Monday, May 3, 2010

Cassano's Pizza - Dayton, Ohio

Saying you don't like Cassano's Pizza in Dayton is treated a lot like blasphemy. Growing up in Miamisburg, local pie-makers Cassano's and Ron's were the only pizza parlors we had to choose from. No pizza Huts, no Dominos, really - no chains at all. I never really liked Cassano's, but didn't figure out why until years later. A lot of folks say the first slice (or square, for that matter) of pizza you have and remember as a child is what you'll consider pizza forever. Doesn't exactly ring true with me. I was raised on Dayton-style pizza - thin crust, salty sauce, less than copious amounts of cheese, and greasy as the day is long - but developed much more of a taste for wood-fired Neopolitan pizzas with blistered crusts, fresh mozzarella and sweeter, lighter sauces. But, "Dayton style" pizza seems to be the same type of phenomenon as Cincinnati-style chili. People raised here that have moved away pay big bucks to have it specially shipped to where ever they're living now, while new-to-towners just don't see the appeal.

It had been years since I'd had the famed Dayton Cassano's pizza. For the kind of pie you're getting, it's on the pricey side. Starting around $10 for a small specialty and up to $18.99 for a large one-topping. Since we're always ballin' on a budget in this house, I I decided to try my hand at their weekly contest on twitter to WIN a pizza so Mr. FvF and another gal pal that's new to Dayton could say they've tried it without breaking the bank. Naturally, I won, so we decided to get pizza this Sunday when we were all reeling from the busy and cocktail-laden day we'd had before. I used my freebie for a large pepperoni, and also got a small Hog Wild pizza, with ham, bacon and sausage. Between the small specialty, delivery fee and a tip, I still spent close to $15.



Turns out I'm still not all that crazy about Cassano's. I wanted to give it another try and be impressed - I really did, but it just didn't happen. A lot of the toppings on the Hog Wild pizza tasted burnt, but it was still better than the very greasy and monstrously salty pepperoni. One of their trademarks is dusting the bottom of their thin crust with kosher salt, which is just TOO much - considering how salty the sauce already is. It wasn't far from the memory of the last time I ate it, bordering on 10+ years ago, which I recalled being a lot like soggy saltines with tomato paste and part-skim mozzarella.

If I really feel nostalgic and obligated enough to eat the Gem City's trademark style of pizza, I'll stick with Marion's. For the most part, though, I'll stick by the old adage, "When we cut our pizza into squares, the terrorists win."

8 comments:

Jake said...

Count me among the unusual out of towners who actually loves Cassano's pizza (of the "Dayton style" pizzas I've tried, I'd rank Cassano's first, Joe's a close second, and Marion's such a distant third that Joe's can't even see it in its rear view mirror. There's a huge difference between a good Cassano's pizza and a bad one though, I've found. Catch 'em on a bad night and their pizza is just this side of inedible.

Great blog, by the way. I found it a couple of weeks ago when trying to find a review of Bunny's Hasty Tasty, and I've been following it since.

Vizz said...

Thanks for reading, Jake!

I'm not familiar with this Joe's pizza you speak of. I may have to check it out. You know, for research purposes.

Honestly, I would have much worse things to say about the pizza if I didn't think they were nice people. Some folks' opinions seems to differ on that, but everyone I've dealt with in the family has been very friendly. I'll take them over the Disalvo family any day.

Anonymous said...

Cassano's Pizza is a farce!! If you are part of their work force watch out community.They tell you that you have an employee discount if you are in there so called FAMILY WORK BUSINESS>>>>> But god forbid if you use it to much, THEY FIRE YOUR FOR STEALING!!!!!! Even if you have a receipt to show you paid for the order. What they do not tell you that if the item is on discount you are not eligible for the discount even if you order other item's that are full price. Then they tell your co-worker's or other people that you order to often and certain co-worker's stretch the truth, but you know what,apparently their business is that thriving if they have to accuse the employees of stealing when they use the employee discount. I know of other business's that give employee discounts and the are happy the be selling the stuff. If they do not want the employees using the discount so often maybe they ought to put it in writing or after so many uses lessen the discount, not FIRE them for false reason's like for STEALING, are they that hard up for business? Just think how many actual FAMILY MEMBER'S pay for the so called food.......

Anonymous said...

So basically what "Anonymous" (the ex employee who was fired) is saying is that they were a big fat hog and used their discount way too many times. That's bordering on insanity that you used it so many times they had to fire you. Either that or you were using it for friends. Probably a little bit of both. Thank God we live in Ohio where you don't even need a reason to fire an idiot lol.

Jeff from Middletucky said...

So, apparently (the second) "Anonymous" is much too frightened to actually sign their name to a comment wherein they talk shit about another "Anonymous" commenter. How edgy!

Archie M. Leedle II said...

So what is the gist of your story here, "Vizz" - you prefer heavily cheesed pizza with hard, flaky crust and you just didn't learn anything new? You must secretly consider this to be pretty damn good stuff, however, when willing to compare it to "wood-fired Neopolitan pizzas with blistered crusts, fresh mozzarella and sweeter, lighter sauces." And it's not as if this compromises your claim of, "always ballin' on a budget in (your) house," or anything. I can't be sure whether you're a closet case, following the lead of another or if you just really don't like the tasty, higher quality, American-style pizza and couldn't refrain from publishing your amateur opinion. Why don't you try actually elaborating on the competition. You mentioned Pizza Hut, Domino's and Marion's, among others. Let's take this to the next level. Let's test your ability to make truly detailed assessments. Let's see how those dry, scarcely-topped, cheesy-ladin nine dollar pies really stack up.

Vizz said...

It's not a story, Archie- it's a review. A review, by definition, is a critical article or report. My subjective opinion is "I don't like Cassano's." I assume that you do like their food, and that doesn't put a burr in my ass.

Anonymous said...

Jake, it's not "Dayton-style pizza." It's St Louis style pizza.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Louis-style_pizza

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