In a city full of Buffalo pizzas (don’t get me wrong, I love them), Molinara’s was a refreshing pizza experience. It’s always cool to try somewhere new, but it’s especially satisfying (and quite relieving) when the new place is actually really good.

Do any of you peek inside the box at the pizzeria’s counter to make sure your order is all good? I always do because I want to make sure there’s nothing wrong… To be honest though, I’ve never had any issues with my pizza orders ever. So hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself.

Nonetheless, when I peeked inside this pizza box, I was super pumped at the sight. I love when pizzerias do the square pies. This is typically done with Sicilian-style pizzas. It takes up more box real estate, which often means more pizza!!! Really getting our money’s worth here at Molinara’s.

I mean, just look at this pie. It really does photograph well and tastes as good as it looks. Even though it looks like a Buffalo pizza at glance, probably due to the thick cheese, burnt cheese spots, and the cup-and-char pepperoni, this most definitely tasted nothing like Buffalo pizza! It embodied the uniqueness that is Sicilian-style pizza.

How is Sicilian-style pizza different? For starters, the crust is about one-inch thick. I’d say this was thinner than your typical Buffalo-style pizza, which is often thicker and denser. I also found the Sicilian-style to be a little more porous and bready, with breathability throughout. Something similar between the two styles is they were both cooked pretty crispy around the edges still, which I love.

Traditional Sicilian-style pizzas also do not include cheese on some! I definitely am pro-cheese, but maybe one day if I make it to Sicily I can try this traditional version.

Another component of Sicilian-style is there is often a lot of sauce, even more than the cheese for pies that do have cheese. I found that this pizza was pretty even in their sauce-pizza ratio throughout the whole thing. I wouldn’t say one was overpowering the other. I’m not too sure if this is just Molinara’s, due to how the Buffalo market often expects their pizzas, or not all Sicilian-style pizzas have a ton of sauce. Either way, it tasted fantastic and it seemed like unique, homemade sauce to me.

One of the most visibly obvious ways you can tell this pizza is going to be different is because of the variety of spices! Sicilian-style pizza is known for being loaded with yummy herbs, making for a truly heavenly flavor. I always think using spices in this manner adds to the true creativity and art form that is pizza-making! And that is something to appreciate.

Molinara’s was a real delight and a great introduction to Sicilian-style pizza. If you’re in the Tonawanda area, or are just looking to try something different outside of the standard Buffalo-style, give Molinara’s a chance. You’ll be glad you did.

Pizza & love,

Mandy