Nina’s Cheesy Upgrade!
Nina’s South Abington came to The Abingtons a couple of years ago. Since then my family has been a pretty frequent customer mostly because of the delicious wing bites, gigantic hoagies, and pizza that satisfies a broad swath of taste buds. When ordering pizza at Nina’s, the First Family of NEPA Pizza typically goes with the square with American cheese because our little one enjoys it’s “cheesy bread” like attributes. Anyone who follows my blog or social media knows that I’m more of a round, thin-crust NY style pizza kind of guy. Anyone who follows very closely knows that I believe not all cheeses are created equally, especially when you’re talking mozzarella.
Recently, I saw Nina’s post on social media that they were adding mozzarella cheese as a new option to their pizza. Here’s the kicker – they weren’t offering just any mozzarella – they were going all in serving one of the best in the land, Grande cheese. Now, there are many other cheeses out there and everyone has their favorite, but Grande is the choice I make when creating pizza at home, and many of the best pizzerias in NEPA are using Grande on their pizzas. Needless to say, I was pretty pumped about the upgrade and visited not once but twice to try the pizza. One time I went with a plain, and the other time I added pepperoni just to give it a little more flavor. I believe you can order the Grande mozzarella on both the round and square pizzas, but I went with the round both times as shown on their menu. I also noted that there isn’t a price difference between the American cheese (blend?) and the mozzarella – it appears to be $12 for a 16″ pizza no matter what cheese you select.
Both times I ordered, the pizza was ready for me in the 15 minute time slot noted, and both times the pizza was cooked evenly and thoroughly as can be expected from a conveyor oven. Starting with the crust, it’s a thicker crust by NY style standards, and it’s cooked on a screen in a conveyor oven, so you don’t get that crispiness and texture of a brick oven, but it was still quite good. The sauce it usually my one point of contention with me and Nina’s pizza as they usually go light with it causing the pizza to be a little dry.
These had sufficient sauce for most, but I’m a saucy kind of guy! On to the crown jewel of this pizza – the Grande cheese. This cheese really made the pizza because of it’s creaminess, slight saltiness, and that classic stringy-stretch that the better cheeses are known for! The melty, gooey, cheese covering looked and tasted awesome and represented a definite upgrade. I’ll definitely be changing all future pizza orders from Nina’s to the round pizza with grande (when the little one allows)!
Overall, the pizza was quite good. There are certain limitations when using a screen and conveyor oven as far as getting the results of brick and other types of ovens, but you do receive a consistent product every time. As I said with the Nina’s square pizza, the round is also an excellent choice for parties and gatherings because it is truly a middle ground type of pizza that just about everyone can enjoy from kids one up to pizza snobs. There are no strong flavors or textures to turn the kiddos off, but there’s enough there to keep the snobbers like myself interested. I do recommend you give this pizza a try and let me know what you think in the comments below!
The Pizza Ratings
- Restaurant: Nina’s South Abington
- Location: 919 Northern Blvd, South Abington Township, PA 18411
- Date: August 2018
- Pizza Ordered: 16″ Round Pizza with Grande Mozzarella
- Eat In/Take Out: Take Out
Crust: 3/5
Sauce: 3/5
Cheese: 4.5/5
Overall Taste: 3/5
Crispy/Cooked Properly: 5/5
Value: 3.25/5
OVERALL RATING: 3.75/5
Similar to: Zaleski Bros., Vidaro’s
Date: April 2017
Pizza Ordered: Square Tray
Eat In/Take Out: Take Out
Crust: 4/5
Sauce: 3.5/5
Cheese: 3.5/5
Overall Taste: 3.75/5
Crispy/Cooked Properly: 4/5
Overall Value: 3.75/5
OVERALL RATING: 3.75/5
Similar to: Maroni’s Pizza, Vidaro’s, Samario’s
