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| - Tucked within the defunct shopping center that used to house Big Lots and Pure Fitness, Classic Italian Pizza is one of the last bastions of shopping civilization this center will ever hold. According to the staff, this center will be demolished, so they are moving at the end of the summer to the QT/New Big Lots area close by.
When we entered we were greeted warmly by one of the waitresses and were promptly seated. We ordered the garlic dipping oil to start with ($7.95), which came with small freshly baked bread pieces, a generous amount of pumpkin seed oil with freshly chopped garlic and jalapeno. Although the pumpkin seed oil had a nice, nutty flavor, and the garlic and jalapeno were fresh, it tasted bland as a whole. What I would recommend is to add salt, pepper, and Parmesan from the shakers to the dip and it will taste 10 times better!
We ordered the Four Seasons, which came out in a unique presentation. The whole pizza is covered with prosciutto, but then each 1/4 of the pizza has a different vegetable covering it, to represent each season (Artichoke, olive, tomato, and mushroom). You can also order all the ingredients mixed in equally on the pizza if you wish, but we decided to go with what the restaurant recommended, and we were glad we did! It was nice to have a different ingredient on each slice I ate. It made me feel like I was eating 4 different pizzas. The crust was initially crisp, but the center does get bogged down and a little soggy as the more watery ingredients start to infuse into the crust, but it doesn't detract from the taste too much. Although it was a bit pricey ($17.95), the ingredients were high quality and there was a healthy amount of ingredient on each part of the pizza.
I also ordered the red sangria, which was smooth, and fruity from the addition of orange juice to the wine and brandy. Minus some points for using generic canned fruit cocktail instead of fresh fruit in the sangria glass, especially if I'm paying $8.95 for it!
Service was very friendly. If I'm in the mood for more artisan type pizza, this is the place to go!
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