Stop 034: Santeramo's Pizza (Arvada)

Santeramo’s Pizza

Location:  8410 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada

I was driving my car in some pretty thick traffic out on Wadsworth Blvd. where the ratio of Subaru's to non Subaru's is a little more even then in Denver proper.  That’s when I spotted Santeramo’s Pizza quietly resting in a strip mall next to a tropical fish store.  When I opened the door I immediately noticed the classic pizza shop charm, which basically means red and white checker cloths.  The layout was odd, the dining room was a horseshoe, with a mostly closed off  kitchen in the middle.  Not understanding the layout,  I walked to the right which led me to a dead end.  As I  looked at the wall a guy seated at a table said “if you were a mouse in a maze, you would have to eat your own foot, while the other mice are busy eating your cheese. You order on the other side!”  I laughed, and walked to the other tip of the horseshoe and ordered my pizza.  I went with one banana pepper and the other was pepperoni and mushroom.  A friendly guy brought out my slices and said “Here you go, 2 anchovy slices!”  I looked up in shock and said “What?  I ordered…Oh, Ha!”  He set them down and a lady one table over said “Just pick them off and take them to  the  fish store next door”  That was easily the weakest joke of the day. 

3 jokes, 2 slices!

Enough about my “experience” let’s examine the pizza!  The medium density crust was slightly chewy with  not enough flavor to offend or celebrate.  The cheese was cooked well and had brown spots, which is something I typically like.  I decided to look up why that happens and  accidentally clicked on  a crappy Yahoo message board.   Let’s break down what I learned from this message board…

 The first person said “ I believe that means the cheese burned”

 The 2^nd person said “The heat causes the sugars in cheese to caramelize.” (Which was rated the best answer)

The 3^rd person said “No its from burning, and I am a former Pizza Hut manager.”

Then one person gave that comment a thumbs down.  

Anyways the sauce was decent, but I think the toppings got their degrees from the University of Phoenix.   The mushrooms were dry, which makes me believe they were not from a can, but they didn't taste fresh either.  Maybe  they use canned mushrooms,  but they let them dry out the night before.  The banana peppers were actually met with mixed feelings because I love banana peppers, but I really don’t like when they have the middle junk, so I had to pick about 50% of my banana peppers clear enough for consumption.  The pepperoni was quite simply, adequate.  The staff was very friendly, and the customers were older and local, its the kind of place where you order a beer and take whatever bottle they give you.     Although Santeramo's  is not the best pie in Denver, it is good enough to have stayed open since 1977 on a road littered with garbage fast food chains.