Address: 489 James St, Syracuse, NY
Neighborhood: Near Northeast
Website: www.oipizza.com and www.syracuserestaurants.com/base-contact.asp?sn=originalitalianpizza
Menu: View Menu
Cuisine: Pizza, subs, wings
Hours: Monday-Thursday 11 AM to 9 PM, Friday-Saturday 11AM to 10 PM
Parking: Private lot
Accepts credit cards: Yes
Located on the corner of James and Townsend Street, I went in to OIP on a rainy Wednesday evening. Inside, there really isn't much room to eat an actual meal, and hearing two simultaneous radio stations indoors (one from OIP and one from Colonial Laundry mat located in the next room over), I decided to get take-out.
The order...
Large Cheese Pizza (with half Chicken Wing): $14.00
Dozen Char-Grilled Wings: $7.75
Total cost with tax and tip: $25.27
There's not really much that I can say about OIP. When my pizza was ready, there was some confusion about orders which caused me to wait around for an extra 10 to 15 minutes while my order of wings got cold.
The pizza was meh. Really nothing to write home about. I have not ventured out into the Northside or Little Italy for pizza or Italian food yet (shame on me, I know), but I'm positive that there is better pizza just a few blocks away from this place. Not that it was bad or anything, it just really didn't even compete to some of the pizza that I have had in Syracuse thus far.
The wings were different. As an upstate native, I guess I'm just not used to char-grilled wings. It was essentially like eating small pieces of grilled chicken with a dry-rub on them. Though, the fact that the wings were cold by the time I started eating probably didn't do them justice. If I end up going back to OIP at any point in the near future, I'm sure I will stick to the traditional buffalo wings next time.
All and all, I guess I was expecting Original Italian Pizza to be unique or at least have some killer wings, but I really wasn't impressed with anything.
My rating of Original Italian Pizza:
