Sadly, this is the last restaurant review that I will ever write for the Wesleyan Argus. I have written restaurant reviews on and off for the past four years. I’ve enjoyed countless meals, learned much about the writing process, and I didn’t even have to send in a resume (you can see where my mind is at the moment).
For my last review I ventured to Empire Pizza, a new face among bustling Main St. What I like about this pizza place is that it manages to fulfill a unique niche on a Main Street with pretty much every type of food. Empire Pizza is the super casual pizza placeú–even more casual than Iliano’s, my favorite pizza in Middletown–and benefits from friendly service and decent, cheap food. The restaurant’s location has recently housed many failed restaurants, but I foresee that once people realize that Empire Pizza is actually good, this restaurant might finally be here to stay.
The small restaurant has two rows of white-clothed tables and wooden chairs (pretty standard) although I would want nothing else in a casual pizza shop. The white walls are covered with various pictures of sceneries, evoking a sense that the restaurant cares enough to adorn the walls, but doesn’t really care how they are adorned. The service is attentive and prompt. The servers responded to questions I had regarding the menu with a smile, even if the questions were a tad annoying. I was somewhat surprised that the food all came out separately whenever it was ready, but I assume that was because of the small kitchen. I was particularly perturbed because my order came out last, but luckily, it happened to be quite worth the wait.
The menu includes a large variety of pizza shop items, and there is even a separate breakfast menu, which I wasn’t able to sample. There are many different kinds of pizzas, appetizers, Buffalo wings, strombolis and calzones (although I still do not understand the difference), sandwiches, salads, and dinner platters. The small garden salad, a mere $3.50, is a huge plate of colorful fresh vegetables, and it comes with a side of garlic bread with a crunchy crust enveloping a soft and buttery interior. This salad was definitely more filling and satisfying than most, and I tried it with a slightly sweet and refreshing Italian dressing. The garlic bread can be ordered as an appetizer, and not only comes with all salads, but with the salad served alongside the dinner platters.
And then came the pizza. Both the medium and large pizzas have twelve slices, but the medium’s slices are much thinner. I tried the gourmet pizza called “Pollo Chicken,” with chicken, broccoli, fresh tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. It was pretty good, but benefited from some parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. I found a similar situation with each kind of pizza. The crusty and crisp bottom held its own topped with sauce and gooey cheese, but the pizza on a whole needed just a little more “umph” to really meet its potential. Yet that tasty crust kept me going back. As a sibling visiting Ryan LaSala said, “Crunchiness on the bottom of a pizza is the eighth wonder of the world.”
When this delectable crust is formed into a stromboli, it may actually be the eighth wonder. A long piece of crisp bread arrived stuffed with sweet ricotta, stringy mozzarella, mushrooms, and spinach. The ends of the bread were doughy, and it all was delicious dipped in marinara sauce. The one dinner platter I tried was a heaping portion of eggplant parmesan served over pasta. As mentioned above, it came with a side salad and garlic bread. The soft and delicate fried eggplant was topped with hot cheese, yet the richness was tempered by the firm pasta underneath.
As I left the restaurant, I couldn’t help noticing a frame on the wall that read, “Happiness is Homemade.” That phrase pretty much characterizes this restaurant. Truth be told, I did leave quite happy, filled with satisfactory food at an extremely affordable price. As my friend Jon Harbison said, “This empire should colonize all of Middletown.” Maybe it should. It might even be a good reason for me to return to this city.