Pioneer Valley Pizza, Amherst, MA

This pizza is the first and foremost hangover remedy for UMass and other four-college kids. What is it? It's Pioneer Valley Pizza, aka, PVP's, famous buffalo chicken gourmet pizza. It's simple. It's very tasty, and it's the perfect wake-up call after a long night partying.

I had this today after waking up around two. My production of Sweeney Todd ended last night and there was a large cast party, so I slept quite late today after that, and then realized that I was starving. This pizza is delicious- it's a little expensive, $11 for a medium, but it is a specialty pie. It's a cheese pizza topped with pieces of buffalo chicken tenders, blue cheese, and hot sauce.

PVP is all right with delivery. Sometimes they have trouble finding my dorm, which is odd because I've ordered with them at least six times, and the pizza is lukewarm when I get it. The selection of the menu is good, with wings, calzones, and assorted pizzeria goodness.

So, the pizza itself! It's not a very big pie for eleven dollars. At the rate you're going, it's about $1/square inch for a medium pie. The toppings are interesting. If there are any complaints I have, it's that you can't eat this normally because if you eat it by biting the triangular way and don't have a freakishly large mouth, you don't get an even distribution of toppings and wind up with mouthfuls of blue cheese one bite and chicken the next. However, this pizza does lend itself perfectly to the case of folding into a pizza sandwich, and that makes everything mix together nicely.

The best thing about this pizza is the creaminess of all the cheeses and sauces, but not so creamy that it takes the chicken, which is fresh and very crispy, and mushes it down and makes it soft. There is nothing more disgusting than soft and mushy crust on chicken, which is why I generally order grilled chicken on pizza. But this is perfectly cooked chicken, and when you bite it, actually breaks instead of falling off, splattering molten hot sauce on your face and shirt.

It's good. Order it with friends, order it when you're hungry. It's filling and tasty. The calzones are good, too. So far, from my limited view of PVP's menu, their food is quite tasty.

7/10- NICE

Pioneer Valley Pizza
20 Belchertown Road
Amherst, MA, 01002