by ThirdAveHooligan
While driving around the area prior to buying our home, we drove past Mimmo’s Pizza, a plain, run-of-the-mill lookin’ pizza place located at 240 Nutt Road. I was first struck by the seemingly awkward name of the joint. “How in the hell do you pronounce that?” I thought, “Is it Mim-o’s or does it rhyme with the name of the lost clown fish in that Pixar movie?” After we bought our home and began the moving in process, the need for prepared food quickly became mandatory and Mimmo’s was literally a stone’s throw away. I really didn’t know what to expect until I walked in and saw a very familiar face… Mimmo.
Mimmo used to work at Tony’s Pizza in Audubon, where I grew up and I regularly housed their pies (Friday or Saturday nights were usually pizza nights with the parentals). Tony’s Pizza had a thin crust, the perfect amount of cheese to sauce and an air bubble in the crust that me and my two brothers always fought over (I, being the youngest, always lost out unless I got to get my slice first). When I was growing up, Tony’s was one of those pizza places owned and operated by guys who looked and sounded like they just came off the boat from Italy. It’s pretty rare to come across that anymore (Sal’s Pizza Box, I’m looking in your direction), but Mimmo does a majority of the dough slingin himself and only has a driver and another cook (Mimmo’s wife works with him as well).
Anyway, if Mimmo’s pies were anything like Tony’s I knew I was going to be a happy camper. Needless to say, Mimmo didn’t disappoint, and my tastebuds were taken back to the days of my youth. Fortunately I have since learned to avoid being too zestful of an eater after first opening the box and thus avoiding the dreaded burn on the roof of the mouth, but it was hard to fight that urge when realizing this was almost the EXACT same pie I knew and loved growing up.
Mimmo stayed true to his roots with the thickness of the crust and cheese to sauce ratio (slightly more cheese than sauce). The bottom crust is relatively thin and is not too generous around the ends, thereby making the whole slice edible or with nominal waste if abandon the end. The sauce is not too sweet and well spiced with oregano. I may be going letting my partiality for my childhood pizza get in the way of this, but I would stand firmly behind my assertion that Mimmo’s is one of the best pies in town.
8 out of 8 slices!!!
