Home Style Pizza – Schenectady, NY

Funny story.

One Sunday, a buddy and I wanted to go to Bombers in Schenectady, and it was closed. Then he recommended a pizzeria near my house, and it too was closed. We drove down State street back toward Bombers and at least 2 other pizzerias were closed. At that point, I said, screw it, and headed up to Union Street to eat at Home Style Pizza, which I knew was open on a Sunday, since I had picked up food there a month or so prior.

Home Style Pizza (1720 Union Street in Schenectady) is pretty much like the name suggests. It’s a cute little place that resembles a neighborhood pizza joint. It is owned by the same people who own Portofino’s, where I pretty much always enjoy my meal.

The Buffalo chicken salad ($9) sounded good. I asked for the dressing on the side.

The portion was very generous for the price. I never leave well enough alone, but this could have easily been my whole meal. They have a very tasty breading for their chicken, and they don’t fry it to oblivion. The Buffalo sauce is pretty mild. I don’t recall specifying mild, medium, or hot, but I’d guess that mild is the default.

The salad was built upon romaine lettuce with cherry tomatoes, fresh cucumber, and black olives. I didn’t use much of the dressing, mainly because I prefer less dressing than most, but it was fairly average as far as blue cheese dressings go.

I couldn’t resist the allure of a bacon stromboli for just $6. All of their calzones and stromboli are $6 for one topping, the difference being the shape and the fact that a calzone would have ricotta cheese inside.

The size of the stromboli was remarkable, as was the amount of filling. This could easily feed two; two not me’s, of course. The cheese they use is a flavorful blend of low moisture mozzarella and romano, and both have their place in the roll. Plus, bacon. The dough is flavorful and airy, and they use a brick oven to get it nice and crispy.

In the front, they have some prepared foods on a steam table as well as some slices of pizza. There’s also a case with some sweets, and, according to the staff, all of the sweets are made on site. I didn’t snap any pictures, but there were some cannoli, cakes, and other pretty awesome looking goods back there. I might have to try some of that on my next visit.