Large Pan Style Bacon & Black Olive Pizza from Ricobene's

Item Purchased: Large Pan Style Bacon & Black Olive Pizza from Ricobene's
Location Purchased: Ricobene's Pizzeria / 252 W. 26th St. / Chicago, IL
Price: $17.59 + tax & delivery charge

Review: This wasn't what I had in mind when I said I was planning on doing some grocery shopping so I would have lunches to take with me to work, but it achieves the same result until I recover some of my energy and actually get down to the store.

I'm allowed delivery once in a while, aren't I?

While I hold that Ricobene's has breaded steak sandwiches so good that even vegetarians should try them and pizzas that rank in my top five in Chicago, I have to admit I have some complaints about this one.

As always is the case with Ricobene's Pizza, the crust was slightly buttery and flaky, disintegrating in my mouth just enough to make me think I could swallow, but then making me realize that I had to push it back up to chew it down some more. Double the taste! How lucky! The tomato sauce was slightly sweet, suggesting the use of fresh ingredients and the olives were the tinny canned variety that I love (only canned vegetable I can stomach, actually).

Unfortunately, Ricobene's fails on the swine. Now, I know that ordering a bacon and olive pizza is a disgusting prospect to most people, but hey... It's pizza and anything goes! The problem is that Ricobene's bacon is not the crisp and crunchy type of swine flank that it should be when placed atop a large circular flatbread. Instead, the bacon was fatty, chewy and otherwise unpleasant. This is okay if the bacon is fresh and served with a side of eggs (anyone ever made an egg/breakfast pizza? If yes, send me a recipe), but when placed on lunch or dinner dishes, you are required to "cook the hell" out of it.

So, I have a few lunch portions of soggy pig strips atop an otherwise fantastic pizza for the rest of this week. Maybe this will push me further into the cook-for-the-week mindset I have been trying to instill in myself.

Rating: 2.75 / 5