Napoli Pizza N Pasta- Beachside Melbourne- 4- stars.
"The thing that keeps a business ahead of the competition is excellence in execution." -- Tom Peters
As we regularly dine at Napoli's I figured it was high time I proferred up a review all professional and like. Located on the beach-side of Melbourne (not to be confused with Melbourne Beach), tucked somewhat beside Walmart is where one will find this gem of a regular eating establishment. As part of the Slice family of Pizza joints, one would expect them to be cookie-cutter production in all they spew forth from the oven, but that is not the case here. As I have mentioned over and over it's all about execution people.
As this is one of my go-to spots for a quick Italian-American meal, I was well known to the staff and was greeted like family. I asked my server for a Sausage and Broccoli Rabe sub sandwich, an order of Fettuccine Alfredo and one mushroom pizza. To be honest, I did not know that they were part of the Slice Pizza group, but that does explain the quality of their ingredients. While they are not bottom of the barrel type, they are not top-shelf either, but rather stuck firmly in the entry-level area. What does that mean? If one uses USDA grades as an example, think Standard which is one step up from Canner grade and two steps down from Prime. One would think with standard grade ingredients the victuals would taste sub-par.
One bite into the Sausage and Broccoli Rabe Sub and I immediately knew that was not the case. For starters, while they may use standard grade everything else, they make their own bread in the back and it is awesome. This bread was the perfect sandwich roll with a slight break to the crust, a nice tear in the bread and a wonderful chewiness that was indeed scrumptious. Now, you put a well-prepared rabe on just about anything and I am scarfing it down. I just love that stuff and this was executed flawlessly. As if that wasn't enough, the spicy Italian Sausage just sent this over the top. It was cooked to perfection and just spicy enough to slap your taste buds around with a hearty, "Hey, Youse guys! Wake up!"
Next up on my epicurean journey was their Fettuccine Alfredo. The fettuccine was cooked to the perfect al dente and very flavorful all by its self. Now, you smother perfectly cooked and tasty Fettuccine with a tangy Alfredo sauce and you are speaking my language. This incredibly creamy sauce had a nice tang to it that gave it a nice finish on the palate. I know the sauce is from a can, but with this execution, it was as if the sauce had participated in an act of Hypergamy. Staying with the theme of execution, we come to the final item to be sampled, the Mushroom Pizza.
The mushrooms may have come out of a huge can along with the sauce, but their dough is original and incredible. Like the bread, it is obviously made fresh on-site and it is some of the tastiest pizza dough I have ever had. It is like no other I have experienced. The perfect thickness, the perfect amount of crunch to chew ratio and the flavor was truly unique. As with the previous items, as I have said time and time again, this pizza was made with industrialized toppings, yet executed flawlessly and so tasted extraordinary.
The Big Boy says, "If you're beach side and looking for a friendly family type atmosphere with exceptionally executed eateries, stop by Napoli's you won't be disappointed."
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