Restaurant Review: Pizzeria Milano, Kaiserslautern

Pizzeria Milano
Schoenstrasse 15, Kaiserslautern

A neighbor to the Gartenschau and the Kammgarn, Pizzeria Milano in Kaiserslautern is a local favorite. It's located in an old train depot which is a brick building with wooden floors mixed with modern metal support beams and glass on one side with an outdoor seating area. The view isn't necessarily anything great since it's in a former industrial area, but at least the buildings are old and those who like urbanex might be thrilled.

It is with regret that I inform you (doesn't this sound like a rejection letter?), dear reader, that I was nonplussed by the pizza. I've heard many happy reviews. I have also heard that the pizza is huge (it is) and reasonably priced (it is). I've walked by on the evening and the place is hopping; in fact, on weekend evenings, it's recommended to have reservations.

I just wasn't feeling it, and I so badly wanted to like the place. It can be hard to find decent pizza in Germany; Americans often find that the sauce especially is lacking in flavor and in amount. I found this to be true at Pizzeria Milano.

The crust was okay; it's stretched by hand and cooked in a wood-fired oven. However, without good sauce to back it up, it was just wood-fired dough to me. It seems common to have very little sauce on a pizza here; it's not that I like my pizza dripping with sauce, by any means, but I want there to be enough that I know it's there. The other problem is that the sauce wasn't very flavorful; it wasn't tomato-y and it really didn't taste like anything at all. The other toppings really didn't have much taste, either; they included mushrooms, Gorgonzola cheese, and mozzarella.

Service was okay, but not stellar. It was hard to catch the attention of a waiter and they could be seen standing a clump, talking to each other at times. I didn't have to wait very long to receive my food; the restaurant was not very full when I was there, but it took about 5 minutes of trying to get a waiter's attention before I could pay.

The upside was that the pizza was inexpensive at less than seven euros for the largest size. Everyone always comments on how big the pizza is there and it's no joke! The pizza I ordered was 33 centimeters and it took up the whole plate.

I might consider trying the restaurant a second time for the pasta, but I'm still undecided since I was nonplussed with my first visit.