New England greek-style pizza, a classic weekday go-to for busy families, those looking to feed large groups of people, or even your average local looking for a quick and passable lunch. You can easily distinguish this thick crusted, golden cheesed, and almost too-perfectly round pizza at any place with a [town] House of Pizza or [town] Pizza Factory.
New England Greek style pizza, or New London style pizza was invented in New London, Connecticut by a Greek Albanian named Costas Kitsatis. In his restaurant named Pizza House, he would prepare the dough ahead of time in ten inch pans in the morning instead of preparing the dough per order.
This method of preparing the dough gives it the signature, almost focaccia like texture to the crust, due to the oil applied to the pan. This efficient method of making Pizza is one of the most defining methods used when it comes to New England Greek Pizza.
Rowley has two of these restaurants, Rowley Pizza Factory and Rowley House of Pizza. Both of these places are located directly across from each other on Route 1, making for a perfect Pizza rivalry scenario.
The first thing I noticed when I walked into the Pizza Factory was the spaciousness of the seating area. There were Pizza Peels hanging on the wall, a TV, window Bar seats and plenty of tables for customers to eat. The restaurant was very clean and the kitchen was very open.
On the far right end of the counter there was a display cabinet holding the different slices of the day. Me and my Partner, Ben Shanley who is a former student of triton, both went for a slice of cheese pizza. We chose cheese because it’s the control specimen that makes the most sense for our review, it had the simplest base ingredients.
One slice of cheese pizza was $2.99
The employee reheated our slices in the oven and our slices were ready in minutes.
The cheese stood out the most. It was drier than mozzarella and was sharp almost like white cheddar. The sauce was rather neutral (neither sweet nor acidic) and the crust was perfectly crispy. The Slice had a big surface area, bigger than the plate it was served on but it was thin, which I am a huge fan of.
The Slice wasn’t greasy at all and didn’t make any mess, which would be perfect for anyone on-the-go who would need to eat in the car. And the (outer?) crust was very well risen, almost baguette-like and very airy. Which is a huge positive, it wasn’t dense and flavorless like many other pizza places.
On our way out, The manager gave me and my partner soda “on the house”.
Shanley’s final thoughts on the pizza Factory were rather positive “I just got back from LSU and I was super hungry” said Shanley “and this pizza, you know, helped that”
As for me, the staff is very hospitable and friendly. Their pizza wasn’t the best Pizza i’ve ever eaten but it was definitely good pizza. It was miles better than Dominoes or Pizza Hut but wasn’t as good as artisan pizza or something like that. The ingredients were very good as well.
Me and Shanley both agreed on giving Rowley Pizza Factory a seven out of ten.
Rowley House of Pizza was our next destination. Walking in we noticed the Green Monster and Mascot of the New England Patriots painted on the window, as well as stereotypical Pizzaiolo holding a Pizza in-between them. The interior was decorated similarly with a modern theme. The restaurant was also slightly smaller with a much smaller kitchen. It was just as clean as the pizza factory with plenty of tables and chairs, but no bar seats.
There was no slice display at the counter. And the staff wasn’t as outwardly friendly. However, they made us a whole new pizza and gave us a slice, charging us $3 for the slice.
The Pizza was much greasier and the cheese was more melted. The crust was much thicker but there was less crust to grab when eating the slice. The crust was much more dense “white Bread like” said Shanley. The sauce had more flavor and there was less sauce then there was cheese. The slice was also very floppy and not crispy at all.
Me and Shanley were both reminded of school pizza or pizza you’d eat at an event.
On the way out of Rowley House, The staff gave us each another free slice of Pizza for the road, which was definitely a plus.
Shanley gave the Rowley House Pizza an eight-out-of-ten and I gave them a six-out-of-ten. I found the Pizza too dense for my liking and I almost choked on the Cheese. It was very basic Pizza in my opinion.
Me and Shanley both agreed that The Rowley Pizza Factory and Rowley House of Pizza came to a tie. With slightly skewed opinions, Shanley preferred Rowley House and I preferred Pizza Factory, though neither of us preferred one much more over the other. The Rowley Pizza Factory and Rowley House of Pizza are perfect rivals.
