our table.  Keeping to the Pier 49 tradition, the main selling point for our group was the all-you-can-eat pizza which included a salad and a drink.  Getting the all-you-can-eat pizza worked out really well since it allowed us to try a few pizzas we normally wouldn't have ordered otherwise and found out that we really liked.  Our hostess really bent over backwards to make sure we were satisfied and allowed us to choose which pizzas she would put in for the all-you-can-eat menu.  Because of that we were able to sample quite a few different pizzas.


The combination pizza was exactly as I like it -- with so many toppings that the cheese was barely visible.  The toppings were great, the crust was good, and with so many toppings blending together it tasted great.  For the toppings they typically put on large slices of everything (such as ham, pineapple, etc).  The barbecue pizza was sweet, but not overpowering.  The real key to a barbecue pizza is to allow for some sweetness while not making it so sweet you can't finish more than one slice.  This one kept a good balance of sweetness and tasted great.


There were a few other pizzas we tried, but much to my surprise the margarita pizza was one of my favorites.  As I've mentioned before my favorite topping is a wide variety of toppings and, in addition, I'm not the type of person to think that a pizza containing mostly tomato chunks is a good pizza.  This, on the other hand, was really good.  The cheese was creamy, the sun dried tomatoes added some intense flavor when combined with the cheese and the basil.  She also cooked a strawberry dessert pizza for us with fresh chunks of strawberry.  By this time I was already very full from the rest of the pizza, but just the smell alone started to make me hungry again.  If it wasn't so full I would have had a second one.


Overall I was rather impressed with this place and the fact that it was all-you-can-eat pizza at a very reasonable price.  There have been a lot of changes on Center Street as of late.  The burned-down tabernacle isn't the only empty building on Center.  With the loss of Pier 49, Los Hermanos (still vacant), Stumpys, and who knows whatever other businesses on that street, Center Street is in a time of transition.  With all the businesses coming and going this is definitely one that deserves to stick around for a while.  Not only did they have great customer service, but they also have pizza worth coming back for.


Cost and Big John Rating
$7.99 = Pizza, drink, and salad without tax (lunch special)
Service = 9
Taste = 8
Quality = 8
Ambiance = 7
Price Rating = 8.0
Big John Rating = 8.1


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