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Hobsy: Good point!

Yes! Elk burgers are delicious! I found a great elk burger marinade on AmericanHunter.org if anyone wants to try it out: http://americanhunter.org/ArticlePage.aspx?cid=40&id=1699

it should come as no surprise that the various outposts of grimaldi's are inconsistent when you consider that the original brooklyn one (cadmen plaza, not floyd bennett) is pretty widely known for inconsistency and undercooking their pizzas.

It might just be me, but the Texas pizza's crust looks significantly thicker than that of the Brooklyn pie (both in the picture and personal experience). With a scorching coal oven, a thick crust would take longer to cook and be overly charred-even by NY standards. NY pies are, in general, a thinner crust (like those in Italy, especially Southern Italy and Napoli) and a crisper experience than that of pies I've had in the rest of the country. Perhaps if the franchises thinned out the crust, more non-New Yorkers would 'get it'!

Also, the Brooklyn pie has more of an 'artisan' look to it than the Texas pie; redder tomato, not spread in a thin layer over the entirety of the pie, with a better contrast to the mozzarella.

@Adam Kuban: I was striving for humor. You know, charred humor. Apparently I failed. Well, I think it's funny.

We have one of these Grimaldi's in Las Vegas, they do char their pizza. They are alittle inconsistant, but overall its by far the best NY style pizza in Vegas, and it is comparable to the top NY pizzas anywhere. I've heard people say they liked it better than the one in Brooklyn. Go figure. Easily the 2nd best overall pizza in Vegas outside of "Settebello" which is one of the premier Neapolitan style places in the US.

Guess I am not surprised.. I grew up on the east coast and when I got to Austin in '83, there was not a decent pie in sight.. We have a few but people are, well, strange about their food.. mark miller, well known and respected, open a restaurant here in Austin.. It did not do well because the food was too spicy!!!!! WTF... So it does not surprise me that they don't really care for the goods.. All hat and no cattle.. kind of like whats his name, the yale graduate who was our last prez..

THe one the left looks better. Nto because of the char, but look at the cheese. It's just ozzing with goodness, or so it would seem. I think that's one thing that N.Y. pizaa has over a lot of places. Fresh cheese.

I prefer the char myself, and am disappointed that my local shop in Va. (Dino's Pizza Shop) stopped doing it unless requested. Sadly they aren't coal-fired pizzas, but they still make some of the best pizza I have ever had south of northern N.J.

What can one expect from the Death Penalty State. Perhaps Texas Grimaldi's should let the customers shoot the "burnt" pizza before they send it back, you know, as a marketing gimmick. Now, maybe if they were still using "the chair", charred wouldn't seem so, you know, alien.

Just went to Vegas' Grimaldi's in January, the bottom of the crust is definitely blacker than the pix from Houston's branch.

A gentleman (perhaps tourist?) actually asked the staff to send the pizza back into the coal oven for more brownage. Not a bad pie at all!

I've been to the one in Allen and I love it. They do burn the pizza a little more there being that most of the people that live in the Allen/Plano/McKinney area are mostly from the North East. It's pretty damn close to NYC pizza.

Also for good jersey pizza, I go to a place in Plano called Joes Pizza at the Tollway and W Parker Rd. Fresh garlic, well done..... amazing.

Is the burnt crust deal similar to India Pale Ale winning the Beer Cup ever year?

Everybody seems to think that IPAs are the best, even though they taste like ink. Everybody also seems to think that pizza crust isn't any good unless it is burnt?

Seems crazy.

Thanks for the intel, Canerosso! And for the links to those pictures. They look great.

Agree with you on the chain thing. Chains typically blow.