Attempt #20 - Roscoe's Pizza

The Venue

212 Edgewood Rd NW

Cedar Rapids, IA 52405

(319) 654-8886

Roscoe’s was a Tomaso’s Pizza (a local pizzeria that has several stores in the Cedar Rapids area) at one time.  The restaurant is one large open room, where you can see the pizza being made, the ball game on TV, and the large hot ovens cooking up some goodness.  You are expected to get your own drinks, and the wait for pizza takes around 20-30 minutes, so it is best to call ahead.  The pizza selection is a bit vaster than Tomaso’s as they have currently have nine “specialty” pizzas (Mobo Combo, Meat Combo, Tex Mex Taco, Chicken Veggie Delight, Veggie Combo, Great Garden, Ham & Kraut, Hawaiian Ham & Pineapple, BLT).  They also offer four unique types of pizza crust that sets them apart from their former local chain (who only currently offer three).  Sadly, they are not open on Monday’s, so plan on it any other day of the week.  Plan in on stopping by if you are in the area of Edgewood Road in Cedar Rapids.  Check out there their pizza menu here.

Large, Mombo Combo, Motown Crust ($24.99)

Large, Tex Mex Taco, Brookville Crust ($24.99)

Slice of the Mombo Combo (Motown Crust)

Slice of the Meat Combo (Chicago Crust)

The Pizza

Chicago Style:  Yes

Crust Thickness:  Thick

Our group consisted of 9 participants; so we ordered three large specialty pizzas, and an order of pizza bread.  Each of these large pizzas cost us roughly $25 a piece.  They come in small (9”), medium (12”), and large (15”).  The Crust comes in Motown (Thick and bready, cheese all the way to the edge of pan so it caramelizes), Chicago (Thick and bready with a big lip to hold everything in), New York Thin (Thin but not razor thin, you can ask for EXTRA thin), or Brookville (Best of both worlds, New York Thin but in a pan with caramelized crust). 

Mombo Combo – Pepperoni, fresh mushrooms, hand-sliced onions & green peppers, California black olives & Italian sausage (Large, Motown crust, $24.99).
Meat Combo - Pepperoni, ham, sausage, beef (Large, Chicago crust, $24.99).

Tex Mex Taco – Fresh ground beef, hand-sliced onions, pinto beans, taco seasoning, crisp lettuce, diced tomato, nacho chips, served with taco sauce on the side (Large, Brookville crust, $24.99).

The Verdict

Large, Meat Combo, Chicago Crust ($24.99)

The pizza was cut into hearty triangle-shaped slices.  The ingredients were excellent individually.  Some felt that the amount of toppings could have been more, especially on the meat combo.  I felt that the cheese and toppings were well-balanced, pared with a mild sauce.  The sauce was not as sweet as a lot of other places, which made it taste a bit more authentic.  The Meat Combo was the least favorite of the pies, because the toppings were a bit sparse, and the flavor wasn’t quite tied together very well.  The Chicago crust was very bready, with a lot of people liked.  It was as if you had ordered breadsticks with your pizza!  The Mambo Combo was the favorite among most of us, with a few voting for the Taco.  I would recommend this pizza place as an alternative to Tomaso’s in the Cedar Rapids area.  Some felt that it was even better, since they have the genius Brookville crust that combines the Motown (Detroit at Tomaso’s) with the Thin crust.  The thin isn’t really that thin, by the way…it is almost regular.  Since I am a big bready crust, with a mild/spicy sauce guy (I don’t like a lot of sugar in my sauce), this place is one of my favorite places in the area.  If you are like me, you must give this place a try!

Pizza Bread Appetizer

Here are our ratings, where 1 = worst and 10 = best.
Overall = 8.28
Cheese = 7.33
Toppings = 7.56
Sauce = 8.11
Crust = 9.56

Venue = 7.22