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Za's Pizza Pub: Lucky Number 7 ?

Za's Pizza Pub

7 of 52

1573 Bardstown Road

www.zaspizza.com

June 29, 2010

This week we have a guest writer, Kat Lynn, 

we hope you enjoy her review as much as we did! Thanks Kat!

                        

Kat & Patrick (our unofficial Calzone regulars)

Calzone Connoisseurs: Amy, Matt, Patrick, Kat, & Pops

            Matt/Amy's Scores  

Filling Selection:     6 /10= 60%

Sauce:                   6/10= 60%

Crust:                    8/10= 80%

Filling:                   8/10= 80%

Overall Taste:         8/10=80%

Overall Calzone Rating: 36/50, 72% C

Lucky number 7 for this week with Za’s Pizza Pub up on the chopping block. This restaurant has been a Louisville staple for more than a decade and its ambience reflects it. Decorated with years of Louisville native apparel and plenty of televisions, the word pub couldn’t sum it up better. The smaller, open front portion of the restaurant allows for a very casual, stereotypical Highlands feel. At the back of the restaurant, out of sight of the dining room, is a rec room with pool tables and general bar vibes. The two rooms make for a perfect balance of restaurant and casual hang out. And kudos to Za’s for fully embracing the “go green” initiative because the air conditioner is either set on African Savannah or is just off. Al Gore? Smiling. The rest of the patrons? Sweating.


After ordering some tasty beverages off their small but impressive beer menu, we decided to order an appetizer and a salad to start. We were pleasantly surprised by the side Italian salad we ordered to quasi counteract the oncoming heart attack brought on by weeks of calzones. Expecting a small cereal bowl worth of iceberg lettuce with maybe some pre-shredded cheese if we were lucky, we were impressed by the generous portion of delicious veggie side items that topped our more-than-enough lettuce. The appetizer of cheese bread was a healthy portion as well, with even enough left over to ward off Patrick’s appetite for a few more minutes while the delayed calzones found their way to our table.

A few beers in and mere seconds from a revolt, our calzones arrived. Wrongly placed in front of each of us, cutting into them was like opening Christmas presents. The vegetarian was surprised to find 4 different meats deliciously stuffed inside her calzone. After a round of musical calzones, we each found our rightful calzone and dove in. The crust was wonderfully seasoned with spices and all calzones had the golden glow of butter upon them…always a good start. The veggie calzone was overflowing with toppings, especially olives and mushrooms. The works was just that, working hard to contain all its fillings of ham, sausage, and bacon just to name a few. The cheese to topping ratio could have been better and the marinara is questionably similar to Ragu, but the overall taste was still good.

Both sets of couples split a calzone and, ignoring Patrick because of his freakish appetite, were satiated at meals end. The lone eater was only able to finish half, so portions were just right for the average consumer.

Overall, the limited calzone selection and sometimes too casual of service left us desiring more in a pizzeria, but the Pub name on the door does warn us of what to expect. The casual atmosphere and laid-back service makes for an excellent beer tasting venue but a less than ideal pizzeria.

                                        

Price:

Cheese                   6.95

Each Topping             .90

Works                    9.95

Veggie                    8.95

Types Tried

Amy and Matt---build your own style, Chicken, Tomatoes, Green Peppers, & Jalapenos.
Kat and Patrick ---ordered off the menu, Veggie

Pop --- ordered off the menu, the Works

                                         

PIZZERIA RATING:     Matt & Amy

Cleanliness:             3/10=30%
Ambiance:                  6/10=60%

Friendliness:              6/10=60%

Service:                  4/10=40% 

Overall Pizzeria Rating: 19/40, 47.5% F

Kramer and The Calzone

Click to Watch an Episode of Seinfeld...Kramer and the Calzone!

Saints

Saint’s
6 of 52

Saints (St. Matthews area)
131 Breckenridge Lane
Louisville, KY. 40207
June 22, 2010
8:00 PM
Calzone Crew: Amy, Matt, Kat, & Pat

CALZONE RATING:

Matt/Amy's Scores Calzone Crew’s Score:

Number of Fillings: 25

Filling Selection: 7/10= 70% 15/20= 75%
Sauce: 8/10= 80% 16/20= 80%
Crust: 8/10=80% 15/20= 75%
Filling: 8/10= 80% 16/20= 80%
Overall Taste: 7/10= 70% 15/20= 75%

Size: There was some disagreement whether or not the calzone should be defined as “large” or “more than enough for 2.” Three of us ate about half of our calzone and took the other half home, while one of us ate the entire thing. I definitely think had I been hungrier I could’ve ate the whole thing as well. So I would say it’s defined as more than large, but if you are going to split it you might think about splitting a salad as well.

Price: The menu prices for calzone are $7-10. Their specialty calzones that you can order off the menu are $9 & $10 where the make your own calzone is $7 but then you pay for each additional topping.

Types Tried

Amy---build your own style, Chicken, Tomatoes, Green Peppers, & Jalapenos.
Matt---ordered off the menu one of their specialties, Spinach & Artichoke (four cheese blend, spinach, tomatoes, and artichoke hearts)
Kat---ordered off the menu, Spinach & Artichoke Calzone
Patrick--- ordered off the menu one of their specialties, the Meat Supreme Calzone, (Ham, Pepperoni, Hamburger, Sausage, Bacon, & Mozzarella Cheese)

Comments: You can add toppings to your calzone for the price of a small pizza topping. For some reason I ordered the spinach and artichoke expecting it to taste like the spinach and artichoke dip. What was I thinking? I am not sure either. The calzone was filled to the crust in large artichoke hearts and the four cheese blend! This usually isn’t my typical calzone (I usually get the meat calzone) but it was delicious.


Overall Calzone Score: 38/50=76% C

PIZZERIA RATING:
Matt & Amy Calzone Crew’s Score:
Cleanliness: 8/10=80% 15/20= 75%
Ambiance: 6/10=60% 13/20= 65%
Friendliness: 7/10=70% 15/20= 75%
Service: 7/10=70% 13/20= 65%

Comments: There were not very many people at the bar/restaurant but having one bartender also double as the server had her rushing around the building to keep the customers happy. If you are looking for more of a pizzeria then this probably is not the place. The atmosphere is more catered for bar patrons but the food is still pretty good.

Overall Pizzeria Rating: 28/40=70% C-

Pros: It’s a great place to grab a beer and eat at the bar. Try out there happy hour during the week and stop by on Friday night and check out Sky Bar.

Cons: The service was not the greatest. The bartender doubled also as the waitress and there seemed to not be any actual servers at the restaurant. The atmosphere and ambiance was low do it being a Tuesday but I know that there are other days that Saints is packed to the wall so I think we were the victims of a Tuesday during the summer.

Suggestions: Check out the happy hour special during the week for $1 off of all beer, wine, and mixed drinks that runs until 7pm. Try the meat supreme calzone. It looks and sounds delicious!

The spinach artichoke calzone I chose was listed on the menu as one of the four to choose from. I am beginning to think that I should stick to the build your own calzone style. The artichoke hearts were almost too big and when you went to bite down you brought out the whole artichoke (some may like this, but I always think of when you take your first bite of a piece of pizza and all of the cheese comes off.) It would have been better if they cut the artichoke down so that you had some in every bite. Slice is still the best calzone out there.

The Latest

Last week's review of Boombozz is finally posted after a 

few computer glitches (we've also updated the standings page!!)

We are back on schedule and tonight we will be going to 

Saint's in St.Matthews,

look for a review tomorrow on their Calzone AND a new poll to be posted for 

you all to vote and help us decide where to go next!!

Thanks!

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Boombozz Taphouse

5 of 52

Boombozz Taphouse (Westport Village Location)

Westport Road at Herr Lane

Louisville, Kentucky

(502) 394-0000

June 16, 2010

6:00 PM

CALZONE RATING:

Matt/Amy's Scores:

# of Fillings to Choose: n/a

Filling Selection: 6/10 60%

Sauce: 9/10= 90%

Crust: 10/10=100%

Filling: 8/10= 80%

Overall Taste: 8/10= 80%

Size: We both thought the calzone was large. Matt had the Mamma Meatza calzone which seemed to be stuffed with more fillings then mine so he actually had some of his calzone leftover for the next day, where as I…umm…ate it all!

Price: Menu price for calzones $7.69. There’s no build your own style at Boombozz, they have three specialty calzones that you can order directly off the menu. However, they will let you edit them how you wish!

Types Tried
Amy---Chicken Club-“stuffed with tender grilled chicken, crisp bacon, roma tomatoes, red onions, three cheese blend, and creamy pesto sauce.”

(I ordered mine without bacon and onions)

Matt---Mamma Meatza- “stuffed with our famous Italian sausage, slice pepperoni, hickory smoked ham, crispy bacon, seasoned ground beef, and a three cheese blend. Served with a side of red sauce.”

Comments: I must admit, it was only week 5 but I had to postpone our Tuesday night calzone night back, I wasn’t sure when but I just couldn’t imagine eating another one. I was starting to think this 52 week mission was going to fail much sooner than I had imagined. Was it possible I was already getting sick of calzones?? But when Wednesday rolled around, I was more than ready for our calzone night! When we got the menu, I noticed they had one of my favorite things ever on the menu…Toasted Ravioli!!!! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Toasted Rav. is a well known favorite all across the St. Louis area, and after living there for a couple years I was hooked on it. After moving back to Louisville that was one of the things I miss about St. Louis, until now I had never been able to find toasted ravioli ANYWHERE outside of the STL. But here it was in front of me on the menu…and what could make it even better?? A happy hour special, half off of any appetizer!! Any the toasted rav was awesome! So if you ever go to Boombozz, you MUST try it! Alright so back to the calzone… Boombozz doesn’t have the typical build your own calzone style, like most of the places we’d been too, and it wasn’t even an option. Instead they have three specialty calzones: Mamma Meatza (loaded with 5 different meats), Farmers Market (for the veggie lover), and the Chicken Club (pretty self explanatory, but with a unique twist of adding in some pesto sauce!) I ordered the Chicken Club without onions and bacon, and Matt ordered the Mamma Meatza. When our calzones came out they were steaming hot and we were ready to eat them!! Matt’s was filled with tons of meat; mine didn’t seemed to have as much filling inside but was just right for me. The Chicken Club has a pesto sauce in it, and oh it was delicious! It was a different touch to a calzone and I loved it! Matt liked his so much he didn’t even think he needed dipping sauce…can we say “WOW!” That’s definitely a first. We both loved the crust as it received a 100% on our Crust Scale. As for everything else it seemed to rate pretty evenly with our other top runners. The only downfall we had for this calzone was the filling selection, we weren’t sure how to rate a calzone with no build your own option, but to keep it fair we had to rate it based on what we saw. We based our votes on the three selections on the menu for calzone and the fillings they had to offer. Although it does seem that they have a calzone for everyone, Meat lovers, the vegetarian, and a lighter one the chicken club, we just felt there was room for one more…we both rated them as being “average” and they received a 60%. Overall though we both loved our calzone and liked trying something new, especially me!

Overall Calzone score: 41/50=82% B

PIZZERIA RATING:

                       Matt & Amy:

Cleanliness:   10/10=100%,

Ambiance:     10/10=100%,

Friendliness:  10/10=100%,

Service:         10/10=100%,

Comments: Sometimes things are better left unsaid, so I’m going to make this short and sweet. The pizzeria received an A+ in all areas, it was as clean as could be, the ambiance was fun, our waiter (Robert) was excellent, our service was fabulous, and everyone in there was having a good time. Boombozz Taphouse is one of the newer restaurant additions to Westport Village, and one that gets a lot of action, it was Wednesday night and we had to wait a few minutes for a table, it was packed!! Happy hour runs from 4-7 every night, half off appetizers, half off bottles of wine (wed only), and 1.99 beers! We definitely participated in the happy hour, ordering up the toasted ravioli, and a couple of beers! Matt liked the feel of Boombozz, with flat screens covering all the walls and people hustling around. It had more of a bar atmosphere than anything else, and we loved the fun atmosphere. We will definitely be back!

Overall Pizzeria Rating: 40/40=100% A+

Pros: The crust was crispy on the outside but soft enough to bite into…just right! We actually liked ordering off the menu, it made us trying combinations we wouldn’t have otherwise. The pesto in the Chicken Club Calzone was awesome it was definitely thinking outside the box and was an original! The service and atmosphere of Boombozz is a HUGE PRO!

Cons: Not a lot to say here, maybe one more calzone type could make the menu??

Suggestions: Fun atmosphere, we suggest going to Boombozz with a group of friends, to watch a game or just to hang out eat some good grub and have some good drinks. Definitely hit up their happy hour!!

Boombozz has a location on Bardstown road, and on the east end in Westport Village, there’s no reason to not have been there at least once! The atmosphere is amazing, their food is great, and the calzone is awesome!! Although everything was awesome, and we know we’ll be back to have a calzone there again, the only reason we don’t think you are “the one” is because we could never order you with the fillings of our choice.

On to the next one…