Mama Lacona's 03-23-2013

As has been the habit, we started with fried ravioli, 3 sausage and 3 cheese. The cheese is ok, I am uncertain about the sausage. It had an odd texture and odd slightly fishy taste. I like it better on the second piece. It is a softer texture than I like. Not bad really, just not to my taste.

Lizzie got a Wedge salad, which she says is quite good. More from her in a moment.

Great big and very thin pieces of pepperoni cover most of that side of the  pizza, the sausage only covers part of it's side, it was like there was a cheese pizza down the middle. It has a very thin bread-y crust. On the first piece the topping pulled off, not a problem after that since it had a chance to cool down just a little. They use the milder Graziano sausage which is very good for this kind of pizza. I personally would have preferred a little more spice. They have a quite tasty cheese blend and good unobtrusive sauce that compliments rather than takes over.

Lizzie: the pepperoni is flavorful without being too spicy. The sausage is the mild grazianos, and its a very nice compliment to the over taste. The sauce is supportive without being overpowering. The crust isn't what we were looking for, but it is still VERY good. I really liked the cheese ravioli, but the meat ravioli was a much softer texture than I prefer. My salad was perfect.

Eric again: Overall, this is exceptional pizza. Really exceptional. The crust isn't quite what I am looking for, but it is still an excellent crust. Everything else is wonderful. Not the tastiest I have had, but darn close.

Eric's Rating

Rightness: 5

Tastiness: 9

Lizzie's Rating

Rightness: 3

Tastiness: 8.5

It occurred to me, I think that the last time I was in Mama Lacona's it was on Beaver, so that was at least two moves ago.

The Tavern (West Des Moines)

We went to one of the three Tavern restaurants in town. I expected better things. We had some of the usual stuff. 

Fried Ravioli
A little too crunchy for me, less so for Lizzie. The flavor made me think they had been cooked in the same oil as fish. Not bad by any means, just not particularly good. The filling was bland, the theme  of the evening it seems.

I had a 1/2 sausage 1/2 pepperoni pizza, to keep the test fair. I was uncertain about the crust, it was heading towards being good but something about it made me think of easy bake oven pizza. I asked the waitress (who was very good at her job I must say) and the awful truth was verified. The Tavern does not make real pizza. The crust became chewy after awhile. The sausage was bland, but ok, just ok. The pepperoni was ... well ... I felt that that half of the pizza was just cheese. I took a piece out to taste just the pepperoni, it was almost tasteless. Easily the worst pepperoni so far. The sauce was unexceptional, almost no tang to it at all.

Lizzie had The Works (no onion). It kind of fell apart. Because of the inferior way the pizza is made, the ingredients pulled away from the crust all too easy. This was the better of the two pizzas, fresh green peppers and mushrooms and the pepperoni is fine being bland with other things to taste but still, mediocre.

The pizza wasn't bad really, it just wasn't any good. This was a waste of our time and money. I think it was Lizzie who said that it was upscale chain pizza. I wouldn't go that far.

Eric's Rating
Rightness Scale - 0
Tastiness Scale - 6

Lizzie's Rating
Rightness - 4
Tastiness - 7