There’s already a bunch of these further south in the North/East/South bay as well as SF proper but the Folsom location is finally a location a drivable distance from Sacramento. I was in the neighborhood, so o thought I’d try it out.
Crust is certainly crispy. They obviously dust LIBERALLY with semolina when stretching and loading onto the peel. The cornice and underside feel like course sandpaper. The size is pretty generous for $7. (More topping heavy slices are more $). Decent cheese pull. The flavor is… perfectly fine. Overall a solid B+ of a slice. Nothing to rival my beloved Pizza Supreme Being, but good enough that if I’m back here, I’d swing in to try their tomato pie slice.
There’s an 88 Bao Bao in Rancho Cordova that’s a good casual Chinese place. Very good XLB, beef rolls, chili oil wontons, etc. They also have locations in Roseville and Vacaville (Nut Tree Plaza).
Yummy Dumplings in Cameron Park has, well… yummy dumplings. Available steamed or ‘potsticker’ style. We frequently buy a big bag of frozen ones. The sweet/salty/tangy sauce is dangerously tasty.
Wally’s Cafe is a great Lebanese diner, but it’s farther north in Rocklin.
It’s an unfortunate fact that as you head east on 50, it becomes “the land of chains and shopping centers.” which continue until you get far enough out that it’s back to mom 'n pops.
I don’t tend to spend much time in that neck of the woods, though I know there ARE more interesting choices there. I just haven’t had occasion to find 'em. We have friends in Cameron Park, but they are the types that consider Taco Bell to be exotic and a bit too spicy, so there hasn’t been a lot of exploring.
I really like Tony’s Royal Margherita pizza in his original restaurant in North Beach, although at $34 for an 11-inch pizza, it’s almost double the price of some of the pop-up pizza places I know of (Pie on the Fly, Citizen Pizza, eg). That said, his Slice House I find quite underwhelming. The problem is inherent. Slice places just are not scalable. What makes a pizza exceptional is the care put into it by the pizzaiolo. Tony obviously cannot be at 20 places at once, so he either has to hire someone he “thinks” will make it exactly to his style, or else to make a formula so controlled it leaves no room for variation. Either way, eventually the system breaks down and you end up with a slice like anywhere else. Maybe with somewhat better ingredients, but ingredients alone do not make a perfect pie. It’s only as good as the person who makes it. You might get a good one, but you might get something not so good. Either that, or you end up with a tightly controlled product with no room for any variance from the formula, ie Round Table or Mountain Mikes. Just because it has the Tony Gemignani name on it does not guarantee satisfaction. Just think of Wolfgang Puck canned soups!
Also, $7 for a slice doesn’t seem like a deal when Pizza Shop, Arinell, and Gioia are all under $5. I don’t know the Sacto scene, but there has to be a better choice than driving all the way to Folsom for a Slice House slice.
Oh, I wouldn’t go out of my way for Slice House. I just that, given its location, it’s a way for folks farther east get in on the action, should they want to.
I’m glad there seem to be more options down in the Bay Area proper. Slice House probably isn’t serving anyone’s top version of anything. But they DO seem to be ‘acceptable-to-good’.
Maybe that’s damning with faint praise but I’ll take Slice House in Folsom vs Domioes or Pizza Hut.
I note there also a Chicago Fire. They do Chicago deep dish and thin tavern style and are a very serviceable alternative if you either can’t make your own or don’t want to drive to Berkeley for Zach’s or Little Star.
