Restaurant Review- Varasano's

Why did you break my heart?

This weekend I made my second trip to Varasano's. I have been looking forward to this visit as soon as I had my last bite of pizza on my first visit and fell in love. Unfortunately, Varasano's broke my heart the second time around.

I order the Nana's over my typical Margherita, based on the server's insistence that the Nana's is much better than the Margherita. On both trips to Varasano's each server has highly recommended the Margherita over the Nana's. From the menu, the only difference between the two is that the Nana's has a "secret blend of Italian herbs" whereas the Margherita has basil. I wonder why Varasano's even offers the Margherita if the servers continue to push the Nana's over the Margherita. I also question how this secret blend can add $2.00 to a pizza. After enjoying the Nana's on my first visit, I decided I could not go wrong by ordering it again-

Excuse the poor quality of my photos, I only had my blackberry on hand.

Unlike Fritti, who prides upon serving a pizza uncut- forcing you to use a fork and a knife, Varasano's takes the approach that pizza should be eaten folded in half, with your hands. This certainly makes sense if the pizza actually had the consistency of a NY slice, but Varasano's pizza is just too gooey to eat with your hands, especially if you have toppings on your pizza.

Like Fritti, Varasano's prides itself on the perfect charred crust. Many have read about the Jeff Varasano intense adventure to perfect the "NY pizza" in Atlanta, which includes a "slightly"charred crust. Unfortunately, half of my Varasano's pizza had so much char that I could not enjoy the flavors hidden by the taste of burnt.


What about the other half of the pizza? The crust at the center of the pie was soggy and toward the outer ridge became denser and chewier- too tough to truly enjoy. The sauce was tasteless- I wish I had asked for some salt. The entire trip would have been a complete waste had it not been for the wonderful mozzarella cheese, portioned perfectly on the pizza.

I have no idea how this trip could have been so drastically different from my first adventure to Varasano's where I had the perfect crust, well seasoned salt, and an empty plate, instead of bringing leftovers back home. There is just too much inconsistency with their pizza. Even several months after opening, Jeff Varasano is still hovering near the kitchen sampling the sauce, and checking on the char. By now, the kitchen should be using a proven recipe, without altering the seasoning and cooking temperatures.

I can't continue to subject myself to the heart breaking I felt after my second visit. So from here on out, Fritti you are my new #1.

Atmosphere: Casual/Business, some outdoor seating
Price: around $11-$15
Parking: Complimentary valet or self-parking in garage.
Overall Rating: 4/5 (trip 1); 2/5 (trip 2)