Mark's Pizzeria Has Pizzazz

I walked in to the pizzeria early in the day and requested a takeout menu from the man across the kitchen.

He dropped what he was doing and practically ran over to me with a big smile and handed me a regular menu and a party menu. Very polite man who I am assuming is the owner, or at the very least, an avid manager.

All I have to say is welcome to 10839 Bloomingdale Ave., Riverview, better known as the old Albertson's near Providence Road. Open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday but open until midnight on Friday and Saturday, I can see this place turning into a popular pizza place quickly.

A fairly diverse menu that lists the standard fare for an Italian restaurant such as pizza, calzones and oven-toasted subs but a few oddities stand out. It's not often that you find chicken cordon bleu, BLTs and a strange little menu item called the "Stinger" that consists of prime shaved steak and crispy chicken fingers on a sub roll with choice of sauce and provolone cheese.

Their salads sound very tempting and have the same diversity as the pizza side of the menu. Along with the standard garden salads and chicken salads, they list an albacore tuna salad, chef salad and a mandarin orange harvest nut salad, which I will be trying next time I eat here.

The kitchen area is huge and sparkling clean but the dining area leaves a little to be desired. It was immaculate as far as cleanliness goes but only had six tiny tables that just seemed a little too tight to me.

The man behind the counter says that the place is packed on Friday nights and I can believe that since it wouldn't take much to get that cramped feeling. I got mine to go so that wasn't really an issue for me.

I got a calzone that was tremendous and very large with all sorts of meat and ricotta cheese just oozing from the center. Tasty doesn't begin to cover this thing! The sausage was a medium-hot Italian and the meatballs inside were homemade and mixed with ham, bacon and pepperoni. It was accompanied with two different sides of sauce that, quite frankly, I never opened but felt it worth mentioning to those out there who dip their calzones.

We also got a side order of 10 boneless wings that came with celery sticks and a company-brand bleu cheese dressing. I have never heard of these people before but they are organized enough to have a commissary store that packages their own sauces. Maybe I need to go exploring? The wings were nice and spicy but next time I'll get them half mild so my daughter won't give me that "look" she gives me when I order spicy food that she can't eat.

We got a large pepperoni pizza that I thought was very tasty but a bit too saucey. My wife and daughter couldn't have disagreed more as they both proceeded to tell me how great the pizza was. The pizza was delicious, as I stated, but my personal preference would have been a touch less sauce. The crust was thick and cooked perfectly with just the right amount of air inside. The cheese on top extended to and covered the pizza just right, to appease picky people like me....and you!

There are a few different menu items I want to check out, so we will definitely be back and I'm giving these guys 3 1/2 stars.

1 Star--Wouldn't go back on a bet

2 Star--Would have to go back, but only on a bet

3 Star--If I was in the neighborhood and hungry

4 Star--Would go out of my way even if I wasn't hungry

5 Star--Would make reservations and wait in a line