When I moved to the Lake Norman area from Connecticut, finding the right pizza place was one of the first items on my list. I mean I grew up 20 minutes from New Haven, CT which is known across the United States for not only having some of best pizza but being pizza pioneers in the United States. So what was important to me was finding a pizza place that uses a “real pizza oven.” One that gives you that added flavor to the crust from the wood and/or coal-based fires. Matter of fact my parents wanted authentic pizza so much that they built a pizza oven in the backyard that I cook pizzas in 900° plus oven.
We came across Aliño’s at Concord Mills which was easy for us to get to at the time when I lived in Huntersville. I instantly fell in love with their product! Now that I live in Mooresville I wanted to give you my Aliño experience first hand!
Last night, I went to Aliño’s in Mooresville and it didn’t disappoint! When I got there, I looked up at the menu to decide what type of pizza I was in the mood for. I went with the Toscana which is your sausage and cheese pizza. After ordering the pizza and grabbing something to drink you sit down on long picnic tables. It was probably 1 minute later that our pizza was brought to us hot out of the oven. So yes, think about that? Ordering took 30 seconds, grabbing something to drink took another 30 seconds, and the pizza was brought to us about a minute later.
When it comes to food, you always eat with your eyes first. The look and smells just makes you want to dive in immediately. I tell you what, the San Marzano sauce, Buffalo Mozzarella, and fresh Basil and Garlic is incredible! Add the delicious sausage and the crispy flavorful crust and you have a true masterpiece! Lastly, up front, they have a variety of different spices, olive oil, and pizza sauce that you can add to your pizza as well.
Let’s dig into how the pizza is made. The ovens are made of volcanic sand from Mt. Vesuvius which is located just outside of Naples, Italy. When it comes to the pizza dough they use Antimo Caputo’s Pizza dough that is imported from Naples. They also source the Buffalo Mozzarella from Naples as well.
After the pizza, it was time for dessert. I got tiramisu gelato and a chocolate chip cannoli! When it came to the gelato it was really hard picking a flavor. There were so many and I was very happy with my choice. It tasted just like I was eating a piece of tiramisu. Lastly, my favorite dessert of all time is the cannoli. The cannoli was perfect and I was really happy to know that for how long it was the filling went all the way through the shell. If you’ve had as many cannolis as I have you know that sometimes people don’t end up filling up the middle of it.
When it comes to pizza around Lake Norman I feel that Aliño’s is the best. I know I haven’t tried pizza from every pizza place but, for me, it seems very hard to compete against that. If you know of a really great pizza place that you think I’d love or you think I need to try your pizza place just let me know!