Michelangelo's Pizzeria & Restaurant

Name: Michelangelo's Pizzeria & Restaurant
Location: 465 Court St., Binghamton, NY 13904
Phone: (607) 724-4045
Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
Price: Around $10-$12 for a large pizza. Entrees priced reasonably.

Review:
With it being a lazy, rainy Sunday, we elected to bring in pizza today and I decided to give Michelangelo's a chance, having heard that it's among the area's best from multiple sources. Michelangelo's is located on Binghamton's East Side, on Court St. across from McDonald's. This is not a part of town I get to visit very often. There aren't a whole lot of local restaurants nearby, outside of a couple diners and Cortese, which I reckon we'll review at some point or another (after a horrible visit a few years ago, we aren't exactly in any hurry to go back).

I ordered a large half-cheese, half-pepperoni pizza ($11.05) by phone and elected to pick it up. They also deliver within a five-mile radius, which would not have done me any good. Upon arriving, I entered through the side (pick-up) entrance and found it to have a relaxed, family-restaurant style atmosphere. I would definitely welcome the opportunity to return to Michelangelo's to try their pasta dishes--this review will stick to what I ordered, the pizza. The order was ready when I got there and I was quickly on my way.

When I got home I was pleased to notice that there wasn't a whole lot of shifting of the toppings in transit, even though it was about a ten-mile trek back home. On looks alone, I thought this was one of the better New York-style pizzas I've seen in the area. I was pretty pleased with the taste, too. The crust, although thin, was sturdy and a hair on the crispy side. The pepperoni was a really good topping choice and cut perhaps slightly thicker than you'll find at most pizzerias. The cheese and sauce had good flavor in my opinion but were fairly ordinary; I would've preferred a sauce with a little more seasoning.

What struck me most about the pizza was how chewy the crust was. This stuff definitely gave my jaw a workout, which didn't bother me too much, as I admired the fact that it was a NY-style pizza that was neither too underdone/soggy nor too overdone/brittle. Megan, on the other hand, did not care for the pizza for this reason. She normally sticks to the plain cheese half and I will agree with her: that side of the pie was definitely a little overdone. She commented that she "probably wouldn't eat [Michelangelo's pizza] again" and recited the names of several other local pizza merchants she prefers. This was a rare case where Megan and I were in complete disagreement, yet I can see where she's coming from.

All in all, I enjoyed Michelangelo's pizza and I would eat it again, yet I really don't know when that would happen. It's far away from where we live, I don't get to the East Side all that often, and my wife roundly disliked it. Maybe we'll make it over there to try out some of their other fare at some point. If not, I doubt I'll be too disappointed: the pizza may have been above-average, but it was hardly extraordinary.

Grade: B