The Great Baltimore Pizza Pursuit 2013: Buca Di Beppo

The rules of The Great Baltimore Pizza Pursuit are simple.  Each category is worth 2 points (allowing for half points). The only pizza I'm considering is the basic slice of cheese. At the end of the year, the highest score wins the coveted Baltimore Bistros and Beer's Great Baltimore Pizza Pursuit title. This week's entry is surprise entrant Buca Di Beppo. Click here to see how the last entrant fared.

I wasn't planning on including Buca in the Great Baltimore Pizza Pursuit, but after tasting their stuff during lunch last week I thought they deserved a mention. A future review of Buca di Beppo as a whole will be posted at some point in the future. Please keep in mind that despite the picture showing 3 types of pizza, the only one under consideration here is the cheese pizza.

Droop Factor - It's a bit hard to score this one when it comes to Buca's pizza. The pie was fairly small and it wasn't cut into the traditional triangle pieces. Because of this, droop factor really doesn't come in to play and so I'm giving them a 1 by default.

Score - 1

Greaseification - This pizza was greasy, but in a totally delicious way. I've mentioned the fine line pizza walks between grease gross and grease great. Buca di Beppo's was grease great.

Score - 1.5

Aroma - I realize this category is kind of BS, but it's my party and I'll make stupid criteria if I want to. Pizza either comes out smelling fantastic, or it comes out smelling really good. Because the pizza we got came with two other types of pizza attached to it, it's hard to evaluate the sexy aroma of the cheese alone. To be fair, I'm also giving a default score of 1 here because I can't be sure that that I wasn't influenced by the meaty aroma that was the godlike pepperoni.

Score - 1

Cheese - Buca's cheese was extremely tasty. Salty, creamy, greasy, and delicious. The pizza was cooked just the right amount of time to the point that the cheese started to get those beautiful little browned areas here and there. Really tasty stuff.

Score - 1.5

Sauce - I REALLY enjoyed the sauce. I enjoyed it so much I hit the caps lock button when I typed really in the previous sentence. There was ample tomato sauce throughout. The flavor was bright and acidic and there was an underlying flavor of garlic that a lot of the other pizzas I've been eating could have benefited from.

Score - 2

Crust - Buca's crust was quite delicious as well. It was thinner than usual and I really enjoyed that. This is a pizza you can eat without feeling like you're eating a bread anchor. They put a nice brown on it and overall it was a crust well done.

Score - 1.5

Overall Score - 8.5  out of 12

As you can see, Buca Di Beppo scored very well. Without the default scores of 1 for a few categories, this one would be right up there at the top. I visited them during lunch break because I had a coupon and wanted a cheap lunch. I left surprised as hell at how much I enjoyed their pizza. Walked in with chain restaurant bias. Walked out thrilled that I can walk there from work any day of the week.

Charley's Grilled Subs

I'd say I buy my lunch almost 50% of the time Monday through Friday. Since, I eat out a fair amount I'm always looking for something nearby that is not only quick, but reasonably priced, and delicious. That's a tall order, but Charley's Subs meets all three criteria. 

Charley's Subs opened inside the White Marsh Mall cafeteria some time last spring/summer. They were opening inside a stand that has housed failed restaurant after failed restaurant the past 5 years. Because of this, I wasn't overly excited about what they had to offer. But, I'm a brave guy and since I'm always on the hunt for something good to eat I decided to give them a try one fateful day. Summary....stuff tastes good.

But you want details!

I went with a regular chicken cheese steak (to help maintain my girlish figure), buffalo fries (to maintain a bit of masculinity), and a blueberry lemonade (because I thought it sounded tasty).

My food came out hot, it came out fast, and it came out tasting good. The chicken cheese steak, while it won't have the kings of cheese steak trembling, has plenty of good flavor. Good bread, tender chicken, cheese, mayo, and a little crispy lettuce....I'm not complaining about any of that.

The buffalo fries were the best part of my lunch. I loved that they used real blue cheese crumbles. I'm very much a blue cheese snob and the thought of nasty liquid blue cheese dressing on my french fries had me a bit worried. But no fear, Charley's came through with the crumbles and the fries themselves were fried perfectly.

And what better to wash some spicy fries down with than some blueberry lemonade. You get a huge glass with some pretty good lemonade and a bit of real blueberry flavor. It's good, not great, but Charley's amounts (in my opinion) to a fast food establishment so if you're looking for some exquisite beverages, you're probably not eating at the right place. It definitely beats "Coke or Diet Coke" everywhere else in the food court.

Overall, this place is a winner in my book. If you work anywhere near White Marsh Mall, check out Charley's for a quick, affordable, and delicious meal.

Price: Cheap
Recommendation: Great Place to visit for a quick lunch.
What to Order: Buffalo Fries