The Luck O’ the Ninja

Will it hold up trying Toni Roni, a local pizza shop/chain hybrid?

 

Hello pizza fanatics and welcome to the March 2018 St Patricks Day edition of the East Falls Pizza Review.  Will the pizza ninja be in luck with this month’s pizza?  Read on to find out.

For this month, the Ninja tried pizza from a shop that straddles the line between local pizza shop and chain.  ‘Tony Roni’s Neighborhood Kitchen’ has a total of 9 pizza shop locations spread across the area as well as an impressive marketing campaign and brand for a local shop.  To read more about the Tony Roni’s story, which started 20+ years ago, check out the interview here.

The Ordering Experience (4 out of 5)

Tony Roni’s makes it pretty easy to acquire some of their pizza through the following options:

  1. Phone
  2. In person
  3. Grubhub
  4. The Tony Roni’s website

Tony Roni’s also participates in a pretty extensive social media campaign, with active profiles on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.  While you can not currently order through any of those sites, the Ninja has personally reached out to Tony Roni’s on facebook and has received lightning quick responses, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see ordering done through social media one day in the future.

The pizza was ordered by phone at 6:20PM from the Bala Cynwyd location a hop, skip and a jump away on City Line Avenue and the Ninja was quoted a delivery time of 45 minutes.  Much to his surprise (and the satisfaction of his visiting family) the pizza showed up 15 minutes early at 6:50PM.  On that note, new month, new pizza, yet the Ninjas family decided to visit again for free pizza.  Have they caught on to his pizza review schedule?  It certainly appeared so.

*artistic rendering of the Ninja’s family:

The Pizza Experience

Presentation (4.5 out of 5)

Wow!  What a box.  Really cool looking box.  One of the nicer custom boxes thus far.  Almost looks like a chain-pizzeria box, but will the Ninja find mass produced quality pizza inside?  Lets take a look.

This looks like a standard hand-made neighborhood pizza, whew.  At first glance the sauce appears to be vibrant, and good cheese coverage a little light/undercooked in coloring.  How about underneath?

Despite the cheese on top, the crust underneath looks to be baked to a proper temperature.

Lets take a taste:

Cheese (3 out of 5)

Well, it’s cheese.  There really wasn’t anything substantial about this cheese.  Wasn’t amazing, wasn’t terrible, was just sort of ‘there’.  It’s a good cheese, fairly middle of the road.

Sauce (3.75 out of 5)

Very nice sauce.  As mentioned before, it has a great color.  There are visible spices and herbs contained with in.  Not an overly chunky or thick sauce yet it’s hearty & on the sweet side of things.  You can tell this is a homemade sauce.

Crust (4 out of 5)

Thin crust with a really nice taste.  Earthy, warm, bready notes, slightly peppery at times.  It also has hints of something that the Ninja couldn’t quite place.  Almost a hint of a sourdough flavor. The Ninja’s family felt the crust was the best feature of this particular pie.

Conclusion (3.85 out of 5)

Chain pizza appearance & polish, with a wholesome neighborhood pizza taste.

And now your Lucky Leprechaun Pizza Moment of Zen:

Pizza Dancing

 

 

About Pizza Ninja 22 Articles
Born in Chicago, arguably the capitol of world class pizza options, the Pizza Ninja consumes pizza an average of 3 to 4 nights a week. From local options to frozen pizza, no crust is left behind. He has been eating pizza for 34 years and currently resides in East Falls along with his wife, daughter and two dogs. On occasion, he will graciously share a slice of his pizza with them. Follow the Ninja on Instagram.

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