STAMFORD — When Rico’s (now Riko’s) opened and claimed to have a Colony-style pie that could top the original, we balked. I vehemently defended Colony as a Stamford institution and the purveyor of the gold-standard of the Stamford bar pizza.
Things have changed.
Riko’s has opened up a second shop in Newfield and Ridgeway Pizza has begun to sell Colony-style pies. I began getting cryptic all-caps emails from the owner of Ridgeway Pizza shortly after Riko’s opened, stating they would be the new kings of the pan pizza in Stamford.
Naturally, a taste test was in order.
At the behest of Brett Mickelson, the executive producer of the Hearst Connecticut Media Group’s interactive team, we lined up seven pies from the three pizzerias and dug in.
The results were not all that surprising, though we only slightly preferred Colony over Riko’s. Ridgeway was a distant last — as sports producer Sean Bowley described it, “basically the cheapest knock off…like Stop & Shop brand cola versus Coke or Pepsi.”
It’s hard to discern the difference between Colony and Riko’s though there are visual cues to the look of the crust. In the end, the main advantage Colony had over Riko’s was the hot oil, which was noticeably hotter and more flavorful in the original. We also thought Riko’s had a little too much sauce.
Given that Riko’s also uses the same sausage and other toppings as Colony, I may be willing to withdraw my passionate appeal for Colony and call it a case of personal (though still passionate) preference — but the Ridgeway pie was just not up to the comparison.
First off, the sauce was too sweet, having a disagreeable tomato-paste quality, the cheese was too sparse and the sausage, being ground was borderline tasteless.
Ultimately, for a takeout pie, proximity to either Colony or Riko’s may be the deciding factor.
Colony, however, certainly wins in the atmosphere and overall experience category.
So there is it, the final word on the great Stamford pan-pizza debate…hopefully we can put this to bed…I’m beginning to tire of the drama.
Aluminum Pizza Peels and paddles that are great for professional or personal use and come with a lifetime guarantee Pizza Peels made for professional use with high grade aluminum and no rivets to ensure a lifetime guarantee.
That comment by a petey telesco is not me.I don’t know who that petey telesco comment is #42.
Boy that pizza look’s good!! may have to come down to stamford to try it out. Anyone want to join me?, maybe the tuccinardi’s,> HA.
providence,ri
Perhaps would should change the focus of this topic to which pie would serve as the best weapon!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
None of these restaurants serve Italian pizza. Not even close.
A sal,how about i meet you face to face and introduce myself to you personally,I guarantee you will know who i am once you meet me,just let me know any time you wanna go have a cup of coffee.Take care sally boy.Pete
Who is Pete Telesco and can any of his postings really be taken seriously? What a clown. Pete, where did you learn grammar and the use of an apostrophe? Looks like you’ve got a pineapple for a brain. But never mind Pete, the real question at hand is the quality and rank of the latest entrant in the thin crust pan pizza war, and my verdict is akin to this blog. The Ridgeway thin pie I had was a soggy, greasy, floppy, nondescript mess, far and away worse than Colony and Riko’s. To this day I cannot understand the support of Ridgeway Pizza, not to mention the Stamford Pizza Blog, though in fairness I will say their sicilian pie has been satisfactory to good. Steer clear of their thin crust and standard pies.
Just try’d ridgeway pizza for the first time.I thought it was really good.But that’s just my opinnion.The pan pizza was crispy and not greasy at all.I did notice the different cheese which i thought was good.And they were my people there.Did not realize they were albanian.But this is my honest opinion,has nthing to do with them being my people.Good night folk’s just my 2 cent’s worth. Antonio
Papa’s is the best. I’m done!
Freakin keyboard warrior’s,Im back again..Hey troll thanks for showing me what i wrote.PETE AGAIN…
This sh*t just writes itself, doesn’t it?
“I won’t be coming back to this blog.”
Comment by PETE — July 18th, 2012 @ 1:22 pm
followed by posts:
Comment by PETE — July 18th, 2012 @ 11:42 pm
Comment by PETE — July 19th, 2012 @ 10:55 pm
Comment by PETE — July 19th, 2012 @ 11:05 pm
coupled with the insane insistence about pineapple – it makes me think twice about going to Liz Sue; maybe there’s something in the water…
Oh by the way,Any time you guy’s wanna have a cup of coffee,Please let me know,i would be more then happy to accomodate you guy’s.We will talk more about pizza’s.good night…Pete T
You know guy’s,You never realize how important freedom is until it is taken away from you.I mean little thing’s like having a pizza become’s important,Anyway thank you mr.preovolos for adding the link to the spt rating of ridgeway pizza back again….Good night Mr. preovolos…Pete t.
for best rated pizza in stamford click here >>>>> lol http://www.stamfordpizzatour.com
Hey,what happened to the stamford pizza tour link,I took the privilidge of doing a screenshot of your blog last night,That’s pretty messed up guy’s,taking of spt’s link.The spt guy’s had there link up last night and you guy’s took it down.Why would you guy’s delete a link that favor’s ridgeway pizza?Now i know you guy’s have a personal vendetta against ridgeway.Anyway ,I won’t be coming back to this blog.You guy’s only leave comment’s here that favor colony and delete any comment’s that favor other’s,And i can prove it.i’ll be more then happy to send you last night’s screenshot of the comment’s on your blog.Good night…pete t.
Sorry Pete,But when you guy’s learn the difference between hot chery peper’s and pineapple,I will take you guy’s more serious..Stick with colony,You guy’s strike me as bar type Of guy’s.Who know’s maybe colony will give you guy’s a round of drink’s on the house.lol..By the way check out ridgeway,I hear there gonna be on news 12 agtain,The what’s cooking show for the 12th time in 2 year;s.Any way bret,You have a good night pal…Pete T…
With all this condenscending chatter, I decided it’d be fitting to give Ridgeway a go.I too tried Colony so I could make an accurate comparison. To my suprise, Ridgeway’s “version” of Colony was good.The sauce was a great replication of Colony’s, however, the cheese wasn’t the same. Keep in mind, this benefits Ridgeway. The cheese on Colony pizza rapidly hardens upon leaving the oven, making for an untenable, un-satisfying experience. The stereotype for pizza is how the cheese slips off upon biting, something consumers dislike, but I presume that consumers come to dislike the rubbery, hard cheese in Colony pizza more. I’ve been going to Colony for 20 years now, and I firmly believe Ridgeway has the refined version of Colony. This is one individual’s opinion, but please consider it.
Thank you for your time.
This conversation is such a train wreck, yet I can’t NOT keep coming back to read the new comments. The pizza conspiracy continues! LOL
No,i know that,All i am saying is that that pizza up there is a hawaiian,I have no idea why you would do that,But that pic up top is a hawaiian pizza,That is for sure.And nick took a look at it and said it is definitely his hawaiian colony style pizza that he make’s.Any way multiple people i have showed the pic to can tell that it is a hawaiian pie,Beside’s no one would know better then nick’s father in law what colony use’s then him,He worked at colony for 34 year’s.I am sure he know’s what colony use’s much better then me or you would.Any way enough debate on this subject,Thank you for letting me express my opinion’s on your blog mr. preovolos…But if you would like nick would be more then happy to make you another pie or a few different pies including a hawaiian anytime you would like.take care…And he has no problem with using the colony cheese and not the grande cheese for you.Maybe it would taste closer to colony piza then…thank you…Pete telesco…
Hey Pete,
My only question for you is what logical motivation we would have to game the results?
We want to find the best pizza around as much as you do and have no reason to torpedo our own test.
Last time i checked ,ridgeway’s italian hand tossed pizza kicked colony,s butt on the stamford pizza tour.Didn’t colony come in 6th place i believe.Any way that’s how we found out about ridgeway from the pizza tour.Now they did a good job.Ordered the same pizza from every establishment and they new the difference between pineapple and yellow hot cherry pepper’s,lol..Any way thank’s for the debate and nick said stop by and he can show you the order you placed,He said sorry about the cap’s but his cap button on the keyboard was not working.He did not realize that you would make such a big deal about an email sent to you.After all we are all adult’s not kid’s.Take care Mr,prevolos….peter telesco…..
Well mr prevolos.this really has been bothering me,so i went down to ridgeway today and low and behold,nick found the ticket and it was definitely a hawaiian that you ordered and a hcpepper and sausage pie,so something is not right here and i can assure you,that we will get to the bottom of this.But the yellow is pineapple and the red is ham,you have a picture of the hot chery pepper and sausage and that is clear,then the other picture is the hawaiian not a plain cheese.This is really sad when you guy’s play these kind of game’s.Anyway there goes the credibility of this blog.take care
Hey Pete,
A few thoughts here…
First, I can confirm that the whole point of this exercise was to fairly judge the three shops against each other. As such, we deliberately ordered the exact same thing from all three places. What you are mistaking for ham is actually red cherry pepper. What you are mistaking for pineapple is actually green cherry pepper. And if you’re having trouble seeing the sausage, so were we. Ridgeway crumbled the sausage into a very small and thin blanket as opposed to large lumps like Riko’s and Colony.
Second, I have never had Colony from the ’80s or ’90s, so Ridgeway may very well taste just like it. If it does, Colony has really improved their recipe in the last 20-30 years. Both Riko’s and Ridgeway have abysmal sauce.
Third, you ask if we were “testing for a good tasting pizza or which pizza looked like Colony the most.” Obviously, we were testing for taste. If we were testing for looks, we wouldn’t have even tried the Ridgeway sausage and cherry pepper pie.
At the end of the day, I appreciate the discussion. I’m glad you’ve found a place you like in Ridgeway, and I’m also glad you recognize we live in a land where we (you and your friends and I and my colleagues) have the freedom to disagree.
Mr.provolos,then we are looking at different picture’s.Because all of us see pineapple and ham on 1 of your picture’s.We blew the picture up just to make sure and it is definitely a hawaiian pizza.We even switched computer’s to make sure and my boy saw a hawaiian pizza on his computer also.But anyway ,thank god we are in america and we have the freedom to go where we want.But me and my boy’s thought the testing could of been done more fairly.I mean were you guy’s testing for a good tasting pizza or which pizza looked like colony the most.We went for the better tasting pie and ridgeway won hand’s down with us.But for look’s ridgeway look’s different i would assume because of the better cheese quality.good night mr.prevolos…
I know that nick at ridgeway told me that they did change the cheese to a higher quality cheese because his father in law know’s the recipe from back in the day,and when nick found out the cheese they use was a very low quality cheese,He decided to change to grande because he told me it would be alot less greasier and a better tasting pizza.I dont know,Me and my family have went to colony for year’s and the pizza rico’s and colony serve now is definitely not the original from back in the 80s and 90s.I thought the colony ridgeway made was very good,But like i said,i am happy i tried them and i thought it was closer to the pizza back in the day’s then what they have out here now.Thank you mr.prevolos
That is, indeed, what I am telling you.
We are here with 6 of my boy’s and they all see pineapple and ham on one pie and hot cherry pepper’s and sausage on the other pie.Are you telling me that there is no hawaiian pie in these picture’s?
Nope. Sausage and cherry peppers.
Looks like Clay Aiken was judging the pizzas!
One of the ridgeway pies are hawaiian,That’s pineapple on one pie,you don’t see the pineapple and ham?
We did order the same pies from each, one hot oil and one sausage and cherry pepper.
Oh by the way mr. prevolos,don’t you think it’s a little unfair ordering different pizza’s when you are doing a pizza challenge.I would of ordered the same pie’s from all of them and then judged.For example it look’s like the ridgeway colony is a hawaiian,that would make the sauce sweet the pineapple.I have ordered enough hawaiian’s to know that pineapple sweeten’s the sauce,Sound’s a little prejudice to me.Any way,best way to find out the real truth is by trying it out for yourself,and i was happy i did.I don’t take any one’s word for it when it come’s to food.But next time try to do a fair challenge and do not tell people where the pizza came from,Tell them after the judging is done.That would of been a fair taste test.any way sorry about the rambling.good night..peter t…
I tried ridgeway’s colony pizza tonight and i must say,i don’t know what pizza Mr.prevolos tried,But i have had colony for the last 30 year’s,and what mr. prevolos missed is,that the ridgeway colony he had is the original colony from back in the 80s and 90s ,so it is not gonna taste that close to riko’s or colony.Because this is the original colony ridgeway has from back in the day’s.I had it tonight and it was excellent.But just my 2 cent’s worth.And mr.prevolos is right about one thing,It is not real close to colony or riko’s,and thank god for that Because ridgeway make’s the original colony from back in the day…..good night …PETER T….
All those pizzas are what people in other parts of the country/world would call “bowling alley fare.”. Want real pizza? Try Capriccio. That’s what pizza in Italy tastes like.
I have to say, Colony and Rikos are both OVER-RATED! I do not understand all the fuss over either. Stamford has too many pizza places, and the sad thing is, not one of them is better than the other. Growing up in NY then going to college in New Haven, Stamford Pizza places do not even compare.
IF I HAD A GUN TO MY HEAD, I would say Remos has a decent Margareta pie and Hope St Pizza is not too shabby….only if it was life or death…
Spazio is great pie also,Mario’s too.
The pan pizza headline I just chaulk up to another know nothing when it comes to pizza,Papa’s had his pans stacked and ready to be covered in sauce and cheese to order(buy 5 get one free Total $3.00)minimum ware was $1.25 also. As far as Stamford pizza being a rip off? Beltown will survive lising business as you put it,havent even tried Riko because I was told that a plain pie was 14.00 and they only have the one size. I will travel the 35 miles to New Haven but not for Pepes or Sallys,I prefer Modern Pizza on State St in New Haven. ( No pizza really travels well) get it while their hot!!!!!
Spazio makes the best pizza in Stamford.
Just finished my hot-oil & pepperoni Riko’s. LOVE IT.
I always thought of pan pizza to be the same as Greek Pizza (as it exists in New England at places like Post Corner Pizza in Darien) After researching this a bit on Wikipiedia, it seems like what we call Greek Pizza in this part of the world is something that only exists in Connecticut – who’d a thunk it??
From Wikipedia:
“Greek pizza is a variation popular in New England; its name comes from it being typical of the style of pizzerias owned by Greek immigrants. It has a thicker, chewier crust and is baked in a pan in the pizza oven, instead of directly on the bricks. Plain olive oil is a common part of the topping, as well as being liberally used to grease the pans and crisp the crust.”
I’m not sure what you would call the style of pizza made by Rikos or Colony. I have only had that in Stamford.
BTW, RIKO’s is better because it is essentially the same product as Colony and they are a lot easier to deal with.
Stamford Pizza is a rip off, I’d rather get Nick’s Pizza than Stamford. Belltown pizza is owned by the same people who own Stamford pizza, they are lising buisness now thanks to Riko’s.
Saltine cracker crust with ketchup and american cheese,this is not a standard to be lived up to,after enough beer anything taste good(remember 3am chilli burgers after a night out in Port Chester!!! try one before you start drinking.All kidding aside Colony pie is good but in my opinion doesn’t hold a candle to Stamford pizza on the top of East Main.Thin crust but not cracker thin and just down right delicous.(always judge a pie plain) it is the only true measure.
Maybe this a bit of a misnomer, but they are baked in pans, they just aren’t deep dish.
None of these are “pan” pizzas. The only pan pizza it Athens which is AWESOME