“Amanda, you’re the best date I’ve ever had,” my best friend Lauren Angius jokingly said to me as we sat in a booth at Pasta Gondola & Pizza Machine in downtown Danville.
Lauren very nicely had volunteered to accompany me to four different pizza places in Danville and Blackhawk. Our mission was to finally put an end to the question, “Which pizza is best?” And, while we were at it, we compared garlic bread offerings, just for good measure.
We knew from the beginning it was going to be a difficult ordeal: four restaurants in the span of four hours. Some called us crazy, but we had confidence in our pizza-eating abilities. The plan was to eat a small amount of pizza at each place and compare.
Our quest for the perfect slice began around 6 p.m. at Primo’s Pizza & Pasta in downtown Danville. Lauren and I were joined by our friend Amanda Hartzer, who could only stay for one restaurant due to a babysitting job. We were seated at a table near a window and given menus. After deciding on a small half-cheese, half-pepperoni pizza and an order of garlic bread, we settled back to observe our surroundings.
The walls were covered with various memorabilia – old tools, license plates, newspaper headlines, and old signs that were fun to read, such as, “Waffle with hot syrup & butter 10¢.” Our table had a green-checkered tablecloth, as well as a big candle that our pizza rested on when it arrived.
Our waiter, Curt, brought us our food and was very informative. He told us about the Prego Pizza, famous for its ability to induce labor. On a back wall is the Primo’s Bambinos poster, filled with pictures of babies, presumably as a result of the Prego Pizza. Expectant mothers, beware.
The garlic bread was pretty tasty. We couldn’t detect a whole lot of garlic, but that was fine by us. Our pizza was excellent. Gooey cheese smothered each slice, and the crust was crispy and seemed like it had some seasoning in it.
“I’m not a big pizza eater,” Amanda Hartzer said, “but this is really good. I like this a lot.”
Our bill at Primo’s came to $15.81, which included one soda, four pieces of garlic bread, and the small pizza.
We left Primo’s only slightly full, but we were excited to go to the next place and try another piece of pizza.
Pasta Gondola & Pizza Machine on San Ramon Valley Boulevard was our next stop. Lauren and I were shocked when we walked in, expecting to see the restaurant we had come to as kids. Instead, we saw the result of a renovation two years ago – a section of a gondola resting in the corner, red vinyl and wood booths, wooden picnic tables, and lattice work everywhere with fake ivy and grapes hanging down. We think it was supposed to feel like Italy, and had music that reminded Lauren of “Lady and the Tramp.”
Lauren and I munched on free, seasoned Italian breadsticks (very yummy) while we contemplated the sports-themed menu. We ordered the World Series Pizza, which had chicken marinated in barbecue sauce, Roma tomatoes, and red onion. We thought we should steer clear of the cheese/pepperoni combo just to give our taste buds a rest.
We got our pizza 25 minutes after ordering, and were impressed with the crust. The pizza itself was less sloppy than Primo’s, but the barbeque sauce tasted a little too sweet for our liking.
Twenty minutes after our pizza arrived (and 10 minutes after it was gone), we scooped up our complimentary Andes mints and paid our check, $17.50 for two sodas, the pizza and a tip.
Pasta Gondola & Pizza Machine seemed like a good place for families to come because of its picnic tables and an extensive game area in the back. Lauren and I thought the breadsticks were good, but we needed to taste some other pizza to really form opinions on who had the best.
Off to Ascona Pizza Company we went. Walking into the Blackhawk eatery feels almost like entering a sports bar. Pizza boards signed by sports stars hang from the ceiling, neon beer signs shine in the windows, and TVs allow viewing of current games. This was definitely the most modern pizza place so far, but we wondered, would the food be light-years ahead of its competition?
We ordered a small cheese pizza, an order of garlic bread, and an order of onion rings (all the pizza and garlic bread was becoming monotonous – we needed to switch it up a little). We paid $18.34 at the register behind the bar, grabbed our own plates and utensils, and sat down at a table inside. Lauren and I kept up the conversation while we watched the A’s game playing on a screen in the corner.
Our onion rings came out to us first. I think we may have tested our server’s patience because I asked him for some ranch dressing when he first brought out the order, then when he returned Lauren asked him for ketchup. But he brought over the ketchup, still smiling. We were not such demanding customers when the garlic bread and pizza came five minutes later, digging into the pizza immediately.
We would have liked the onion rings to be a little crispier, but for a restaurant specializing in pizza, we thought they were OK. The garlic bread lived up to its name; I loved it, but Lauren thought it had a little too much garlic. Our cheese pizza was not sloppy enough for Lauren, but I thought the cheese was very tasty. We both agreed the crust would have been better had it not been so thin, but we were partial to thick crust from the beginning.
“It’s like cheese and pizza sauce on breadsticks,” Lauren said about our pizza. “It doesn’t really come together. It just doesn’t do anything for me.”
Leaving Ascona Pizza Company with a split decision on the food, we headed over to our last stop, Blackhawk Pizzeria. By the time we walked in the door, it was 9:15 p.m., and we were the only people in the restaurant. It was the smallest of all the places, with the plainest dÈcor. We tried to order a slice from the counter (by this time we were so sick of pizza, we just wanted to take a few bites and call it a night), but we were told we had to order a whole pizza. So, we ordered a small cheese pizza and one garlic roll, which cost us $16.56.
When the pizza arrived, we were surprised to find that it was square. It had thick crust and a little too much oregano in the sauce. Lauren and I just stared at it for a minute.
“I don’t think I can do this,” I said, full to the point of exhaustion.
“Yes, you can!” Lauren encouraged me.
We thought the pizza makers could have been a little more generous with the cheese, and maybe not so generous with the amount of bread. The cheese just kind of rested on top of the bread, and it didn’t seem completely melted.
“There is no love interest between the sauce and the bread,” Lauren joked. “They seem repelled by each other.”
In all, the pizza was not half bad, but the garlic roll was much too spicy for my taste. But Lauren liked it.
As we sat slumped in our chairs, we realized it was over. We had successfully sampled four different pizzas and four different versions of garlic bread, all in one night. It was a triumphant moment for us, knowing we could now decide who made the best pizza.
Lauren and I both decided that Primo’s had the best pizza, hands down. We split on the garlic bread, however. Ascona’s garlic bread captured my heart, but Lauren’s allegiance went to Pasta Gondola & Pizza Machine’s Italian breadsticks. We liked Blackhawk Pizzeria’s square shape and speedy service, and the free Andes mints at Pasta Gondola & Pizza Machine, but Primo’s offered us a truly great dining experience, winning the contest hands down.
At the end of the evening, Lauren and I were so full that the thought of ever eating another piece of pizza was revolting. I’m sure in another week or two I’ll be craving a slice, and I know where I’ll be headed.
