I finally found out what's the Mattina with this place when I was here 3 days ago. The issue is that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
I'll explain in a second.
What to order: a slice of cheese and pepperoni. Amazing.
What else: the service here is so bad, that it almost makes coming here fun just to experience it. But the food is worth it and it is what it is.
I was wondering why the service at my beloved Sheridan/Transit location (there are only 2) is sooooo baddddd. So I came into this original Delaware location to see what the deal is and talk to the owner. This guy has attitude! He has, in fact, the same attitude that the kids at the other location *all* have. He gets defensive. He denies things. He's abrasive with his customers. And most of all he does not wanna warm up his lukewarm slices of pizza for you. You don't even get that option. Don't even ask. There will be a big debate on the necessity of it, if you do. Our warmer is this, these slices are fresh, blah, blah, blah. It's lukewarm. But don't try and tell the owner or employees that.
See that's what keeps happening to me at the other location: yelling and raised voices over me asking for a slice warmed up, and insisting. I thought it was "when the boss is away, the kids get lippy" but now I know it's just a Mattina's thing. Starts at the top. I feel better now, because if the business fails, it won't be because the employees were screwing over the owner.
Anyway, I wish I could talk to him about the issue but it's an alpha male thing. He doesn't want to hear it. I don't want to get into a fight. I'm one of the single biggest fans of his pizza & wings out there. So I just got a slice. I was offered the choice of crispy or regular slices... that's a first. Meaning one of the pies was a little burned (lol). I chose regular. And the slices are a little better at the other location.
But like I told you, I wanna be like Matt Damon. Who doesn't want to be like him? We all aspire to be Matt Damon to a certain degree. Driving at high speed around Parisian streets in a tiny little European car. A citroen was it? A renault? I forget. We all have a little bit of Matt in us. And some of us have actually had a bit of Matt in us before. Such as Ben Affleck for instance. Unfortunately not all of us have had Mattinas. And as much as we may enjoy Matt in us, I can honestly say that Mattinas is better than Matt in us. Trust me on this. Ask Ben Affleck. Ask Jennifer Garner. Ask J Lo. But don't be fooled by the rocks that she's got. She's from the block, you know. And her block had a Mattina's on it for many years. And hence her million dollar behind. I wonder if she really has ever had Mattinass? If not, she should try it. It's delicious. Ben might get upset though.
So what's the Mattina with you? Never tried good pizza? Come to Buffalo. We have some of the best and most original, greasy, cheesy, saucy wet pizza in the damn universe, and Mattina's here is one of the very best of the very best. In fact I would squarely (pun intended) put it in my top 5 slices in the region. And I do NOT say that lightly because Buffalo pizza is anything but light. It's heavy as hell and greasy as f***. And we love it that way and if you don't love it that way then GIT OUT OF MURCA. OK just kidding.
But really, to put a slice in the top 20 in Buffalo is high praise. Top 10 means it's stratospherically good. Top 5, well... it's squarely out of this world. The reason why "squarely" is a pun is because they are famous here for their weird shapes. Franco's makes square pizza, and Mattina's makes "heart-shaped slices". First came Nirvana's Heart-Shaped Box (and my girlfriend's Heart-Shaped Box) and Chris Isaak's Heart-Shaped World, and now you have the Heart-Shaped Pizza by the Goo Goo Dolls, but written by Kirk Hammett of Mattinallica.
The slice is very much like Imperial or Franco's and Blasdell. Imperial is the best in the region, but this place is a very good facsimile of it. But if you're in Amherst, Tonawanda, Kenmore, N Buffalo, then damn, this is the place for you. Cheap, huge, amazing slices and everyone I know that's shared one with me has been blown away by how good it is.
Make sure you ask them to heat it up. It's vital to the future of mankind. It's just not as good if and when it's lukewarm. And you'll probably get yelled at for asking and they might even flat out refuse to do it.
So if you're Saudi Arabian or you're from a town north of Corfu (i.e. you're one of those Madinas/Medinas) then you need to come and try Mattina's. And as for everyone else, you do too. It really is that good. Come and check it out. And the location over on Sheridan near Transit is even better, by the way.
And don't ever let Matt do it the rear way with you. It won't be enjoyable at all, I speak from experience. It's one thing to Mattina's Pizza and love it, but you will NOT love Mattinass. Not at all. Not even a little bit. In fact it's like the opposite of this pizza. Ouch. read more