Located on the Post Road E. Putnam Ave. in Greenwich, CT, Pizza Post has been around forever (or since 1972). Tucked away behind the fluorescent wonderland that is Gofer Ice Cream, this little pizzeria carries a following evidenced by its fiery clientele. In fact, we ran into someone there who readily admitted that her Friday night pizza run was the fourth time she’d ordered from Pizza Post that week and that the pie was nothing shy of the best. Yet, as we do with all blind loyalties, we’re determined to find out if this claim is the real deal or just Colony-grade hooey.

Establishment. Pizza Post is a very tiny dine-in establishment with all of the low-lit, hardcover menu wielding class of a fancy restaurant and about an eighth of the space that its oven really needs to keep from sweating everybody out. In fact, we had to remodel the place a bit—our table was inexplicably jammed right up against the adjacent diners’ backs—just to sit down. Even then, we were pretty uncomfortably situated back-to-back with the restaurant’s diehard patrons who couldn’t bring themselves to order to-go. That said, the wait staff seems to have a very good rapport with these regular customers, unfortunately we can’t say the same for new customers carrying scorecards like ourselves, as we were flat out ignored for a good 10 minutes after sitting ourselves down and service was nothing short of sporadic throughout the rest of the meal. Aside from that battery of unpleasantness, we can say that this undersized eatery was very clean (likely because it can’t take more than 3 minutes to tidy up) and the menu was lengthy with traditional Italian appetizers, dinners, soups, and salads, as well as a selection of traditional wedge-style sandwiches, regionally-named panini specialty sandwiches, and the unspeakably lame offering of what Pizza Post dubs “pastabilities.” Of course, this restaurant also offers an array of traditional and specialty pizzas, offered with both traditional and “extra thick” crust variations as well as a healthy selection of toppings.

Pizza. Our pie of choice for the evening was the “Dante’s Inferno” pie topped with hot cherry peppers, fried chicken, mozzarella, and tomato sauce—for the most part, a pizza with chicken and peppers on it.

The crust was puffy but superbly crisp and dense, achieving an excellent balance of bite and texture with a good yeasty flavor. The sauce, while a bit scarce, was simple but good, combining the slight bitterness and natural sweetness of the tomato with minimal seasoning for a subtle taste that didn’t overpower (or overly impress). The cheese was nothing short of fantastic, with a smooth, silky texture and satisfying snap that complemented its creamy, salty profile very well and had us grabbing for the strings that each piping hot slice left in its wake. Unfortunately, the pie itself was thrown off a bit by the relatively dry edges and unwarranted lack of sauce and cheese across the pizza, making each slice less and less palatable as one nears the inch-wide, cheeseless abyss waiting the each end. Additionally, the ingredients were spattered almost haphazardly across the pie (one slice had no more than a single piece of chicken on it) and added very little to the overall taste. That being said, this was a very good pizza with only but a few deal breaking flaws.

The bottom line. This restaurant’s fervent following is somewhat warranted, as their product is a very good one; however, that unfortunately comes hand-in-hand with lukewarm service and a hotter-than-hell dining room that left us torn on the place as a whole.

Establishment: 18/30
Pizza: 21/30
Hits the Spot: 7.0/10
Large Cheese: $12.25