Food Dudes: POSH Tomato dishes up quality pizza

ALEX COGGIN `16

STAFF WRITER

I am sure you have seen the flyers floating around Vernon Social Center about the new fast-casual pizza concept, Posh Tomato, in Blue Back Square. Opened by Chad Kirby and Dan Taskila, the owners of Goldberg’s, Posh Tomato is a new franchise of the restaurant  from Brooklyn, New York. This week, I did every curious student the favor of checking it out.

When you first enter the restaurant, the surroundings look strikingly familiar to a very well known fast food chain: Chipotle. There is a glass case with all the pizza toppings lined up. The menu is printed behind the counter. The interior is sparse but warm, with wood decor.

Posh Tomato is designed to be a super fast version of a pizza place. The pizzas feature extremely thin crust, which allows them to cook in only about two to three minutes. The restaurant itself is relatively small, with about 10 tables inside and another eight or so outside. It is extremely clean and the staff is exceptionally friendly. The woman who appeared to be the manager was very attentive and made sure that everything was prepared to my satisfaction.

During checkout, the cashier accidentally charged me $2 too little and when I pointed it out, I was told that it was their mistake so the difference was on the house. Customer service was definitely a strong point for Posh Tomato. Even though it is a fast-casual place, they certainly do not neglect the service.

To order, you can choose between several pre-designed pizzas or create your own. If you choose to create your own, you walk down the line and select the toppings you want as you go.

The pre-designed pizzas include options ranging from a traditional cheese to Caesar salad and a ‘taco pie.’ The Caesar Salad pizza features a plain crust with a Caesar salad on top of it, a healthy twist on a traditional pizza. For each pizza, there are three types of crust to choose from: plain, whole wheat, and gluten free. Whole wheat and gluten free are a $1 or $2 upcharge, respectively. If you choose to create your own you select a base of “classic,” “margarita,” or “Bianca” (white).

For pizzas, I ordered a “spicy buffalo” and also created my own. The buffalo chicken consists of Frank’s red-hot sauce, a cheese blend, grilled chicken, onion and Gorgonzola. For the pizza I created, I chose classic sauce and added green peppers, chicken, and feta cheese. I also ordered a dessert chocolate pizza, which had marshmallows, chocolate and cinnamon dust.

The pizzas are cooked amazingly fast. Honestly, I was surprised by how fast they came out of the oven. By the time I was finished paying and getting my drink, my meal was only about a minute wait. The pizza is brought to your table on a wooden board.

The unique crust caught my attention right away. It is extremely thin, even thinner than I expected. The outside of the crust puffs up like a cracker. The buffalo chicken was actually one of the best buffalo chicken pizzas I have ever had. There was a lot of sauce (many other buffalo chicken pizzas I have had are lacking in this department), and the Gorgonzola cheese was the perfect addition to the pizza and covered the blue cheese flavor that you expect with wings.

The pizza I created was very good as well. The green peppers were fresh and the feta cheese and house tomato sauce was a good pairing. The toppings are all top-notch. You can tell that every one of the toppings is extremely high quality. The pizzas are definitely personal size; most people would eat an entire pizza. Due to the ultra thin crust, it is much less filling than your typical pie. It was nice to leave feeling satisfied instead of feeling uncomfortably full. If you come with a huge appetite, just be aware that the thin crust makes for a lighter meal so that you are not disappointed or surprised.

The dessert pizza was a great end to my lunch. The marshmallows were perfectly roasted in the oven, and when paired with the chocolate drizzle and the cinnamon dust, the dish tasted very similar to a s’more. I ordered the small size for the dessert pizza. Unlike the entrée pizzas, the dessert comes in two sizes, and it was quite large. It was definitely large enough to split between two to four people.

One of the best parts about Posh Tomato is how fast it is. You get a fresh cooked pizza and when all is said and done, you could easily be out in less than 20 minutes. The restaurant is extremely quick, high quality, and comes with attentive service. Posh Tomato is a very cool concept and I recommend checking it out next time you are in Blue Back Square and in the mood for pizza or a quick lunch.