Kramer and The Calzone

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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…

Clifton's Pizza Company: A Man's Dream Calzone

4 of 52

Clifton's Pizza Company

2230 Frankfort Ave

Louisville, Kentucky 40206

(502) 893-3730

June 8, 2010

8:00 PM

CALZONE RATING:

Matt/Amy's Scores:

# of Fillings to Choose: 21

Filling Selection: 8/10=80%

Sauce: 7/10= 70%

Crust: 8/10=100%

Filling: 10/10= 80%

Overall Taste: 8/10= 80%

Size: We each got our own calzone and ate about half of it,

we both rated it as more than enough for two.

But we were happy that we could take the other

half home for lunch the next day.

Price: Menu price for calzones $7.95. Their calzones are build your own style, you choose six toppings to fill your calzone with. Then it is baked with cheese and sauce inside what they call a “thin pizza crust.”

Types Tried
Amy---Chicken, Pepperoni, Broccoli, Garlic, Green Peppers, & Hot Pepper Rings (which we found out are Banana Peppers.)

Matt---Pepperoni, Bacon, Ham, Sausage, Broccoli, & Green Peppers

Comments: When we both received our calzones we were starving. The menu states that the calzones are huge and they weren’t kidding. We overheard some gentlemen behind us stating that the calzone was the largest one they had seen but we were skeptical. It arrived large and in charge with a side of ruffles potato chips. (Amy thought the chips were random and unnecessary.) At first I did not know how to eat such a large calzone but soon dug in with my hands. The middle is overflowing with an abundance of toppings and gooey cheese. The amount of toppings and meat that filled it was any mans dream calzone. The crust was crispy, and cooked to perfection, although when comparing the crust to other calzones thus far we don’t think it could top them. The one downfall on this calzone was the sauce, as it received a 70% we thought it was an average sauce and reminded of us one we might buy in a jar off the shelves at Kroger (but like I said that was its one and only pitfall.)

Overall Calzone score: 41/50=82% B

PIZZERIA RATING:

                       Matt & Amy:

Cleanliness:   6/10=60%,

Ambiance:     8/10=80%,

Friendliness:  8/10=80%,

Service:          8/10=80%,

Overall Pizzeria Rating: 30/40=75% C

(Check out all the random decor and knick knacks behind Matt!!)

Comments: As we drove up Frankfort Avenue it was a new adventure for us. We’ve both lived in Louisville our entire lives and we’ve ventured down Frankfort Avenue a few times for different things, but here we were in the heart of it. This section of Frankfort Avenue is lined with restaurant after restaurant, and Clifton’s Pizza Company has a prime location on a corner (across from Ginnie’s Diner.) So maybe we’ve been living in a box in Louisville our whole lives, just eating at places along Hurstbourne, Shelbyville, Taylorsville, and Bardstown Rd, and even more recently we’ve ventured out into the Old Louisville area…but this was new to us. We’d never seen or heard of half the restaurants that we saw up and down this area of town. So it seems like our calzone adventure might just be opening us up into some new culture and new things in Louisville, as we now have a list of new places we want to try!!

(the wall art...)

As for the Clifton Pizza Company pizzeria, its definitely a dive, it’s a large area though. It seems that as they outgrew their first area and they bought up the next door store and spread out over there as well. The walls are covered in art, and some weird knick knacks…and I mean weird…a little man that’s on a tight rope, a pizza on the wall, and a skateboard?? We’re still not sure what all that was about! Danny Flanigan was in the other part of the restaurant where the bar was located and he was playing guitar and singing, this definitely helped out their ambiance score! After the first couple bites of our calzone we were interrupted by a customer yelling (she’d walked in about 2 minutes prior) The screaming customer claimed that our server had hung up the phone on her three times and cussed her out. (According to the customer this has happened before) She went on to berate our server. She asked for his name numerous times and asked for the manager. There was no manager on duty but a cook came out to address the situation and soon told her to leave or he was going to call the cops. She stormed around the restaurant yelling and said “no wonder you only have four customers here and walked out.” No one in the restaurant seemed to care to much, they were all enjoying their drinks and food, and we were cracking up that this lady was making such a fool of herself. Before she walked out the door she turned around to tell the workers how much of a redneck they are and that he needed to go get some new teeth. According to our server she is a constant hassle and is always complaining in hopes of scoring free food. We found her claims to be false. After she left about 10 people came in to the restaurant. We had good service throughout. It made for an interesting night.

Pros: The calzone crust is crispy, and delicious. You can choose up to six toppings for your calzone (for one low price) and they don’t skimp on the toppings, your calzone is packed with the toppings of your choice. The service was fast and we found the staff to be friendly. They have pitchers of beer to choose from, and 5 out of the 7 nights of the week they have live music.

Cons: I felt like the sauce in the calzone was too much at times, but during other bites of my calzone their was no sauce, so more of an even distribution would’ve been better. I also didn’t think my broccoli was cooked enough (but that’s my preference that I didn’t want it as raw.) Our server was attentive, although after the “situation” he seemed distracted and was on his cell phone several times as he checked our table, but I guess that’s what you get at such a laid back pizzeria.

Suggestions: Make sure you come hungry!! And definitely choose 6 toppings, I thought for a second six might be too many to blend together, but it actually makes it better. Although it’s definitely a dive it could use some sprucing up inside, and a little bit more of a professional attitude from the workers would probably do the place some good, but as for us we didn't mind!

If you've never been to Clifton's Pizza Company, you're definitely missing out!! The calzone was great, although the pizzeria might be lacking in a few areas, the calzone wasn't a miss. If you walked into this place knowing nothing about it you would probably walk right out, but then you would never know how good their calzones are. You get a lot for your money and it's probably the best value on a calzone we've gotten so far (and by far the most fillings!!) But I hate to break it to you Clifton's...we just don't think you're "the one."

So the hunt continues....

Tonight's Calzone Stop....

The votes are in, it was a close race between Clifton's Pizza Company & Come Back Inn, but Clifton's Pizza Company won by one vote in the last hour!!

Tonight we will be at:

Clifton's Pizza Company
2230 Frankfort Ave
Louisville, Kentucky 40206
(502) 893-3730
@7:30pm

Thank you for all your votes!!

(New poll will be posted tonight, for next week....keep voting!!)

Cafe Lou Lou: Are you the one?

3 of 52

Cafe Lou Lou

106 Sears Ave (In St. Matthews)

Louisville, KY 40207

502.893.7776

June 1, 2010
6:00 PM
Calzone Crew: Amy, Matt, Erika, Peter, Lilly

CALZONE RATING:

**We have decided to give our score and also the total score given with our guests included to make a consistent scoring system, our scores will be in green and the group scores in orange**

Matt/Amy Calzone Crew

# of Fillings to Choose: 26

Filling Selection: 10/10=100% 20/20=100%

Sauce: 7/10= 70% 16/20= 80%

Crust: 10/10=100% 19/20=95%

Filling: 8/10= 80% 18/20=90%

Overall Taste: 8/10= 80% 16/20=80%

Size: 3 of the 4 taste testers categorized the calzone as large and one taste tester thought it was more than enough for two. Amy & I's consensus was that it was big enough for one but not quite enough for two. Amy and I had one calzone and they brought it out to us split in half all ready, and we both got our own. Our single portions if put together looked smaller than one calzone that the other testers calzone.

Price: Menu price for calzones average about $10.50. They have 3 set calzones to choose from and they also give you the option of building your own. With their set calzones you can also add anything else you want to this. Their 3 calzones are Four Cheese Calzone (Cafe Lou Lou Favorite), Vegetarian Calzone, and Italian Meatball Calzone. Prices for all the food in the restaurant range from $6.50 up to $17.50.

Types Tried

Amy---Chicken, Green Peppers, Banana Peppers

Matt---Chicken, Green Peppers, Banana Peppers

Erika---Veggie with Chicken

Peter---Meatballs

Lilly---Her hand

Comments: Our evening started out with a recommendation of the Wild Bills Famous Cajun Cheese Dip & bread sticks. It was a good recommendation as everyone at the table loved it. The cheese dip comes out cold which contrasts the fresh out of the oven bread sticks perfectly, which are some of the best bread sticks I have EVER tasted!! Our calzones came out quickly and were covered in a little bit of marinara sauce, but not too much. I asked for more sauce to dip it in but all the other testers were fine with the amount given. The crust and fillings were both big hits among all. They give a great selection to choose from including shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, and goat cheese(so far we've found them to have the most unique filling selection.) The size of the calzone would be big enough for one but not enough for two. I would recommend getting one calzone and splitting it amongst two people and then splitting a salad, or trying the Cajun Cheese Dip for a solid meal! The recommended favorite calzone is the Four Cheese Calzone which consists of mozzarella, goat, fontina, and ricotta cheese. Our calzone tasted delicious, it scored evenly with Impellizeri's(which was our best calzone so far.) Although it scored evenly we didn't feel like it really was better or as good as Impellizzeri's...they both achieved higher scores at different aspects of the calzone, which evened them out in the end, so we're hoping to find one calzone that scores higher in every calzone category!! Cafe Lou Lou is definitely somewhere I would go back to, and next time I will try the Four Cheese that is recommended to see if it changed anything for me. Overall though it is a solid calzone. I would recommend it as a solid item on the menu to fill you up and make your mouth water.

Overall calzone score: 43/50=86% B

PIZZERIA RATING:

Matt & Amy: Calz. Crew:

Cleanliness: 10/10=100%, 20/20=100%
Ambiance: 9/10=90%, 18/20=90%
Friendliness: 8/10=80%, 14/20=70%
Service: 7/10: 70%, 15/20=75%

Overall Pizzeria Rating: 34/40=85% B

Comments: Overall the inside was very clean and the service was decent, but is there such a thing as getting your food too quickly? If there is, then last night was it. We received our Wild Bill Cheese Dip and Bread sticks and before we were finished our calzones came out. It almost felt like we were rushed to finish everything even though there were a few empty tables around. Our server also forgot one of the beers for the table, which can be OK at times, but when we are a small table and the restaurant is not very busy its almost unacceptable (we ordered a beer as soon as we sat down, and while all other drinks were brought Amy's beer was forgotten about til after the calzones made it to the table.) Maybe too harsh, but when your mouth is watering for a cold taste of the Rockies, sometimes you just cant wait. I cant complain very much but the staff wasn't as friendly as Impellizzeri's. Cafe Lou Lous has great wall decor of Louisville all over, the walls are painted in fun bright colors, and colorful paper lanterns line the bar area. There is always something new to see on the wall that maybe you have not seen before. So I do recommend it for out of towners who want some local flavor.

Pros: They have two area locations so there is always one close by. Cafe Lou Lous would be a great place to go to at night to meet interesting people and have a cold beverage. The decor on the inside is also a neat touch to look at. The food is great and the people are nice. Their breadsticks (and calzone crust are A+) the Wild Bill Cajun Cheese Dip is amazing, and they have a uninque selction of fillings that can please anyone! It's also not just a pizzeria, they have lots to choose from!!

Cons: Bring the beer! We are thirsty! Forgetting a drink for 30minutes is almost unacceptable. Also please don't rush us so much. As we get older and gorge ourselves with calzones it begins to take a little longer to get moving. We would've liked to have received our appetizer and enjoyed in before the food hit the table (so either the appetizer should arrive quicker, or the food should wait a bit!) On a side note though I think our sever was fairly new yet she looked in the mid 30's.

(Lilly helping Peter fill out the Calzone score sheet)

Suggestions: Try the Four Cheese Calzone which consists of mozzarella, goat, fontina, and ricotta cheeses. It is a Cafe Lou Lou favorite and I will definitely be trying that next time. Also make sure you have the Cajun Cheese Dip, I know we've talked about it a lot through the blog today, but trust me its for goooood reason!The sauce was just a plain marinara and for a restaurant that is about being hip and having different things, that was boring. Currently in my book Cafe Lou Lou, you are in second place. You are a step above Vito's but your a distant second from Impellizzeri's (although we know they scored the same!). Are we a little harsh on the comments? Maybe, but after you start visiting more restaurants every week you begin to realize what good service, sauce, and fillings are.

So overall Cafe Lou Lou...you've got a good thing going. It's definitely a locals place with Louisville flare, and a menu that can't compare to other restaurants around, but as for the calzone...we can't quite call it the best we've ever had, so we'll just have to keep on searching!!

(But don't worry Cafe Lou Lou, it won't keep us from coming back eating more Wild Bills Cajun Cheese Dip and trying another dish on the menu!)

Our 3rd Calzone Stop Will Be....

The votes are in, it was a close race between Clifton's Pizza Company & Cafe Lou Lou!! In the end Cafe Lou Lou pulled ahead by 1 Vote!

Tonight we will be at:
Café Lou Lou in St. Matthews

106 Sears Ave
Louisville, Ky 40207

502-893-7776  

@6:00pm 

Thank you for all your votes, come join us for food and drinks tonight!!

 (New poll will be posted tonight, for next week....keep voting!!)