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| - This place looks GREAT! It does not look like a Pizza place at all and I mean that as a compliment! The Entryway, Bar, Large Dinning Room, Large Patio and Restrooms all look Fantastic! Very Comfortable seating which is important when you order like I do! Very relaxed friendly environment! Sort of Modern decor, like if the person who designed the interior for "Bricktops" had gotten some better skills and ideas when designing this place!
Staff is friendly, accurate and attentive! My caution is to say be careful not to overdo it, yet if you are going to make a mistake err on the side of being overly service driven! It is my guess that it will take longer in any Restaurant for the Kitchen to get up to speed - Seems that would make sense to me!
I have been waiting and waiting for this place to OPEN! You could guess I have no friends and my Family lives far away, so I joined the masses here for the "Official" First day of "Business" to the public here in Charlotte, Yesterday!
The name of the place is "Al's Pizza", so I order:
Breaded Zucchini Sticks (I learned the difference between lightly Breaded and lightly battered today! I have always wondered about that!) These were Breaded and I found out today I do not like Breaded, still these had a better than good flavor (I had to check them out - What if they had beaten "Nolen Kitchens" "Charlotte Famous Zucchini Chips" WHOA!)! Hey it's Al's Pizza, not Al's Zucchini Appetizer! Still they had a chance to show Charlotte something they have never seen! Hey Al, you still have that chance - HEY, Al go to "Nolen Kitchen" order the Zucchini Chips, at your place cut the Zucchini fries as you do and use a thin light batter instead of breading!
Marinara Sauce was very Tomatoey and I guess since Marinara is a Tomato sauce it is supposed to be - I liked it, even though it seemed Totally devoid of Garlic this was a delicious sauce. If they made some pasta in house I would order it again and still may!
Manicotti tasted very good, had a very fresh taste and I will give it close to 5 yelp stars though would never order it again because it tasted devoid of Garlic! I LOVE Garlic and though I do not want to offend people with the way I smell, I expect to drive any Vampires away for 12 hours! No one said this is Al' Italian food, nor Al's Italian/American food, this is Al's Pizza and they did a Very good job with this dish! YOU may appreciate the lack of Garlic, anyone you work or live with will be thanking Al, if he is not taking my advice on this! The Manicotti was served with Toasted Buttered Garlic Bread and it did have some REAL fresh garlic! Manicotti was GREAT, Garlic bread was A-OK.
Italian Cold Sub - Oppppps - Al personally assured me next time this would be right! The bread was very good, the Onions were RED + BIG Plus though they were sliced way too thick for me. The Tomatoes were beautiful and had great flavor, the Cheese was probably just right, the meat could have been a little more plentiful and they either did not put any Oil and Vinegar on it or it was just impossible to see and taste (I took the sandwich completely apart twice in front of one of the Managers (Sorry Mr. Manager, that is as bad as I will be (hopefully), my Sincere apologies)! I hope that I did not offend anyone, even a little... My Aim is to help - Charlotte NEEDS some GREAT Pizza, wait I'm still reviewing a "Sub" Sandwich, not a sub Pizza! My waitress (who did a fantastic job of continually answering questions and keeping my (two - that is too smart) large LARGE glasses FULL!) asked if I would like some Oil and Vinegar on the side so I asked if they had some "Balsamic" so I checked it out and it was A-OK (better than many) which means I would not get it again! Food needs to be GREAT, not merely good!
For Dessert I had the Cannolis (five small Cannolis on a plate, stuffed to order, FRESH, Rich and flavorful)! 5 yelp stars!
I got Pizza - 16" Thin, thin, thin (I like Thin) Crust, first bite and I'm impressed, first slice here is what I liked: The Cheese is just right, I think it is all Mozzarella, if it is a blend it is a good blend. The sauce was good, fairly simple (I'm a fan of Simplicity) though overall the crust (as dough I'm guessing was "overworked") had a semi-tough texture and bland flavor - I'm no expert on how it is supposed to taste, overall it was good yet disappointing. I'm always hoping for GREAT, not merely good! This is really just the second day so I bet they improve!
This Morning for Breakfast I had leftover Pizza from Al's. For leftover Pizza heated about 30 seconds in a pre-heated toaster oven with a brick bottom (I have not owned a Microwave in years) it was better than good and better than many for leftover Pizza
November 2012 Took my Fiancee here, we both had Pasta Dishes Both were very Good!
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