Pizza par Average

Pieworks, for all its pomp and circumstance, simply didn't cut it. Though its rattlesnake-ostrich-crabmeat-provolone pizza combos were able to raise some eyebrows, the end result of all the fuss was usually a sky-high bill and a nasty bout with abdominal cramps.

In that restaurant's place comes Vincent's Pizza, a family-owned local chain that sticks closer to the traditional pizzeria mold. With its red neon lighting and booming disco soundtrack, Vincent's doesn't pretend to be on the pretentious side of the pizza universe. You order up front at a counter, get your own drinks and grab a few beers while you wait, and the prices reflect the different attitude.

Pizza seems a risky venture in this part of Durham. Ninth Street already has a glut of pizzerias, from I Love New York to newcomer Kallisti to the legendary Pizza Palace, not to mention hefty competition in the delivery market. Satisfaction's, Pizza Hut and Bull City are also a similar distance from campus. For Vincent's, the challenge is not only one of basic food quality, but of distinction.

The restaurant's menu does marginally better than its competition in that regard. The usual roundup of New York style pizza, strombolis, calzones and subs is augmented by a larger-than-average assortment of pastas, from tortellini, farfalle and rigatoni offered with various vegetables and cream sauce to chicken and veal marsala and even a "guilt-free" pasta and chicken entrée with only five-and-a-half grams of fat. There's also a well-stocked, fresh-looking salad bar to get the greens in, though the $4.99 asking price-even if purchased with pizza-seems a bit steep.

A sampling of some of the pasta entrees reveals an unfortunate common denominator in most pizzeria experiences-you're better off sticking with pizza. The watery mess that was Vincent's spaghetti with tomato sauce could take a beating from a $2 jar of product from the local Kroger, and the lasagna-undercooked, tasteless and drenched in the same watery tomato sauce-made a mockery of the dish.

Pizza proves to be Vincents' better fare. The New York-style crust is pleasantly chewy, crisp and buttery enough to please the palate without being greasy or overdone. The same can't be said for the pie overall-the basic cheese pizza swims in grease, though the addition of a few toppings lightens the load somewhat. One place where Vincent's takes advantage of being a sit-down pizza restaurant (along with not feeding people from a box) is in providing a selection of toppings on the table. There's the usual parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper, along with oregano and another spice we didn't identify. It's a good thing, too, as an encounter with Vincent's lasagna will send most people running for the spice cabinet.

At $12.40 for a 16-inch one-topping pizza, the price isn't egregious, but it's no bargain, either. Fortunately, there's little temptation to add a ton of toppings, as the fifteen options available cover only the basics. For the more adventurous, Vincent's offers white pizza-with ricotta cheese instead of tomato sauce-as well as stuffed and Sicilian styles for only a dollar or so more than the traditional.

Other than their pasta, there's nothing about Vincent's that particularly recommends against it. As pizza goes, theirs is as good as any, and the pizzeria's clean, fun atmosphere is a definite cut above most of the competition. But in today's packed pizza market, it might take more than that to get Duke students to skip their Wild Bull's, Papa John's and others on points in favor of a trek to Broad Street.