Five Points Pizzeria - February 4, 2023
Chip's surgical procedure this week and subsequent recovery means that for the next few weeks, we'll be sampling some of the carryout-only pizza places in the area. Luckily there are a few within 15 minutes of where we live, which makes it more likely that the pizza will arrive at home hot and fresh.
We decided to try a spot that's been open less than a year, Five Points Pizzeria. The intersection where it's located is called Five Points because it's where PA State Routes 22, 819, and 1031 come together, making a five-pointed star. In other words, this intersection gets lots of drive-by traffic every day.
But somehow, nothing seems to make it in this location. At least four pizza places and a café have occupied the building in the last 15 or 20 years, but none have made it more than four or five years. Chip and I patronized at least one previous iteration, and found the food good but the atmosphere dingy.
Maybe the building is cursed? Or haunted? It certainly looks like it could be. It's a nondescript white frame building that looks a little unloved, with a dining room entrance on one side and the carryout door on the other. There's a sign on the building itself letting passersby know that Five Points Pizzeria is now open, but no post sign out front. There were no cars on the dining room side, and what looked like just a few worker cars on the other.
We called in an order of breadsticks, a 12" Italian sub (ham, salami, capicola, and provolone), and a large sausage and mushroom pizza with traditional sauce on traditional crust. That totaled $41, so not the most or least expensive we've experienced.
I made it there in 12 minutes, and it was ready to go when I arrived (they didn't seem very busy, so we're now taking bets on how long Five Points is meant for this world).
We were very pleasantly surprised when we opened the boxes at home. The pizza had a ton of toppings, including the most fresh mushrooms I think I've ever seen on a pizza. And the Italian sub was loaded with meat.
We all agreed that the Italian sub was delicious. The bread was ever so slightly toasted, and there was just enough lettuce to give the sandwich a bit of crunch without being overwhelming. I ordered it dry rather than with mayo or Italian dressing, but we all added mayo once I got it home. And the meat was flavorful and plenty.
The breadsticks looked ginormous, but after one bite we realized they were hollow. We're not quite certain how they were made. I found them a bit chewy but Avery liked how airy they were. We're guessing that the included sauce is their traditional pizza sauce, as it was tangy and very tasty.
Even though we ordered our pizza with a traditional crust, it was a bit on the thin side compared to a typical hand-tossed crust. However, we were all pleasantly surprised that the crust ably held the volume of toppings without collapsing.
We couldn't come to agreement on the pizza. Avery loved that it was loaded with toppings and he thought the sauce was fantastic. Chip, as per usual, thought that some of the slices were too saucy (you can see in the pic above that some do have sauce oozing out at the top) but otherwise good. I thought the mushroom overload was well done and that the sausage was yummy, and I agreed with Avery that the sauce was tasty.
But the top crust seemed a little hard to me - I ended up leaving mine on my plate. And there was something about the pizza that kept it at a "good" and not a "great" for me. I couldn't put my finger on it last night, but this morning while staring at the pizza picture it hit me - there wasn't nearly enough cheese for all those toppings. In fact, I'd call the cheese situation downright skimpy.
Cheese is one of my most favorite things about pizza. So while Avery may be headed back with Steph at some point in the future, I think Five Points will remain part of my past.
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