Attempt #66 - Basta Pizzeria Ristorante

The Venue

Venue Outside

121 Iowa Ave.

Iowa City, IA 52240

(319) 337-2010

This restaurant is located stone is in the historic college town of Iowa City, Iowa. Among many college bars lies this classy establishment, with thick dark curtains, classy wood paneling, tile flooring, and high end Italian food. Aside from the pizza, common favorites include the meatball sub, prosciutto chicken, and chicken milanese. The wait staff was professional,and accommodating. One thing to note is try to make reservations even on weeknights. They luckily got our large group in at the last minute. Major props to them!

Menu

The Pizza

Chicago Style: No

Crust Thickness: Thin-Average

Menu: http://www.bastaiowacity.com/images/Basta%20Dinner%20menu%207-7-16.pdf

We had eight participants so we ordered five pizzas. They offer one size, somewhere between 12” to 14”. They serve three types of crusts, regular, thin, and gluten free.

Margherita - San Marzano tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil, extra-virgin olive oil, Regular, $13.00.

Salsiccia – Handmade Italian sausage, San Marzano tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil Crust, $15.00.
Pepperoni x2 - Regular Crust, $13.50.Lobster – Maine Lobster, sweet corn, fire roasted leeks, pancetta, mozzarella, ricotta, Regular Crust, $18.00.

Chef making pizzas

The Verdict,

After cooking, the pizzas cut into triangular shaped wedges. The sauce had a nice spicy zing to it, it was delicious! The crust was a little burnt on the edges of some of the pizzas, yet it was chewy, which is terrific for my tastes. Unfortunately, it was soggy in the middle of most pizzas. The pepperoni. Where do I start?!? It was simply the best I've ever had!!!!! Upon seeing the chef make the pizzas, I noticed the the pepperoni had big chunks of fat on it-no wonder why it tasted SO good. It was clearly not your mass store bought topping-this was high quality ingredients. 

Oven

The cheese also was high quality. The entire time I kept thinking that this place is about on par with the Lincoln wine bar in Mount Vernon, Iowa. The main difference lies in the crust-the wine bar's was thinner and less chewy than Basta's. The sausage on the Salsiccia was spicy...awesome for those of us who enjoy a little heat. Many participants raved about the lobster and its white sauce. In fact, the Lobster and Salsiccia tied for the favorite pizza. So, if you have some extra cash in your wallet and want to try out Basta's, you won't be disappointed!

Here are our ratings, where 1 = worst and 10 = best.
Overall 8.94

Cheese 8.63

Sauce 8.25

Topping 9.00

Crust 8.25

Venue 9.00

Favorite: Lobster / Salsiccia (Spicy Sausage)

Lobster, $18.00

Margherita, 13.00

Pepperoni, 13.50

Salsiccia, 15.00

Slices