Colasessano's World Famous Pizza & Pepperoni Buns

Colasessano's isn't a new name in these parts of West Virginia. However, it is a new name to Morgantown. Colasessano's is a staple in Fairmont and has been for some time, so much so that they have two locations. It's even on the list of "101 unique places to dine in WV." It wasn't until recently that Morgantown had a branch to call its own.

Located at the Pierpont Landing plaza, near Penny's Diner, Colasessano's features their "world famous" pizza and pepperoni buns. I was a little hesitant because 1) it's a little out of the way and 2) I tried their frozen variety before and wasn't a fan. When I was shopping in Kroger, I saw they sold these frozen pizzas based out of Farimont. I picked one up, but I hated it. I know frozen pizzas aren't the greatest indicator of quality, so we took a ride toward Cheat Lake to try this restaurant.

It has a large, open feel of a retro pizza parlor.Red and white speckle the interior, and '50s metal chairs and tables really give this an old-school pizza place feel. When you walk in, you walk up to a large counter. Behind the counter is a menu on the wall, but it's not any regular menu. It's on three large TVs, so it's slightly animated. We told the hostess we were dining in, and she escorted us to a booth. We put in our drink orders and perused the menu.

Colasessano's features typical pizza place food: salads, hoagies and pizza. In addition, Colasessano's offers their "pepperoni buns," which from what I could tell are basically pepperoni rolls with either sauce or other mixtures on them. Kristen and I ordered a large regular pizza, which came standard with cheese and pepperoni for $12.50. I also ordered a pasta salad.

My pasta salad came out first. I have high expectations for pasta salad, as my mother makes a killer one, and I've grown up with it. But this wasn't bad. The tri-color rotini noodles were soaked in a balsamic and Italian dressing. But they held firm, so as to have some bite to them, which I prefer. It also had tiny shopped green onions, cucumbers and tomatoes. The small chunks were almost too small, as they were hard to grab with my fork. I prefer meatier veggies (if that makes any sense). My mother also puts chunks of cheese and pepperoni in hers. I think that would've made this dish absolutely outstanding. But the dish held its own, and I was satisfied. For $4, it was a generous helping and tasted better than a Kroger deli helping.

Afterward, our pizza arrived on a wooden board with a spatula. It was slightly indented into 12 pieces. But the three on the end could hardly be called pieces. I was already a fan because it was square. My beloved DiCarlo's pizza is square, so it reminded me of home. But this pizza was quite poofy. The crust is pretty thick. It didn't lay flat, and instead reminded me of sourdough pizza. The sauce is slightly sweet tasting, and the cheese is oozing on top of the pepperonis. I actually like the concept of having the pepperoni under the cheese - it doesn't get crispy or fold up into those little grease cups. The pizza was very difficult to cut, though, considering we only had our spatula and basically had to stab at the pizza so we could remove a slice without tearing off the cheese from the rest of the pizza.

We basically had six small squares apiece, but I took half mine home in a to-go box, which our waitress so nicely boxed up for me. I am a fan of the taste - I like the sweeter sauce and the sourdough-tasting bread. And, I'm glad it's local and homemade, but it's not the best I've ever had. And it's probably not something I'd seek out. If I were over on that side of town and hungry, I wouldn't mind going there. But if I want pizza at home, I'm not going to venture to Colasessano's. As far as homestyle goes, it falls in the midrange.

For those who are crazy about it, though, it's cool they have the frozen option that you can buy in stores, at the locations, or online and have them shipped anywhere in the U.S. That's a really cool feature. They also have specials each day of the week, which look like they'd save a pretty good amount.

I asked about dessert, but apparently they only had one of their options: brownie bites. Before the waitress asked me if I'd like them, she rang up the order and handed us the receipt. Too bad, because I would've said yes. Our bill came to about $24 with tip.

Morgantown Hours:

• Monday -10 AM - 9 PM
• Tuesday -10 AM - 9 PM
• Wednesday -10 AM - 9 PM
• Thursday -10 AM - 9 PM
• Friday -10 AM - 10 PM
• Saturday -10 AM - 10 PM
• Sunday -CLOSED

Grade: B