Mr. G's Pizzeria   Update
 Akron, Ohio         Date of Visit  03/26/11            http://mrgspizzaandwings.com/ 

We got taken out for a family excursion not knowing where we were headed. Where we ended up was Mr. G’s Pizza. Now the first thing. It is a pizza place in a strip mall. What I couldn’t have imagined is where the strip mall is. Mr. G’s has three locations. New York. Miami. And…wait for it…Akron Ohio. I don’t know, I didn’t ask. Although I am going to open a fashion design business with three locations…Paris, New York, and Davenport Iowa. Guaranteed success. Anyways, when you step inside it is much nicer than most strip mall pizza places. It has a kitschy-homey feeling to it with a number of booths and tables in two rooms. Our server was super pleasant and was delivering food to our table with increasing pace. If there is one thing they do at Mr. G’s it’s deliver a pile of food.
 

Standard Garlic Bread
 

We ordered the family combo special which included way more food than the four of us required. It includes garlic bread, a pile of wings and a pizza. Just to ensure we were completely out of our minds we also ordered an appetizer of Mr. G’s House Fries. Wave after wave of food arrived at the table and we left with our hunger well beyond assuaged and boxes of food. The garlic bread was first and it was a pretty straightforward roll with a light garlic and buttery flavor. The fries arrived closely behind and consisted of thick and fat planks of potato which had a layer of melted mozzarella overtop and were resting in a bath of garlic oil. They were screaming hot and as I looked around the table I noticed everyone was doing the half-open mouth chew associated with super hot food, but none of us stopped chewing so they must have been good. If it were me I might prefer another cheese that adds more flavor than the mozz, but there is a soft garlic tang to the fries which was a nice deviation from the cheddar cheese and bacon standards.

The wings were next and there were way more than I expected to be packed into a family combo. The wings were meaty and moist with a very nicely crisp crustiness. They appeared somewhat devoid of flavor (besides their inherent chickeny goodness). We did order the most mild variety of sauce but there seemed to be very little on the wings. Our server was nice enough to bring us a bath of sauce for dipping which made a difference. It was at wing number three I began to realize I was in trouble. My brain was telling me I was nearing capacity in that slow manner; like when a safe door is slowing closing in a movie with our hero still trapped inside. Oh Dear God…there is still a pizza coming.
 

And it did come. Relatively thin crust which is made fresh in house and has a very dry chewy texture…perfect for pizza. The crust did get a little soggy towards the middle of the pie but I doubt the ovens in Akron are allowed to be anywhere near the temperature of New York coal fired places.

The sauce is substantial and has a definitive sweetness. The pepperoni also has a unique flavor as though they are not buying the typical bags of sliced charcuterie from the back of a truck. Knowing we were packing a lot to go we forwent another slice and split a couple of desserts. The tiramisu is fluffy and sweet with a much stronger espresso bite than most I have had. Loved it. The coffee fought deliciously with the sugar, I imagine this is more what they had in mind in Rome. We also tried a cannoli which showed up wearing a surprising accessory…blue sprinkles. Didn’t matter the cookie was perfectly crisp and recently filled with a smooth and lightly sweetened cheese. We are certain to be back to try some of the many traditional entrees on the menu to see if they carry the same home-spun care and flavor. If you are interested in a taste that is outside of the pizza box, give Mr. G’s a try.
 

Happy Blue Cannoli
 

Unfortunate Update
 

Having enjoyed the pizza on a previous journey we thought we might give the rest of the Italian menu a try. We really should have known better. There is a reason the sign says pizza and wings…stick to those. To be frightfully honest…nothing was good. Wait the fried shrooms were fine. The salad dressing was bitter and the soup could have been left in the woods as a salt lick to attract deer.
 

Even more disappointing were the entrees. The cavatelli  were overdone and covered in a chunky and ham fisted sauce. I tried the chicken parm and was really surprised to see how  much of the burnt crust they left peeking out from under the sauce. The cook did take care to do one thing, however, he did turn the “good-side” up. The bottom might well have been used to smoke ribs. When the server chided us about not eating much I somehow kept from suggesting I would give her fifty bucks if she could choke it down. Must have been in my eyes though; as she gave us the stink eye on the way out the door. Maybe we’ll get our next pizza to go.