Mercury Pizza

Pizza is one of those very subjective foods. Thin crust, thick crust, little sauce, lotta sauce, one topping, multiple toppings, meat/vegetables....it goes on and on! I like a variety of pizza styles; mostly though, I just want it to be good. Like a dessert pie, the foundation of a pizza pie is the crust. So it is with great regret that I found the crust of Mercury Pizza's White Noise pie to be completely bland.

The crust appeared to have suffered from a lack of salt, lack of oil, and an overabundance of kneading. The edges were crisp, but had NO flavor and the texture of a dry bread stick. But I should give you the "back story" first. I knew I was going to be way up north that day, and looked at their website in advance to plan this out, so I knew they opened at 5 pm. I called at 5:05, ordered one pizza for pick up, and was told it would be 45 minutes. I verified the length of time as it seemed a bit excessive, and said okay. I arrived at Mercury about 35 minutes later; they had my pizza ready, I paid, and drove approximately one mile home. I will say, the staff were totally friendly, and the place is cute. When I opened the box on my kitchen counter (so about 6 minutes from leaving Mercury), the pie was lukewarm at best. Really, 45 minutes? If I had waited that long to pick it up, it would have certainly been cold.

These are such oversized pies -- 20" to be exact -- it doesn't exactly fit in the box! There were 8 huge slices, and I ate one of them, lukewarm and all, out of the box. The White Noise description is olive oil, fresh garlic, Romano, spinach, ricotta, and mozzarella. I really didn't taste much garlic, and like the crust, the whole thing could have benefited from a bit of salt. I will say the crust in the middle of the pie stays crisp. For my second piece, I doctored it with some red chile flakes, parmesan, and some gremolata (lemon,  garlic and parsley) oil, and reheated it in the toaster oven. Definitely better, but I shouldn't have to drastically enhance a pizza to make it taste decent. 

Mercury's location at South Lamar and Kinney is a bit awkward, and competing with Black Sheep Lodge for parking is a pain. I feel for the residential neighbors. Two friends of mine have had mixed experiences at Mercury. Is there someone who can tell me about a great pie they had from there? Please share if so!