LA Gourmet Pizza 2709 McKinney Ave. 214-981-9337
Quoted time: 40-45 minutes Actual arrival time: 30 minutes
Extensive menu: 20 Lots of cool toppings: 20 Out of certain toppings: -5 Very nice phone and delivery guys: 15 Pears: 5 Whole-wheat crust option. Cool. : 15 Whole-wheat crust execution: -5 Tasty salad dressings:10 Detailed receipt: 5 Pricey: -5 Score: 75
Nursing a hangover last Sunday morning, (sorry, Mom) I had no intention of leaving the comfort of my bed. I've wanted to try LA Gourmet Pizza for some time, so I decided there couldn't be a better time to give the McKinney pizzeria a call.
God bless them for being open at 11 a.m. on a Sunday.
While the whole menu intrigued me, I managed to not lose my mind for once. For $8.99 each, I ordered individual-sized pizzas for both the boyfriend and myself. For the meat-loving boyfriend, I ordered the American Pie with Italian sausage, Canadian bacon, pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives and onion, all on white crust. I was feeling repentant for the gallons of alcoholic empty calories from the night before and opted for a Margherita pizza on whole-wheat crust. Looking at the extra toppings list, I asked for some arugula with the pizza, but they were fresh out from the Saturday night rush. In fact, they were out of quite a number of toppings, so I picked the next intriguing thing I saw -- pears. I think the alcohol was still swimming in my brain, because I don't get it, either. Topping the order off with two salads, a garden and a Caesar, we plopped ourselves in front of the Harry Potter marathon and waited for our food to arrive.
God bless them for bringing our food 10 minutes early of the anticipated quote time.
They arrived so surprisingly early that I almost didn't mind paying the $30 for our food. Almost. However, the itemized receipt listed out every specific charge, so unlike when I get takeout from elsewhere, I wasn't confused as to why the amount was far more bloated than expected.
The salads and the pizzas were all visions of beauty, hangover induced or not. The salads were quite small, but the dressings were delicious. The Caesar was creamy and tasted of anchovy while the garden salad's balsamic vinaigrette struck a good balance of acidic and sweet without being too greasy.
LA Gourmet Pizza serves thin crust pizzas. Stealing a slice of the boyfriend's pie, I found the American Pie's white crust to be superior to the Margherita's wheat crust. The wheat crust could have used a few more minutes in the oven, as it was doughy and not as crisp as its white crust counterpart. What I wasn't a fan of on the American Pie, however, was the Italian sausage. The sausage was dry and bland, not nearly as fatty and spicy as I would like.
As for the Margherita, the combination of the marinara, thin slices of buffalo mozzarella and the tomatoes made the pizza a bit too watery. It would have been nice for the cheese to have been browned a bit, especially since their slices are so thin. A bit more basil on the pizza would have been appreciated, as well.
LA Gourmet Pizza is worth another try, even if only to explore more of the menu. With a menu consisting of pastas, calzones, pizzas, salads, appetizers, and sandwiches, that might mean quite a bit of exploring. I think I'll build my own pizza next time, but in the future, I'll make sure not to drunk dial.
Saturdays and Sundays they now serve until 2 am.
