I saw an Insta post a while ago in which Michael Symon named Cent's as one of his 4 favorite…read moreCleveland pizza spots. Naturally, it's been on my list since! I grabbed the girlies and we made plans for a Thursday night.
First guest arrived around 5:45 and the only reason she had to wait is bc the rest of us weren't there yet. I'm sure other evenings have a longer wait, but today we hit the sweet spot. It's small inside, but there were still plenty of tables. Do not be scared of people saying the wait is always long! Clearly, it's not.
The staff was so friendly and welcoming. I like the open kitchen - it creates some anticipation when you can see them hard at work crafting the perfect meal!
My only note- the weird log seats were rather uncomfortable.
Our server was fantastic. His vibe matched the restaurants ambiance- cool, casual, friendly, vibrant. He made some recommendations which we took.
I wish I could have remembered the wine we ordered, but all our drinks were delicious. One had the Spa Water Spritz and she said it was very refreshing.
We started with the highly recommended Wonder bread. It arrived steaming hot with delicious cultured butter. It was just bread, right? But somehow the simplest of things surprise you. It was so tasty. Light and soft, with a little crunchy crust, light salt flavor. This was absolutely perfect bread. Don't skip it
We tried these pies, In ranked order:
1) pink. The sauce had a great spice to it. Vodka sauce is so thick, I expected the pie to be slathered, but it wasn't. The dough is thin crust, but not hard and burnt like so many wood-fired spots. It was light and airy, almost pillowy, while being thin. And excellent flavor in the crust too. This pizza had a great amount of basil sauce and cheese
2) white. Because ricotta is sweet and creamy, I didn't love the piles dotting the pizza. If the white sauce had been more garlicky, it probably would have balanced a little more. Overall, still very good, very cheesy
3) pepp. The sport peppers were spicier than I expected, I ended up taking some of mine off because I'm a wuss. The tomato sauce is very good. Not overpowering. The pepperoni were crispy little cups of yum.
The pies were 12", cut into 6 pieces. We were all quite full after bread and 2 slices, but all 3 of us were determined to try each flavor. Although we easily ranked the pizzas, we still enjoyed all of them. This was a fantastic dinner and a place I'll return.
The server noticed me scraping the last bit of butter so he brought me a cup to take home. Yay! We also got to try the house made tiramisu for my birthday and it was very good. I'm normally not a big fan, as I don't enjoy coffee or the soggy texture. This was made quite well. Nice and light, creamy filling not too thick.
After bread, 3 pizzas, 3 glasses of wine, 1 cocktail, our bill was $145. I don't think I realized how expensive that was until I started writing this, but I was so pleased without meal and experience I guess I didn't notice at the time. Take my money! It truly was worth it, as this pizza was expertly created. The menu is interesting and I can't wait to try more!