2011 Valley Food Championship Pizza Playoffs: Judges visit Liquori's in West Springfield

Liquori's is one of two reader-selected restaurants in the West Region to be visited by our 3 judges. Watch video

The judges in the 2011 Valley Food Championship Pizza Playoffs set out to determine the Best of the West (Region) on Wednesday.

The first stop was Liquori's Pizza in West Springfield. On Thursday, the judges will sample The Pizza Guy
in Agawam. The two pizzerias were selected by online readers of The Republican, El Pueblo Latino and MassLive.com.

Judges Pam McCray, Ray Kelly, and Don Treeger all favored the plain cheese pizza at the Route 20 pizzeria more than the house specialty chosen by owner Antonio Liquori. He brought out of what Kelly termed "the Old Country Buffet of pizzas" - a few slices of eggplant, others with fried breaded chicken and broccoli, sausage and mushrooms on another portion, and a more typical combination on the remainder.

"The 'special' pizza had it's own special problems," Treeger said. "All the judges agreed that chicken on a pizza should not be breaded and fried. A nice sautee would have been preferable. The eggplant slice was tasty but proved to be unwieldy. Although begging for a knife and fork, the plastic utensils just weren't up to the task and the slice ended up a mess on the plate. There is a lot of truth in the saying that sometimes 'less is more,' but at Liquori's that saying gets turned around backwards."

McCray agreed. "I was a little overwhelmed with the specialty pizza. There may have been a little too much going on."

"I did like the broccoli and white sauce, but grilled chicken would've made it that much better," McCray said. "Mushrooms are my favorite topping on pizza and there were plenty of mushrooms on it. The crust was thick enough to hold all of the toppings too which was nice."

"I'm not sure what the herb was that we tasted in the sauce of the cheese pizza but I think I was the only one who liked it. I thought it gave it a unique taste, rather than being just a bland sauce," she added.

Treeger was not a fan of the sauce. "The sauce was tasty but there was a hint of an herb that this judge didn't enjoy, although it wasn't a deal breaker. The cheese was good but not memorable."

For his part, Kelly thought the cheese pizza was "fine, nothing terribly wrong, but not terribly exciting either."

"I wouldn't turn up my nose at it, but I wouldn't drive out of my way for a slice," he said. "It was better than the house specialty."

Kelly added, "The specialty pizza at Liquori's was my least favorite of the three pizzerias we have visited, however, the sausage there was top notch."

The three judges liked the atmosphere and were impressed by the generous portions.

"Although we were served their small size, it would pass as a large in most any other establishment. You certainly get a LOT of pizza for the money at Liquori's," Treeger said.

Fishing nets at Liquori's evoke the Mediterranean. One wall pays homage to Hollywood and Italian American actors, and tchotchkes fill every available space.

The judges especially liked that management had gotten into the spirit of the 2011 Valley Food Championship Pizza Playoffs by arranging our special coasters in various spots for customers to take.

Kelly, McCray and Treeger will visit The Pizza Guy on Thursday afternoon and report their findings. The West Region winner will be revealed on Friday and compete in the semifinals in mid-July.

The judges are visiting the "Elite Eight" selected by online readers. The competition began on May 9 when the call for nominations went out. There were 117 nominees, which were reduced by readers to 64 contenders in four regions for tournament style voting.

Online readers whittled that field down to the "Elite Eight" that judges are now visiting.

As always, visit www.masslive.com/pizza to keep up with where the judges have been and where they are headed next.