Another List! When’s He Going to Stop?

Table of Contents

Another List! When’s He Going to Stop?!

This is Part 4 of the pizzerias that we’ve visited as a result of lists that I’ve found. So, far:

December 4, 2023 – Fabrica Pizza, Tampa, FL is on the 50 Top Pizza in the World and Top 50 USA
December 8, 2023 – PizzAmore, Mt. Dora, FL on the list of The 25 Best Pizzas In Florida
December 12, 2023 – Pizza Bruno, Orlando, FL, on lists The 25 Best Pizzas In Florida and The 101 Best Pizzas in America
December 15, 2023 – this blog post – Geno D’s, Charlotte, NC, Yelp’s top pizza spots in the U.S. and Canada

I’ve mentioned that I have 12 lists (and growing). I believe that I’ve also mentioned that some of the lists seem shallow in detail and lack information about the process for which a pizzeria is listed.

For me, Google and Yelp! are also questionable. Most automatically rate 5 stars or 1 star (just look at the histogram…what’s a histogram? Look it up!) with no or minimal explanation. My Millennial and Gen Z kids would argue with my statement since they tend to trust both, especially Yelp!, implicitly.

Yelp! posted on their site “Yelp’s top pizza spots in the U.S. and Canada.” Yelp! attempted to rationalize their suspicious selection criteria. They say, “This is an all-time list of the Top Pizza Spots…according to Yelp. We…ranked those spots using a number of factors including the total volume and ratings of reviews.” Lots of marketing mumble jumble. When will these guys get a clue?

But, who am I to say, I’m just a “pescedel!“

It seems like these list guys are either:

Too dumb to create real criteria and have a detailed, disciplined analysis process.
Too lazy to do the above
Being paid by the pizzeria to get listed.
All of the above.

Although I believe Yelp! is suspect, I consulted Yelp’s top pizza spots in the U.S. and Canada list anyway on the way down to Florida this past October, I found a pizzeria that sounded interesting to us that was near our route- Geno D’s in Charlotte, NC.

Like I said, I’m just a “pescedel!“

Nebaletan Word of the Day – Pescedel/Pescadilla/Pisciatil

Last year at Christmas I wrote “7 Fishes? Make that 0!” which included the word “pesce” meaning fish.

One of our 7 Fishes was always smelt (see here) which are small (tiny?) fish about the size of sardines. Grandma Rocco, my father’s mother, would flour these and then pan-fry them in oil. She and everyone else, except my brother and me, would pop them like candy!

Grandma Rocco would call these smelt pescedel (pescedelle or pescadilla, pronounced – pee-shay-dil). In many, but not all, Neapolitan (and Italian) nouns, adding the delle/del to the end of the noun is like adding the adjective little to a noun in English. So instead of piccolo pesce (literally little fish) it becomes pescedel (see here).

As with many of the Neapolitan words, us Nebaletans (Neapolitan-Americans) had a way of “enhancing” the meanings of many of their native words. For example, in high school, a hallway conversation might go like this:
- Me – walking past Carm in the hall between classes, “Hey, pescedel!” as a term of endearment, but also implying he’s the small fish.
- Carm’s reply – “Hey, baccala!” with the implication that I might be big, but I’m smelly and salty! (details next blog post).
- Note – Carm is bigger than me…

Another example is from the “Learn Napolitano from The Sopranos” on YouTube:

At the 9:52 point of the video, you see and hear the word “pisciatil” and an alternate meaning (and another spelling!).

A final example, alternatively, my father, Grandpa Tony, would use the “pesceate” (pee-shate)” for the same meaning as the Sopranos.

Pizza Review – Geno D’s Charlotte, NC

Date	October 28, 2023
Pizzeria	Geno D’s
City/Neighborhood	Charlotte, NC/Charlotte Center City
Website	https://www.genods.com/
About Us on Web	No, but there is “About Us” at the restaurant on a sign (see sign below). But I had a long conversation with Gena D, Geno’s daughter who now runs the pizzeria after moving it from NJ to Charlotte.
Style	Kind of NY, but Kind of NJ Gena described it as more NJ since that’s where her father’s restaurant started.
Ambiance	Food Hall in City Center Charlotte. I’m not a fan of Food Halls or any high ceiling with exposed utilities and concrete-floored facilities for that matter. For me, they are loud and feel sterile and impersonal. I’d much prefer an old brick, corner joint (which I’ve covered many times). We ordered a 1/2 Margherita / 1/2 pepperoni and a salad. While waiting for our pizza, I was able to talk to Gena quite extensively. She showed me her dough and oven and explained how she made her sauce. That was fun!
Beverage Pairing	San Pellegrino (purchased at the stall next to Geno D’s stall)

Rating Criteria
Dough	Gena explained that they make their dough daily. I could tell by the taste that it was not a long ferment. That’s likely due to the lack of space that food halls provide for their restaurants. Food halls are basically glorified food trucks. Gena explained that they have an electric oven (see pics above). I’d not seen an oven like that before. It was a big box with a small door which is reminiscent of a wood-fired Neapolitan pizza oven without the wood. Although electric, it was fast. The result of the above was a crunchy crust, not soft, and thin in the center like a NJ style.
Cornicione	The cornicione was mostly not puffy but had some crunch. In the few spots that it was puffy, the cornicione recovered to a puffy state even when you bit through it.
Sauce	It was thin but had a rich, distinct tang. The sauce had an outstanding taste.
Cheese	Not highly noticeable, but it was lost in the sauce and basil flavors
Toppings	Very spicy pepperoni with a nice cup and char Lots of basil
Cheese to Sauce Ratio	Sauce = medium Cheese = medium Balance – Good visually, but the sauce overpowered the cheese

Value	Very good for the US! 10″ = $12 and 16″ = $18
Overall	Good, not great. The electric oven bake, overpowering sauce, and loud atmosphere of a food court just don’t do it for me.
Would I Go Back?	Not likely especially since I go to Charlotte rarely. I’m sure there’s others in Charlotte that I should try instead.