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| - I have to say, I am a little bit taken back by the people that are giving this place a full 5-star review.
I mean, yes, the pizza was great. I will echo what others have said on here for the most part. Crust was nice and delicate, yet still had a new chewiness to it. Sauce was nice and tangy, with nice herbal note from the oregano. The basil was slightly killed in the oven... but I am knit picking here.
The salads had a lot of non-typical ingredients, which made it interesting--lots of different textures. The meatball was very soft, although it could have been served a bit warmer.
They offer house sparkling water, for $3 a bottle. I thought this was nice a brilliant touch. Nice to have something gassy with heavy food. And a lot better than spending the big bucks for name brand sparkling waters.
So why do I give this place only 4 stars? Well, for starters, they do not accept reservations. And waiting for an hour to get in, while it is raining outside, was not fun. Then once even when you are in, you are sardined in the second line up inside. You have to constantly dodge people.
The problem, I thought, was because front of the house people did not quite know what was going on in the dining room. Empty tables sat there for too long before it was taken advantage of.
The parking in the area sucks too. Sure, this is not exactly the restaurant's fault, but nonetheless, they chose the location, and it does affect the experience.
Finally, there is the price. Okay, so $12 or something like that for a smallish pizza that will serve one person is not the worst thing I have ever heard (knowing the fact that this is a gourmet pizzeria). Having said that, when you look at what you are eating... dough... a bit of tomato sauce... basil.. and the sparring use of cheese.. you begin to wonder about the value.
But then again.... the place is packed. And people are willing to pay. :)
(BTW, try making your own authentic pizza at home--I followed directions in Heston Blumenthal's show, and it came out just as good, if not better than Pizzeria Libretto's)
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