Dining In: Durham, NC - Alfredo's Pizza Villa

Growing up in NJ, we had no shortage of great Italian pizzerias and restaurants. It's New Jersey after all. And given that pizza is one of my favorite food categories, I'm always on the search for pizza that reminds me of "home." The Husband and I have this thing where we try new pizzerias and rate the quality of the pizza on several dimensions as we gobble down the slices. (Yes mom, we talk with our mouths full.)

I think different people focus on different elements of pizza, whereas for me the Sauce and Crust are huge. In my mind, if the crust and sauce are made right, I should be able to eat it with no toppings at all and still derive the same amount of pleasure as a full-topping-ed version. For The Husband, italian sausage, mushroom, and black olives are a must-have, but the crust must be crisp - in fact - almost crunchy. You can probably imagine the discussions we've had about all the pizza joints that we've frequented. This is no small issue for us.

We recently went to Alfredo's Pizza Villa in the Hope Valley area of Durham. An unassuming location inside a massive shopping complex. We honestly would not have gone there unless a friend recommended it. We ordered a (massive) 16 inch pie (yes, I call them pies!) with red sauce, cheese, italian sausage, mushroom, and black olives.

The crust was pretty reminiscent of pizzas I remember eating in Jersey. Chewy and yet crisp enough that you can hear the crunch in your head as you bite down on the slice. The sauce is slightly sweet (a requirement for me) and not overwhelming the pizza or making it soggy. The pictures really don't do this pizza justice.

We left saying to each other, "Maybe we've just found our local pizza joint." Just maybe... since our search for the perfect pizza is likely to be a lifelong process.

Have a great weekend everyone!