Difilippo's Pizza of Ozark Alabama

On a long stretch of road, which might feel like the middle of nowhere, you will find one of Alabama's first pizza joints. It's a cozy joint, which feels like an extra warm basement with a piano, leather booths, and tiffany lamps everywhere. While my pie took longer than expected to arrive at my table, I was very pleased. It had a ratio of 2cr/1ce/3ch*.

The crust gets a 3 out of 5. It could have been more chewy, with a longer proof and more yeast flavor. But there was plenty of grease to compensate. Difilipo's sauce gets a 4 out of 5. It's properly thick, more savory than sweet or tangy, which pairs well with the buttery crust.

For overall quality, I'll give Difilippo's a 4 out of 5. The pizza was obviously made with love, with a very nice stretch to its cheese. However, I think a pizza should be cooked from the bottom up, instead of the top down. Maybe if a true pizza oven was used, the pie could have been cooked directly on the stone instead of on its pan. While my slices were foldable, the bottom was obviously quite soft. Despite my verbiage in dedication to this minor gripe, it is a minor gripe. The rest of the pizza was perfect.

For style, I give Difilippo's a 5 out of 5. It's a cozy spot with non-fancy food made right and made with love. The best kind of place. With an overall score of 80%, I'll do my best to return and send all my friends by way of this wonderful pizza joint.

* There is a scale for thickness of crust. 1 is paper thin, usually new york style. 5 is a sicilian or thickly crusted deep dish. Papa John's would get a 3. Pizza Hut pan pizza would get a 4.

There is a scale for the volume of sauce. 1 is a very thin spread. Not enough to make a 1 crust become soggy. 1 sauce with any other type of crust will make the pizza seem like cheesy bread. A 5 for sauce would be a lake between a curved bowl of crust and cheese. Papa John's would get a 3. Pizza Hut would typically get a 2.

There is a scale for the volume of cheese. 1 is a dusting of a finely shredded cheese. The sauce will be visible and there may be holes in the coverage. 5 is a piling that spills across your pan (or box) when a slice is pulled away. Papa John's would get a 3. Pizza Hut would get a 4.

To make it simple, I write these ratios for mass and volume in code. CR means crust. CE means sauce. CH means cheese. And the final reading will look like 2cr/2ce/2ch. Got it?