Rustique Pizzeria
- Bruce
- May 20, 2021
- 4 min read
Updated: Apr 8, 2023
If you find yourself wandering around the little village of Suamico, specifically on Velp Ave, you'll come to discover a white building sitting off to the side that used to be a 112-year-old chapel. The owners have taken initiation in turning this building into a restaurant and decorated the side facing Velp Ave to gleam and present itself to the public. So, anyone driving past it will be able to scope out the restaurant by its overt logo and name: Rustique Pizzeria.
This restaurant isn't your typical pizzeria, though it's not a Pizza Hut chain where cushioned booths are planted next to each other, the dining area is covered in a thick shade of red paint, and a pan of pizza comes out looking like mush. No, Rustique's is a pizzeria and lounge combined. They've modernized their interior decorations in hopes of keeping things casual for their customers to enjoy themselves, accommodating to families, friends, or couples. And while you wait for a table, you can enjoy a few specialty cocktails they offer or tap beer.
On another note, Rustique's has also remodeled its kitchen, so on top of an alluring dining area, the open-concept kitchen and its colossal brick oven will be the first thing you notice once you step into the restaurant. This restaurant makes it a mission to serve their customers the freshest ingredients, from cheese, protein, produce, or herbs--they utilize their surroundings and scope out local suppliers in the Wisconsin area.
Be forewarned if you think that you'll only be having pizza for dinner: prepared to be proven wrong. The pesto fries may be the next thing closest to perfection, and I would highly recommend this as a start to your dinner--or lunch--or whatever time you choose to eat.
It's unlike restaurants to mix an Italian sauce like pesto with fries--it's almost barbaric. You wouldn't think that pairing them together would be a great idea. But that's where you're wrong: this appetizer isn't just pesto and fries. It's a load of ingredients that invokes the start of a new chapter. It's got a hint of saltiness from the shredded manchego cheese, sweetness from the balsamic vinegar, herbiness of pesto (which isn't overpowering either), and of course, the fries themselves. Eat it all together, and you've invited your taste buds to a booming flavor party.
My only complaint about this dish: I have none.
Their Baked Bruschetta Dip is a great addition to their menu. A salty dish with capers, olives, and tomatoes. Eat it with the herbed flatbread, and the balance is there. However, while it supplements well as an appetizer, this dish doesn't have any unique elements. If anything, it's a basic dip; throw in a few expensive Spanish ingredients like capers and olives, and you might have something different but nothing special. And if I might add, they were a bit greedy with the queso fresco.
But here's the part that we've all been waiting for -- the pizza.
It's been a while since I had pizza, and I'm not talking about Pizza Hut or Domino's. I'm talking about a pizza where the dough is properly taken care of; the whole tossing it in the air for a fancy effect is a given. I’m sure anyone working in a pizzeria can do that just fine. I'm talking about the entire process that entails making great pizza dough. It's not rocket science, but it's about following the correct procedures and being meticulous about the measurements of ingredients for the dough; Rustique's does this well.
Rustique's Smokin' Pollo was a hit, it had the perfect amount of bbq sauce, and the chicken was cooked perfectly; however, the red onions were the highlight of the pizza that added a nice sharp and mild bang! So, overall, their Smokin' Pollo was good, but if I were to make one small critique: I'm not sure where the "smokiness" was supposed to come from. It could have been from the bbq sauce, and if it was, I could not taste it.
The Sausage & Basil consisted of high-quality sausages, fresh mozzarella, and basil. An original pizza that you'd see displayed in most pizzerias. Good flavor overall, but I did have a few issues with this one.
First, the menu promised us six toppings that would come with this pizza--I only received five. The only topping missing: Caramelized onions.
Second, tomato sauce overload! Which resulted in a limp figure. Unfortunately, the toppings gradually slid away from the crust and onto my plate whenever I tried to take a bite, and half of the time, I needed to use a fork and knife to eat this pizza -- a poor experience. Upsetting and careless on their end.
Third, and if it isn't evident enough: they could have let the cheese melt a little longer in the oven. Grainy and underdone cheese are never acceptable, especially on an $18 pizza.
Rustique's Pizzeria is a restaurant that I would consider going back to: that's if you want to splurge on another expensive meal. I would add that they are avid to stick out from the rest and try to prove to the world that their pizza is unlike any other pizzeria out there, with the rare ingredients they can get their hands on and the extravagant pizzas that come out of their fancy brick oven.
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