One of the things that makes late summer bittersweet is the realization that all of those things one hoped to experience over the leisurely days of July and August are not possible to squeeze in. We give it our best with a flurry of road trips to Zoom Flume, the NYS Fair, visits with friends near and far, but there are always a couple of items that must remain on the list of things to do.
Happily enough, DeFazio’s in Troy is not one of those not yet to be enjoyed treats. We went. We ate. We loved!
I’ve heard about this place over the years, but just don’t find myself in Troy very often. I believe that needs to change because this place is terrific! Plus, we didn’t have a chance to check out the retail store, which I hear is great. Here’s what we did have:
An antipasto ($9.95) with canned Italian tuna. It was huge and literally provided me with three meals. And that Fontina cheese – yum!
A small pizza with house made sausage and fresh spinach ($12.95):
There was also a large pizza, half pepperoni, which the boys inhaled so fast that a photo was not captured. We ate our meal al fresco because dammit it’s summer and this is upstate New York – you take it when you get it. 
The service was friendly and capable and we thoroughly enjoyed every morsel. Thank you, DeFazio’s, for proving that quality pizza can be had north of the GW Bridge.
DelSo 
I haven’t gone on a local pizza quest, but DeFazio’s is the best pizza I’ve had in the area. I don’t understand why it keeps being a runner up in the tournament of pizza. I’d like to try some of their dinners but just end up gorging myself on pizza whenever I go.
I found a slice of DeFazios 4 cheese in the fridge the other day leftover from Jays lunch w his vegitarian friend…it was fabulous, even ice cold. They have been moved to the top of my list!
Yet another place that I keep meaning to get to but haven’t yet.
Jon in Albany: I can answer that. DeFazio’s keeps on psyching themselves out. The TOP does this to a lot of hopeful contenders, the Pizza King suffered from this in the inaugural competition.
The TOP final round allows a pizzeria to submit their choice of pie that they think will bring home the victory. Mind you, they got to the finals based on the strength of their crust, sauce, and cheese (in addition to the other toppings required for the appropriate rounds).
Two years ago DeFazio’s submitted a pizza to the finals with their whole wheat crust. Bad idea. For whole wheat crust it’s great. People go to the store and order it a lot b/c many folks when given a choice, will take a healthier path if its reasonably tasty. But in the finals, you have to bring your A-game, and the crust dragged them down. If I recall, they lost by inches and not yards.
Last year DeFazio’s also took one of the primary components off their pizza. They changed up their cheese in the finals. Instead of the traditional shredded mozzarella, they used the higher quality fresh stuff. Hot out of the oven, that might be a good call. But again, they got to the finals on the strength of their cheese. Substituting it in the finals was a bad call, especially since the TOP is a tortuous challenge where every pizza is subjected to take out conditions.
I’m looking forward to the 2012 TOP, and hopefully this year the finalsits will make better calls. Judging two winning pizzas is always a lot more fun than seeing one fall flat.