Great Lakes Pizza Company was toward the bottom of the “Final 20” you voted on, but was there none the less. This place is by far the most isolated pizzeria I’ve been to, in an area I have almost no experience in. The legendary fecund grounds of…West Seneca. Considering that I’ve eaten pizza slung out of buildings no bigger than a shoebox, this behemoth was not originally built for making pizza. Clearly a very different type of establishment in the past. Whorehouse, no doubt. That, and the solid marble bar rails at the pizza counter that harkened to a more prosperous time were a dead giveaway. Hard to imagine, considering that from the looks of it West Seneca is currently at the peak of a period that can only be equated to the “Pax Romana”. These are the jokes. Love you WS. 2+can=$5.48. Jackprot!

I won’t lie to you. The moment I cracked the standard “Simply the Best” branded box I thought, “These will probably hit somewhere in the ‘B’ range”. They are your Blue Light. Your Franks Red Hot. The Beef on Weck at your local bar. They’re a standard staple, and they’re going to be good, but probably not memorable.

About the average thickness when it comes to the Buffalo slice, but if I’m reaching for something notable, its the dough/crust. It’s breadstick-like in its buttery flakey texture. Honestly, I never thought I would say this considering a particular comment I made on my very 1st pizza review at Wiseguys…but the crust was the highlight of the slice.

You’ve seen it. It’s the “fluffy dough” bottom. No crunch, but soft and sweet in flavor. A lot like french toast made with white bread. It is matched per usual by its squishy, and at times a little too gooey top-half counterpart.

Damn fine pepperoni. You don’t do better on distribution, but it is none the less the standard, as is the rest of the pizza.

I’ve had it about 13 times now. Standard red sauce. A little cafeteria-like. Maybe now more so because I’m eating pizza more than I ever was when I was eating school lunches

The cheese is disappointing because I feel there was potential here to be more than ok, but the pie had been rotating in the warming oven in a while. That really fucks cheese up. It was about 12:20pm when I walked in and I was the only customer. It’s a damn shame, because slices are obviously better when hot. The more customers, the more frequent the pie rotation. However, to get more customers your pies have to be fresher…which only happens when you sell more. That is inevitably a hard nut to crack for a pizzeria owner.

 

Dough🥖: (B-)
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Cheese🧀: (C+)
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Sauce🥫: (C+)
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Pepperoni🍖: (B/B+)
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Overall🍕: (C+/B-)

Overall, Great Lakes serves the standard slices that rotated a little too long. For those that voted on it, if there was something I missed, what was it? What stands out for you? Gotta admit, non-pizza related…but that deep-fried pizza taco stood out on the menu. Also, I always try to mention it when it’s notable, but the guy who served me was a stand up dude and really friendly, which has been the case 98% of the time. He also looked like he could end my life in one punch if he wanted. Mountain of a man. Thanks Great Lakes!