Date: January 8th, 2012
Location: 601 Monmouth Street Newport, KY 41071
Ranking: 16
We’re baaaaaaaack!
Pizza lovers of the Tri-State rejoice; we have returned after a short
pizza blogging hiatus and are now blazing through the last half of the top 50
Cincinnati pizzas. However, the
first post-hiatus visit was actually not in Cincinnati. We dropped in to one of our tried and
true favorites in Newport, on one of those warm, balmy evenings in January.
Almost everyone that we know loves Newport Pizza
Company. Only one of our friends
has been less than impressed, and we’d venture to say that was a fluke. Here’s why: Newport Pizza Company has consistently served up unique,
fresh, and delicious pizza every time we've gone, and that was no different on
this particular visit.
In the spirit of full disclosure, we have to admit that we dined
with a friend of ours who is also an employee at Newport Pizza Company. One could argue that our satisfaction
and overall experience is tainted or biased, but based on our past experience
as well, we are willing to bet that the experience was a true indicator of the
service and food we’d receive on any visit.
The atmosphere in NPC is cozy, clean, and comfortable. The service has always been very
friendly, and the staff is well-informed and extremely knowledgeable about the
menu and bar offerings. Speaking
of the bar--they offer a really great selection of craft and import beers, if
that’s what you’re into. Our
fantastic server Krista was attentive to our every need, and made sure that our
foray back into pizza blogging was going to be a good one. And it was.
We started out with some Fried Mozzarella, which are fresh
mozzarella chunks, battered and fried into gooey, geometric cubes, with a
heavenly crisp on the outside. The
fresh, house made marinara sauce was the perfect compliment to these, although
they could probably stand alone just fine. Courtney had never tried these before, and was definitely in
love. (p.s. there were two left and, though the
server kindly advised that these weren't very good reheated, we found them to
be just fine later. Come on, you
can't waste something that good!)
Between the three of us, we decided to order two 12” pies,
each split in halves with different types of pizza on either side. That was a benefit of knowing an
employee - she knew how to get the most bang for our buck and the most tastes
out of one visit. On one of them,
we chose the Monmouth and the Meatball Lasagna. On the other, half
Barbeque Chicken and half Zeus.
We both really loved the meatball lasagna pie, which
showcased their homemade sauce and meatballs. There was a light mix of Ricotta cheese in the sauce, which
was a pleasant addition. Eating
this pizza reminded Robyn of our annual T-Givin’ potluck, in which our friends
make delicious lasagna the night before Thanksgiving. Whatever your favorite lasagna is, this pizza will probably
remind you of it, which is awesome.
The crust is light and chewy, but not too thin to support the heavy
toppings. This pizza is a
different kind of good, and the right choice if you're in the market for a
pizza that's not quite pizza.
 |
| Meatball Lasagna on the left, the Monmouth on the right |
The Barbeque Chicken pizza was pretty standard for its kind,
but was great. Do not
underestimate standard ingredients; it's what they do with them that is
important! We heard this one is
pretty popular, and totally see why.
The barbeque sauce was sweet, not vinegary. There was plenty of the sauce, which was nice. The onions were a little dry for
Robyn’s liking, but they still added good flavor to the pizza overall.
 |
| Barbeque Chicken on the left, Zeus on the right |
The Zeus was the first NPC pizza that Courtney ever tried,
awhile back, and remains probably her favorite. This one offers fresh spinach, Roma tomatoes, garlic, feta,
asiago, and an olive oil base. It
is seriously the melt-in-your-mouth kind of good, actually just as good (if not
better) than Courtney remembered.
This one is definitely the right choice if you want something with a
different kind of taste, or maybe something a little lighter. Also, if you love Asiago. OMG Asiago.
The Monmouth is the NPC house specialty, basically a high-end
deluxe pizza. This guy features
the usual suspects for a deluxe.
The meat: pepperoni, awesome
Italian sausage, and bacon. The
veggies: bright green peppers, onions, and mushrooms. The cheese: mozzarella,
provolone, and Parmesan. These
ingredients are piled super high, so we recommend attacking this one with a
fork. A classic done right.
We know what you're thinking: "of course you're going to give it a grand review, your
friend works there!". Believe
us, though - we are not exaggerating.
Newport Pizza Company is good stuff. Skip Dewey's the next time you head towards the Levee, and
drive a few blocks up to NPC instead.
Maybe try the Pizza of the Month, where the NPC team tries out some
creative blends and thematic pies (it's Caribbean Jerk now, but we heard the Greek
they had recently was one of their best).
And, if it's your birthday and you are an extremely lucky person, their
delivery driver will sing Happy Birthday to you in a full-on operatic
voice. You are not misreading this
- it's one of our new favorite memories.
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