NEPA Pizza Review

Friday Nights are for Old Forge Pizza – In Dumore!!!

So I had been hearing about this place called “The Roosey” from a couple of buddies over the last few months and didn’t think much of it.  I reasoned that it was probably an inside conversation about a local place that I wouldn’t ever get to, until one of my buddies informed me that the Roosevelt Beer Garden in Dunmore makes excellent pizza on Fridays only and insisted that we get there and give it a try.  Of course, if you bring pizza into the picture, my answer is usually “YES.”  So, I plugged The Roosey into my GPS and made the easy commute into Dunmore.  The place looked pretty unassuming from the outside, a corner pub with a vintage 7-Up sign dangling in the breeze.  When I entered, it had a cool throwback “Cheers” vibe where everyone seemed to know everyone else (except me of course).  The gigantic, “olympic-sized” (as I called it) shuffeboard table to the side immediately caught my eye and I decided it was the best shuffleboard table I had probably ever seen.

After surveying the territory, I found my friends and sat down to discuss the pizza situation.  We decided to get 2 trays of pizza, a regular tray, which is essentially an Old Forge pizza, and a Mary’s Old Fasioned Pizza, which the bartender referred to as “Grandma’s Pizza.”  We hung out for a little bit waiting for our pizzas – it took a little while, but you really don’t mind because you are surrounded by great company and good times all around.  When the pizzas did come out, they looked terrific.  The regular pizza with pepperoni was crafted neatly, with the homemade crust pressed out evenly and the cheese spread out all the way to the edge.  It was cooked to perfection, which is sometimes taken for granted, especially on Old Forge Pizzas which have American or similar cheeses which tend to burn easily.  I’m not a fan of pizzas with burned cheese on the top, and this one had a nice brown luster.  The crust was light, crisp, and flavorful.  It didn’t have the spongy, bread-like properties that many Old Forge crusts have, and it wasn’t as thick and fluffy as a Sicilian.  The sauce was a little on the zesty side, but still had nice sweetness and a satisfying spice blend.  You could tell that the pizza maker took their time putting this together, or just really know what he or she was doing!  This pizza reminded me of the ever popular Colarusso’s fresh tomato pizza, just without the tomato slices.

Mary’s Old Fashioned Pizza was every bit as good, if not better.  Instead of the cheese blend on top of the regular/Old Forge pizza, it was replaced by a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, garlic, and seasonings.  The steaming sauce really made the presentation lovely.  We all took a bite of the pizza and agreed it was very good.  A couple of guys even ordered an extra tray to take home.  If you have read any of my reviews about Old Forge pizzas, you would know that this style of pizza is not my favorite, but I can recognize a good one when I see it, and this was pretty darn good!  The pizza is only available on Friday nights from what I’m told, but if you have an open Friday night, this is definitely worth a try, and if you get lucky the olympic shuffleboard table might be open and you can sneak in a game while you wait!

Crust: 4.25/5
Sauce: 3.5/5
Cheese: 3.5/5
Overall Taste: 4/5
Crispy/Cooked Properly: 5/5
Overall Value: 3/5
OVERALL RATING: 3.75/5
Similar To: Samario’s, Salerno’s, Colarusso’s