Boston Pizza - Las Vegas, NV

1507 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
Las Vegas, NV 89104
Phone: (702) 385-2595
Fax: (702) 386-6921
Hours: Daily 10am - 4am

Styles of pizza: Traditional thin crust
Service: Counter dine-in, carry-out, delivery, catering

Review: Boston Pizza is located on Las Vegas Blvd, a couple blocks north of the Stratosphere. It is a low, white, stucco building with “Boston Pizza” painted directly on the outside walls in bright blue lettering. Next door, across the parking lot, sits Olympic Gardens, the famous Vegas strip club. Apparently “Papa Pete” owns Boston Pizza, the “OG”, and pretty much the rest of the block. There is even a mural on a wall inside with a cartoon depiction of Pete’s journey to Vegas from the East coast to start his little “empire”.

There are only two windows on the building, and the first time I saw BP from the outside, I thought two things. #1) it looks closed. #2) it looks like the kind of place you would go to find old replacement hubcaps for your vintage Oldsmobile. The inside of the joint reminded us of a snack bar in an old-school roller rink or bowling alley. The carpet was old and looked like it was acquired at a casino carpet remnant sale. The bathrooms got forceful “thumbs down” from all Zealots in attendance. Like the other independent, away-from-the-strip, pizzerias we visited, Boston Pizza was pretty smoky, even though there was only one other occupied table at 2:30 in the afternoon. We did not notice any posted non-smoking section.

The pizza menu is fairly standard with small, medium, and large (16”) pies are available with all the usual toppings. They do not appear to do offer individual slices. The prices are decent and a 16” large za with one topping goes for just over $12. Maybe it is the proximity to another strip club but BP, like Daddy’s reviewed earlier, had a menu with offerings far away from just pizza. At Boston Pizza you can order beef or cheese steak sandwiches, grinders/subs, pastas and calzones, gyros, burgers, fish, wings, soups, and much more. For me, this is usually a sign that I won’t be able to count on this place for high quality pizza as they are concentrating on reaching a much wider market. This wasn’t going to sway us though, and Boston Pizza didn’t disappoint… my theory at least.

When we stepped up to the window/counter to order our cheese pie, I got the impression we were intruding on the staff’s slow afternoon, as they seemed frustrated to take the order. Maybe they are just anti-tourists – it could be that I was a little snap-happy with my camera.

Although being incredibly hot at first, the pie seemed undercooked on top. The sauce tasted OK, but not overly fresh and we guess that it was probably canned (we are not positive, though). The cheese had a decent flavor and a nice amount of moisture to it without being overly greasy. The problem was sheer amount of cheese, which dwarfed the normally sufficient amount of sauce. Our thought that it wasn’t quite done being cooked came from the fact that the cheese was extremely gooey, almost to the point of being liquid. The crust had an odd texture to it for pizza. It was very soft reminded us more of a biscuit or dense pancake. This theory was supported by a peek at the underside of a slice, which reveals how even the caramel-like coloring is, just like a well-cooked flapjack on a griddle.

We all considered this to be fairly mediocre za. Several locals we asked claimed Boston Pizza as their favorite and they were sure we tried it on a bad day. We agree that it could have earned better marks with slightly less cheese and another minute or two in the oven, but I’m not sure what could be done about that funky, biscuit crust.

Gavin

Peppino's Pizzeria & Restaurant

12201 E Arapahoe Rd
Suite A1
Centennial, CO 80112-3918
(303) 799-9409

Styles of Pizza: Thin crust (slices or whole)
Service: Counter service, carry-out

Standout Tidbits: Hmmmm... not so much.

Review: Peppino's is located in a standard, unassuming strip mall-style building that looks like it could have been built anytime between now and 1980. The state of the restaurant inside tells you that it probably opened closer to the 80's, and the Peppino's staff hasn't changed anything or done any fixing up since then. I wouldn't go as far as to say the place was dirty, but, it certainly wasn't fresh and clean. The ceiling tiles were way past yellow and well into brown. The vinyl booths had deep dips in the seats. The ceiling fan had mismatched light bulbs and its blades were wilting more than the fake flowers on the tables.

The team of older Italian gentlemen behind the counter didn't do much to warm our hearts to this place. In fact, they didn't do much at all besides guard the soda fountain against refills and pressure us to make a choice and move down the line. Along the line you can pick from the pastas, iceberg salads, or slices under the glass display. Customers can also order fresh, whole pies or calzones. We opted for a large za with mushrooms and made our way to the droopy booth.

Although we were initially unimpressed with Peppino's, we started adding things up. The pizza oven was well-used. There were thin slices behind glass. The guys behind the counter were grumpy. The table cloths were plastic and red-checkered. Had we stumbled on a true "old-school" pizza joint? Were we about to be treated to some great, East-Coast za?

The pie itself was unimpressively fitting for the place. As soon as it arrived we were aware of the canned 'shrooms. They were laid too thickly on the entire pizza and then buried under just as much cheese. Although the cheese tasted ok, it was overly chewy and too elastic when trying to separate one slice from the rest.

Please don't misunderstand me here. This was not like a nice, gooey slice where the hot cheese is almost dripping. This was closer to the consistency of stretched Silly Putty. Silly Putty that at least tasted ok.

The canned mushrooms didn't seem very cooked and were quite rubbery. Underneath them was a minimal amount of red sauce, which, like the cheese, tasted just ok. I really have no big complaints about the crust. It had a decent taste and wasn't too crisp or too chewy.

When we first arrived, it was early in the lunch period, and we were almost the only ones there. When we left, the place was about 60% full. The curious thing was that it didn't seem like anyone was talking or enjoying their lunchtime. It just looked like they were there to eat out of necessity, before heading back to their hopefully more enjoyable jobs.

Overall, Peppino's gets a sub-ok rating. 2 out of 5 whatevers (if we had a ranking system established). I have no idea how the pasta or calzones are, but I also have no real desire to go back and find out.

Gavin