Pizzazz On the Circle

The end of Passover always means one thing, we can eat bread and pasta again after a week of avoiding them, so a group of us headed over to Pizzazz on the Circle to celebrate.  Pizzazz has been around for quite a while, located in Shaker Heights, nestled into Fairmount Circle, right across from the entrance to john Carrol University, Pizzazz is a good solid Italian restaurant.  (The location is mapped here).

The decor of the dining room is a nice simple combination of comfort and modern; simple wood is set off against warm colors with clean fixtures and modern art prints.  Once seated, service is friendly and efficient even with a larger group.

The menu (which you can see here) is fairly standard modern Italian cooking, with an emphasis on Pizzas, Calzones, Pastas and other Italian favorites.  I ended up ordering the Eggplant Parmigiana dinner, which is a nice portion of fried eggplant topped with some Marinara Sauce and melted cheese and sided with Penne Pasta in more of the same sauce.  The dinner was good, but not great.  The eggplant was sliced pretty thin, which meant that much of the meatiness was lost and the flavor was a bit subdued.  The sauce and cheese were added at the end, so that while they contributed, this never came together into a harmonious whole that is usually better then the sum of its parts.  The penne was fine, and the sauce was ok, a bit light on spices for my taste, but bright and slightly sweet.

The big seller at my table were the Calzones, which were well received and nicely sized, both the small sized.  Probably a good idea to go for the pizza or calzones as they seem to the specialty at Pizzazz.

Overall, Pizzazz is a very nice Italian pizzeria, with pretty good food at decent prices, a very nice location and decor and good service.  What I think it lacks is the actual pizzazz that its name implies, I don't think you will be blown away by Pizzazz, but you will get a nice meal.

Georgios - Cheap Pizza

I wanted to mention Georgios, a local pizza chain that has a deal going on pizzas. Currently you can get a Large Cheese Pizza for $4, a Large Pepperoni for $5 and a Large Sausage and Pepperoni for $6. The pizzas are what they call their Fresh and Ready, which means they have them precooked and ready to go in a hot box. I actually have been picking pizzas up from the Georgios at the Richmond Heights location which is in the little strip mall on Highland Road near the intersection with Richmond Road, since they have been offering the Cheese or Pepperoni pizza for $4 for a while. I find these pizzas to be pretty good, the crust is medium thin, OK without anything really distinctive. The cheese is good, with a nice texture and mild flavor. The best part of the pizza is the sauce with a nice slightly sweet tomato sauce that gives the pizza a nice zing. Also I have to give them credit, the pizzas have been nicely cooked, just at the stage where all of the elements cook together to make something more than the seperate parts. In addition, I have gotten both pizzas right out of the oven and those that have been in the hotbox, and the pizzas are remarkably consistent. They seem to have figured out a method to hold the pizzas for a period that keeps them hot without overcooking them. For $4 you get a 14" pizza with 10 good sized slices. While this is not the best pizza in town, it certainly is a great way to fill the pizza urge when you are on a tight budget. Certainly a good value.