Dorlo Pizza
Ashland, Ohio
While in Ashland for Mj's basketball tournament we had a chance to check out some local eateries. As always the kid wanted Pizza and after putting up 12 points, 4 rebounds and 9 assist, I felt indebted to roll with his choice!
I spent some time back in my college days in Wooster / Ashland as it was the hometown of one of my dorm buddies and all I could remember of the town back then was horse drawn buggies, country roads, a Wal-Mart, a slower pace of life and lots of beer! (Hey, I was in college after all).
So fast forward about 15 years and things sure have changed (or my memory isn't as reliable as one would like to believe). The city still has a small town feel but has undeniably grown up! The country roads are now lined with stores going 'to and fro' the freeway, Wal-Mart is now "Super" sized and even includes dedicated "parking" for the horse drawn buggies via shiny hitching posts.
Being the last time I was here I was a 20 year old college kid and my idea of good food consisted of eating pizza and hot dogs out of the local Speedway at 4 AM. Needless to say, my taste have changed over time. I remembered my co-worker, also from the area told me to try a place called DorLo Pizza so I figured i'd give it a shot (I mean it couldn't be any worse than Speedway pies right?)
Clark: "We’re the first ones here! We’re the first ones here!"
Ellen: "But (we parked) so far away, Clark."
Clark: "And at the end of the day, when the lot’s all full… and everybody’s fighting to get out of here… we’ll be the first ones to get out, too!"
-Clark & Ellen Griswold on parking waay in the back of the lot at Wally World
The above quote ran thru my mind as we arrived 20 minutes prior to opening and I debated on just exactly where I should park. Following Clark's words of wisdom I decided to park in the back so that way, we would have the quickest exit after enjoying our upcoming smorgasbord of saucy goodness.
DorLo is a modest sized restaurant with around 25 - 30 tables, a no frills salad bar and a family atmosphere that i'm sure is pretty active on weekends (especially seeing they offer an all you can eat pizza buffet 7 days a week). Seeing that we were the first ones to arrive, the pizza's were still in the ovens, but after a short 10 minute wait it was time to see if my co-worker knew what good pizza was....
DorLo has your usual NY hand tossed style pizza, not to be mistaken with your normal run of the mill pie. The crust has just the right amount of "chew" and is accented by a semi-sweet but not "half a bag of sugar" sweet sauce that is a perfect balance when mixed with gooey, stringy, melty (Mj's word not mine) cheese.
We were able to order custom pizza's for the buffet, which was pretty cool and the boy choose Pepperoni, Sausage and Banana Pepper's, while I went for the "Triple Bypass" (my titling not theirs), Pep, Sausage, Ham, Mushroom, extra cheese and Canadian Bacon, all toppings baked UNDER the cheese please.
The toppings tasted fresh and were "plentifully distributed" across, making it impossible to take a bite without consuming more than just cheese, which of course, is good!
Outside of the general taste and presentation of a pizza, I judge the greatness of a pie by 2 additional factors:
1. The cheese pull : How long will the cheese stretch when you take a bite
2. Grease: How much grease is left on the plate when you pick your slice up
DorLo's passes both test as far as i'm concerned, with a "Cheese pull" that I've only seen rivaled by Giordano's, Mj was almost able to extend his arm all the way before the cheese broke, A beautiful sight for the cheese lovers out there.
So some people out there are turned off by pizza grease, yea sure its not the most healthy thing but seriously, if a pizza doesnt leave behind an outline on your plate, ask for your money back, your wasting your time.
Blame it on the cheese bread
The verdict? This place is pretty damn good and the value, 6 bucks for the buffet offered every day from 11 AM till 2 PM can't be beat.
Although we came for pizza (and cheese bread), their menu contains all that you would expect from a mom and pop pizza joint from subs and wings to salad and spaghetti!
If your fortunate enough to live in the area, well then I'm sure you already know about all of the above, however, If your looking for an excuse to take a road trip, well you just found one! Looks like my co-worker knew what he was talking about after all.. Good Looking out Gabe!
Savings Alert: Text DORLO to 51660 to get a coupon worth a free order of Cheesy Bread when you purchase a large pizza at regular price!
