Pinch: Pizza by the Inch doesn't measure up, in my book

it's always exciting when a new restaurant opens in your neighborhood. especially when it's a pizzeria. if the town of hoboken, nj boasts the most bars per square mile in the u.s.a, the upper west side of manhattan certainly holds the crown for the most mediocre pizzeria's in a square neighborhood.

when i first heard the concept of ordering pizza by the inch, i was intrigued. my eyes are eternally bigger than my stomach, i'm always looking for an opportunity to over eat. make the over indulgence pizza and it makes for one hell of a case of post-meal regret (you know the one, most commonly associated with chinese food).

but, i should have realized before i stepped foot in Pinch: Pizza by the Inch...which opened its doors a couple months ago, replacing the eternally popular Columbus Bakery, ordering pizza by the inch doesn't mean that you take your typical round/sicilian pie and multiply its circumference/length substantially to the point where you have a pizza the size of a coffee table or something that will fill a flat bed pick-up truck.

Pinch works like this: it's thin crust (chicago sytle if you will), rectangular "pizza". the width is constant (about 4 inches, maybe)...you order even lengths, ranging from 4 to 36 inches. they have the typical and familiar wide variety of toppings. they do have other menu choices...italian-esque appetizers, salad's, pastas. what was surprising is that they also offer another internal food operation called "smac"...customizable mac and cheese dishes (which is perfect if you and your friends are looking for kicks on a friday night and want to play a game of "shit pants"...everyone throws in $10 eats the equal amount of "smac"...last person to soil themselves wins the $$$).

while the concept of Pinch is thought provoking, the pizza itself is just not that good. the dough is ready and waiting for customers to size up and order...the sauce seemed to be applied to the dough while it's in this holding pattern. while the pizza is "ready" rather quickly, it is void of good sauce level/distribution (read: dried out...ever overcook stouffer's french bread pizza?)...the cheese/toppings (i had mushrooms) attempt to mask the sauclessness...but doesn't do a very good job. it didn't really leave me with a "wow, this is amazing pizza (ever been to Lombardi's?)...the novelty of personally customizing the length of your pizza wears off pretty quick.

i remember the first time i had a personal pan pizza at Pizza Hut when i was 10 years old and will most likely remember when i ordered "30 inches of pizza" from Pinch. but i probably won't go back unless my friends and i get bored next weekend. i do applaud the concept, but i don't have a need for 4, 14, or 26 inches of pizza. i think i'll stick to the broader measurement ordering convention of small/medium/large.

i will, however, continue to wonder if this place would succeed in europe...