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| - What's this? Good pizza in the Northwest Valley, you say? In an area that's embarrassingly overloaded with local and national pizza chains, I was quite excited when discovering that Pomo Pizzeria quietly opened up a location just several miles from my house. And with good reason. Having become quite familiar with Pomo's downtown location, as well as a side-stop at their Scottsdale establishment, I knew this would be a welcoming addition to an area that isn't exactly renowned for its prime dining.
In some ways, I was sincerely hoping this Glendale location would eliminate the need to have to travel downtown to get my Pomo fix. And while that's definitely true to some extent, there's a little something missing. Actually, a few things, which I'll get to in a moment.
Make no mistake, the pizzas here are superb, providing a similar, although not quite duplicate experience of the other Pomo locations. Now, bear in mind, if you're accustomed to Americanized pizza that you can get at any cookie cutter chain or sports bar in the area, then this pizza may throw you off. Hell, the menu itself can be rather intimidating. But approach things with an open mind and you'll quickly realize what you've been missing.
Their bread with olive oil is always a good way to start off. For pizzas, they offer a basic Regina Margherita for those that want to play it safe. However, I strongly suggest the Bufala Verace, which is essentially the same thing, only with mozzarella di bufala (buffalo cheese) in place of the usual parmigianno regiano. Pomo also has a big hit with their Principe, which is a delightfully simple combination of priscuitto, parmigianno regiano, and arugula. There are many other options, but none seem to have any dramatic differences other than a few ingredients.
Ah, but it's not all about pizzas at Pomo. While few people seem to be aware, this place also offers some of the best calzones you can find. And while the traditional Calzone Napoletano might be a safe choice, it's their fried calzones that I consider to be their true menu gem. The Pizza Fritta is worth a shot, but lacks core ingredients aside from cheese. The Vesuvia is your best bet, due to its addition of prosciutto and spicy salame. We order it every time with zero hesitation.
The homemade desserts are all very good, but not great. The torta nutella, tiramisu, and affogato al caffe are worth trying. Nothing here is mind-blowing in comparison to what I've had at other places, but that doesn't stop me from recommending them.
So, what stops me from giving this place a perfect five stars? Well, the service still needs some work. Soda refills seem to only come by request, even on dead evenings. On one memorable occasion, we were served a completely botched affogato al caffe that was completely missing the gelato scoops. It was essentially a glass of cold, coffee-flavored soup! I'm not sure what's more unsettling, the fact that this made it out of the kitchen or the fact that the server was able to deliver it while maintaining a completely straight face. Sorry, but eight dollar desserts shouldn't leave room for error.
There's also some little charms at the downtown location that are conspicuously absent from Glendale, such as having a plate of complimentary fried dough and limoncello shots automatically served to you after your meal. I guess we've become spoiled. If you read the downtown reviews, you'll see that little things like this are what make Pomo so highly acclaimed and I see no reason why this can't be carried over.
With that said, the pizza is still excellent and easily competes with some of the best that the city has to offer. And for an area that is completely void of Neapolitan Pizza, I consider it a welcome addition!
Now, if only Master Chef Matteo would bring us some of those limoncello shots, we'd be all smiles!
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